Tuesday 28 February 2012

Hoping it will be all ok

Well My case is all packed and the to do lists have been written. Adam is in charge of the chicken's Ben is in charge of watering the plants and my dad is in charge of overseeing to it all! Earlier tonight I had a last look at my little seedlings, making sure that they all had a drink before I venture off. Everything seems to be growing I just hope when I come back they will be well and truly on their way and not green shriveled specks.
The chickens have been cleaned out today, and had a big pile of grass to keep them occupied while it was done. We only had two eggs today, Octavia is most certainly back on form we have been getting her little white eggs. Matilda has a bald head as she seems to be malting, she does look rather odd bless her.
Dad has been cracking on with the greenhouse. He had a few problems assembling the door as the parts that came with it are not the same as the sketchy instructions show, so it was a bit hit and miss, however he has promised it will all be done by the time I get back. Seems strange I'm going away and have not even left yet and I am already looking forward to getting back!
And finally.... thank you all that have been following my blog this far I hope you will return and continue to follow my gardening antics and follow the scoop from the coop! If you are missing my daily updates then why not check out my blog from last years gardening antics A diary of a gardening year where you can read all about the arrival of the girls, the successful crops and my general gardening antics. You can also access my other web pages about gardening and some great tasting recipes through the links on my gardening diary 2011. Bye for now x

Monday 27 February 2012

Hair raising Idea

Well the nice weather did not last long, it has been rather chilly here today. I haven't been doing much in the garden today as I have been busy preparing for my trip. Today I was at the hairdressers when I saw all the hair on the floor I had one of those light bulb moments. About two weeks ago someone had posted on twitter about how good the human hair was for the garden,especially beans as a mulch to keep moisture in and as a fertilizer. I did a little bit of research and found that this was true. I said to myself next time I'm at the hairdressers I'll ask for the hair and of course as usual it had gone right out of my head until I saw the pile of hair. I know the saloon owner quite well and they all know I'm into gardening, however when I asked for the hair and explained they did give me a strange look! So I brought home my bag of hair and have turned it into the soil where I am going to grow my beans.

It is amazing what things are thrown away in to landfills that are in-fact excellent fertilizers for your garden. There's coffee grinds from the local coffee houses, and most will give it to you if you ask and we also have hair from the hairdressers if you can dare to ask. Horse manure from local stables are often happy for you to bag up and take away. Asking neighbor's who have garden pets like rabbits or guinea pigs will be happy for you to take the soiled bedding away. Put all this in your compost bin along with kitchen waste, grass clipping and any other garden vegetation will result in a great compost for your garden and the best bit of all is that it's free!

For further reading on using hair in the garden Human hair in the potting shed has a great article on hair and the garden.

Sunday 26 February 2012

A fantastic day in the garden!

It was a beautiful spring day today, perfect weather for gardening. I have been quite busy today, I know it is probably a little early but as usual I could not wait, I sowed out my swift potatoes that are an early variety. The shoots on them were quite large and they have been planted in my potato bags which are quite sheltered and being in the Southeast, we can plant out a little earlier than some places in the UK. I also sowed some more Mussellberg leeks, and some early purple sprouting broccoli. The little plastic greenhouse and the summerhouse are fast filling up with seed trays as are the window sills indoors. I'll be glad of the extra space when the new greenhouse is up and running.
I have finally managed to finish digging the vegetable plot, as the weather has been dry it was perfect. I put on loads of compost out of the compost bins and covered it with cardboard and then covered it all with a weed suppressant membrane. Over winter it had all broken down and I have now dug it all in. My soil structure has greatly improved since I first started out on the vegetable plot. The weeds were taking over, the soil was very poor and slightly sandy. Now since I have been working the soil I have a rich dark crumbly soil, all the hard work is starting to pay off as each year my crops get better and better. I sowed some parsnips today, I'm hoping these will grow as they are new seeds and last year the ones I sowed never showed up at all. I did not realize that parsnips are one of the seeds that do not last more than a season, and I was sowing seeds that I had left over from the previous year. As they say you live and learn. Everyday in the world of growing your own or gardening of any kind there is always new things to learn, it is all one big learning curve.
The blueberries I planted a few weeks ago seem to have taken well, there is plenty of new growth. They are still sitting in the summerhouse at the moment. In a couple of weeks I will put them outside for a few hours a day so they get used to the temperature change, they are in quite large clay pots, so one of the boys will be doing that for me! I watered all the seedlings and the sweet peas are shooting through and low and behold as I had sown some more leeks as I had given up hope of the ones I sowed several weeks ago ever appearing, they are now coming through too, so I will have plenty of leeks to keep me going through the winter. The girls have had a great day today, I emptied out a bag of soil that I had carrots growing in last year into their run, they have been busily pecking and scratching away in it happily all day. It is the quietest they have been when I have been pottering in the garden.
And finally.... I hope my blog has inspired some of you to grow your own vegetables or even consider becoming a keeper of hens If you don't have the room in the garden to have a vegetable plot why not consider a raised bed garden or even container gardening to try and grow your own vegetables. There is nothing better than picking fresh produce from the garden and they taste even better for it.

