Update, March 2023

The weather has been up and down over the past few weeks, with a few really nice days, and some cold wet weather, including snow.  On the whole, mostly not great weather for gardening, though I've managed a few snatches here and there.  

I'm slowly building a woven bamboo fence for the duck yard, replacing their disintegrating chicken wire.  I'm using narrow diameter canes I pruned from the bamboo bush earlier this spring, woven and tied together.  I collected a bunch of holey black socks from the son and cut them into small, stretchy strips to use as ties.  It's only a light fence and though decorative probably would not keep chickens in;  ducks are easier to contain as they don't really jump.  I've got the middle section of the fence in place, but it needs to extend a bit further on each side to keep ducks in.  (The three ducks are still in the much smaller chicken yard, under the avian flu housing order.)

The chickens have tractored most of the veg beds at home, and are now onto mowing the lawn in their tractor.  It's nice to see the beds all tidy and ready to sow, and it only entailed moving the tractor a few feet every day--what hard working birds.

I put down a few more rows of carrot seed in the kitchen garden, and the son helped me put down another batch of snap peas at the allotment.  The first batches of peas and broad beans are sprouting up, at last.  I've left the insect mesh on top of them until they're a couple inches up--next week hopefully.  If we get some warmer weather, they might come up a little faster.

I've begun harvesting my small patch of purple sprouting broccoli, have collected a couple of eggs (the first of the year), and am still picking curly kale and the odd leek.  The spring cabbages probably won't be ready until May or June, but they are finally starting to grow after overwintering in the kitchen garden.  Fruit trees and shrubs are starting to put out buds and the plum tree is actually blooming.  

Hopefully the weather will start cooperating;  I have lots more to do this spring.

Starting seeds

 A nice bit of weather at the weekend and I managed to get some seeds sown, both directly in the garden, and in trays.  Most of my seed trays are started outside, as I don't have the room or inclination to decorate my kitchen with them;  there are, however, a few warm weather plants currently gracing my windowsill:  tomato and celeriac seedlings, for instance.

This weekend I raked over a bed the chickens had already tractored for me (scratched, weeded, and manured for two days), and sowed two rows of carrots and three of parsnips.  The carrot seed was last year's, so I may need to resow (it doesn't keep well after opening, apparently), so I sowed it all fairly densely, in the hopes some will germinated.  Not a huge deal if they don't, as I have a couple of unopened packets ready to go.  I also marked the rows with a string between two sticks, to make for accurate hoeing, and then finally put down some insect mesh, in the hopes the birds and bugs don't demolish them as they come up.  I'll take it off once they are well established.

I also sowed a tray each of lettuce, kohl rabi, beets, and red cabbage;  the husband dug me out a big sackful of nicely aged compost about a month ago, and I sieved some of this and mixed with a bit of sand to fill my seed trays.  It's lovely stuff, and I have another three composters full of it at the allotment.  He's suggested making a few grow bags with it, for tomatoes/cucumbers/etc.  If I have enough to spare, I think it would be perfect for that.

April will be my big push for most seeds, but I will continue to do some early batches in March, including some more direct seeding of roots in the kitchen garden at home. 

I can't believe it snowed

The son got his birthday wish one day late this year:  he had a snow day off school;  he and the daughter stayed home and had a fun morning playing in the snow, although the daughter had to come in twice to change into dry clothes and warm up her hands.  Myself, I only visited briefly to take a few photos as I've been unwell this last week (feeling better now).

Berberis starting to flower, March 2023

Although I had prior warning, it seems some of the plants were caught unawares, including the almond tree.  I don't think it took much damage, not being in full bloom, though it looks pretty flowery in the photo!

Almond starting to flower, March 2023

The combination of very cold weather (we had a week of frosts leading up to the snow) and my illness meant that a batch of broad beans got sown almost a week later than I planned--this time I pre-sprouted them in a jar in my kitchen (instead of in the garage in a bag of damp compost) so I just kept rinsing them twice a day, trying to keep them growing and not going moldy.  Thankfully at the weekend--snow all melted--the son helped me get them in at the allotment.

Daughter and son making a snowman

I've also not yet started my March seeds;  I particularly want to start the beets, but there are quite a few seeds to go.  Hopefully I'll get time to start some trays this week, or weekend at the latest.

State of the flock, March 2023

We currently have five hens, ranging in age from about 3 to 6 years old.  That's pretty ancient, for chickens.  Even to make it to 3 is quite a feat!  They really aren't laying eggs, mainly due to age I think, but also partly because they've been locked indoors for so long (since November, because of the avian flu outbreak).  

We also have two ducks and a drake, all around 4-5 years old.  I don't actually know how long ducks usually last, but I'm guessing these are getting up there too.  No eggs from this lot either.

As we are under the housing order, all the birds are back at home where it is a little more roomy than at the allotment.  Plus I can comply with the biosecurity measures much more easily than at a semi-public place.  For the coldest part of winter, they were in their house/yard with a little covered porch.  Now that it's a bit warmer, we've dragged out the old chicken tractor for them.

The husband built the tractor out of some old pallets, wire, and bubble/foil insulation.  It's very small, maybe 1 m x 1.2 m;  has no floor or windows, just a piece of wire where the front "door" is.  On the plus side, it's very easy to move.  We've got the hens living in there now (the ducks are still in the yard), and the son and I move them to a new bit of the veg beds every day.  So instead of constantly standing in their own manure, they get fresh ground with a chance of greens and bugs.  Maybe not a great situation, but certainly an improvement.

Because of the ongoing bird flu situation, I don't think we'll be getting any new birds, instead letting our flock die out naturally.  If scientists make a vaccine or if the virus evolves into something less nasty, I would probably change my mind.  Until then, it's against my animal welfare principles to get more birds when I know they will be miserable.  I will do my best with the flock I have, but I won't be adding to it.