The perfect timewaster

I normally go out with the thought just to get them (being the hens,, obviously!)  fed and watered and leave them to it - then end up just standing and watching, then thinking I might as well be having a cup of coffee to warm my hands, then go and fuss and fiddle with things in the run, etc etc! I think I'm just making excuses to watch them! I gave them crumb porridge with peas in this morning but as it was the first time they've seen 'strange little green things' they were quickly removed, one by one, and trampled underfoot! I'll keep trying to get some goodness into them tho - they're still learning that they can eat things apart from Exbatt food from the grub container.

If I hadn't stood watching, I'd have missed Keppel find and devour her first worm yesterday! :dance:

Don't we all have other things we should be getting on with? Well, yes...but they're not as much fun are they?!

Crumb Porridge

Last night I got home just as dusk turned to dark and had to encourage them in with a torch. Tonight, OH returned about half 8 and found them all tucked up nearly asleep! Bless - amazing how quickly they learn. He even rummaged around under them and found three more eggs, although they're smaller than the previous days'. Is this as they're settling into a new diet and regime and aren't eating all day every day?

They're definitely becoming cheeky very quickly but are also eating all their crumb porridge that I'm making for them before work. We’ve ad a few hiccups with eggs and a certain lack of them in the last few days, but I suppose having gone from 18 hours light and 24 hour food, to ten hours of each must be a shock to the system, so we’ll wait a few weeks until their routine settles down and see how we get on!

Introducing Wilson, Betty and Keppel

Couldn't wait to share pics of our new ex-batts. One slightly more battered than the other two but all looking more confident this morning. And we even had two eggs, although Betty did stamp on one to get it out of the nest box so she could lay hers! We'll be having words about that when she's settled in a bit more!

Wilson

Betty

Keppel

Betty's Egg

He he - we're very excited about it all, but also quite worried about whether they'll find the water, etc. Come on girls, you can do it!

If you’re thinking about adopting some hens, don’t forget to go to the British Hen Welfare Trust website to find out more!

Lettuce

 

The few seeds I scattered several weeks ago have grown into free food! Sown so close together, I can only use these as separate leaves but since that’s what I wanted anyway, it’s all good! Used this way, lettuce becomes a ‘cut and come again’ crop, which suits me brilliantly, as I should have delicious, home-grown lettuce all through the summer months.

Now, what shall I have with it?

Things I found on my walk along Aldeburgh Beach…

1- a stone with a round space

2 – sea peas

3 -   blackberries

4 – some sort of prickly catkin type seed

5 – rose hips

6 - wild fennel

Thanks for the rain…

The lettuce has begun to sprout…

 

 

The courgettes have flourished…

 

Even the parsnips are coming up – unheard of after only having been sown two weeks ago!

 

The raspberries are swelling nicely…

Which all makes for a fruitful harvest: courgette flowers, nasturtiums, raspberries. chard and spinach. Perfect for stuffed courgette flowers on top of a green salad.

Broad Beans – nearly ready!

I think I got a little overexcited! I saw the broad beans were fattening up nicely so decided to begin the harvest.. Luckily I opened the first one picked to have a look how they were: erm…tiny"!

Maybe with a bit off feeding in the next week they’ll be ready fairly soonish: I’m not sure I can wait that long!

Summer veg. planting

 

I’ve just received my new vegetable plants, all ready to go in.

Now all I need is an unrainy day to plant them all out! Well, and to weed the veg patches first and add the compost. I’ve decided this year to add lots of compost to the courgette bed as they didn’t do brilliantly least year.

From front to back I’ve got Beetroot, Courgette, Celery, Sweetcorn and Leeks.

I’ve also realised that the beetroot need splitting as they grow in order to get decent sized globes – last year I hadn’t realised that each ‘plant’ was actually a cluster until it was too late! Oh well, you live and learn.

Come on sun – I dare you!

Pea Shoots: ready to use in less than 14 days!

