I have now moved from no. 6 to no. 5 Champeau de Bas having decided that number 6 was just getting too much to handle! So no. 5 is a small garden with some flowers and a small veg patch.
So 6 Champeau de Bas is now in the past and I now move onto 5 Champeau de Bas and a different but smaller challange with more emphasis on flowers I suspect. I still intend to have a small veg patch but I think it will be for salad type stuff with a small potato patch to grown some new potatoes and a few tomatoes! We shall see!
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| The start 081022 |
Since the last blog entry on August 14th I have finished lifting the main crop potatoes, Desiree, with a reasonable crop some 54 kgs and total crop for this season of 87.5kgs. Not bad but definately smaller than previous years. That pretty much concludes my gardening exploits at Watermeadows. Ther might a cabbage to cut and a few carrots maybe before the new owners take charge on the 20th September 2022 but that is it. Onto a much different and much smaller garden and a blank canvas to work with. My aim is to grow some veg but probably just a few lettuce and maybe a cabbage or three but no over winter stuff. We will see. No chickens! It will be strange not to have ones own eggs.
34 eggs were laid up until the remaining four chickens went off to pastures new.
The next blog will be about the garden at 5 Champeau de Bas and that will probably be sometime in October.
It has been fun and an experience!
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| Watermeadows March 2011 |
Another week goes by and the weather has been hot hot hot! The ground is very dry and the grass, well , what grass? Even the weeds are starting to give up. My small sowing of sweet corn is struggling and I do not think there will be any. If maize is struggling, its hot and dry!
Nothing done in the vegetable garden and or any part of the garden. Cut a cabbage, the last one, lifted a few AGATA potatoes and dug up a few carrots.
The chickens are not enjoying the hot weather but they have been laying a little better. Round about two eggs a day over the last seven days with only one day with one egg.
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| Someone enjoys the weeds...Tabitha Sophies cat |
Two weeks since the last blog. Agata potatoes lifted, the last pointy (this one a Greyhound) cabbage cut and some Touchon carrots dug up. The weeds continue to grow although they are showing signs of suffering from the lack of rain!
Agata spuds Grehound cabbage Touchon carrots
Looks like my blog will be every two weeks rather than every week as my activity in the garden has dropped to next to nothing. I did manage to cut some hedging though!
Egg laying is pathetic to say the least with maybe one a day if I am lucky. I lost another hen so now have four left. They are being kept shut in for their own safety. I am stopping putting the average daily lay in the blog as the egg count is so low.
It is sad to see my veggie plots go to weeds but the priority is to my move and there is lots to do! I do wonder though with the drought we are now suffering as to how much whould have grown successfully this year.
Well any work on the vegetable garden and the garden in general has pretty muched ceased. Some lifting of potatoes, watching out for Colorado beetle, cutting the odd cabbage and pulling a carrot or two is about the sum of my activities. The weeds and hedges are growing and I look at the grass thinking that I need to mow and I need to cut the hedges! My time is now spent on my move rather than the garden.
I lost Mrs Brahma hen this last week. She has been off colour for a while and I think the heat finished her off. No real sign of any illness. Her comb was bright red and she was still getting about without any sign of effort. Chickens are very good at hiding any illness. So down to five hens now and the beggars are not laying! Average daily lay this last two weeks is 2.
My field was mowed for the last time under my ownership and it was mowed rather than cut for hay. I did not need any bales and I guess the farmer did not either.
This is how it is going to be over the next six weeks or so but I will have to spend a day cutting the hedges that is for sure.
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| Mowed field |
This is late posting mainly due to there not being a lot to say about what has been going on in the garden mostly due to my sorting stuff out for my pending move.
So, grass cut, cabbage cut and potatoes lifted. The odd onion pulled. Talking of which the onions are looking quite good! Weeds are growing well and I guess at some point I should try to remove some.
I think the heat is hitting the chickens. Average daily lay this week was 2.4 eggs. A drop on last week and I suspect I have another broody hen!
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| Wheat harvest under way locally |
It is strange to be winding down my vegetable garden. After eleven years to nnow let it go and not be working the soil and not sowing and planting out and thinking of what to be doing for the autumn and winter.
