The Good Life?????

2010-03-08T14:03:00.001Z

This Week, I have been mostly planting:

Spinach (indoors)
Leeks (Indoors)

Will do a couple more lots indoors, then start sowing some outdoors.

2010-03-06T16:46:00.008Z

Chicken Week

Decided to treat ourselves a little this week so are having Roast Chicken for Monday dinner.
Although our shopping budget has shrunk a lot, I'm not willing to go back on my food ethics and start to buy cheap poultry. The same rules have to apply as before, which just means eating expensive meats like chicken less.
HFW has lead a huge campaign recently about the welfare of the chickens we eat and "Chicken out" was a great program.
I do wish he'd been a bit harsher to those people complaining about being hard up and saying that buying these intensively reared birds was a necessity for them to survive and just told them to stop eating chicken so often and buy cheaper cuts of beef / lamb and offal, or even just eat more of some of the cheapest food you can buy, local seasonal veg, but I guess that's one of the reasons he is a well known and well respected food writer and tv personality and I'm just an angry guy on the Internet ;)

Anyway, I digress...... To justify the outlay of the Chicken, we've got to make it go as far as possible (always done this, but for more for ethical, rather than cost reasons) so the plan for the chicken is:

Roast chicken on Monday, with a few veg - Mashed Potato, Roast Potato, Roast Parsnip, cabbage and carrots.

For dinner on Tuesday, going to use the left over mash and some of the chicken to make Chicken and Stuffing Rissoles with Parsnip chips.

Also going to make chicken soup for Tuesday and Wednesday lunch using home made chicken stock and whatever meat is left on the bird.

Whenever I have used a chicken in the past, either to roast or to cut up for breasts / legs etc, I keep the carcass in the freezer and when I've got enough, I make a big batch of chicken stock. The stock pot is currently bubbling away nicely in the kitchen and hopefully I'll have enough to make soup and be able to freeze some stock.

So, the expensive chicken should last 2 evening meals and 2 lunchtimes, for 2 people. 8 portions isn't bad!

Recipes (I never measure when I'm cooking, so the quantities are just "common sense")

Chicken and stuffing Rissoles with parsnip chips

Mashed Potatoes
Chicken
Stuffing
Breadcrumbs (with a little Salt and Pepper mixed in)
Eggs (whisked)
Flour (plain)
Parsnips
Oil

Cut the cooked chicken into small pieces and add to the mashed potato along with broken up stuffing. Mix well.
Roll the mix into rissole sized balls.
Roll the rissoles over the flour so they get coated, then dunk them in the egg ensuring they are fully covered.
Then put them in the breadcrumbs making sure there is a full and even covering.
Put in fridge for at least 3o mins (will hold together better during cooking)
Not long before you are ready to cook, peel parsnips and then, using a veg peeler, make crisps from the parsnips.
Deep fry rissoles in oil until Golden brown (about 5 mins)
Transfer to warm oven.
Turn the oil up, add the parsnip chips and cook for a few seconds until starting to colour. Take out and place on kitchen roll or tea towel. Note: They won't crisp up until they cool a little.
Add a little salt to them and serve up with the rissoles.

2010-03-04T13:26:00.002Z

The Freezer

Currently stocked up with:

4x Cottage pie
2x Chicken and Leek pie
2x Curry Goat
2x Pumpkin Soup
1x Joint of beef
lots x chicken carcasses (going to make some more stock and maybe some soup at some point)

Should keep us going for a little while

2010-03-03T08:53:00.003Z

Broad beans

Finally got round to putting the broad beans in. Planted 2 rows in the ground and have started another inside, so hopefully won't have a huge glut of them.

2010-03-01T08:08:00.003Z

A New Year, a New Start take 2

Food tonight : Curry goat.
http://www.channel4.com/food/recipes/chefs/hugh-fearnley-whittingstall/curry_goat_p_1.html

Elderflower Cordial

2008-06-23T10:36:00.001+01:00

Elderflower Cordial
Originally uploaded by Owen Rhys Williams

Very nice it is too!
Got some Wine on the go as well.

Eating from the garden:
First Earlies and main crop potatoes
Cucumbers
Broad Beans
Lettuce
Spinach.

