Far Lands

Finally (Day 26 by our count) a chick has popped its head out. Last night there was a lot of movement underneath the bantam; either that or she was breathing very deeply. A really magical moment to see the chick's head appear (and then disappear and appear again etc).

Five years ago we planted 20 hazel saplings, the idea being to coppice several every year to provide useful (straight) sticks for the garden and to encourage new growth. They are growing well, and this year's harvest can be seen in the photos. Products include runner bean poles, pea sticks and pegs for tying down netting. Coppicing the hazel (a clean cut just above ground level) helps make the hazel grow much straighter poles. In the veg garden the rhubarb is starting to grow well, and for the first time we have forced some.

First, our broody bantam. Day 16 and all seems to be going OK. She comes off the eggs once a day for a drink and to carpet the floor in grain from her food bowl. Every other day she does a large No 2. She's also pulling out her chest feathers which is slightly disconcerting. It's not that she's bored (you'd think she'd have a bumper book of Sudoku or a heap of box-sets put aside for these periods) but that she is trying to maximise the transfer of her body heat to the eggs. She's a proper pro this year. Monday 25th April, Day 22, we hope will be the day. Second, our bees. News there is not so encouraging. The National hive (RHS) seems to be fine: there is plenty of activity and pollen is going into the hive in good quantities. I have given them a first feed of syrup too. Still not much for them in the garden - daffs, some flowering currant and dandelions. But the fruit blossom is still to come. However, the WBC (you're probably there already, but L...

Spring is happening, even here up North. Everywhere buds are bursting. In his book, The Fruit Garden Displayed , Harry Baker refers to six stages of bud development, and I thought it would be interesting to try to document them here. Photos show the first stage, Bud Burst ; after lying dormant all Winter the buds have swelled and are about to pop. The first tree is the Bramley Seedling at the front of the house and the second is Katy in the cordon line. Photos dated 2 April 2016.

With Flash gone to the Big Chicken-House in the Sky (via our Big Freezer in the Gym) the chickens are running amok. They need a man to keep them all in order (and to strut around and look important). We are keen to keep our line of Light Sussex so have been looking for a suitable rooster. Not being able to find one, however, we have sourced fertilised eggs instead. Timing has been fortuitous as our white bantam is currently broody. And so, here she is happily ensconced in the turkey house. She has puffed herself up like a hovercraft to enable her to sit on 6 eggs and has assumed a trance-like state. Go Girl!

Although we've got both a fridge-freezer and a large chest freezer, they are both now full. And I mean totally chocka! They were already still fairly full of our fruit from the Summer as well as our drowned turkey from before Xmas, and most recently of course poor old Flash (our rooster) has also climbed in. (He's in a bag marked 'Flash' which Sarah is not so happy about.) Anyway, to rewind a little . . . one or two of you may know that recently I have become interested in roadkill. Squirrels, the odd pheasant, even a hare. However, on Wednesday when I was driving back from Huddersfield (my fortnightly occasion when I have the car so I can go to Northern Fruit Group meetings) I came across this . . . Yes, it's a dead cow. And a lot of jolly nice eating too. Well, these days I go equipped for roadkill and in the boot I had gloves and bags and things. And luckily I had a large groundsheet. And I looked left and and I looked right and I got to work. An h...