Over the last week I have mowed grass and lifted AGATA potatoes. Not that impressed with the AGATA potatoes. A reasonable amount of potatoes per plant but on the large size and that is not what I want from a first early potato! The weeds are growing well and I need to harvest my shallots which because of the weather have finished growing rather early this year. Too hot and dry at the wrong time! Onions are now benefiting from the latest bout of rain and I am hopeful for a decent crop. My two rows of carrots planted early in the year are giving me a decent number of roots, certainly for the amount I need. Parsnips are a complete waste of time most of which have gone to seed. The golden batam sweet corn is looking good and as I have probably said before sweet corn is tolerante of a hot dry spell.
So just to put some gardening stuff in this weeks blog I have included some work done on Sunday 3rd July. Usually my blog week goes from Sunday to Saturday. So on Sunday I decided it was time to tackle some of the weeds. Summer cabbage, onion and a potato patch cleared. To my dismay I discovered Colorado beetle on my main crop Desiree potatoes so now it will be a daily check for beetles and eggs and no doubt squishing of said beetles and eggs!
Egg production up this week. Average of four eggs a day. I have decided to let them out to room the garden with hope that they may eat some of the Colorado beetles (some hope that is! Lol!).
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| Cabbage before weeding |
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| Cabbage after weeding |
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| Onions before weeding |
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| Onions after weeding |
Ok, you can have too much of a good thing. Too much sun, too much rain! Man! No a lot achieved. It has been a damp to wet week. Lifted some Agata first earlies. So far not impressed with this variety and if I were planting next year I would not bother with these. Good ole Touchon carrots are producing again. I love this old varity and have had success over multiple years. Cut off the broad been stalks. Left the roots to so as to fix nitrogen in the soil from them. Violet garlic lifted. Poor crop but at least some! Elephant garlic has been a disappointment with most going to seed and the rest not producing any sort of Elephant garlic at all! Did some tidying up of the chicken run area. The forsythia as usual was trying its take over bit along with the lemon balm. Looks like it is going to be a damp week so very likely not a lot will get done.
Chickens are not laying well and the suspect of all things is Wilba the cat!! Empty egg found on the drive way of my daughter house. The egg split neatly in halve and the contents devoured! Never would have thought a cat would eat an egg. Well an average of 2.9 eggs a day this last week up on last but still not as good as it should be.
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| No, it is not in the garden HONEST! |
Vegetable gardening can be a fickle thing. You can go from success to failure in such a short time. Over my time here in la Creuse I have had successes and failures and I have had tremendous fun trying to grow unusual veg and trying out things like Hugelkultur and no dig beds. This year is one of failure I fear. Grass mowing, vine pruning and new potato lifting done this last week. The grass is brown and I was really just mowing off the weeds. A good start to the year with warmth and rain and an early planting out of lettuce was sucessful. Summer cabbage plants also planted out and fingers crossed I may get something from them. Now the sun is beating down at very high temperatures. I have lost my squash, pumpkins, tomatoes and cucumber plants despite watering. Water melon plants are small and as I will have more than likely have moved by the time they produce I doubt if I will bother to plant them out. A very poor germination rate of beetroot and other seeds. Parsnips have gone to seed more so than usual and the shallots have already died back and are very small. Onions are small but are hanging in there but I am not expecting great things. Even the garlic has been poor. Success was had with over winter broad beans but the early sowing of peas was not a great success. On the upside strawberries have been good and it looks like I will get a decent potato crop. Not as large as last year but still decent. The sweet corn is going well and maize is a little more drought tolerant I think. Early sowing of carrots are at least giving a crop that can be pulled.
The hens do not enjoy hot weather. Egg production over the last week has been poor with an average of 2.1 eggs per day.
So as the days go by I have to start to wind down my veg garden as the day draws closer to calling it a day on my time at Watermeadows.
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| Wilba cat on the poly tunnel roof! |
When it rains one wants sun, when its sunny one wants rain! Such is the desires of a gardener! Lol! Lots of sun in la Creuse at the moment. There was a thunder and lightening storm with hail stones this last week but it missed us and there was just a few patters of rain. Not enough to make any difference or fill up the water butts!