Garden 19/05

2008-05-19T09:46:00.001+01:00

Garden 19/05
Originally uploaded by Owen Rhys Williams

2008-02-22T09:14:00.002Z

P1010199
Originally uploaded by Owen Rhys Williams

Here is it, in all it's glory.
Still need some more stones / chippings to fill in the path but other than that, just about ready for the new season. Broad beans are already in

2008-02-13T09:44:00.003Z

A New Year, a new start

Last year in the garden was a bit of a washout, for various reasons. Some things went well, broad beans in particular, but I let the garden get away from me for a while and never got round to catching up with it, so this year I'm determined to start afresh.
First thing I've done it split up my veg patch a bit, by putting a path through it. This has cut down on growing space, but it looks a lot better already. Also I think it's going to be a lot more manageable.
And I've decided that the extra patch I created last season isn't the best idea at the moment, so going to turf that (after digging up the turf last year!!!) and grow some fruit trees there. An apple tree defiantly, not decided on the other one though.

So, the patch has been dug over, I've put some good compost into one "plot" ready to plant my broad beans this weekend. Need to collect and dig in some manure to the rest of the plots now.

This year, I'm planning on growing;

Plot 1 - Potatoes (first early), Garlic, Onions
Plot 2 - French Beans, Runner Beans, Broad Beans
Plot 3 - Leeks, Cabbage, Spinach, Sweet corn
Plot 4 - Parsnips, Carrots, Celeriac.
Greenhouse - Tomatoes, Cucumber, Chilli

The French beans are (hopefully) going to grow up and over some hazel arches I'm going to put together to go over one of the paths. Saw it in the National Botanic Gardens in Carmarthen and it looked very good indeed.

We went away on holidays in January and when we were away one of them got killed by a ferret. When I returned the ferret was back in the run, looking to attack the other 2, so I shot it. The remaining 2 are fine now, didn't even stop laying. Don't think much upsets them!
So now we have 2 chickens again and it's the original 2! Don't think I'll bother buying expensive chickens again!

2007-09-05T10:14:00.000+01:00

BlackBerry and Apple Wine

Picked about 1kg of Blackberries last night, so have started some Blackberry and Apple wine.
Loads of Blackberries about, so planning on going out again tonight to get some more to make some Jam again, which was lovely last year.

Penny R.I.P.

2007-06-20T09:27:00.001+01:00

Penny
Originally uploaded by Owen Rhys Williams

Well, lost our first chicken yesterday.
She wasn't very well Monday night, had no energy at all, just lay there. She was the same Tuesday morning and when I got home from work on Tuesday she was dead.

It was very unexpected, she'd been the healthiest (and fattest) chicken out of the lot of them, always making loads of noise (when we got out of the car coming home from work, you could always hear her shouting for food!) and always giving Molly and peck whenever she could be bothered.

I'm sure she won't be the last chicken we lose unexpectedly, just part of life.

2007-06-14T13:36:00.000+01:00

Have had the first of my Broad Beans. They are very nice indeed. Loads more left to eat now and looks like more are growing, so will be eating them for a while.
Potatoes are very nice, good size and very tasty.

2007-04-23T09:41:00.000+01:00

My parents came over on Sunday to plant up the tomatoes in the greenhouse (turned into about 4 hours sorting the mess in my garden out mind!)
So have 4 gardeners delight plants, 4 Money maker plants with another 2 outside.

The cauliflowers have gone into the ground (don't look too healthy at the moment, hope they will perk up a bit now)

Moved the compost bin for all the chickens waste up to the top of the garden, which has left some space by the raspberry canes. Thinking of putting a apple tree up there, depends on space.

Chickens

2007-04-12T11:40:00.001+01:00

Chickens
Originally uploaded by Owen Rhys Williams.

Bottles of Apple Wine

2007-04-08T17:59:00.001+01:00

Bottles of Apple Wine
Originally uploaded by Owen Rhys Williams.

Finally got round to bottling it. Tried a bit last night.... not too bad at all!

New Greenhouse

2007-04-08T17:58:00.001+01:00

New Greenhouse
Originally uploaded by Owen Rhys Williams.

In all it's glory! Not quite finished yet, still got some glass to put in once I've worked out how to fit the vent and the guttering still has to go on.

2007-03-27T16:05:00.000+01:00

Greenhouse!

Yes! I've got one :-)
Thank you to mum, for her contribution! Part Christmas part Birthday present!

Managed to find one in Focus relatively cheap. Frame is all up, just awaiting the glass to arrive now, should be here on the weekend!