Saturday 25 February 2012

Greenhouse gardening

Now that the greenhouse is here and being put together it has set me thinking about what I am going to grow in it. In my little plastic greenhouse I only grew two cucumber plants and two tomato plants, these did not do very well as it was hard to control the temperature. I'm alright with starting seeds off in there and once they needed to be potted on I kept them in the cooler summerhouse and this worked out fine. As I want to get it as right as I can I have been looking at some books on greenhouse gardening The Greenhouse Expert by Dr. D.G. Hessayon is the one I am thinking of purchasing as I already have his The Vegetable Expert (Expert books) and this is the only gardening book I own. I have found it invaluable for answering most of my growing vegetable questions. It has easy to follow instructions and simple language from sowing right through to storing your produce. It has a great section on pests that each vegetable may get and how best to deal with them. There are plenty of colorful pictures concerning the pests which makes them easier to identify for a novice like myself. So far I have sown aubergines, tomatoes and chilies that I will be growing in the greenhouse. Once everything is set up I will soon see how much space I have and then I can make some decisions on what to grow in there.

Friday 24 February 2012

Getting there


Halfway there!
Well it went better than I thought it would, thanks to dad. The frame is up and all's looking good, the glass will be going in on Tuesday. We had a few problems with the base, but that has been sorted out now. The greenhouse is a Halls 6ft x 6ft, which I purchased from Chris Lings Garden center, it would of been nice to have a bigger one, however space was limited and as you can see it fits perfectly.

Matilda fly catching
The girls have been clucking away noisily all day as we have been in the garden. We had four eggs again today, so well done girls. I was trying to take some individual photo's of the girls and Bell was having none of it, every time I went to take a shot she either moved  or put her head down, after about 20 blurred shots I managed to get a couple of her. Octavia was looking right into the lens I thought she was going to peck it! I have been busy working on another web page. It's all about becoming a hen keeper, to have a look visit:
Octavia posing as a mean chick!
 Bell and Dory chatting to Clyde
                                                       
Sharing the Good Life-A keeper of hens



                       






Moving the potatoes worked as they all have shoots on now, my potato bags are ready and waiting!


The raised beds have all been prepared ready for the new growing season, I shall be growing red and white onions and spring onions in the large bed and I am going to plant either squash or pumpkin in the the triangle bed.



 And finally.... Wishing you all a great weekend, hope the weather is kind to us x

Thursday 23 February 2012

what a wonderful day!

I got up this morning all ready to sort out in the garden and thankfully the sun was shining and not a cloud in sight! First job of the day was cleaning out the girls, they had had a bowl full of cooked potato earlier and were clucking away nosily for more.

The main job for today was clearing the end of the garden ready for the new greenhouse that is going up tomorrow. I has several bags of compost that I grew potatoes in last year so I emptied these out into one of the raised beds that I am going to grow pumpkins in. Last autumn I emptied out the compost bins into the raised bed so the pumpkins will love it. The pile of topsoil is in the way for where I want to move my little plastic greenhouse, so I have been shoveling soil into the other raised bed and put some in the central bed in the front garden, by this time I'm working up a sweat! Spring is really here, let's hope it's here to stay. After shoveling about a ton and a half of soil I then had to empty out the greenhouse and move it to it's final resting place, easier said than done, but I managed to do it after lots of huffing and puffing. There was more bracken than I thought and I got in a right tangle as it kept clinging to me when I was trying to cut it back, and a few scratches too.

