State of the flock, September 2026

We're down to four chickens, none of them laying eggs.  Only Cookie (age 10), Rock (10), Cheep (8) and Birthday (3) are left.  I don't think we've had a chicken egg since spring;  I don't expect any of these old ladies to start up again either, and I asked the husband to put our names down for the next adoption with our preferred hen charity.  Our three Snowflake ducks (not yet 1) are regularly laying;  Girl Duck (also 10) is not--nor Boy Duck (8) of course.  

Birthday, Cheep and Rock (camera shy Cookie is not shown), September 2026

 I'm on the fence about replacing chickens actually:  it's kind of difficult maintaining two separate flocks.  That pesky Boy Duck--if/when he finally goes (and apparently they can live to 20?) I'll merge the chickens and ducks and decide then if I want to carry on replacing.  Not only is he a jerk to our chickens, drakes should not be mixed with hens because of the possibility of injury during mating attempts.  Cockerels can safely mix with ducks (though we have no cockerel);  it's an anatomy issue with drakes.  

The five ducks have been daily free ranging over the perennials section of the garden (not on the lawn) and chickens have had some free range over the lawn.  Both get locked away in their yards overnight and there is a temporary fence between them during the day.  I'm considering moving the other temporary fence from the kitchen garden to allow free range there--I want to start clearing away as most of my veg has finished and it's very weedy.

Why don't I just let the flock die out naturally without replacement?  I'm thinking of the last lonely hen all by herself.  It would be cruel to keep just one all alone--like ducks they are a flock animal and need friends.   

Duck flock in their summer yard, September 2026

A few jobs, nothing too strenuous

To my surprise, there was a dry sunny-ish day at the weekend;  all week I've been getting rained on whenever I left the house.  Not only did I finally put my laundry out (it mostly dried), I did a couple small jobs in the garden.  

First off, the daughter helped me roll my small potted peach tree into the garage--it's on a little plant "skateboard."  I grew this peach (or possibly nectarine) from the seed of a supermarket fruit many years ago.  Unfortunately it gets bad leaf curl every year, first dying back and then putting out spindly new growth;  in fact I thought it had completely died two years ago.  But it held on, just.  Last winter I put it under cover and for the first time it didn't get leaf curl;  the idea is that if the tree stays dry as the leaves emerge, the fungus can't attack it.  Maybe it can grow and actually fruit this year.  Maybe.

While we were in the garage we did a little tidying (the garage is more like a big shed) and crushed our winter's collection of eggshells, in preparation for scattering around transplants later on in spring.  We save all our eggshells and let them dry on trays in the garage.  I also give some back to the chickens for extra calcium.  When he was small, the son used to enjoy crunching them up, and now at age five the daughter likes it too.

Then I got out my hand secateurs and nipped off the new water shoots growing straight up from the Sparta apple tree.  I prune this tree once a year to keep it within my reach, no taller than the 2 m fence it grows next to.  I also cut out any shoots growing perpendicular to the fence, to keep it somewhat espalier.  The Laxton Fortune tree needs less pruning as it doesn't seem to be such a vigorous grower, but it has a couple to be taken off the top too.

Lastly, and before the daughter started crying of cold hands (she started making mud pies while I was pruning), I split some little green logs using our small hatchet (I use it as a wedge and whack it with a mallet).  We'd coppiced a smallish ornamental pear tree for firewood during the Christmas break, with the husband using the reciprocal saw while the son and I wielded loppers.  The sticks and twigs were collected in one pile and the short trunk pieces stacked in another;  I worked a bit on this second pile, keeping myself warm with the exercise and enjoying the sunshine.

Grand total of garden food, 2025

Vegetables: 578 lbs, 6.5 oz

Fruit:  42 lbs, 3 oz

Eggs: 799

My goodness, did I smash it last year!  I almost doubled my previous year's total of veg, itself a record breaker.  Best performers this year were squash at 92 lb (though about half this total was from 2024's harvest, more than half of 2025's large harvest is still hanging out in my living room waiting to be weighed and eaten), cherry tomatoes at more than 66 lb, and plum tomatoes at just under 47 lb.  Honorable mentions include almost 36 lb of cabbage;  and a close finish of potatoes, zucchini, cauliflower and lettuce(!) each hovering in the 26-28 lb range.