Expands my growing possibilities a fair bit, also will make it easier to start off plants in pots.
Not exactly sure what I'm going to grow in there yet, definitely tomatoes, but as it's not a big greenhouse (6ftx6ft) I'm going to have to be selective on what else goes in.

Broad Beans are up, a few haven't, but the majority have.

Best new of all is I'm coming home on Friday for good, so the season starts proparly this weekend... lot's of seeds I need to start!

2007-03-12T19:36:00.000Z

Finished getting the patch ready on the weekend.... all turned over, manure dug in and all ready to go!

Got my potatoes in, 1 1/2 rows of both first earlies and main crop.

Celeriac, celery and cauliflower seeds all doing fine under my makeshift cold frame.

Not sure about my broad beans.... still no sign of them, so I dug one up just to check and it had certainly grown, but not enough yet.... if there is still no sign of them this weekend I think I'll buy another pack and replant them

2007-03-08T09:19:00.000Z

All the seeds I put in came up and I've now transplanted them into individual pots and put them under my home made cold frame.
Put my Broad Beans in on the 26/02..... bit worried about the amount of rain we've had since then, hopefully they should be ok, will find out tomorrow!

Got the manure 2 weeks ago as well, dug that into the ground, going to try and sort out a few trenches this weekend for my potatoes, peas, calliflower and runner beans.

2007-02-19T19:13:00.000Z

It's started

Well, bought all the seeds over the weekend, list of veg has grown a bit too much I think, but I'm sure I'll learn by next year!

Started off the Celery, Celeriac and Cauliflower in the propagator and the seed potatoes are sitting on the windowsill chitting.

Going to do a manure run next weekend, need lots of in now I've extending the patch.

Broad beans are the next things to put in, hopefully, weather permitting, I'll get them in next weekend.

2007-01-12T14:12:00.000Z

Planning the garden

Been in the house nearly a year now and it's time to plan the veg garden for the year, want to be a bit more organised this time, grow a lot of things that I know I'll eat, rather than a bit of this and a bit of that.
I've started to turn over the bit of turf that is remaining, so I've got a fair bit more growing space this season. The potatoes will be going in the bit I've turned over, heard they are supposed to break up the soil well... not sure how true this is, but sounds good to me!
Still no greenhouse and due to lack of funds, not likely to have one this year.

Planning on growing;
Potatoes
Peas
Carrots
Celeriac
Parsnips
Runner Beans
Mange Tout
Lettuce
Garlic
Spring Onion
Chard
Spinach
Butternut Squash
Broccoli
Cauliflower
Leeks
Cabbage

2007-01-01T13:45:00.001Z

P1000447
Originally uploaded by Owen Rhys Williams.

Well it's taken me a while, but after months of shooting cans in the back garden, I finally managed to get out on New Years eve to go looking for Rabbits.

We were staying in a cottage down the Gower, which was owned by a farmer, who was happy for us to go and shoot on his land.

We found an area full of warrens and sat and waited. It was a clean head shot. The paunching and skinning was fairly easy. It's in the freezer now, can't decide what recipe to use....

Sunday Dinner!

2006-12-08T08:32:00.001Z

Sunday Dinner!
Originally uploaded by Owen Rhys Williams.

Finished off most of the veg a few weekends ago. Was all very nice indeed. The Swede didn't grow as well as I hoped, didn't seem to swell at all, but tasted very nice all the same.

Apple Wine part 2 + Garden

2006-10-18T08:56:00.001+01:00

Apple Wine part 2
Originally uploaded by Owen Rhys Williams.

Everything seems to be going ok, touch wood. Moved it out of the bucket after 4 days, then strained it into the demi john. Remembered to put water in the air lock this time and it is plopping away nicely.

My dad came over on the weekend to help me "sort out" the garden (secretly I think he likes moaning about how much of a mess it was!)
We (he, mostly!) cleared the old "compost heap", which was mostly full of rubbish and then put the vines in the ground.

We attempted to put up a greenhouse, but failed miserably..... going to have to save up my pennies I think, so I can afford to buy a new one, with proper instructions!

Next garden job is clearing the remainder of the lawn, so I can dig it over, ready for next season.... should be a fun job!

Celeriac

2006-10-14T00:53:00.001+01:00

Celeriac
Originally uploaded by Owen Rhys Williams.