The front flower beds at the front and the fruit bed have all been weeded and they look much better. My blueberry bush that I planted out in the autumn looks like it has taken, I could see some tiny little buds forming. Also the gooseberry bush has some buds showing too, however the tayberry bush do not seem to be doing anything, but there's still time.

I have had a look at the seedlings and all seems to be doing well, still nothing happening with the leeks and onions though, I'll give them another week then sow some more leeks just to be on the safe side and buy some extra onion sets instead of trying to grow from seed. I'll post new photo's tomorrow as the battery for my camera is on charge, so remember to come visit tomorrow!

And finally..... It's D day tomorrow the new greenhouse will finally be going up. Wish me luck as looking at the  very basic instructions, there will be a lot of head scratching and probably a few choice words!

Tuesday 21 February 2012

Happy hens

It has been a lovely day weather wise again, as usual the day ran away with me, so I have not managed to do all that I wanted. I still have to finish clearing the area before Friday and cut back the bracken. I will have to get that done tomorrow!

I have had a look at the potatoes that are chitting, and two lots seems to be sprouting, so I have moved them around so hopefully things will start moving. The cauliflower seeds are about an inch high, however the leeks and onion seeds are not showing yet.

I have cleaned out the girls bedding and we had three eggs today. We have been rather lucky as we have only had about three days over the whole of winter where we did not get any eggs and usually over winter, egg production stops altogether or you get an egg now and then. So well done girls! Keep up the good work.

I have been busy in the kitchen again today, baking a cake for Laura's birthday tomorrow. It's the same lemon cake I made at the weekend, and it smells delicious!

And finally..........Happy pancake day!

Monday 20 February 2012

Thinking fruit

A sunny but rather chilly day today, so I spent the day indoors catching up on the household chores. Whilst tidying my over burdened desk I came across some seed catalogs that I had dumped there a few weeks ago and forgotten about along with several packets of seeds. As I flicked through the catalogs the fruit trees caught my eye. I would love to have fruit trees in the garden but we unfortunately do not have the room, however I noticed they do patio fruit trees, which gives an ample supply of fruit. I have been looking out into the garden to see where I could put a tree or two, and I think there's certainly enough room for at least two. Now all I need to do is decide which fruit to have, I'm undecided between the plum and cherries.

On inspecting the seed trays a glint of green caught my eye! The tomatoes and chilies are now poking through as are the Lychins and Sweet Williams. The lovely sunshine we have had for the past few days have obviously helped. The greenhouse is going up on Friday, so I shall be in the garden tomorrow clearing the last few bits away and cutting back the bracken that keeps coming through the fence.

And finally.....I have been busy working on a new web page, a scrumptious courgette chutney which is available to view via the following link
http://www.squidoo.com/sharing-the-good-life-courgette-chutney



Sunday 19 February 2012

Nice clean girls

As it was such a sunny dry day it was perfect for giving the coop a thorough clean out. Trying to catch the girls and persuade them into the big cage was a task! I only managed to get Octavia and Dory in and Bell was in the nesting area and Matilda went in to, so I got the hose out and washed down the run first, as they hate the water jet. I scrubbed the coop out with a Smite solution and took all the removable parts out and gave them a good scrub as well as the feeder and drinker. I gave the girls some cake for their trouble, they seem quite happy preening and pecking about again. The ordeal did not seem to affect them.

It was so nice out today it feels as if Spring is on it's way. I had a look in my little plastic greenhouse and it was rather warm. I moved all the seed trays from the summerhouse into the greenhouse and hopefully I will see something green poking through soon! Once they have started to grow I will move them back into the summerhouse and put the next lot of sowing in the greenhouse. It's that time of year again when you feel like you are just going back and forth shuffling and moving things around to make room for all the seedlings. I am still waiting for the tomatoes, peppers and chili seeds to germinate, they seem to be taking forever.