 

In only 14 days, these shop bought dried peas have germinated and grown. With a little sun and water, they are now the perfect size to use as salad leaves, or as a garnish on top of other things. In fact, the first meal is going to bee an addition to a salmon dish. I cant believe how simple these are to grow – and am fairly sure that on a sunny windowsill, you could do it all year round. Imagine that, fresh pea shoots in the middle of winter. Not seasonal, I know, but when you’re only growing them for the shoots, rather than the fruit, it really doesn’t matter.

Why not try them over my Scallops with Chorizo and pea puree, hot-smoked trout or mackerel pate, or on top of a risotto to add a new texture and fresh flavour. Delicious!

Pea shoots – grow and cook!

Having been an avid watcher of The Edible Garden over the last few week, I couldn’t wait to try growing your own dried peas! I bought a box of Bachelors ‘Bigga’ Dried marrowfat peas at just 39p from the local supermarket, and prepared my bed. I’d just bought a set of boxes from Wiggly Wigglers and couldn’t wait to find a use for them, so this idea seemed perfect. I lined it with a bag, and cut a few slits in the bottom for drainage, then packed with compost. Next, I spread the peas along the surface and pushed each one down abut a centimetre and watered in.

Now they’re sitting pretty on the kitchen windowsill and all I have to do is cross my fingers and hope they grow!

Spring Cleaning in the Garden

 

Having had two weeks off over the Easter period, and my OH having also taken one whole week away from work, with the idea of training for his up-coming Iron Man competition later in June, we finally got to work on the long-needed task of tidying up the garden!

He began on cutting back the clematis and climbing rose from the top of the summer house as it was getting very overgrown, too heavy and was making the inside damp. So, after several scratched arms, and two days, that was finally done!

 

I set to work on the decking and summer house interior. I cleaned and scrubbed the walls, washed the barbeque, inside and out, and re-carpeted with an old bit left over from the house. Meanwhile, the OH replaced the window pane that had lost its grout and fallen out in the middle of the winter months! The temporary cardboard and plastic replacement was on its last legs. I then began cleaning the decking; something I instantly regretted. Four hours later, still on my hands and knees with a scrubbing brush, I finally finished. Note to self - don't clean it in future, just stain over the top of the dirt. Absolutely knackering, and a bit like when you clean a mark of a wall - once you've started and cleaned a bit, you have to do the rest.

Next day, the new garden furniture was on its way, but the 'Bali Hut' where it was going was filthy. We let down the 'blinds / awnings' on each side and they were covered in mould and mildew. I could feel another attack of 'the scrubs' coming on! One by one, I took them down and attacked each side with biological washing powder and hot water - it was really the only way. Letting each one hang to dry fully in the sun, the mould and mildew had gone, with only a little 'staining' to see; it was quite a pretty pattern actually but I think they'll fade in the sun anyway. When they were fully dry, I rolled them back up, ready for the table and chairs!

 

Next on the list was the hot-tub which we inherited with the house. In the year and half we've been here, we haven't emptied it, and having not used it at all in the Winter months, it really needed clearing and, yes - you've guessed it, more scrubbing. So, having emptied it, the OH got into the filters and gave them a wash through while I got in the empty tub and gave that a 'bicarbonate of soda and hot water' rubbing down!

The benefits are, however, well worth the efforts. The garden looks very neat and tidy, and everything is spick and span, ready for the summer - hurrah! We're just waiting for the hot tub to re-heat the water in time for the sun - at this rate, it might not happen!

And, the blue-tits have definitely returned and are, at present, literally feathering their nest!

 

Spring has Sprung!

           

Everything is just beginning to grow and now is the time to plant things out! So far I’ve done the garlic and onions, way back in December I think;

The cabbages then too…they’re under there, I promise!

Early March saw sowing of Perpetual Spinach.

The original broad beans were blackened by the snow, so a new set was planted and they’ve begun to grow…

A second row of parsnip was laid in early March, along with  a second this week, and the first of the carrots. All this successional sowing is far more phaff. but a result of me realising last year that everything was ready at once. I still forgot with the cabbages though.