Well dug up some of my Celeriac, looks ok very rooty, but I've never grown them before, so not sure if that's ok or not!

Given this lot to my mum, who said she'd make some stilton and celeriac soup out of them, which we would split 50/50! Seems like a good trade to me!

Apple Wine

2006-10-09T20:43:00.000+01:00

Start of the apple wine
Originally uploaded by Owen Rhys Williams.

After the disaster that was my Rhubarb wine

(how was I supposed to know;

C6H12O6 > 2 C2H5OH plus CO2
( SUGAR) > (ALCOHOL) plus( CARBON DIOXIDE )
This reaction only takes place in ANAEROBIC conditions
and a temp of between 60 and 75 F (cheers Dad!)

i.e. I was supposed to put water in the airlocks to stop the air getting in!!!)

I've thought I'd give it another try. Need to perfect it before my vines start to become productive (Would help if I cleared the space where they are going into the ground first!) so should have a good few years yet!

My next door neighbour had a cabinet in one shed she wanted moving to a different shed, in return for me moving it for her, she offered me a bag full of windfall apples (I would have done it for nothing, honest! But she did insist!!)

So I'm giving apple wine a try. Following this recipe
Hope it turns out better than last time

2006-10-03T10:26:00.000+01:00

Leeks and Carrots

Had the first of my leeks last night and the last of my carrots!

Leeks were very nice, I haven't got many in and these were the smallest of the ones I have got, but still they were well formed and tasty. Must remember to grow more next year.

Got the last of the carrots out as well, they had been left in a bit too long, bit tough, not nearly as sweet as the first few I had. I made soup http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/database/carrotandcorianderso_1919.shtml with them though, so they were fine for that.

Why are odd shaped veg still funny??

2006-10-03T10:22:00.000+01:00

Funny shapes!
Originally uploaded by Owen Rhys Williams.

2006-09-08T08:47:00.000+01:00

Mushrooms!

Went mushrooming this morning, never got so many before, will filled 2 bags full! Usually there are only a few mushrooms up there and lots of puff balls, but we were in luck today!

Mushrooms on toast this morning for breakfast and lots to spare!

Beetroot and Onions

2006-08-13T21:23:00.000+01:00

Onions and Beetroot
Originally uploaded by Owen Rhys Williams.

We had one success and one failure!

I planted 2 rows of onions and I got back 2 onions! Don't quite understand what happened, but the rest of them just haven't grown at all really... the stalks have come up, but the bulb didn't grow at all.

Beetroot seemed to have worked well though. Didn't plant too many, but nearly all that I planted have come up. Taste very good as well! Just made some Spicy Beetroot soup, for the freezer and then just boiled a couple and put some vinegar on them... lush!!!

2006-08-09T22:41:00.000+01:00

Jam!

Went for a walk earlier and noticed there were loads of blackberries about. So popped back home and got a container and picked some!

2006-07-26T10:03:00.000+01:00

Long time no speak!

Potatoes are nearly all used up now, keep putting off using my last lot!! Going to have to grow more next year, a crop of both 1st and 2nd earlies I think.

Peas are coming now, I've been taking a few off just to eat in the garden, but haven't quite had enough ready for a meal out of them yet.

Cabbage etc is getting eaten by something.... birds? Cabbage Whites? I've put some netting over them now, will see how they does.

Broccoli is very odd.... I keep waiting for a floret to grow to a decent size, but they keep going to seed before I can eat them?

Beans have flowers.
Thinned my carrots out yesterday, seem to be comming along well.

Started building the base for my greenhouse, looking forward to getting that up. The tomatoes are doing quite well outside though.

2006-06-27T21:08:00.000+01:00

Used my first Brocolli floret on Saturday and very nice it was too! Had in in a Broccoli and Stilton soup.

A couple more florets on other the plants are not far off now either.... I'll have to get thinking some broccoli recipes!

Had my first potatoes from the garden today! Been delaying it, because I weren't sure if they were ready... but they were a very good size.

Going on holiday in a weeks time, so going to have to do a very big weed before I go, so it's not all overgrown by the time I get back!

2006-06-22T09:42:00.000+01:00

Have started to eat some of the fruits of my (and other people's!!!) labour.

The lettuce is ready and very nice it is too! Should have planted some more mind, as it is disappearing very quickly. Think next year I'll do a few seeds at a week ish, intervals apart.... bit of a pain with them all being ready at the same time.