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| Alouette 1st early potatoes |
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| Italian herb Stridolo Sculpit Silene Inflata |
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| First pick of Aquadulce broad beans |
It has been a busy week! Dug up some BF-15 and Desiree "volunteer" potatoes which means that I have not bought potatoes for over a year! First time ever! Finally got round to weeding the poly tunnel and transplanted some beetroot that had self seeded. Lots of weeding done this week in an effort to overtake the rapid growth of stuff! Hopefully weeds and grass will now slow down with the onset of the sunnier weather. Gone to seed lettuce pulled and given to the chickens. The first broad beans picked. Some Hopi cabbage grown from seed transplanted to the brassica bed. Butternut squash seedlings translanted but I fear that the sun will kill them off. We will see. Picked around three quarters of a kilo of Mari de Bois strawberries and transplanted some Suyo Long cucumbers to an outside the poly tunnel bed.
Two hens have gone broody which means my daily egg production has dropped by fifty per cent! No point in them trying to hatch eggs as I no longer have a cockeral! Daily average of 2.85 eggs a day.
Lots of forking and weeding this last week. Trying to get ground ready for transplanting butternut squash and cucumbers. Maybe wishing for sunshine was not a good idea as daily temperatures have been on the high side. Of course the usual mowing of grass! Produce has started to be picked and pulled. Lettuce, first lot of broad beans and some "volunteer" potatoes (Desiree and BF-15). These are potatoes grown from ones I failed to dig up last year. Not unusual to get a few but I must have missed quite a few from what I can see coming up in the previous years potato plots!
Chickens are being chickens. Unfortunately I have lost my cockerel and a hen to probably a fox. The remaining hens are being kept shut up for now. They are not impressed. Average daily lay of 5.4, slightly down on last week.
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| Flowering onions with bees |
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| First pick of broad beans |
Yep, my blog title last week was "Give me sunshine" and sure enough the sun has shone all week and the temperature has crepted up as the week as progressed.
Broad beans coming along 
Weeded and remulched strawberry bed
So it has been a busy week getting the outside garden looking at least tidy. With my house now on the market I need to try to make it look attractive! So, clearing weeds etc at the front of the house and around my well, mowing grass (never ends this time of year!) and clearing brambles and mowing a path to get access to the river done. One major job done which was to weed and remulch the strawberry bed. Lots of flowers so I am hopeful for some strawberries at some point. I did pull a couple of lettuces from the poly tunnel! The radish sown in the poly tunnel look very poor unfortunately. I am not starting to get concerned over the lack of rain and the forecast does not look good. Still, plenty of work to do particularly getting the plot ready for the butternut squash plants.
Chickens are doing well and I guess they are enjoying the sun and of course the longer day light hours. An average of six eggs a day this last week, up on last week. I have 10 laying hens so most days I am getting 7 eggs.
The sun has been out a lot this last week. Very pleasent temperatures and quite nice riding around mowing grass!!
Despite spending a lot ot time mowing grass a number of other jobs have been completed. Golden Bantam sweet corn sown in an outside the poly tunnel plot but they could do with some rain. Tomato plants transplanted and to be honest they are not up to much at the moment but hey given time, given time. Given the rise in temperature and that shinning thing in the sky making a daily appearance I have sowed Blacktail Mountain water melon and 5 Dessert melon seeds in pots and placed in the poly tunnel fleece cloche. Hopefully the temperature will remain high enough in the poly tunnel to germinate them. Also sown in pots two new varities of cucumber, Suyo Long and Tamra (a rare heritage variety so I am going to take good care of these and try to make sure I get some seed) and the good old stand by Marketmore. First lettuce of the season pulled and asparagus spurs cut. Early and second early spuds are up but no sign of beans on the broad bean plants yet. Plenty of work to do!!
Chickens are being chickens being throughly spoilt with handfuls of black sunflower seeds. Average daily egg production is up, 4.6 per day and a couple of days of seven per day (I have ten laying hens).
