Short tale

   First sorry that there was not a post last week. There was not a lot to say and I was otherwise occupied! So, to catch up.
   On the animal front quite a bit has been going on. We lost two chickens to what we believe was a fox. All that was left was a pile of feathers. This means we are four hens down! As you can realise egg production has fallen right off. Lucky to get two eggs a day! As it happens I was arranging to get some Ixworth hens. Large utility birds with the intention of replacing  our older generics. I have managed to get six birds but at least one is a cockerel and probably a second is too. If there are two then one will go to the pot I am afraid. These Ixworths are true to their breed so we are going to try to bred them next spring. Good layers and also a good meat bird. The coqs can be over four kilos in weight. The two acquired chicks are now integrated into the flock but I fear they are bantam size birds. Our Perdue cockerels will love them no doubt. Man! All the plans of mice and men. All quiet on the sheep front.
   In the poly tunnel all is quiet. Still picking some tomatoes and Chrystal Apple cucumbers but they are coming to an end. Lettuce and beetroot is growing well. Jalapeno peppers are still being produced and I am leaving them to go red. In the outside garden the rain has helped to buck everything up and the grass is growing, darn it! I am picking large juicy Noire Crimee (Crimea) tomatoes and the leeks and cabbage are looking like they will do something. Courgettes are pretty much ended and it is will soon be time to pick the butternut and buttercup squash. There are some poor excuses for a cauliflower and the sweet peppers have been a complete disaster.

Well, it got through the drought!

   So here we are once more at the start of October. The wood for the winter has been delivered and stacked and we have even had a fire or two in the cooler evenings. Days are short and there is, as always, more to do than time to do it.

Ha! It would, wouldn't it!

Giant Squash (yes it is called that!)

       As is the way of things as soon as I post that the drought is starting to cause real concern it rains and the right sort of rain too. Steady and gentle and lots of it! About twenty four hours worth. A few of the water butts filled up so that shows how much rain fell. Everything is the better for it. Mind you it has increased the activity of the feathered fiends.
    On the animal front the rams are now more interested in the ewes than eating! The ewes are as hungry as ever. The chickens are being chickens and egg laying is not so sporadic as it was. Still not as many as I would like. New birds coming in next week so two or three of our current hens will have to go.
   In the poly tunnel somehow the tomatoes are hanging in there and I am still picking Gardeners Delight, Millefleur, Black Crimea and one or two Ethel Watkins best. The crop has been better than I feared although the end is in sight. More beetroot has been planted out along with some autumn/winter lettuce plants bought from the local market. The jalapeno peppers continue to produce well and they are hot I am told.
   In the outside garden I have managed by hook or crook to get some haricot buerre. Two pickings made at least another to go. With this rain maybe more. It will depend on the temperature. The winter cabbage has picked up although the original planting out has been demolished by the chickens. Summer cabbage (what summer cabbage?) is likely to produce enough for one meal. The autumn cauliflowers look sad but who knows! Swedes are swelling and again with the rain the parsnips should be ok. Hope so as they did really look good at one point. I continue to surprise myself with the Touchon carrots. They are large! I do not think  have ever had such a good crop of carrots. The autumn sowing is pathetic with very few germinating. Seed germination has been a real problem this year. The courgettes are coming to an end, both round and straight. They have done well. The aubergines has been a disaster. Butternut and buttercup squash looks good, least there will be some. As you can see from the photo the Giant squash is giant! The apple crop this year despite a lot of promise in the spring is very disappointing. The drought and then insects has destroyed most of the apples that set. I noticed too that the blackbirds are taking an interest in the grapes!
   As I write this there are clouds in the sky and it is cool. Fingers crossed that the average day temperature will remain above ten degrees centigrade. That will give the grass a chance to grow. It should do for a few more weeks.

Desperation is creeping in

   The weather continues to be dry although the temperature has fallen a little and there has been some cloud cover but no rain. I am please about the clouds. They enabled me to shift this years wood delivery without loosing too much bodily fluid! Mind you a pint of shandy afterwards helped to put the balance back!
   On the animal front the sheep are having to be fed hay every day. The chickens are being chickens and the chicks are becoming more independent.

