Brrrrrrrr

Weeding Through Frozen Ground

As we were up early on Sunday morning we thought it would be a good idea to get on and do some work at lotty before John went back to work on Monday. Knowing it would be cold we put on plenty of clothes and took a flask of coffee, and planned on lighting a fire with all the wood we'd chopped down the previous day. We were going to light the fire at the bottom of lotty where we'd had our fires in the summer but at the last minute John decided to light it in our little fire place by the shed. The wood we were using was not quite dry but we figured if we could get a little bit of a fire going it would soon dry out. John started with a bit of cardboard and straw the added a few of the smaller twigs, and once that was going he added the bigger logs.

Being as cold as I was I thought getting on with something would warm me up a bit, so I took a cushion from the hut and sat by our old sweetcorn patch to get on with the weeding. The sweetcorn did very well there last year so we have decided to put some of our strawberry plants there in the hope they'll do just as well. After finishing half of the weeding John came over and told me to go and stand by the fire to warm up, which I happily did.

After my little break I finished the weeding and went back over to the fire which was unbelievably hot by this point so I plonked myself on the cushion in front of it. Within a few seconds I was lovely and toasty again and I was warm enough to roll my trouser legs up and get a bit of heat on my legs. I even took off my boots to warm my feet, though not realising just how hot the fire was when I put my hands on the bottom of my sock they burnt my feet.

Back over to the strawberry patch I grabbed a spade and started to turn over the soil which meant all of the chickens coming to join me for an easy meal. Its not easy digging with the chickens around as they tend to stand on top of where iv just stuck the spade in and I have to keep nudging them away. Penny was slightly put out when I was digging a bit too close to where she was standing and she slipped into the hole.

When John had finished building the fire he came over and asked if I was ready to plant some strawberries. We laid the pots where we wanted them, with enough space in between each one to allow for the runners which the plants will produce once they have fruited. Walking away from the plantings I turned round to see the chickens had already discovered the plants and I had a bit of a rant at them. Not wanting to lose them to the girls, John and I surrounded the area with glass and then laid a few panes on top to act as a sort of cloche.

We have had a very productive week at lotty and im hoping all of our hard work will pay off in the spring and summer. The blur being away all week meant John and I were able to spend some lovely days alone together at lotty. After going back for the first time yesterday and seeing all the strawberry plants the Blur is looking forward to doing the taste test on the with John in the summer.

Under The Pear Tree

Like A Tractor

Its been so cold at lotty lately that in the mornings we've had to smash the ice out of the chickens bowls and then smash the ice on the top of the water butts to fill them back up. Invariably they are frozen over again by the time we arrive in the afternoon so were having to remember to check the water in the coop before we put the girls to bed for the night.

We decided to take a stroll to lotty yesterday afternoon and the first thing I did as it was the first of the month was to have a look trough our seeds and see if there were any due to be planted. To my surprise there were six lots of tomatoes which could all be potted up. We have a bale of straw in the greenhouse at the moment and it was lovely and warm to sit on whilst I was in there. With all the strawberry plants we picked up from the school in there, greenhouse one is looking lovely and full like it had been in the summer. All of the new plantings have gone down to greenhouse two and although were hard pressed to find more space in there we still have alot more to go in as the next few weeks go by.

Whilst I was planting John dug over some more of our empty patches and spread a bit of blood fish and bone over them. When id finished I went to see if I could help John, as by this point he'd started to pick up the twigs from his pruning and rake up the leaves from under the pear tree. Together we raked the leaves up to the compost heap, it doesnt sound like too hard a job but its a big tree. I offered to help chicken John with his digging the other day and he pretty much laughed so John told him I was like a tractor. After watching me raking for a minute the subject of me being like a tractor came up again. Not that I mind, though I could do with a real tractor some days.

Seed Shopping

We went for a little drive to Trowell this afternoon as we'd been told there was a garden centre there that was already selling seed potatoes. We picked up two bags and had a look at the other ranges of seeds which compared to anywhere else we've been lately was massive. With all the shelves of seeds it took a while to find any shallots, but we managed to buy a few other seeds on our hunt for them. The only thing that was missing were garlic sets.