My fruit totals were much higher this year, both because I recorded more (failure to record fruit harvest has been an ongoing issue over the years) and because I grew more.  It was a bumper year for figs, and a good one for apples, berries and Morello cherries.  However I still didn't weigh the apples (counted them by volume, though I estimate they weighed around 40 lbs themselves) and some other fruits;  this official total includes Morello cherries, blackcurrants, figs, pears and plums (does not include apples, strawberries, gooseberries, sweet cherries).  Regardless, it was a good year and we still have jars in the pantry and bags in the freezer.  

The chickens rather slacked off in the egg laying department for 2025, but what can I say?  They're all rather old:  when they die off, we replace them with younger but still somewhat old chickens, so no wonder the eggs aren't as bountiful.  Oh well.  We like our feathery friends the way they are.  Eggs are just a bonus these days. 

The weather was for the most part in my favor this year, but the work I've done on the soil (no dig, plus copious amounts of manure/compost over the years) has definitely played its part.  My soil held plenty of moisture, enough to see my allotment plants through to harvest;  we had a very dry, hot year and a hosepipe ban from summer onward.  Nearly all my plants enjoyed the heat without being too affected by the lack of rain;  it also meant a huge decrease in slug pressure.  Note:  I still needed to water my containers once or twice daily.  A few things finished earlier than I'd hoped, such as the snap peas and first sowing of turnips--and my carrots and parsnips were a bit small--but nearly everything else produced well.  Exceptionally well.

I grew that much in the past year I don't expect to beat it for 2026:  in fact, it was so much work I almost couldn't handle it all.  Even tallying it all up over the weekend was somewhat of an ordeal!  I would like to grow a similar amount of veg or slightly less.  Maybe over 318 lb (2024's total) but not more than 578 lb.  I have my seeds ready to start, and I have some standing veg still to be harvested; I will go over last year's plan to hopefully make it a little easier on myself.

See previous grand totals:  2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016

The Vegetable Challenge in winter

Our Thanksgiving meal was lovely and included lots of homegrown ingredients, including vegetables, eggs and herbs.  We had a nice dinner with friends;  now we're looking forward to Christmas dinner, though just with our four selves.

I'm still picking a few fresh things from the garden and allotment; this last week I've picked lettuce, cauliflower (I thought I'd already got them all), turnips and Chinese cabbage.  I still have fresh leeks in the fridge and squash in my living room, plus various bags in the freezer--and quite a lot of jars in my fridge and pantry:  dried, fermented, pickled.  The Vegetable Challenge has another seven or so weeks to run, and I'm fairly confident about achieving it this time.  I'm even confident about extending it beyond its finish date of 21st January.

Because of my garden and allotment plan this year, there's been plenty of variety and meals haven't got monotonous, at least not yet.  Eating with the season has been interesting and tasty I think.  I liked eating salads every day in summer and I've appreciated starting on the preserved veg at the start of winter:  pickled cucumbers and beets recently.  I've been trying to get through jars to make room in my fridge!  To that end, the last of the early summer sauerkraut has been cooked into most of my stews, and I'm alternating my breakfast kimchi with mixed veg salsa (which also pairs very well with eggs, regardless of having a very different flavor).

And after looking forward to it all year long, it's nice to start finally eating the first parsnips.  I don't have a lot this time, but next spring I'll try to get a full bed instead of just a few rows.  A nice treat in winter.  And I still have a small bed of pak choi awaiting me:  the anticipation is almost better than the eating.