2016 Wood delivery

   Despite the weather I am still picking tomatoes from inside the poly tunnel and of course, jalapeno peppers! Other than that the Black Crimea tomatoes that I have nurtured outside are doing well and I am picking a tomato from the vines most days. All the other outside tomatoes have now died off. A poor year despite a lot of promise at the beginning. The rats have finished off my "animal" sweet corn and I am now looking at the Bantam sweet corn as it comes in flower and cobs start to set. I am determined to get to them before they do! What is the betting that they will not 

Throwing the wood over the fence!

Hen laying her egg

like that sweet corn? I am still digging up carrots of a good size and I have to admit that they have been watered quite regularly.
 The lettuce I bought from the local market a couple of weeks ago, despite being watered, from a growing point of view has just stood still. It seems to be going no where. The squash is maturing well and the giant squash is getting bigger and bigger! Looks more like a pumpkin that a squash. The parsnips look a little tired and they have been watered but not so regularly. Hopefully they will pull through and I will get some. The winter cabbage looks drought struck with very pale almost blue looking coloured leaves a sign of lack of water. One advantage of the drought - no grass cutting!

Drought

Noire (Black) Crimee (Crimea) tomatoes

    In the department of the Creuse the authorities have now declared a drought and that people must restrict their use of fresh water. Not surprising really. My neighbour says that it has been over seventy six days since it rained in any significant amount. The garden and fields reflect this. The picture opposite is an exception. These tomatoes I have been looking after, protecting them from the chickens and regularly watering. They are rewarding me with a good crop of nice sized fruits, deep almost black in colour, hence their name, Black Crimea. The Crimea was were they were found and I think I am right is saying it was not that long ago. Anyway elsewhere in the outside garden I have also been nurturing some haricot buerre and they are showing small yellow beans. I have managed to keep the chickens off these too unlike my poor sweet peppers that have been devastated by the chickens. I have a couple of Giant squash (variety Giant Squash!!) and they are giant! Autumn cauliflower and winter cabbage are hanging in there but really do not look happy as do most of the winter leeks. I continue to harvest round and straight courgettes and it looks like this year there is not going to be an excess. My early sown rows of carrots are being harvested and look very good. I cannot remember ever having so many long fat carrots! 
  In the poly tunnel the jalapeno peppers are cropping well and the report is that they are hot, hot, hot! Chrystal Apple cucumber continue to crop but are coming to an end as are most of the tomatoes. There is a good bed of beetroot growing away and I am hopeful that there will be fresh beetroot later in the autumn. 
  On the animal front the ram lambs have been separated from their mothers as we are now coming into the time of year when the ewes come into season. We do not want lambs this year and are making every effort to make sure they do not happen! Our two chicks have now joined the flock and are roosting with them along with mother hen. They are some eight weeks old and are growing fast. The hens are still laying  outside the coop and only about half of them are laying. A cull is really needed and replacements sought. The poor ducks are molting and look like a moth eaten carpet. Lots of feathers in their enclosure.
   With September upon me it is time to start thinking about next season and what needs to be done in preparation. Only seems like yesterday that I was planning for this season.

   

Brown grass and dry soil

Brown grass

   So where is the rain? No where to be seen. It continues to be dry and the fields are now brown and parched. The sheep are finding it hard to find forage and I am now starting to give them some hay. The ducks are fine and the chickens are trying to find any green stuff they can. They love the sweet pepper leaves and make a real effort to break into the area where they are growing. There are not many leaves left on them now! The chicks are now nearly eight weeks old and being on the small side they are sneaking into places I would rather they did not.
   In the outside garden watering is a priority to keep plants alive let alone trying to get them to grow. The main tomato patch is an area of desert with few tomatoes and no healthy plants at all. Even so I am picking a few tomatoes. I have a little patch of six noire crimee tomatoes that I have been looking after and they have a good crop of good sized tomatoes on them. The chickens, I am sure, are eyeing them up! Courgettes continue to crop well and the squash is looking good. They too are being watered every day. Just a very small patch of potatoes left to dig up and that will be the end of the potato crop. Not the best this year but reasonable. Outside cucumbers are now finished. I have started to pull up carrots and they are really good. A home grown carrot really does taste good. Rats have destroyed my "animal" sweetcorn, not a great loss as far as I am concerned. I have just started to water the Bantam sweet corn in an effort to get something out of it. The haricot buerre are in flower and I am hopeful for a reasonable late crop of yellow haricots. In the poly tunnel Wautoma cucumbers are finished and the Chrystal Apple cucumbers are producing well but are coming to an end. The tomatoes despite blight are managing to produce a reasonable amount of fruit. I picked the first Jalapeno peppers and the feedback is that they are HOT!  Have to laugh. All the melons have now been picked and are being eagerly consumed in this hot weather. There is a growing number of empty beds.
  Autumn and winter crops are looking very sad. Cauliflowers and leeks are stunted. The cabbage is growing but looks like it could do with a good soaking of rain to green up the leaves. No sign of turnips yet. I am hoping for some rain but the forecast is not looking good. It will get cooler but no significant rainfall.