Seed potatoes are not really meant to be planted at this time of year, but as were doing this first lot in bags they'll be fine. Using some old chicken food and compost bags as containers, John filled the bags with soil from the ground and I popped the potatoes in. We put all of the bags into greenhouse one and then thought the best idea would be to stand them on the bale of straw for some extra warmth. John then filled a bucket with water and tomato feed and sloshed a bit into each bag.

The chickens have been enjoying having the straw in the greenhouse and have taken to scratching at it, which amused John when one of the girls seemed to throw straw at Rita. The robins have been popping in regularly and the last two days we've been able to watch them taking food from the bird table. Im glad we built the bird table as otherwise we may not have seen the robins so much as they are chased away by the chickens.

After finishing our planting John set about adding ash from our fire and some water from the big tank behind the hut which we hope is full of goodness for our plants. At the moment there is nothing we can plant outside but we are putting alot into the preparation of the soil. I hope what we've done over the last few days will really benefit everything in the summer, especially the strawberries. John mentioned strawberry jam this afternoon and I can wait until we have enough to make some. Although we've got plenty of jars from everything we made last year I think we'll be needing quite a few more as we all love strawberry jam. It will be great if we get a few more gooseberries this year too as id like to try a few recipes with them.

After our night time walk id like say thank you to John for the special few minutes we spent together there.

Fresh Eggs For Breakfast

Breakfast From The Coop

Having had a bit of a late start yesterday morning we decided to take a flask of coffee and a box of chocolates to lotty with us so we didnt have to go back home and waste time. Once we arrived there John suggested that we could put the kettle on the fire and boil the eggs that we'd just collected for breakfast. John got on with making the fire whilst I pottered around a bit and and collected a few twigs. The fire was being a bit temperamental for a bit but it did eventually come together enough so we could leave it and get on with other things.

Having been to Homebase a few days earlier we had a few more packets of seeds that we could get on and plant. So into greenhouse one we went and filled quite a few pots with compost. We started with two more trays of onions, which means we have around 100 onions planted so far, but at the rate we use them we'll more than likely be planting quite a few more of them in the very near future. We also planted a dozen cauliflower seeds too. We didnt grow them last year but im quite sure we can grow just about anything. The chickens seemed very interested in what we were doing and one would sporadically turn up at the window to have a bit of a peek in.

By the time we'd done half of our planting the eggs we're ready and we sat down and enjoyed them for a few minutes. It was a very cold morning, so I was glad our fire had eventually got going. We sat around it for half an hour or so just being happy to be warm for a while.

As we had been talking about cooked breakfasts all morning we'd made ourselves very hungry and the eggs as nice as they are wernt quite enough to satisfy us. We went home for a change of clothes and a cup of tea and discussed our eating options. We decided on cobs but as we were leaving the house John drove in the opposite direction, but he did have another idea up his sleeve, and we stopped in Codnor as its the only place we've found that sells battered black pudding. The other reason for taking this drive was because of the garden centre we would pass on the way home. We looked through all the packets of seeds first and picked out some more sweetcorn and courgette seeds and also picked up a packet of strawberry seeds. The we ventured off outside to see if we could find strawberry plants. Just as we were starting to think there were none we turned a corner and there they were. So happily we went back off to lotty to unload our purchases into the greenhouse and put the girls away.

An Even Colder Morning At Lotty

Once again we were slightly late this morning so we decided it would be a very quick visit to let the girls out. Having seen David on his way in we decided to pay him a visit with a box of eggs to see if he could give us any advice on our new strawberries as his were amazing last summer. He told us how and when to plant them, how to stop the fruits getting dirty and what to do with the runners once the plant has fruited. We'd been in his plot for around twenty minutes and Johns feet were getting very cold so we said our goodbyes and thought we were on our way home. As we were passing the school plot the teacher stopped us to let us know that one of his chickens had now started laying, as he was sure he would have to wait until next spring now. We had a little speculate as to which of his girls it might be, and we all agreed on the one with the biggest and reddest comb. He then invited us in to have a look round.

He showed us inside his poly tunnels and the new pond that the kids had made and generally told us what they were doing. Having also had the strawberry discussion with him he showed us a few trays with an abundance of strawberry plants in and told us we could take as many as we liked. We were absolutely freezing by that point and hastily got going as soon as we had the opportunity. So now we have alot of strawberry plants and seeds and half an idea of where they're going to live.