State of the flock, October 2025

I think we only mowed the lawn twice this summer:  it was too dry to grow most of the time, and we had to keep our flock off of it.  Now it's grown again and we're leaving it a little long--just a couple inches--for the ducks and chickens to free range.  They all like grass and it will probably last them until January if they're lucky.  The two ducks are still getting several days of free range a week, but the eleven chickens only get a couple hours a week (not fair!) because they need supervision.  The chickens are laying us maybe three eggs a day now:  unexpected and very welcome.  

I'm considering sending the chickens back up to their yard at the allotment for a month or so before winter, to scratch it up and eat the weeds;  however, it still has all the achocha, one more squash and a self sown tomato covered in fruit--they can't go just yet.  I don't want them there during winter, but if an early frost kills the plants in their yard--they could go then.  Their yard at home is pretty muddy/pooey though I did get some free wood chips to spread around, hopefully to dry it up a bit.  Some sort of mulch is needed, especially in the wet months of winter.

Our Pekin bantam:  Cookie, aged 9.5 years, Sep 2025

We haven't had any deaths all year, despite having a very aged flock;  the ducks are about six years old, and the chickens range from two years to nine.  Some of the chickens are molting and the ducks had their molt in late summer;  hopefully this means everyone is getting ready for the winter and will see next year healthfully and happily.

The flock, using graywater, protecting the harvest

 

Eating some grass at the allotment, May 2025

I sent the son to the allotment on Sunday for the morning chicken check (I've been going up myself both before school and after work), with instructions to take a photo of the chickens for me.  They went up a week ago to a very grassy yard and have done a lot of mowing.  At this point I'm not sure how long they'll stay.  A few weeks?  All summer?  No definite plans at this point.  I wanted them up there to clear away the grass at the very least.  However if we get a heat wave they'll have to come back home to their house and yard in the shade.  Bonus from all that grass I presume:  egg numbers have gone up.

The ducks are still at home, locked in their large yard for the present.  I've been planting out the kitchen garden including the non-fenced portion;  when my new plants are bigger they can have some free range again.  

Once again, it's not rained at all in the previous week.  The husband and son wrangled the washing machine so it pumps out the dryer vent;  I've found some of my collection of pipes and hoses (I can't seem to find all of them), to direct the water onto some of the beds surrounding the patio.  I use homemade soap in this laundry (it's made with tallow, lye and water only, and well aged to make sure all the lye saponifies with the fat).  The pipes empty onto the soil itself at the top of the beds to seep downhill, not splashing directly onto my vegetables.  I'm generally doing one wash every morning.  

The water butts still have a very small amount of water, but I'm also saving some water from the house to take outside:  some bathwater (hard to transport), the water used in cooking and washing vegetables, that sort of thing.  Mainly I water my pots and planters with this saved water, the beds with the washing machine water.

This weekend I netted both my Morello cherry tree and my small strawberry patch at home.  Hopefully both are bird proof, as there's definitely not enough to share!  I also remembered to put my purple sprouting broccoli seedlings under insect mesh--I found one small patch of eggs on one of the leaves.  I really need to plant those out as they're getting too big, but where?  I'm thinking maybe I can plant them in gaps in the beetroot bed at the allotment--it still has insect mesh on it (mainly as a pigeon deterrent). 

New chickens, March 2025

First day home, March 2025

It's always an exciting day when we bring home new chickens!  These five new hens came from a rescue charity, as 18 month old ex-farm hens.  They happened to come from a free range farm, and are much more red in the comb and wattle than most rescue hens we've adopted;  obviously they've spent some time outdoors.

As we've just celebrated two family birthdays in the past two weeks, the daughter (turned five last week) decided their cohort would be named the Birthday chickens;  we gave up individual names many years ago and now name our chickens as a group--the previous group (two remaining) are called the Specklies. 

To facilitate a peaceful integration between the home flock and the new flock, we've dragged out the old chicken tractor (aka moveable coop) and set it up next to the stationary coop and run.  We set up some bamboo canes and netting to make a small temporary run between the chicken fence and the garden fence;  the two flocks can see each other through it.  The first day I had to clip Cheep's wing (last remaining hen of the Cheep cohort) who jumped out three times!  Also adjusted the netting and canes;  hopefully she's staying in now--none of the others are at all inclined to escape thankfully.  