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| First asparagus spurs with toast and boiled egg. |
Yes more grass mowing. Seems to never end. Hey ho! More seeds sown in pots and put into the poly tunnel - Giant Pacific Pumpkin and Champ Waltham butternut squash. Some 2021 carrots pulled and they are still quite edible. Large Hugelkultur bed weeded and restored after the chickens decided they wanted to try to flatten it! Outside the poly tunnel lettuce plants look established and there are lots of flowers on the strawberries. Bought some Chou Cabus Pointu Poet (a pointy headed cabbage) to try to get some early summer cabbage and planted those out in the brassica bed. I have removed the cloches from my early sown carrots and have been surprised and please with the results.
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| Touchon carrots |
1st May Sunday breakfast consisted of freshly cut asparagus, first of the season, brown buttered toast cut into fingers and a cup of tea! Was rather good.
This time of year the grass along with the weeds grow very fast indeed! Grass cutting is currently about every six days (if I am lucky!) so pretty much once a week. This will carry on until it gets a lot warmer.
In the veg garden it has been a busy week. Forking and weeding, trimming bed edges. Sowed Ciboulail (spring onion type), Great Lakes lettuce in the old seed bed, sowed caulifower Merville, Greyhound, Hope and Milan cabbage in the new seed bed. Some beetroot popped up in the poly tunnel so they have been transplanted. A couple of Gardeners Delight tomato plants made the the effort to germinate in the propagator and have been transplanted to pots. They are a little "weedy" but hey one has to try. The last of the Desiree main crop potatoes have been planted. First earlies have started to show. Some leeks dug up, just a few left now and they need to be dug up before long or they will just go to seed.
Annual bonfire has been lit and not everything I would have liked to have burnt has been but I had to get it done while it was dry and before the end of the month.
Lost another chicken to probably a fox so all birds consolidated into the main coop and they will be kept in for a few days. Main coop clean out. Average of 4.28 eggs per day this last week a drop on the previous week but not surprising if a fox has been stalking them.
Next week I will be starting to sow the squashes and melons.
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| Poly tunnel spring lettuce |
The weather has been good with sunshine and the temperature getting to 20C. Off course this means three things. 1. The grass grows rapidly, 2. the weeds grow rapidly, 3. there is a hurry to get stuff into the warming up ground! So, grass mowing, forking and weeding and sowing/planting has been the order of the week.
I have weeded my small asparagus bed but I fear that the crowns have died. No sign of asparagus yet and I would have expected to see some by now. One never knows and maybe there might be a crown or two still alive. Most of the seed potatoes are now planted with just a handful to find a space somewhere. Being inspired by a reply to a post in the Gardening in France group on Facebook I have constructed a Stout bed and planted with Desiree potatoes. I happened to have a lot of hay which is only good for mulching. A Stout bed is just another form of a no dig bed just happened to be made up of hay although one can add other organic matter. The bed is a foot high and the potatoes are planted on top of an eight inch layer of hay and another four inches of hay put on top of them. I was not aware that we only plant potatoes in trenches to stop them from going green.
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| Stout bed |
No doubt the grass will need mowing again before the week is out but I have a bonfire to light and deal with and there are seeds that I need to sow. It will no doubt, weather permitting, be another busy week ahead.
I lost one of my cockerals this week to probably a fox so that just leaves one. Daily average of 5.28 eggs this week in line with last weeks total. I have eleven hens but only five or six eggs a day? Umm.
What can I say? Lot of time dodging rain showers planting the Aoluette second early potatoes. Almost done. I have about a dozen seed potatoes to plant and then its on to the main crop, Desiree.
Some carrots dug up. There still are some more but they are showing signs of starting to grow. More forking and weeding of the major plot that the main crop potatoes will go in,however, I have been reading about another method of no dig to plant potatoes in. It involves a lot hay which as it happens I have a lot of. So todays thinking is to try this method out and see what results I get. Seed sowing has started with some 18Jour radish sown in the poly tunnel and mixed sweet peppers and tomatoes sown into propagator modules. No sign of germination with the tomato seed sown in seed trays in the fleece clouche in the poly tunnel.
