A Welsh smallholding (Ad)venture
In late September 2020, after a year in the planning, Adrian finally was able to install the first two of what we hope will be many beehives on our six acres . They will help pollinate our crops and obviously provide real honey and associated by-products. Everything from beeswax furniture polish to lip balm! The … Continue reading Bee Day
It’s been a while…. Now where were we? Harvest has happened and it has absorbed a lot of our time. Spuds and apples now safely stored in our cold store for the winter. We would have had more but they were being attacked by some strange spotty disease. I spent ages researching but the raging … Continue reading Harvest time at Joleen Meadows
Gregory our rooster has settled in well. You may remember that first day when all of our girls (and me) went into hiding behind the coop so Gregory couldn’t find us. Now the girls clamour around him like he is a rock star. So I was very concerned when we discovered a large abscess had … Continue reading A tenderfoot with Bumblefoot
So last week whilst casually strolling through the petshop, I noticed the resident vet wasn’t busy so suggested (being the shy type) that my wife approach her and ask for advice regarding our hens being off-lay recently. I mean they are healthy enough but their egg production had been falling steadily. She confidently asserted “its … Continue reading Greg – the unboxing
I find that writing under the cover of the nom de plume Pa Kettle does actually provide you the freedom to fess up to events you would never personally admit to. In fact, after a long career in corporate life where I have often found myself in the SH1T, I have generally found that one … Continue reading Fessing up
Day two was marked by Jim and yours truly digging the final set of holes while Jan worked with Janet and Jacque on their flower venture. Jan joined us to help dig the final hole in a show of solidarity. By the end of the day we were exhausted but it had been a good … Continue reading The Polytunnel Saga – The Pish Wars
In days of yore, returning Norsemen would recount the many adventures that befell them during the long months they had being away at sea. These tales would go on so long that they became known as sagas. However, after experiencing day one of trying to erect a 90 foot long polytunnel, I have no doubt … Continue reading The Polytunnel Saga – part one – digging yourself a hole
Yesterday, I was confronted by a large flying object at our front door at 6am. We leave the porch light on at night so I assumed it was a hawk moth though it was made a very impressive noise in flight somewhat reminiscent of a chinook helicopter. Thankfully, after inspecting me closely it flew off. … Continue reading The Beetles
…and I am not referring to Jan here With planning permission foolishly approved by a local authority clearly distracted by a virus, we can now make a start on the building of our pole barn. I already had a working sketch scribbled on the back of a seed packet and critically we had acquired ten … Continue reading Fun with Poles
This has been such a busy month there has been little time to write a blog. The first big event was the decision to mix our old girls and new girls into one flock. It was a hot sunny day and we decided to first let the old girls out into the meadow and then … Continue reading April catch up