My runner beans are about half way up the post now. The sweat peas I put around them have started to flower.... not sure how long they flower for, but maybe next year I'll start them off a bit later, so the beans are a bit more developed by the time they flower.

Peas are doing well, slowly climbing up the pea netting I put up.

Don't think the potatoes will be much long! Can't wait for these!!!

One of my broccoli plants is ready, the rest are quite a way off.

2006-05-15T10:54:00.000+01:00

How does your garden grow?

Think one of the newer chickens is turning Broody. She seems to be spending a lot of time in her nesting box and when I pick her up out of there, her belly is very warm. She hasn't got bad yet, she's not attacking me when I pick her out of the box and she tends to stay out of there for a good while after I do. Will have to keep an eye on her!

2006-05-12T09:04:00.000+01:00

Took yesterday afternoon off as it was such a lovely day, so took the opportunity to do some gardening.

My carrots, swede, parsnips and beetroot had all been attacked by slugs / cats so I had to replant a row of each and cover the area in netting to keep the cats away. Also admitted defeat with the night time raids on the slugs and have put some pellets down round the bed.

Put some white cabbage in the ground and planted my peas.

Leeks and celeriac have also gone in.

2006-05-05T09:01:00.000+01:00

Land. maybe??!

Speaking to a nice local the other day about me looking for some land to rent in the area and he may have come up trups. There is a farm house up behind our place and apparently the woman who owns it is quite kean to rent out some land. Going to give her a ring tonight and see what happens! Very excited now!

In the garden the runner beans have gone in, along with some sweet peas (hopefully they will attract some bees to the beans, which will help with polination... that's the plan anyway!)

The sweetcorn, purple sprouting brocolli and cabbage are all in pots outside, will probably put them into the ground the end of this month.

2006-04-24T09:19:00.000+01:00

Lots was done this weekend in the garden, but most of it wasn't done by me! Still suffering with my knees, so my parents, very kindly, decided to dedicate most of their Saturday to my garden (despite the fact their garden is about 5 times the size!)

The red cabbage and broccoli plants were planted, the swede, beetroot, carrot and parsnip seeds were sown into the ground. Ditches were dug for the kidney beans and peas and filled with some well rooted manure (and a small amount of grass cuttings).

I started off the sweetcorn in the propagator and some cabbage and purple sprouting broccoli in some seed trays.

Our next door neighbour gave me some lettuce plants, so have transplanted those into individual pots and put them outside to harden off before transferring them into the ground.

Planted the rosemary bush from a large pot into the ground, apparently it much prefers that, so hopefully it will flourish again! Some parsley, corriander and thyme was also planted into the herb patch.

The chickens are all getting on fine now, pecking order is established! Beatrix - Dorthy - Molly - Penny

Whilst the eggs from the new ones are small, they seem to be laying quite regularly now.

2006-04-21T10:03:00.000+01:00

The Sun is Shining!

And the chickens are making the most of it! Dust baths all round!

Got a load to do in the garden over the weekend.... seeds and plants to plant, plenty of weeding, just hope my knees are better!

Weather forecast is good anyway http://www.metcheck.com/V40/UK/FREE/today.asp

2006-04-19T15:03:00.000+01:00

4 eggs! I feel so proud! They must have all appreciated the efforts I went to this morning putting up a tarpaulin over their run to keep them dry!

One of them was layed outside in the soil and had already cracked, but still, they can't be expected to get it right first time!!

2006-04-18T08:59:00.000+01:00

Well the chickens are now getting on a lot better together. The pecking order seems to be mostly sorted and the "attacks" are less common. We can see the chicken run from our house and when you are watching them from there they are all fine. When I go up there to feed / clean them the boss starts bullying more, but it's not too bad.

We had three eggs in the hen house last week, so one of the new ones must have layed. We are not sure which it was and we haven't had any since.

Goats got into out garden over the weekend and decided to eat the tops off my garlic, not happy about that, especially as they were the only things that have come up so far!

My parents dug me a herb garden on the weekend, when I was away.

My broccoli and red cabbage is ready to go in the ground, so that's a job for this week. Got a load more seeds I need to start off as well.

2006-04-06T09:40:00.000+01:00

New Arrivals!