We've not had any eggs from the old chickens since last year until this week;  two were/are molting and the rest just old.  In fact our oldest two hens are almost nine years old--the only hens we have left with individual names:  Rock and Cookie.  These two venerable hens have their own birthday on 1st of April: we adopted them as chicks from a breeder.  For convenience sake we count everyone else's birthday on the same day; we'll then have one six year old, one five year old and two three year olds in the old flock.  A bunch of old ladies!  But even six year old Cheep laid her first egg of the year this week, so she's still got it.

Ducks and chickens, February 2025

Recently I read that Wales has imposed an enclosure order for domestic birds because of the spread of avian influenza.  We live within about an hour of the Welsh border as the crow flies, so I am expecting the same for our birds any time now.

Free range, February 2025

Because of this, I'm implementing as much free range for my own birds as I can;  the two ducks are getting it in the morning, including the veg patch.  I've covered over the most delicate plants with netting (including a newly planted row of strawberries) and they can help themselves to the rest;  while omnivorous, they tend more towards the carnivorous/insectivorous side--chickens tend towards herbivorous.  The ducks don't much bother about my plants (though they do dig/dabble a bit and can trample).  I want them in there for slug patrol right now, their favorite treat.

Envious, February 2025

In the afternoons when I get home from work I usher the ducks back into their own yard, shut the gate to the kitchen garden, and invite the chickens out for their turn on the lawn:  they get to free range until dark.  Chickens are not yet allowed into the kitchen garden and the fencing around it is low enough for them to jump/fly over;  I have to be home to supervise their free ranging.  Where the ducks might unintentionally flatten a few things, the chickens would scratch and peck everything down to nothing;  there are plenty of weeds I'd like them to annihilate (and hopefully they will later in the spring) but right now my cauliflowers, cabbages and pak choi are too precious.

The different preferences of chickens and ducks really complement each other in the veg patch:  one cleans up the pests and the other cleans up the weeds.  Both give excellent fertilizer too.  My chickens are laying a few eggs a week, and Girl Duck does keep sneaking off by herself, to Boy Duck's dismay;  but I haven't found any duck eggs yet this year (she doesn't lay in a dedicated nest).  

We are ready to cover our chicken yard completely if we get an enclosure order;  the ducks will have to join the chickens in there (not fun for anybody) but there is enough space in both the house and the yard for all eight birds.  I might even see about putting in a few perches into the yard to give the chickens a place to rest out of the way of Boy Duck:  he is pretty aggressive to them, though luckily he isn't very fast or sharp.

Grand total of garden food, 2024

Vegetables: 318 lb, 10.5 oz (incomplete)

Fruit:  2 lb, 7 oz (incomplete)

Eggs: 1262

What a year!  I broke my record of 2023, which was 277 lb.  However, I must state that some of 2023's veg wasn't recorded until 2024:  of the more than 100 lb of squash (!!), around 82 lb of it was grown in 2023.  We ate fresh squash every month of the year except August (and then we ate it from frozen!);  we ate our last 2023 squash in July of 2024.

Other notable amounts:  26 lb of plum tomatoes and 20 lb of cherry tomatoes (unlike the previous year, almost every tomato ripened by the end of the season), 16 lb of beet roots (plus 12 lb more of the greens) and 15 lb of kohlrabi.  I marked the total as incomplete as there are indeed some more squashes from 2024 to be weighed and eaten in 2025 (though probably not a full 82 lb).

Fruit was actually better than the previous year (though still rather sparse), but like most years I didn't record it faithfully, so the totals are similar.  We had probably 20 lb at least of apples, plus a couple more lb of raspberries, but I only recorded a few ounces of the berries, few figs and one pear.  I don't have a good method for recording fruit like I do vegetables, probably because I don't prepare fruit like vegetables (I weigh veg before cooking, but fruit rarely gets cooked in our house, just eaten).  