We had planned on doing some work at lotty today but by the time we arrived back there wasnt as much time as we'd hoped. So John did a little bit of pruning on a few of our apple trees which gave me just enough time to plant a few of the strawberry seeds. Having spent a good few weeks/months with not much to do around lotty it been great to have so much to do there and its lovely to see greenhouse two as full as it was in the summer. Im hoping we'll be busy with it right through until next winter now. With all the new seeds we've bought lately iv got a whole lot of adding to do on my planting spreadsheet and will be having a look on there regularly so we dont miss any planting opportunities.

First Plantings For Next Year

Off For A Drive

After a bit of a late start this morning we were off to Homebase to pick up some potting compost and have a look at what seeds we could get our hands on. The Blur saw some cat grass seeds and decided she'd like to plant some for our cat Toby, whilst John and I chose onions, Italian Purple tomatoes, carrots, peas, squash, parsnips and sprouts. The teacher from the schools allotment told us that parsnips are hard to grow and that he'd so far not managed to produce any so its made me determined to grow some next year. Apparently cauliflowers are hard to grow too so theres another challenge for me. With the seeds paid for we hoped we could get to McDonalds within five minutes before they stopped serving breakfast, and we were just in time.

And So To Lotty

John had to do a bit of bumpy driving up the lane as a van had parked right in front of one of the gates and he said he couldnt reverse up the lane. So John had to drive into the retainer plot so the other man could drive down through the gate and let us past. But we got there in the end and unloaded the car. As we were going to start planting I thought id rake the greenhouse floor as the chickens made their dust baths in there and it was full of small ditches. Next time I'll remember to shut the door as id only turned my back for a few minutes and they were back in there making new holes.

John meanwhile was taking the backs off of some pallets so that he could make a new compost bin. He started off by the original bin and put all the excess wood in the wheelbarrow until the Blur and I took it so we could clean out the chicken coop. We came back up to find him with a pallet, hammer, axe and crowbar. They're not the easiest things to take apart, but at least he didnt hit himself in the wrist with the hammer. When he'd got the pallets how he wanted them John fixed them together and transferred the top layer of compost from the existing bin into the new one, revealing a chickens buffet worth of worms and some lovely compost ready to be used.

Once those jobs were done and we had a good fire going we decided what seeds we were going to plant and where. Most of the seeds were to go into pots in the greenhouse, but a few have to go straight out. So whilst the Blur and I were in the greenhouse planting cat grass, chilis, peppers, aubergines and onions, John was outside digging over soil and adding compost to where we are going to be planting our carrots and parsnips in a few weeks time.

It seems like a long time ago since the three of us last spent so much time at lotty together, so it has been lovely to spend the day there with them today. John said that last year he didnt plant anything as early as he probably should have so im hoping that the work we've put in today will make our crops even better. Thank you for a lovely day John and Blur.

My First Year At Lottington

It Started With A Fire

It seems like forever ago since I first set foot in lotty, it was nothing like my expectations of a few metres of plot with nothing to separate one from the next. It was a shock to find the massive, fenced off piece of land that lotty actually is. Having never lit a fire of my own before it was one of the reasons John took me there in the first place, and make a fire we did. Cat food boxes filled with shredded paper, and a few bits of wood to start, and John sat making me a fire lighter from a cane, string and a bit of petrol. We've had plenty of fires since, but that first one will always be the one I remember most of all. We toasted (or burnt) marshmallows on it, we made grass fuses and tried to dry myself out by it after being drenched with water by John. It was an amazingly hot day for the time of year, but the heat wasnt going to spoil the fun of the fire or my first weekend in Nottingham with John.

I dont remember doing too much actual planting or anything else there from that weekend, but I did enjoy it and knew that I would be back there again soon enough.

Getting Into Gardening

It wasnt long before the veg caught my imagination too. I remember feeling slightly jealous sitting in Bristol looking at photos of the potatoes that John had picked and eaten, and wanting to be there to share that with him. At first I felt like I was in over my head, not knowing what to do or when to do it (though I do still feel like that at times) and had to constantly ask what I could do. It wasnt long before I could go there with a list of tasks and a weekly routine.