The weather has been awful at times with high winds and torrential rain. Much to my surprise the ground has been workable (Well, mostly. Found a bit that was pretty much liquid mud!). Also some frost just to let me know that winter is not quite out but the general temperature is on the rise!
Chickens are being chickens and being a menace scratching around wherever I dig or fork. The broody hen is still sticking to her eggs despite loosing the first batch. 5.29 daily average this last week.
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| Never ending forking and weeding |
On my return from the UK I have been busy mowing grass before it snowed and rained and getting my early potatoes, variety AGATA, in. Despite the rain and snow the ground has been good enough to dig a trench to plant spuds! Second earlies and main crop to go! Dug up some leeks and some carrots.
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| Planting 1st early potatoes |
This blog is being published on the first day of spring! 20th March 2022. Yes, spring has most certainly sprung along with narcissi out in full bloom, cherry tree buds swelling and apple tree leaf buds splitting to mention a few signs. Of course the old foe, the grass and weeds, are also putting in a effort and the first major mow has been done.
The autumn over winter compost heap has been dismantled and the contents spread in the poly tunnel and on the new seed beds. A new compost heap has been started. More forking and weeding done still more to do! Some carrots dug up but they are rapidly coming to their end!
Chickens are being chickens being a right pain scratching any piece of loose soil they can find. One hen is still sat tight on eight eggs. In theory the eggs should start to hatch in another eight days (27th March). Average of 5.8 eggs a day this last week, up by one egg a day!
Next blog will be in two weeks as I am off to see my youngest daughter and my three grand children in the UK.
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| Rhubarb patch |
Frosts. Four out of seven days there has been a morning frost. That has delayed getting out into the garden and getting on with stuff (ok it is an excuse, lol).
The ongoing task of forking and weeding beds continued this week with some good progress being made on two larger beds. I even managed to clear my small round flower plot! Pulled up all but one swede which is a reasonable sized one and hopefully has not been attacked by slugs etc or has some form of internal fault! Never know with swedes! The overall crop has been poor but I am happy that I at least got to make some swede and mash. As with it would seem all brassicas and derivatives of brassicas the chickens love the leaves and completely eat the them leaving just the ribs and will make every effort to get at them no matter there is netting over the plants. No doubt I will try again this year. Continue to dig up/pull carrots that were sown last year and they are an edible size. Always good for this time of year, however, they need to be eaten up as they are starting to produce tops and that means they are going to seed. Dug up a few leeks, again, a disappointing over winter crop. In my opinion they have not stood the frosts well despite being a winter leek variety. Thinned out some more self seeded parsnip just because they were there in the bed. Long row of peas sown. Always worth sowing peas early.
The main chicken coop cleaned out and we have a broody hen! She is sat on eight eggs and who knows if they are fertilized or not. Time will tell. Daily egg production down this week with 4.8 eggs per day.
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| Bulb bank narcissi starting to flower |
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| Broody hen |
Quite a bit done this last week. Only one morning of frost and a little drizzle but nothing serious. Mikador shallots planted out. Not my usual variety but that is all there was! My favourite onion set, Sturon, planted out. Some parsnips dug up and some self seeded parsnip seedling transplanted. Tomato seeds sown in seed trays and modules and placed in the poly tunnel fleece cloche. Probably still a little on the cool side but it does not take much to get the temperature up in the poly tunnel with a little sun. A few miserable swedes pulled to make up a Champeau mixed veg roast. Swedes seem to be one of those plants that is a little hit and miss. Still one or two that are edible is a result! In the poly tunnel the small beds were cleared, forked, watered and fertilizer added. I bought the first lot of lettuce from the local market and transplanted them into the small poly tunnel beds. Variety Batavia Doree de Printemps. Not my usual variety but the guy I usually buy from was not at the market this week and I wanted to get some lettuce planted. A little forking and weeding of an outside bed done but in reality the soil was a little sticky.
My bulb bank is starting to come into flower and with a bit of luck it will look a picture. This is its second year so the bulbs are now well established.
Chickens are being chickens and a daily average of 6.8 slightly down on last week.