Our newest adopted four hens, the Specklies, did us proud and really bulked up the egg production in the last year, more than double the previous.  Sadly we've lost two of them this winter;  as a high-production breed, they are also short-lived.  Hopefully we can adopt another four to join our flock later in spring, when it warms up a little. 

See previous grand totals:  2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016

Last bit of work for the end of 2024

This past week I haven't done much outdoors--it's been dark and miserable.  However I did manage to visit the allotment twice for sheet mulch--I'm back to collecting cardboard boxes from my work, a few at a time.  I've got the tomato bed covered and am now moving on to the (large) squash bed.  Little by little.  Over the summer one of my allotment neighbors brought in several stacks of large cardboard pieces from his workplace, I assume a warehouse.  These were wonderful for sheet mulch!  But I haven't seen him for a few months now, so I'm collecting what I can--small pieces are better than nothing.  I've been covering it with used stable bedding from onsite:  horse manure and straw.

At home I'm mainly only going out to give scraps to the chickens and ducks.  We are letting each flock take turns free ranging the lawn for an hour or so in the evenings;  the seven chickens are still laying a couple eggs a week but haven't seen any eggs from Girl Duck for a while.  She may have laid some, I just haven't gone looking--too dark and miserable.

I picked a few sprigs of fennel and mint the other day to make some tea (cutting back on caffeine).  I'm also still harvesting a few radishes and beets;  I've had all the big ones now, it's on to the smalls.  Also leeks, cabbage, turnips.  I'm whittling down my squash stash, still hanging out on their own rug in the living room;  and the bags of various frozen summer veg (I can't believe how many tomatoes I froze!).  And of course, eating kimchi, sauerkraut, pickled cucumbers, etc.

I'm ready for my Christmas break, though work and school don't finish till the end of the week (and not till next week for the poor husband).  I will be away from the blog until January, when I will reveal my grand food total of 2024.  I know I haven't been logging it here, but it's all written down on my wall calendar in my kitchen.  Will I beat 2023, my best year yet?  I better get my calculator out:  I can't wait to find out.

Eggs, flowers, frost, squash and kimchi

 

Dahlias blown over the veg patch, September 2024

I'm rather shocked that we're still getting three or even four eggs a day from our faithful hens.  Two of the eight are no longer laying, and two more are four and five years old respectively (but still laying once or twice a week).  At this time of year, as the days are much shorter, I'm actually surprised to get any eggs at all.  All the hens are at their small yard in the allotment;  Girl Duck and Boy Duck are currently at home, free ranging on and off (off when the grass gets too poo-y).  No duck eggs for at least a month;  she doesn't have a dedicated nest so I don't always find them but I don't think she's laying this time of year anyway.

My big sunflower finally blew over, but as it wasn't uprooted, I just went out and tied it up to the tree it was growing next to (a medium-sized pyracanthus).  Hopefully its seeds have enough time to mature for next year's plants.  My beautiful red dahlia also got too top heavy and fell over, but again I was able to prop it up;  it's up to my shoulder:  pretty tall.  Its pink and white neighbor is just as tall but still standing unassisted thankfully.  All three of these are still flowering beautifully in my veg patch at home. 

There was a touch of frost at our local country park at the weekend, though it didn't touch the garden and the allotment looks all right too.  I went out for my run at 7.15 in the morning and while I didn't see any frost on any cars or lawns I passed, I did see it on an open section of grass at the park.  To be on the safe side, when I saw the forecast, the son and I went and picked all the squashes from the allotment the day before.  I took my chances with the remaining beans and tomatoes.

Speaking of squashes, I lent my biggest one to my work (a school) and we're having a "guess the weight" contest.  My squash is famous!  And huge!  Seriously, I won't publish the actual weight until the contest is over (later this week) but I will say that it is at least twice the size of my biggest one last year--and I thought that one was a giant.  In total there are eight squashes this year, plus two small immature ones that might not be worth eating (picked them anyway).  The big one is coming back home with me after the contest, for lots of pumpkin pie.