I soaked some sweet pea seeds last night and they have been sowed today. I need to save some more toilet rolls so I can sow some more. By sowing in toilet rolls you do not have to disturb the roots as you plant them out still in the toilet rolls. I had a look at the strawberry plants, some are showing new growth but I will have to replace about eight of them as they look dead. The broad beans are starting to flower already! They are still wrapped up with fleece and growing nicely. The peas seem to be alright after I had put in supports, some looked a bit worse for wear and looked like they might not survive, but they are already showing new growth.

and finally.... I'm off to prepare Sunday lunch, we are having some green beans with lunch which were grown last year and had been frozen and I can't wait to start eating this year's produce! Hope you all have a great end to your weekend x

Saturday 18 February 2012

The rain stopped play

No gardening today as the skies opened up and there's not much I can do in the potting shed at the moment.
So I have spent the afternoon baking. We are round friends for dinner tonight so I have made a double chocolate cheesecake, which is really simple to make. I made my first ever cheesecake last year and have been experimenting with different flavors and this one is the favorite. So I hope our friends like it!

It's a friends birthday tomorrow, and I have been promising him some home made cakes so I have done a lemon drizzle cake. I have just done the basic sponge mix and added some lemon zest and lemon curd to the mixture, it smells lovely, fingers crossed it will taste good too. I made a simple lemon glaze icing to drizzle over the cake.

And finally I have made a double chocolate sponge for us, it's my son's favorite and never lasts for long.
Fancy baking a cake? Why not try the coffee and walnut recipe which can be found on the attached link.


http://www.squidoo.com/sharing-the-good-life-how-to-bake-the-perfect-coffee-and-walnut-cake

Friday 17 February 2012

Down in the potting shed!

Well it certainly felt a bit warmer down the summerhouse today, I did not even put the heating on! I have done some more sowing, sweetcorn (sweet bounty), I missed the boat last year and sowed my sweetcorn far too late. I am going to companion plant the sweetcorn the my dwarf french beans giving me some extra growing space. I read somewhere that this was a good idea and as usual I can't remember where I read it.

I sowed 2 aubergine seeds (endrma) I sowed these last year and unfortunately the snails enjoyed them a bit too much in my little plastic greenhouse. I thought I would give them another go especially as I now have my big proper greenhouse (though still packaged up!)

I also sowed some Savoy Cabbage (ormskirk) I love all cabbage and last year I grew spring and summer cabbages, so I thought I'd try another variety. I just need to purchase some enviromesh to keep them pesky cabbage whites of my greens and all will be well.

The girls have been quiet today, the big bowl of rice they had this morning must of filled them up. We had 4 eggs today, so all's good in the coop!

and finally..... it's Friday, so off for a glass of wine or two. Hope you all have an enjoyable evening x

Thursday 16 February 2012

Mischievous animals!

Busy day today in the garden, the only problem was I ran out of light! I thought I would start putting some soil in the potato bags today. I had ordered too much topsoil last year for the raised beds so I had piled it up at the bottom of the garden and covered it with weed suppressant. I put a couple of shovel's full in each of the potato bags and added some Grow More. I have 12 of these bags, so 6 are up by the side of the vegetable patch and the other 6 are beside the fence on the patio. Not long to go now before I can start putting the seed potatoes in!

I thought I'd have a check on the pea's that I sowed in November. I had put in some metal hoops and covered them with fleece. Well it wasn't good I had lost about half the peas. I uncovered them and put in canes to support the surviving pea's and have wrapped them up well with fleece. Fingers crossed they will continue to grow. They are Meteor pea's which are supposed to be good over-wintering peas. It is the first time I have tried to over-winter any vegetables. Many gardeners don't bother and just plant out in the spring, I thought I would give it ago to see how they fared. However I think I will just sow in the spring, at least you don't lose the seeds like you do with winter sowing.

I don't know whats been in the air today but all the animals have been up to mischief! The girls had dug a big hole under the coop and knocked the lid off the feeder. Octavia was filthy so I expect she was the main culprit! They have been cleaned out again today, we had 3 eggs. I tried to clean the run, however it is so muddy and the girls kept getting in the way. I will have to get the hose out and try and give it a good wash down at the weekend.