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| Poly tunnel small beds with transplanted lettuce. |
Preparation for planting continues. A trip to the BRICO (large shop that sells a range of hardware, building materials etc and gardening stuff) to buy my favourite shallots, RED SUN, and favourite onion sets, STURON. Seed potatoes bought (Desiree, Alouette and Agata (later two new ones for me) and set up for chitting. Some garden lime for the brassica bed and some general fertilizer for the poly tunnel.
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| 2022 seed potatoes chitting |
Last years sown carrots are still being pulled and I guess they will be ok for a few more weeks yet. They are showing signs of growing.
Chickens are being chickens with an average of 7 per day this last week. The best of the year so far daily total has been exceeded with a total of nine eggs laid one day last week.
With the ground being a little on the damp side my attention has moved to weeding the cobbles outside the front of my house before the ground gets too dry and it would be impossible to weed between them. With the improved weather forecast for next week my attention will once more turn back to the vegetable garden. Onion sets and shallots to sow!
The weather continues to be a dampener on activity in the garden and my reluctance to go outside in the cold! Still, some work done this week. More forking and weeding and I must now have more than two thirds of the beds cleared. Picked some sprouts. Still a few left and I have made the first planting. Champ (meaning that they are not bought ones but grown and harvested at Watermeadows) Red Sun shallots and Champ banana shallots sown. Maybe a week or two early but the sets were there so nothing venture nothing gained. I need a trip out to buy seed potatoes, shallots and onion sets along with some garden lime and fertilizer. I am resisting sowing seeds, even in my propagator. Still a week or so too early methiks. Plenty to do in the garden beside sowing seeds! Umm, maybe some carrots? Have to think about that. Lol!
Chickens are being chickens as usual and an average of 6.6 eggs per day this last week. Best week so far this year. I am sure another hen has come into lay. Still, what another five or six yet to start! There is a possibility of twelve eggs in one day. Oh my!
Chickens are being chickens and causing a little mayhem in the newly forked and neatly edge vegetable beds. Hey ho! Plenty of eggs though. Average this week is 5.4 repeating last weeks efforts.
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| Forking and weeding a bed (this one has been completed) |
WEEK ENDING 05/02/22
Ooops. I forgot to publish this blog on the 29th Jan so this a two week blog. Mind you the second week has been very quiet. Lots of personal stuff to do and the weather has been damp, drizzly, on the cold side and the ground was really too wet to work on. So, some leeks dug up and a chicken coop cleaned out. This last week the hens have laid an average of 5.1 eggs per day, an continuing improvement week on week.
WEEKING ENDING 28/01/22
This week any time spent on the vegetable garden has been in the continuing construction of my second "no dig" bed. The first was my strawberry bed and very successful it has been too. Fingers crossed this year will be as good! The second bed is almost done. Another couple of barrows of soil should see the end of it although the chickens will not doubt attempt to flatten it. The "no dig" bed is a layer of cardboard, in attempt to stop weeds coming through, and then in my case chicken manure, raked up leaves, chopped up cabbage leaves topped off with soil. The soil was from my enormous pile of weeds that have rotted down over the last couple of years and were forming a dyke!! With a bit of luck I will use the bed to plant lettuce and what else I am not sure of at this point in time.
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| Day 1 |
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| Day 1 |
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| Day 1 with helpers |
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| Day 2 second half |
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| Day 2 second half |
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| Day 2 all but done! With helper! |
Probably the last of the sprouts have been picked. Considering they did not look good they have been ok. Not brilliant but least I got some! Still pulling Touchon carrots and there are a few to go yet. It was a very good year for carrots in my garden. The remains of the cabbages have been removed along with the disappointing cauliflowers. Leaves chopped up and added to the "no dig" bed. More forking and weeding done and the first attempt at sorting out the self seeded parsnip seedlings done.
Chickens are being chickens and being a menace on my new "no dig" bed. Coops cleaned out and contents spread in the new "no dig" bed. Average of 4.4 eggs per day this week, an improvement on last week.
Another week passes and unfortunately little done in the garden! That east wind is blooming cold! Still, some work done. Another bed forked and weeded. That bed will be turned into a "no dig" bed. One more bed started only to find lots of self seeded parsnip seedlings. I will more than likely just thin them out and let them be. Parsnips are a difficult seed to germinate and when they do so without any encouragement, well, one has to go with flow! I am now thinking more about where to sow stuff and as the end of January creeps up it will be time to buy seed potatoes! The propagator will need dusting down.