What else?  More kimchi of course!  Of the twenty or so pak choi from my first sowing, I was able to make a liter of kimchi at the weekend, now fermenting for a few days on my counter.  I still have a 1.8L jar of kohlrabi kkakdugi and half of a 3.3L jar of kohlrabi dongchimi in my fridge.  So not lacking in kimchi just yet--though I do go through it pretty quickly.  I have a small tub of the leftover kimchi paste in my fridge at the moment and am considering giving beet greens/stems the kimchi treatment with it, I mean why not?

Chickens and eggs

A bit of free range, March 2024

In the days leading up to the weekend, I let the chickens and ducks have regular free range but that has now stopped as I've begun sowing seeds in the kitchen garden.  The ducks have been locked back in their large yard and the chickens have been taken to the allotment until further notice.

However, I do plan on planting up their yard at the allotment with vegetables later this spring so they probably won't be there too long.  But we'll see;  plans are still a bit fluid.  The yard at the allotment is full of grass and weeds and bugs, so the chickens have had an upgrade from their yard at home at least.

The kitchen garden has gone through periods of being fenced with temporary fencing over the years;  fencing plus supervised free range is my preference for our feathery friends.  I may try to rig something up later on;  the two ducks in particular are pretty easily foiled by fencing (unlike chickens who can jump).  Or I may fire up the chicken tractor once more, focusing on the lawn rather than the veg beds.

Action shot! March 2024

It's definitely spring if the chickens are laying this much--even two of the oldtimers are making an effort.  Not the other two though;  however those two venerable hens celebrated their seventh birthdays yesterday.  For the sake of mathematical ease, we mark all our hens' birthdays on the first of April, but for Rock and Cookie, it's their actual birthday/hatchday--I can hardly believe they actually made it to seven years old!

State of the flock, January 2024

 The chickens and ducks have been confined to their separate yards for the past several weeks, though luckily not under lockdown, unlike the last two winters.  They both have had short periods of free range, but I am trying to keep the grass alive (and what few vegetables are still left in the kitchen garden).  

We currently stand at eight chickens, four newly adopted last September and laying well.  The other four are much older and three are not laying (and the fourth, youngest, very irregularly).  If they make it to April, our two oldest hens Rock and Cookie will be 7 years old, breaking our house record for elderly chickens.  We commemorate all our chickens' birthdays on the same day, for simplicity's sake: 1 April;  it is however the actual hatch day/birthday of both Rock and Cookie whom we bought from a local breeder.

And Girl Duck and Boy Duck, also known as Brown Duck and Black Duck (even though he's not black) are back into their breeding season, which seems really early: Girl Duck started laying a few eggs in December (!) when they were still free ranging, but seems to have stopped since they've been locked in their yard.  Or maybe she has a secret nest I can't find.  I think she lays eggs when she's free ranging because she can find enough slugs and bugs for her protein needs, while her corn/wheat feed alone is too low for making eggs.  When it warms up a little bit more and the grass starts growing again, I'll let them out and hopefully she'll lay a few more.

Grand total of garden food, 2023

Vegetables: 277 lb 14 oz (incomplete)

Fruit: 2 lb 10 oz (incomplete)

Eggs: 571

My very best year for veg totals since recording began!  The clear winner was the squash at more than 63 lb, with runners up zucchini at just over 53 lb and cucumber just over 40 lb.  Honorable mentions include 22.5 lb green tomatoes (I only got 8.5 lb of ripe ones), 16 lb cabbage, and nearly 10 lb of lettuce!  I marked the total incomplete as I didn't include the garlic or corn harvest, nor the dozen or so squashes still hanging out in the living room for later eating (these will be counted for 2024's total).

Rather a poor year for fruit;  no apples or pears, and hardly any cherries, almonds, strawberries or raspberries.  I did pick a good amount of blackcurrants, redcurrants, and several bunches of whitecurrants (all three went into a jug of wine) but didn't record them (maybe two or three pounds--not much).