Clyde decided to go off on a little adventure of his own on the walk today. He ran off in to the farmers field where there is an 8ft high pile of rotting horse manure, there I was calling him and looked round and he is standing on top of the pile! He then decided to run through the horse paddock, thankfully the horse was lying down over the far side and did not see him.

Well that's my adventures of the day, now off to cook the dinner. Have a good evening all x


Wednesday 15 February 2012

The Malope are emerging!

I have just had a peek at the seeds that I sowed earlier this week and the Malope are already pushing through the soil! There is still no sign of the tomatoes or peppers yet though. The leeks and cabbages are also starting to show in the summerhouse. Now the weather is slowly starting to warm up things should start growing a bit quicker, I'm so impatient!

Tuesday 14 February 2012

It's here!!!!

I'm so excited my greenhouse arrived this morning! I have been on the phone to my dad and we are going to erect it next week, so fingers crossed they weather will be good. All that extra room, I'll be able to sow even more! Better not get to carried away though as I will have no where to put them all.

It's rather damp here today, but at least all the snow has gone and I can see my soil again. The vegetables that are already planted out don't appear to have really suffered. The garlic and onion stalks look a bit droopy, but they will soon pick up. It's far too wet to do any digging so I have had to content myself with some more seed sowing, Kelvedon Wonder peas and an assortment of sweet peas. I love the smell of sweet peas, I am going to put some in large pots and make wigwams out of bamboo canes for them to cling too and place them outside the front porch, so that everyone who visits will be greeted with the lovely scent of sweet peas.

I have been busy in the kitchen today. I made some vegetable samosa's the recipe can be found by clicking on the link below. These are simple and easy to make and are rather yummy! Also great for using up stale bread and any leftovers. Their irresistible!

and finally........I hope you all had a lovely valentines day sharing, caring and talking with your loved one x http://www.squidoo.com/sharing-the-good-life-tasty-vegetable-samosas




Monday 13 February 2012

Yay the snow is fast disappearing!

The girls must of been hungry this morning, they had a big bowl of scraps and they have ate the lot in minutes! It has been rather dull and dreary here today and we still have plenty of snow in the garden, however the rain we are having is helping to clear it. I'm getting excited as my long awaited greenhouse is due to arrive tomorrow! Hopefully my dad will be free next week to put it up. I'm hoping for a dry tomorrow as I need to have a bit of a move round in the garden. At present I have a small walk in plastic greenhouse which I wish to keep, but I need to find a new home for it.

The compost bins also need turning over. I have the large plastic bins and it is difficult to turn the contents. I usually empty one out then put the contents on one into the other, then fill the other one up with what I had taken out of the first. It's a mucky smelly job, but it needs to be done to help break down the compost quicker, especially as both bins are quite full. I'm hoping the bottom halves with be lovely dark usable compost, as I still have an area where the brassicas are going that needs some compost and so does the large raised bed.

The potatoes are chitting nicely another few weeks and they can be planted in the potato bags that I bought and used last year with quite a bit of success. By using these bags it gives me extra growing space enabling me to grow more crops. I done a plan for the garden late last year and I am still scribbling on the plan trying to fit in more crops, making use of all available space with the use of pots and grow bags strategically placed around the garden.

Sunday 12 February 2012

A funny old day

Well not a lot happening today, however I did have a Jay visit the garden this morning, unfortunately I was not quick enough to grab the camera. I have been thinking about bird boxes today, I do have two in the garden, one hanging from the tree another attached further down. I am going to get another two and put them up on the summerhouse under the roof where it over hangs at the front so they will keep nice and dry.

The chickens have been cleaned out and I have now ran out of shredded paper, so you can guess what my next job is going to be. The snow is starting to melt and the path is starting to clear now thankfully, I managed to stay upright today when tottering up and down the garden.

My greenhouse will be arriving Tuesday, so I'm hoping the snow will be gone so I can get it up and get seed sowing!
To trug or not to trug that is the question. How do you collect your vegetables from the garden? I have dedicated a lens on squidoo all about the humble trug. I have put together lots of sites that sell trugs so you haven't got to trawl the web. Go and take a look and take part and vote on the trug

http://www.squidoo.com/sharing-the-good-life-the-humble-garden-trug

Saturday 11 February 2012

Oh my goodness!