Whilst driving home from the Lake District where we went for a few days, I was getting bored of motorway driving, so decided to cut through Wales to go home. Was driving along the A49 and saw a sign for "Rare Poultry Collection" so thought we'd give it a visit, not quite sure what to expect!
http://www.wernlas.com/

Well we really didn't expect what was there! Hundreds and hundreds of chickens and all breeds were FOR SALE!

Well, we couldn't leave empty handed, so got one speckled sussex and one partridge cochin. After a long journey home, we put them in the run and kept our fingers crossed! They seemed to be ok but then war erupted!
The sussex is terrified of everything and seemed to just spend all her time hiding in the corner and the cochin, who I thought was going to be able to stand up for herself, was getting bullied by the original 2. I've had to corner off a bit of the run this morning and put the new 2 in there, going to do this for a few days and see where that gets us!

2006-04-02T18:38:00.001+01:00

Finally got round to putting up the chicken run today. It looks good, I'm really pleased with it! Still not sure what material to put at the bottom, currently there is a mix of earth, gravel and grass.

Also managed to fit the automatic chicken door opener! No more having to get up at 6 every morning to let them out and will mean we can go away for a couple of days without having to worry about them.

2006-03-23T09:19:00.000Z

Meat!

Finally got The River Cottage Meat book today! Been wanting to get it for ages, but couldn't bring myself to spend £30 on it.... got it from amazon for £19...
Hours of good reading, just going to have to hide it from Lisa!

2006-03-20T09:28:00.000Z

After a Saturday of playing and watching rugby and drinking lots, I was half hoping the rain would come down on Sunday morning, to give me some excuse not to do my jobs in the garden! But I woke up early Sunday morning with the sun bursting through the curtains, so despite the achey bones and sore head, I decided to bite the bullet and get outside!

Managed to get my potatoes, onions and garlic in which was good! The hangover had mostly disappeared after the onions went in, must be the fresh air!

Bit worried about my lack of space in the veg patch now for all the other seeds I have bought, will see what else I can fit in and then think about extending it.

My broccoli and cabbage were looking a bit "leggy" according to my dad, so he's taken them back to his to put in the greenhouse, will start another lot up soon, just incase they don't survive.

2006-03-13T08:53:00.000Z

Broccoli and red cabbage seeds had come up by this morning, so took them out of the propagator and onto the window sill.
The weekend wasn't the most productive, did manage to plant my new raspberry canes, but that was about it really, the weekend was taken up by the rugby and shopping for house stuff :-(

2006-03-09T15:40:00.000Z

Just put my Broccoli (Organic, Waltham 29) and Cabbage (Red) Fuego F1 in the propagator. I'm kind of taking over the back bedroom with my veg now... the potatoes are chitting (sp?) on the window sill in egg boxes and the propagator is on top of a couple of boxes. Luckily for me Lisa doesn't come in here very often, so I should get away with it, for a while at least

Took the day off today and in between the rain showers, we managed to put the mesh on 3 of the sides of the chicken run, thanks to Lisa's dad nail gun!
Run out of mesh for now though, so when we get some more we will have the one side and roof to do, then it's just a case of putting it all together!

2006-03-06T13:04:00.000Z

Been to Wyevale...

I got;
Beetroot (Boltardy)
Runner Beans (Butler)
Peas (Hurst Greenshaft)
Sweet Corn (f1 Sundance)
Cabbage (f1 Kilaxy)
Lettuce (Webbs Wonderful)
Purple Sprouting Broccoli
Potatoes (Second Early - Nadine)

And a Raspberry bush.

2006-03-06T10:39:00.000Z

Sorted out the raspberries bushes on the weekend, they had some already there, which I have cut back (got rid of the dead ones) and re-fertilised the living ones, will see if they will grow back now. Have prepared the soil for the new bushes I'm going to put in (going to Wyevale this lunchtime to pick some up)

Need to start sowing some seeds soon, got a propagator, so that's a job for me tonight. Also going to try and fence off the veg patch from the lawn, as I don't want the chickens going there when the garden is in full flow.

The chicken run is coming along, all the sides and roof is built now. Need to attach the wire to it now and put it up! Cut down a load of branches yesterday, so I can fit the thing in!