We got four new rescue chickens in September and our egg collection totals suddenly jumped.  These hens would have been 18 months old at the time and closing in on their 2nd birthdays now;  they're our youngest chickens but I'm surprised they're still laying so well at their age.  18 months is considered too old for production at the farm, hence the rescue.

Every year I try to break the previous record, but I've come to the realization that a lot of this growing business is just luck.  It was a lucky year for a lot of things, including things I've never had much success with like cucumber and zucchini.  I've put in the work for years improving the soil which was surely a contributing factor;  and I tried out a new method of transplanting seedlings which helped keep my plants alive--though the weather might have helped here too, as it was warm and dry in May.  So just the perfect combination of work and good luck.  Long may it continue!

See previous grand totals: 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016

Harvesting for Thanksgiving 2023

Nearly Thanksgiving already?  We are hosting some friends, feeding a total of three adults, three teens, and one toddler.  It's actually the husband who does most of the cooking as my workplace (a school) has scheduled vacation days only;  I will be making pies the day before but he'll do most of the rest. This year we are eating:

Pumpkin pie with homegrown squash and our own eggs.  We're still getting a couple eggs a day (unlike in previous years).  And there is plenty of squash.  In fact, we'll be serving it as a vegetable side too, either in cubes or as puree.

Homegrown cabbage from the allotment.  There are only two winter cabbages this year, as the slugs and bugs disappeared the rest, but one is ready to pick now.  I was thinking of saving it till Christmas, but might as well eat it with friends.

I will have a good prod around the rows to find a couple of nice parsnips too--hopefully there are some good sized ones, like the one I dug up last week.

Our turkey came from the supermarket, as did the potatoes, but we'll make some gravy using our garlic and herbs. 

And one more pie:  cherry pie from last year's cherries, waiting in the freezer all this time. 

State of the flock, September 2023

After spending a rather large wad of cash on materials, the husband and son have revamped the at-home chicken coop/run to make it potentially impervious to wild birds.  It still needs to be netted on top to be so, but as we are not yet under a government housing order for poultry, I'll keep it unnetted (and because there is a big horse chestnut tree currently shedding conkers and the start of its autumn leaf fall, right above the run).

Now because of this turn of events, we have now adopted another four rescue hens, bringing our total to eight chickens.  These new ones are settling in at home;  unlike some rescues, they seem pretty calm and are curious rather than nervous.  They are a bit ragged looking with maybe more bald patches than some we've had.  But they seem healthy and should be back to full feather (and bright red combs) in a few months.

We'd arranged to pick the new ones up a few weeks in advance, but it turned out to be the hottest day of the year.  I was really concerned about them dying of heat exhaustion in the box on the half hour drive home, so in addition to large ventilation holes, I also put three big ice packs on the floor, covered with an empty paper feed sack.  All four made it home alive;  I set their box on its side inside the run and left them to find their own way out.  Within half an hour there were two scratching a nice new dustbath, one having a big drink, and one flapping up to perch on various surfaces:  obviously they weren't too bothered!

The old lady hens are still at the allotment with the ducks for another week or two at least;  I'm not quite ready to introduce everyone until the new ones have completely settled in.  Integrating new chickens is hard on everyone.

The two ducks, boy and girl, rule the run at the allotment I'm sorry to say.  Every day I visit, I have to peek inside the little coop to count all the hens, as boy duck won't let them out!  Well, they are allowed if they sneak out, but when he catches them he chases them back in.  Naughty duck.  I would particularly like the ducks back home to go on a little slug hunt in the veg patch, but again I'll probably wait another week or two at least.

Eggs;  two old hens are still laying once or twice a week, as is girl duck.  The new ones (the son has chosen "the Specklies" as their cohort name--we've run out of individual names) have produced six eggs in two days.  Not bad. 