When I collected the eggs today just look and see what I found! I think it is the biggest egg we have had yet. It's twice the size or the usual eggs we get.

If you look very closely at the picture on the right you can just see my first seedlings poking through. If I remember correctly I think these are Brussels- sprouts and I can't remember what type and I am not going back on the slippery path to the summerhouse to find out, I'll get back to you on that one!

Today I sowed some flowers, Lychnis Dancing ladies, Malope glacier fruits, Foxglove excelsior, Canterbury Bells, Sweet Williams Royal wedding mix, Nasturtium empress of India and finally Nasturtium tall. As the windowsill in the kitchen is now full and the summerhouse too cold they are on my sons bedroom windowsill (no place is sacred!).

I have a rather sore bottom, I went to kick Max's ball and both feet flew in the air and I landed with a thud! So that's it from me for today.  
Well that was a very cold night, at least the sun is shining today and will hopefully melt some of this icy snow on the ground. The girls have just been fed their scraps and are at this very moment squabbling over it, Octavia gets it first then Matilda takes it off her followed by Bell taking it of Matilda. They would make a great rugby team that's for sure. The heating is on in the summerhouse, and shortly I shall be holed up in their with a hot cup of tea and sowing some flower seeds. I'm not sure what yet, until I shuffle through my seed box. I have so many  which I got free with my Amateur Gardener magazine.
 At present I have two flower beds in the front garden which were full of flowers last year. I have a few shrubs in one of them and the other had Dahlias in, which I dug the tubers up and put away in a box in the summerhouse over winter to protect from mean Mr Frost. I have a bed at the side which is overgrown . I am hoping to tackle this area this year, I was thinking of putting in fruit bushes but I do love cut flowers, hmm decisions decisions!

Friday 10 February 2012

jjjjjjjjjust changed the chicken bedding and water my toes are numb, I have an icicle for a nose and a mad dog that wanted me to play football, and like a nit I did. The girls have settled into the coop for the night, sensible little things that they are. Me I need a hot cup of tea!
Just been down to the summerhouse and it's freezing! So I've put the heater on to let it warm up a bit before I venture back down to pot up my Blueberry bushes.

I have been busy working on my next Squidoo lens and it has been published. Can you guess what was on the plate? Click on the link to see if you were right. It was rather yummy!

http://www.squidoo.com/sharing-the-good-life-how-to-bake-the-perfect-coffee-and-walnut-cake

Thursday 9 February 2012

Oooooooooooooooo My son has just got back from town with two blueberry bushes in tow! So a trip to the local garden center is on the cards for some ericaceous compost. I bought and planted out a Brigitta in October and was hoping to pick up another variety. These ones are called Vacccinium Corymbosum and are from wilko's (great place for bargain plants!) And I must say they look a lot healthier than my Brigitta. I shall pot these up tomorrow and put them in the summerhouse. The Brigitta I planted straight in the ground where I had been putting coffee grounds for the past year, so I shall soon see whether this has worked or not. Aldi's also has lots of fruit trees and bushes on sale this week.  It was only reading somebody else's blog that I knew these were on sale in Wilko at a bargain price. Thanks Jo

http://www.squidoo.com/sharing-the-goodlife
http://www.squidoo.com/a-bit-of-the-goodlife
http://www.squidoo.com/sharon-jennings-sharing-the-goodlife-growing-your-own-vegetables
Well it's still bitterly cold and we also have a thick layer of snow around. I'm glad I got my digging done a couple of weeks ago when we had dry weather. I have sown all the seeds that I can, I sowed Tomatoes yesterday, Alicante, Roma and Gardener's Delight. I also sowed some Peppers, California Wonder. These are now sitting on the windowsill next to the chilies in the kitchen. Well I'm off to walk the dogs then I shall bake some cakes. If you want to catch up on my gardening exploits of last year click on the following link.

 http://www.squidoo.com/a-bit-of-the-goodlife

Wednesday 8 February 2012

I have just got back from walking the dogs and my was it cold! We walked through the field and the farmer had made............. snow circles! It's was so strange as only yesterday I was reading about the formation of crop circles, and today to see a similar phenomena I thought was amazing. For it to be appreciated an aerial view would of been better. The photo I took doesn't really show you anything, so I thought I'd share one of the dogs enjoying their walk.

