A few jobs here and there

Our three new ducks, now designated the Snowflake Ducks (or Snowflakes), are still enclosed in their temporary yard and not hiding in their little coop quite so much.  They don't like us coming too close but will hopefully get used to us being out in the garden as time goes on.  They've been with us just over a week and I'm not ready to let them mingle with the old ducks.  Maybe after another week.  Moving from a barn/farm to a garden/free range is enough of a big scary change--I want them settled in before they face Boy Duck and his territorial aggression.

We've had two birthdays in the past week so not a lot of garden/allotment action has happened.  The son and I managed to get to the allotment on Sunday for sheet mulch;  in addition, I picked some leeks and rhubarb and prepared a bed for beet seeds (hopefully to sow within the next day or two).  What's more, I even caught enough of a sunny spell to wander around the garden with a pair of secateurs and prune my remaining roses, currants and grape vine.  

I've pricked out several trays of early seedlings now (but still more to go), and have started some snap peas in a jar;  I like to soak/pre-sprout my peas and beans before sowing.  And at last a few broad beans are sprouting up at the allotment, after sowing more than a month ago.   I'll need to start clearing weeds and spent plants in my kitchen garden so I can begin sowing there:  I'll be focusing mainly on root crops at home this year.  I like to rotate what I grow there, and last year was mainly brassicas and leeks.

A friend gave me a couple of small potted fruit trees (belonging to her relative who died recently):  a pear and a Bramley apple.  I've wanted a Bramley or other cooking apple for a while now, ever since the big feral tree in the next village over was bulldozed:  we used to pick a couple of sacks every autumn, and they lasted several months on trays in our living room.  I already have a lot of fruit trees, and two other apple trees besides!  Nevertheless we were able to tuck the Bramley in the back corner of our garden.  I also already have a Kumoi pear so the little pear tree might go to the allotment later on;  it's now in a very large container and I'll have to decide if I want to leave it or plant it out.

New ducks

New ducks, March 2026

After several years of trying for some more ducks, we have finally adopted another three females.  We like having ducks, which are excellent at slug hunting, and also lay very nice eggs.  The eggs are just a nice bonus in my view;  pest control is the main draw for me.  We haven't quite settled on a cohort name (we no longer name individually, but as a group) though the daughter has suggested the White Ducks.  Not a bad name!  But we have had a group of White Ducks in the past, so we might think about it a little longer.

The son and I fenced off the small section of garden next to the chicken yard, also enclosing our old chicken tractor in with them;  our two old ducks shun any sort of shelter--they were even sleeping out in the snow this winter--but the new ones have been raised in a barn and aren't used to the open.  We'll keep them enclosed for a week or two while the other ducks free range, to let them get used to each other.  Last time we introduced new ducks, Boy Duck took all summer to finally accept them.  I hope they can get along sooner this time, not least because there are more new ducks than old.  I won't lock them in a yard together until I'm sure everyone is friends.

Boy Duck and Girl Duck are around 8 years old now;  while I don't know how long ducks normally live, I feel like 8 is pretty old.  None of our other ducks lived that long.  These three new ducks are around 12 weeks old, so I hope we get at least 8 years with them too.  Or at least I hope they outlive Boy Duck, as the last duck standing needs to be a girl:  the only reason the ducks live separately to the chickens is because Boy Duck is such a jerk to them--otherwise all our birds could live in one mixed flock.  And of course one duck can't live on its own;  they need a flock or they get too stressed. 

The start of spring, and everything

There has been sowing.  There has been pruning.  There has even been repotting (I put my three small blueberry bushes into one very large container).  The sun has come out:  is it spring yet?  I think it just might be.

While I'm reminding myself not to go overboard like last year, I've been feeling the sunshine like a gentle push to action.  Time to go outside;  time to do something out there.  I'm also reminding myself that I want a more analog life--I need to get out and do stuff, not be attached to a screen like I have been for many of the dark days of winter.  

I am continuing the sheet mulch at the allotment (son has helped me a little), and I'm still happily pulling leeks.  I picked the last of the overwintered beets--surprised to find any worth picking actually--and possibly the last of the chard, as it looks like it's starting to go to seed.  I also sowed those last February seeds (cherry tomatoes and chilis, though I'm not confident about the latter);  and started sowing March seeds too:  Savoy cabbage, early leeks, spring onions.  No sign of the broad beans yet.  I've pricked out the plum toms and bulb onions, sown at the start of February;  the onions went outside in their tray, in the most sheltered spot on the patio--hope they don't get too cold after their indoor start.

March is the time though, the time it all kicks off for real.  Though I'm easing into it, there's a little sense of urgency:  let's get some stuff done before time runs out.