Freedom finally (for poultry)

Is the fact that my back door hardly opens the real reason I rarely take photos?  Now that it's a little warmer (and we have got used to being cold in the house this winter), the back door often just stays open all day--to save the effort of reopening it.  Or closing it in the first place.  It's a big glass sliding door and no longer slides on its rails and needs to be replaced.  And very heavy and very hard to move.  That's my new excuse--but we are saving up for a replacement, hopefully within a few months.

Chickens, ducks and all other domestic birds have been granted freedom!  Well, the housing order has been lifted by the government, so our ducks are back in their own large yard and the chickens' tractor has been extended with a bit of fencing so they have a bit more room to move.  Well, not a lot of room still but the son and I still are moving them daily to a new spot on the lawn or garden, so they have fresh ground and fresh greens, and some actual daylight every day.  And we're getting several eggs a week in return.  

The son, daughter and I visited the allotment a few days ago to do a bit more sheet mulching and harvesting (kale, leek and rhubarb) and afterward we went around to say hello to everyone else's newly released poultry.  Lots of happy birds.  I want to get our chickens up to our allotment, but it probably won't be for at least another week.  Maybe longer, as their yard and coop there needs a bit of repair first.  Nothing major, thankfully.

Several weeks ago I brought home a large plastic tub from my work;  it had been thrown out with a hole in it.  The husband managed to repair it and the ducks have a lovely splashing tub now, big enough to get into fully.  I've seen the boy duck in it a lot, but finally saw a girl duck in it the other day (the husband says he's seen both girls in it at various times).  There are two water butts in the duck yard, fed from the garage roof, so I've set up a little hose to transfer water from them directly.  If there's no rain to refill, they can probably fill it about six times before they empty, but this is a wet time of year so no problem with that yet.

Grand total of garden food, 2022

Vegetables: 135 lb 6 oz (incomplete)

Fruit: 14 lb 15 oz (incomplete)

Eggs: 457

Some good news:  I beat 2021's totals in veg!  But not in eggs or fruit (though I might have done in fruit if I'd weighed the apples and plums).  Still not beaten my highest total of 201 lb, back in 2017 however.  Note: the veg totals are incomplete as I did not weigh the garlic or corn harvests, among a few others (though only up to about 5 lb at the most, I'd guess).  

 

I'm happy to have achieved a higher total than the previous year, at the very least.  Here's to a productive 2023;  let's get growing!

See previous grand totals: 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016

Food totals September-December 2022

Some of the harvest (Sparta apples) from September 2022

Lots of apples (Laxton Fortune variety), September 2022

Nice cabbages too, September 2022

My one and only squash of 2022, though still in storage for 2023

Vegetables

 

227 oz tomatoes, green and red (mainly red)

1 oz chives

147 oz kohl rabi

71.5 oz cabbage

59 oz kale

125 oz beets

3 oz carrots

4.5 oz achocha

0.5 oz fennel

4 oz baby corn

2 oz French beans

Total: 644.5 oz, or 40 lb 4.5 oz

Fruits

 

23 oz figs

17.5 oz kumoi pears 

Total: 40.5 oz, or 2 lb 8.5 oz

Does not include (counted individually, not weighed):

73 Sparta apples

55 Laxton Fortune apples

24 Czar plums

Eggs

 

56 eggs from 5 hens and two ducks

(Look for 2022's grand totals next week)

Food totals August 2022

In an unattended moment, the daughter (age 2) picked all these green!  August 2022

Vegetables

 

18 oz carrots

35.5 oz lettuce

79 oz beets

134.5 oz kohl rabi

18 oz broad beans

4 oz onion

131.5 oz tomatoes (cherry and salad)

2.5 oz kale

8 oz artichoke hearts

4 oz achocha

Total:  435 oz, or 27 lb 3 oz

All vegetables are weighed after preparation:  peeling, trimming, etc.

 

Fruit

 

82 oz figs

16 oz rhubarb

 

Total:  98 oz, or 6 lb 2 oz

We also harvested, counting per fruit (not weighed): 

137 Laxton Fortune apples

12 plums

 

Eggs 

38 eggs from 6 hens and 3 ducks