2006-03-01T20:57:00.000Z

Foxes

Was told by our neighbour tonight that a fox had been sitting in our garden today, until they chased it away.
Although we've always been aware that chickens are a target for foxes, this kind of makes things more real.
I'm dead against hunting, It was a cruel way of controlling them, no reason for it, except for "kicks". I'm sure, being from where I am, I'm suppose to understand why they do it, but I just don't. I agree that foxes need to be controlled, because they are a threat to the free range poultry industry, but there are better and more humane ways to control them. A single shot is far better way than having them chased and ripped apart by dogs.
I don't have anything against foxes really, because they are only trying to survive and we, by keeping chickens / rabbits etc are creating a unnatural "supermarket" for them, but they are predators at the end of the day.

Anyway, we will try to do everything to stop the fox having a chance of our chickens! Once the new run is up and running we should be fine, so fingers crossed until then!

2006-03-01T20:48:00.000Z

Here are the photos of our snowy St David's day!

2006-03-01T09:40:00.000Z

Happy St Davids Day!

Woke up this morning to a scene from a Christmas card! Was very impressive (photos to follow)

The cat found it all very exciting and decided to go running and diving in the snow (for all of 5 minutes until she got too cold!)

The chickens, on the other hand, didn't like it at all and refused to leave their house for ages. Put some nice warm porridge for them which they liked, but they don't like the snow at all!

2006-02-28T10:56:00.000Z

Changing Food Habits

Having lived far too close to ASDA for my liking and spending far to much time / money in there, I promised myself, that when we moved I'd go to the supermarket less, a lot less.
The first few weeks didn't go very well, we were very busy with getting the house sorted and didn't really have chance to plan food, just popped into Tescos on the way home...

But finally we have got into a routine. Bought ourselves a blackboard for the kitchen and each week we plan out what meals we are going to have (as seasonal as I can manage!) and we get the meat from Swansea market and veg from Gowerton farm shop. All is going well so far and supermarket visits are greatly reduced!

2006-02-28T10:49:00.000Z

Pigs!

Have sent my letters off the the local farms (found in the yellow pages!) asking if they have any land to rent. Hoping for a positive answer from at least one of them, so I can start planning for 2 pigs! It should be fun! Was also hoping to keep a few turkeys there for xmas, but I don't think any farmer would be too keen on that idea, with all this flu about!

2006-02-27T16:19:00.000Z

Building a new chicken run up the top of the garden, for my 2 hens. Had always planned to have a large run up there for them, but things have got a bit more urgent and the designs have had to be altered slightly because of the threat of bird flu http://news.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/quick_guides/05/health_bird_flu/html/1.stm

Personally I think (and very much hope) that it has been blown out of all proportions by the media, but I've got to be sensible, for the sake of me and Lisa, our neighbours and of course, the hens.

So the new plans for the run is that it will be able to incorporate a roof, if needs be. This should stop wild birds pooing in the run, which should stop the threat of the flu.

The material arrived last week and myself and Lisa's dad spent a couple of hours carrying 36 planks of 3x2x12 wood, 12 bags of sand, 3 bags of cement and 40 breeze blocks through the house and up to the top of the garden!

Since then we've been clearing the area and digging the footings. Lisa's dad is going to start laying them today hopefully.

2006-02-27T16:03:00.000Z

Having finished turning the garden

I spent most of Saturday morning getting manure for it from a local stables. I did a deal with my dad.... he helped me with mine, I helped him with his. Must have got about 40 sacks (20 each) in the end, which should keep us going for the season.

Planted my very first veg there on Sunday. 3 Crowns of Asparagus and 1 Rhubarb.... got to wait 3 years for the Asparagus though, hope it's worth it!

2006-02-27T15:58:00.000Z

Well, here goes... my new life, for the moment!

Having been bought up with gardening in my blood, I had always been vaguely interested in it, especially the vegetable side. Always used to help (don't know how much help I actually was, mind you!) my parents with their veg garden when I was younger.
Anyway, as I said, it was only a vague interest and when I got a job and left home and forgot about things like gardening etc.
But then a couple of things happened. Firstly I started to get very interested in food (not just eating it!) I started to cook a lot more and because of this I started to take a lot more interest in where it came from. Also, we got 2 chickens. Can't really explain why! Anyway, they lived happily in our little urban garden for 6 or so months and the more time I spent with them, chasing them round the garden, cleaning out their house etc, the more I realised how much I wanted a "country" life.
We decided to buy a house and one of my main requirements was a decent sized garden. Our budget was somewhat limited, but eventually we found somewhere just right..... and that's how it started!