Xmas 2012

 Slightly in advance of a New Years resolution to update the Blog, Happy Christmas from a rather soggy Narberth.  It was just the two of us, Bryn and Bron the cats, Wills and Pippa the ducks and the eight chickens we have now learnt not to name...

 The terrible wet summer (and lack of gardening skills) put paid to a home grown Xmas dinner this year apart from the parsnip, swede and garlic in the chilli glazed carrots, however, we filled the gaps with locally grown produce.     In keeping with 'tradition', the centrepiece of the meal was a curried nut roast (Delia page 298).

The big project for the year was to be a new kitchen for Xmas built by our friend Norman.  However, this has not gone quite to plan.  Earlier in the year we kitted out the utility room in anticipation of loosing the kitchen for a few weeks.  This has now turned into a few months due to a few delays along the way.

We have a new slate floor with underfloor heating, its just that I forgot to order two small connectors and so the plumber had a wasted trip and we still have a cold floor.  We have managed to keep the cooker going, but it is a bit lonely in the middle of the shell of the former kitchen.  Hopefully just a few more weeks and from what we have seen in the workshop it will be worth the wait.  Watch this space.

A Fowl Day

Its official!  This April was the wettest recorded in the UK since records began and the rain has continued into May. Today, a Bank Holiday, is wet and cold – another perfect day out for our ducks.

We acquired a pair of female Khaki Campbell ducks from friends last April on William and Katherine’s wedding day and so they were duly christened Wilhelmina (Wills) and Kate by Ian’s eldest daughter Laura.  

We were told that duck eggs make very good sponge cakes but we don’t bake cakes so we started eating them like ‘normal’ eggs…fried, poached or scrambled – lovely! 

Wills and Kate are very consistent layers, very inquisitive and very busy.

They are less destructive than the hens, preferring a hoovering method through the long grass over scratching and pecking approach which is very useful when it comes to clearing the slugs from around the base of the raised beds.

Ducks take to water …but ours generally have to settle for a washing up bowl full of water for washing and drinking, but on the weekends they are encouraged to take a trip to the ‘dam’ for a good swim, but strictly under supervision.

Sadly, Kate disappeared one damp dismal winter day (presumably a silent fox attack) when left to wonder around the garden unaccompanied during the day.  These days, the hens and ducks are contained within the electric fenced enclosure unless we are around.

Within days of Kate’s disappearance, we purchased Pippa (also named by Laura) for £16 as Wills was clearly pining for a mate.  

After a few days of getting to know each other (plus overhead netting and one clipped wing to keep Pippa inside the fence) they are inseparable.

Although the hens and ducks get along well enough, Pippa is often seen stalking the cats and even charging them once their backs are turned!  The potential for building the ducks a ‘safe’ pond and extending the range of the electric fencing to allow true (fox safe) free range fowl is still under consideration, so watch this space!

A warming tail

We bought a halogen heater to stave off the cold in the unheated kitchen.  We were not the only ones to appreciate the extra warmth!

Underfloor heating and a new kitchen is planned for this year

Bio Diesel Update

Since April 2010 we have been collecting waste vegetable oil (WVO) from a cafe in Narberth and one in Pembroke Dock.  It generally comes in 20 litre plastic or metal containers which have slowly been taking over!

We therefore bought 3no. 1,000 litre IBC Tanks; two for the oil and one to collect rainwater from the barn roof.

This weekend we finally got around to moving the tank into its now permanent home and started filling it with the VWO.  The next challenge is what to do with all the empty plastic containers.

Still no diesel car, but will continue to stockpile (we have around 1,200 litres so far!) the feedstock for future use!

Polytunnel Part 1

We have now ordered a 20' x 30' polytunnel from First Tunnels. Delivery is expected in 2 to 3 weeks then the hard work of putting up will start.  Using Sketchup, I have planned the layout of the raised beds which will be made of scaffold boards if I can find any.  More to follow once it arrives.

The Soft Fruit Garden

This weekend we have planted up the Blackcurrant cuttings taken last year.  Mum kindly bought me 5 bushes for Xmas last year (Big Ben, Ben Connan, Ben Sarek,  Ben Lomond and Ben Hope) which when planted were cut down to the ground as instructed.  I left the cuttings lying in the grass and came across them a few weeks later to find they had started to root.  I therefore potted them up resulting in 17 new bushes but   unfortunately, I don't know which variety they are!

Including the original 5 and one we brought with us from Kent, we now hopefully have 16 productive bushes.  The next challenge will be what to do with all the Blackcurrents!

We have also planted a few Blueberry bushes.  Last year we planted one each of Duke, Bluegold and Ozarkblue to give a long cropping season.  I had wanted to plant Nui as well, however, they seemed to be out of stock everywhere until juat before Xmas.  I ordered 4no. from the RHS and these have been planted as well.

Planting Raspberries canes proved a bit more of a challenge.  The plan was to have 3no. 20' rows which required three lots of wires and 9no. 8' posts hammered into the ground.  A post knocker was bought for the purpose but it still proved hard going as there is rock about a foot down.  A trench was dug along the rows a couple of weeks before and lots of compost dug in.

Early, mid season and late varieties, Glen Moy, Glen Ample and Autumn Bliss respectively were planted last Spring (2011) and we did get a reasonable crop off the late variety as they fruit on first year canes.

Cold weekend in January

Today we started planting for 2012 with 67 garlic cloves going into one of the raised beds.  We have bought garlic bulbs from the Garlic Farm on the Isle of White for the last few years and it has always done well are still working our way through the 75 cloves raised last year.

It was also time to prune the fruit trees.  This was a bit overdue for the apple trees planted in 2010 and it seemed a bit brutal following the advice in the RHS Encyclopaedia of Gardening.  I guess time will tell.

I have also started feeding and mulching the trees with some of the 4t of cow manure that out neighbour Wilf kindly let us have last year.  It is still a bit 'fresh', so I put a layer of straw down first and then covered this with the manure at the rate of 1 large barrowfull per tree.  The raspberries have started to get the same treatment.

We have also started turning the compost heap and mixing in some of the fresh manure so hopefully it will break down faster.  Back breaking and rather smelly work!