Its tipping over!

   The weather has turned from hot to what I would describe as normal late August weather and the sense of autumn is in the air. Cool, but warm. Nice. Anyway still very little rain so that means the chore of watering takes over from grass cutting. The grass still being brown and not growing at all.

Jalapeno peppers

   In the poly tunnel there has been an invasion of chickens. My fault. I left the barrier open. But still the little so in so's destroyed my newly transplanted bed of beetroot and had a good go at eating my lettuce! Man. Wautoma cucumbers are now at an end and the Chrystal Apple will not be far behind. The outside, La Diva cucumbers, are also at an end. I am picking tomatoes enough to eat but I do not think there will be much of a surplus, to much blight. I need to disinfect the tunnel and I have the stuff to it! Job for the autumn. 
   In the outside garden the sweet corn has been attacked and not the chickens this time. The cobs are too high for them. I suspect rats. Carrots, courgettes, potatoes and melons are all being harvested. The squash is looking  good and the poor old winter leeks are just sitting there hoping for rain. As the instruction said on the packed I have sown sown over winter onion on the 18th August. I wait to see what happens. Apparently by sowing the 18th August you give the onion seed chance to germinate in the warm soil but you are giving it a long growing season so in theory one should get bigger onions! Yeah right! Believe it when I see it. Looks like I will get some autumn carrots as at last I have managed to get some more to germinate.
   On the animal front the chicks are now six weeks old and we need to consider introducing them to the main flock. The sheep are being sheep and the ducks being ducks. Lets hope for a bit of rain, not too much but some is really needed.

Better a little late...

   Ooops I am a day late with my blog! The weather continues to be sunny and hot. As nice as

Blacktail Mountain Water Melon

it is prolonged hot sunny weather is not so good for the garden. Its as bad as prolonged rain!. The water melons have benefited and there are at least six that will be edible. We have had one and it was delicious! Other crops in the garden are suffering. I do not water my outside the poly tunnel tomatoes. It would be just a waste of time as I could not get enough water on them. Tomatoes need a lot of water. They are producing some fruit but after the blight hit there is not as much as I would have liked. The bantam sweet corn looks good as does the haricot buerre. The La Diva cucumbers, much to my surprise, have gone over quite quickly despite watering. Courgettes, round and straight and the squash are loving the sunny weather. These I do water. The winter leeks are stood still and the aubergines are a right off this year.  My carrots are looking good. I have been digging up the potatoes. Good crop of Bonnette Noirmoutier, Belle de Fontenay and Desiree. A disappointing crop of Corolle. Guess you cannot win them all!
   In the poly tunnel despite tomato blight there is an increasing amount of tomatoes to pick. The Wautoma cucumbers have been disappointing and are showing signs of going over. The Chrystal Apple cucumbers are at last producing but again they are showing signs of going over. I think the tunnel has at first suffered from high humidity, hence fungal attacks and then too hot from the continuous sunshine. Still, the jalapeno peppers are coming along and the beetroot has done particularly well. 
   My attention is now turning more and more towards autumn and winter crops. Autumn cauliflowers, winter cabbage planted out, carrots, turnips, swede and spinach all sown. I am going to try sowing winter onion seed this season. They will be sown on the 18th August!
   On the animal front the sheep go and  hide during the hottest part of the day. The pasture is brown. Good job these are hardy sheep! The last four meat chickens have been processed, one being a real skinny bird which I quickly BBQ'ed. The other three were decent weights, x2 @ 2.5kg and one at 3.5kg. Unfortunately one the egg laying hens decided it was her time to go to pastures new and took herself off to a corner of the coop and died overnight. No obvious cause, all the others are fine. She was probably one of the oldest. Her time had come. Mother hen and her two chicks continue to do fine. The chicks are now just over six weeks old.
   Hate to say this but I hope we get some rain soon.