I managed to stay upright as I walked through the heath, sticking to the paths was treacherous! As so many had walked the same paths the snow had compacted and was rather like an ice rink. The farmer had been muck spreading on the other field and it stunk to high heaven, it was as black as your hat and looked really rich. I would not have minded a few barrows of that myself for the garden!

Right I better move on as I have lots to do. I'm now going to take some photo's for the new lens I'm doing on Squidoo, so keep your eyes peeled for the link.
Well we still have a lot of snow on the ground, and it is so cold! It looks like we are in for some more snow. This time last year the summerhouse was full of seed trays with little green shoots as it was warm everything was germinating at speed. However this year is another story. Seeds I planted over three weeks ago are only now starting to emerge. So today I am planning to plant my tomato and pepper seeds but bring them indoors and keep them on the windowsill in the kitchen. Once things warm up, I shall transfer them down to the summerhouse.

The chilli plants that I sowed last year have been sitting on the windowsill over the winter, they are flowering and starting to bear fruit. Hopefully I will have enough to make a chilli dipping sauce.

The chickens have eaten their scraps and retired back into the coop, it's obviously too cold for them as usually they are pecking, scratching and making a lot of noise!

Right I am going to wrap up warm, make myself a cup of tea and wander down to the potting shed (summerhouse) and put on my little windup radio and get my hands into some soil. Bliss!

Tuesday 7 February 2012

Just cleaned out the girls, and it should be called chicken poop, not chicken coop! As they have been getting extra scraps they make a right racket everytime I go outside.

The Good Life: Series 2 Episode 6 (Part 1 of 3)

Brrrrrrrrrrrrr it's still cold, thankfully the sun is shining and slowly melting the snow. I have been giving the girls lots of scraps which they are greedily eating and the snow hasn't stopped egg production, we had three eggs yesterday. I'm trying to decide weather to sow some more seeds or wait until the weekend and hope the weather warms up a bit. I'm itching to get out into the garden again, seed shuffling just doesn't scratch that itch!

Monday 6 February 2012

I have been busily making and publishing lenses on squidoo, why not take a peek and see what I have been upto.

http://www.squidoo.com/a-bit-of-the-goodlife
http://www.squidoo.com/sharing-the-goodlife
http://www.squidoo.com/sharon-jennings-sharing-the-goodlife-growing-your-own-vegetables
We had a lot of snow over the weekend and I can't see any greenery at all in the garden, I just hope my onions, garlic, peas, beans and cabbages will survive! I had to giggle yesterday, the chickens had not experienced snow before and stayed in the coop looking out the little window. All I could see were their little heads popping up n down as if to say 'whats going on!!' Slowly one by one they emerged and braved the cold wet snow and procceded to flap and mutter.

Saturday 4 February 2012

04/02/2012
Well the ground is frozen solid, so no gardening in the forseeable future! I sowed some seeds three weeks ago and they are now starting to sprout, I was giving up hope that anything would emerge due to the rather cold weather. They are in the summerhouse with a covering of plastic sheeting over them to aid heat. The seed potatoes are starting to sprout, another few weeks and I shall be planting them in the special growbags I have. I am growing three different types, Swift, Pentland Javaline and Maris Bard, all first early varieties.
Even with this cold weather the chickens are still laying, we get two or three eggs a day. It's still trying to snow, we have a smattering on the ground, and I am now going to venture outside as the girls (chickens) house need cleaning. OOOOhhh the joys of being a hen keeper!

Friday 3 February 2012

Another Growing season is upon us

29/01/2012
Well it's that time of year again where we are planning out our plots and shuffleing seeds raring togo. Last year I went all out and grew lots of different vegetables to previous years, I had success with some and faliures with others and can't wait to try it all again. Last November I planted out garlic, onions, peas, broad beans and spring cabbages. I have never planted out crops for crops to overwinter, but so far so good all are doing well, even though at the moment the ground is frozen solid!

Last year we had the warm spring, the wet summer followed by a rather mild winter, we are now only getting this cold spell, so what will this year hold in stores I wonder. Every growing season is dicatated by the weather, lets hope it is kinder this year to the humble gardener.
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