Indoors has seen the return of the ‘kits’ for peppers, chillies and tomatoes that worked so well last year.

Oh yes, the tits are back looking for a place to nest.

Lex - Found Purse

LEX,

Many thanks for your comment - I only hope you're still 'checking in' on this site!
If you still are, and still have the purse, please contact me at direbonappetit@hotmail.co.uk

Many thanks in advance,

Merlotti x

How to Plant Asparagus

        

Ok, now, I admit it: I didn’t think this through properly, growing asparagus. Only after I’d ordered it and it had arrived did I seriously think this idea through. Having researched what the heck I needed to do with it, I finally realised there was much work involved.

I looked in several books, and online, to see if there was a quick and easy shortcut to all the watering, digging, soil preparation and planting malarkey that  was apparently needed; it appears that there isn’t!

Firstly, the soil preparation seems to be one of the most important factors. You need to dig trenches that are at least 15cm deep, then excavate the sides so there’s a raised ridge down the middle: this is to keep the main root and sprouting thing on top, or something!

Then you have make sure it’s well manured and fertilised.

Whilst doing all this, the crowns should be in a bucket of water so they don’t dry out.

 

Spread the roots out and ensure the sprouting thing is on top.

Finally, push the soil back around each crown so the shoot is still visible. As it grows, pile the soil up around it ‘til it’s eventually level again.

The best thing to do before you go about this is to watch the BBC’s Gardener’s World video!

And the phaff has not finished yet: after all this hard work, you can’t even pick the asparagus for another year at least. In fact, it’s recommended that you leave it this year, and next, and only begin to pick for a very short season in Year 3! Oh well, I just hope all the hard work was worth it! Guess I won’t find out until 2012 – I’ll let you know then!

 

Garlic from the Garden

One thing that grew particularly well in the Cabbage Patch this year was the garlic. So much so, in fact, that I planted about 30 this year, so I’m thinking if we eat 0.58 of a bulb / head a week, it’ll last all year! That’s the theory behind it anyway, so I was very upset to notice that although my onions are doing particularly well, despite their crushing by the snow, the garlic shoots weren’t even up. Until, that was, James Martin commented on the fact that the garlic shoot season is just beginning, and, sure enough, when I ran up the garden to see, the tiny little purple shoots had just poked their heads up above ground!

If you’d like to find some recipe ideas using this delicious ingredient, look no further than Bon Appétit!

From The Cabbage Patch 

From The Cabbage Patch

Not looking good!

After having left the soil upturned for the robins and other birds to have a peck at for a few days, I covered the dug beds with plastic bin bags in the hopes of insualting the soil and stopping as many weeds as possible.

Whilst I was down there, I also caught up with how the new broad beans were getting on after I'd chopped all their mushy bits off. The answer is, not very well. I'll give them another week or so before buying more! Maybe this time I'll also sew a fleecy tent for the cane frame they're growing up!

Garden Rescue

For the first time since the snow, I ventured up to the cabbage patch to see what the state of play really was; let’s just say it wasn’t good. The cabbages had been thoroughly enjoyed by the slugs and snails, the celery was no longer strong and tall and the broad beans for an early spring crop were black and mushy: yuck.

So, first up, although I dillied and dallied not wanting to start, was to clear all the dead rubbish from the beds. I began by chopping back the raspberry canes, something I should have done earlier, but hadn’t had the chance. I then went on to clearing and digging over the carrot and parsnip bed, removing weeds and old spinach plants from the other, and cutting back the black, sludgy beans, leaving the newer shoots at the bottom in hope. Fingers crossed.

I also removed all the old tomatoes, peppers and chillies from outside and the greenhouse, and dug over any beds. Robins will have the chance to enjoy the freshly turned earth before I cover them with black bags to help keep the weeds a bay and warm the soil as spring approaches.

Then cleared the greenhouse – phew!