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| Self seeded parsnip seedlings |
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| Bed 2 (without the chicken) ready to make into a no dig bed |
Reality has struck! Real winter weather has arrived of the last week with frost and very cold over night temperatures. The ground has gone from wet to workable to frozen!
At the start of the week I was able to clear two beds, fork and weed them along with putting mulch back onto the Hugelkultur beds that the chickens has scratched off! Since then the ground has frozen to a point of being unworkable. Chicken coops moved and the two groups of chickens that lived close to the garden have been merged so now there is one cockerel with four hens! He is happy! The other larger group are doing just fine. Average of 4.4 eggs this last week down on the week before. Good job! I have eighty four eggs to eat! LOL!
New varieties of seeds have arrived. Giant Japanese cabbage, giant pumpkins, giant Russian and Mongolian sunflowers (for the grand kids, of course!). Also a new variety for me of long outdoor cucumber called Suyo long (Chines, 10 to 18 inches!). Should be a year for the giants!
Large Hugelkulter bed and cleared/forked beds
Happy New Year! Surely it has to be better than last although from a gardening perspective as far as I am concerned it was a very good year. Anyway, onward and upward!
Another quiet week but when the weather allows I will be out and about doing stuff in preparation for sowing come the middle/end of February. This last week there has been frost and snow showers! A white cabbage cut (they have been very good) and a good size too. Some tidying up done, which to be honest, should have been done a while back! Netting and supports removed from the strawberry bed and weeding/forking started. I have now finished forking and weeding the bed and also have mulched and replaced the netting but really that sentence should have been in next weeks blog!
Chickens are still laying well with an average of 5.6 eggs a day
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| White winter cabbage |
Another year draws to its close. Overall the year has been good. Yes some crops did not do well, tomatoes, for example, but despite tomato blight a reasonable number were gathered. Potatoes did well, again, despite the blight, that fortunately with my earlier planting of the seed potato had only a small affect on the plants and less on the eventual crop. Haricot vert and buerre did ok as did the water melons. Over wintered broad beans did well as did the follow on spring sowing. Onions ok but could have better I fear and there was a good crop of shallots which I turned into pickled onions! Beetroot. Well, those self seeded in the poly tunnel did very well. Outside, not so good. Squash. Yes a good year. Pumpkins. No, a poor year. Brassicas. A very good year although the sprouts have left a little to be desire for but we got enough for Christmas dinner! Cauliflower. A couple of heads but I have always found cauliflower hit and miss. Carrots. Oh yes very good year with, what, at least six sowings with at least three being very good. Strawberries. Wow! New plants planted in a no dig bed and a crop of strawberries I have never had before. Sweet peppers, good, chilli's good. Sweet corn good. Peas. Well, one good sowing which would seem to be the norm. Successive sowings just fail for whatever reason. Lettuce did well in the poly tunnel with some very good heads of Great Lakes (like an Ice Berg lettuce) but later sowings outside did not produce. Parsnips poor but enough for Christmas dinner! Courgettes, round and straight, enough for what we needed. The vegetable plot more than paid for itself.
January 1st was a very mild day so I took the opportunity to weed and fork the seed bed at the end of the poly tunnel. I also created a new one where the chicken manure compost heap had been. I also covered up the rhubarb patch. Beds covered over to stop the chickens from scratching!
The hens produced 1209 eggs which includes 8 cracked ones but did not return a profit. I fear a lot of feed was lost to rats and I have now invested in pedal feeders so hopefully that will reduce the wastage. A campaign of rat extermination has been conducted and a very marked reduction in the rat population has been noted. The campaign continues on a watchful state.
Estimated value of the total crop before expenses: 1,133 euros
Estimated profit: 922 euros
All potatoes: 203Kgs from 12Kgs of seed potatoes (Anoe, BF-15, Desiree)
Haricot vert/buerre: 19Kgs
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| Seed beds and rhubarb patch. |