What really captured me about lotty was silly little things like seeing a poorly plant and doing my best to get it healthy and producing veg. Our sickly tomato plant for example went on to be one of the healthiest looking plants there.

Not only have I learnt alot about growing food but also about cooking. Having to find things to make with what we have available at the time was tricky to start with, but the more I did the more I thought about what I could do.

Trying New Things

Until id picked and cook my own I had never tasted freshly cooked beetroot that hadnt been pickled, and I was surprised at how much I liked it. The Blur was the one who really took on the trying new foods idea. Despite having always eaten vegetables before she was now willing to try just about anything. It was great in the summer when John and the Blur would do their daily picking and testing rounds of grapes and peas. The Blur tried radishes, beetroot, beans, peppers and chilis for the first time. I found that there were recipes for pumpkin other than pie.

Things To Make And Do

One thing I have really learnt this year is how to build things with what you have and no tape measure. It started with the chicken coop, the went on to rebuilding the Charlton Heston shed. I led in bed thinking how the shed had gone from being battered and falling to pieces to something the looked good and was usable, and all by our own hands. The Charlton Heston mystery kept us amused for a few weeks. Trying to work out what the message said, the finding all the little coincidences surrounding the film and Charlton Heston. We also made a swing, a tree house of sorts, a bird table and the base of our aquaponics system. To begin with the morning after a busy making day at lotty would leave me feeling like id been ten rounds with Mike Tyson, but gradually its made me stronger and I now wonder what it would take for me to ache like that now.

Chickens

Now one of the main events for us all was the build up to and the arrival of our girls. The coop we built together is one the best features of lotty and the best one coop I have ever seen. Every part of our chicken journey has seemed full of excitement, from owning building the coop and owning our first bale of hay to the two times we drove to and from the farm to collect our girls. I never would have believed on the first day how much joy and amazement they would bring to my life. Theres not a moment I spend with them when I dont feel happy to have them. They're so much more than I could ever have expected, watching their personalities come out, seeing Alison finding her place in the world. Rita being our middle aged, upper class lady who's got something to say about everything. Betty who seems to need the reassurance of some time in my arms having a cuddle. Marge being the first at your feet when there's something good on the menu (or even if its not that good), she's also a damned good explorer. And Penny who likes to see the world from higher places and will always come sit on the bench next to me.

I cant not mention Cairo. Bottom of the pecking order but always willing to fight it out to make sure she got her fair share. There's always a place in my heart for her, and she'll be remembered just as well as all the other.

Random Conversations

One of the most enjoyable parts of lottington is the random weird conversations that make everything that little bit funnier. Ant pants is one of the very first that I can remember. Trying to work out how many ants you would need, how would you get the skins off and how would you put them all together. Another was of the car seats that looked like some aliens that we'd seen on star wars.

My Final Words Of Todays Blog

Its been an interesting journey for me and not just one that is about learning to grow veg or look after chickens. Its one that has showed me that I am so much better at things than I had previously thought, how much I am capable of, that I can not just achieve things but achieve what I feel are great things, and I can see my own potential. This is not something that I have done alone.

Thank you Blur for all the things we have done together at lotty that have made me smile and laugh, especially the silly games.

Thank you John for giving me this and for the encouragement, love and support.

I love you both and look forward to more springs, summer autumns and winters with you both. xx

An Afternoon Pottering

Behind The Fence

I decided to spend Tuesday afternoon pottering at lottington whatever the weather. I had a few jobs to do so when I arrived I spent the first 20 minutes trying to find a net big enough to put over Johns Brussels sprouts, mine had already been done and was keeping the chickens away quite successfully. Whilst doing this I noticed the Blurs class go out on the field to do P.E. and it wasnt long before she noticed me too and gave me a wave. Giving up on finding a net I go on with my second task of reinforcing the chicken coop fence and trying to find a secondary latch for the coop door. Having my mp3 player on it took a while to realise that the Blur was at the fence with her teacher calling me. I downed tools for a bit and went to say hello. They were peering over in hope of seeing the chickens. Not wanting to disappoint I caught the first chicken who had her back to me, which ended up being my favorite girl to cuddle, Betty (she always seems to be in need of a bit of affection). I had to laugh when the teacher asked Blur what the chickens name was. She answered 'Um...... Polly.' I dont know if her mind just went blank from being put on the spot. She confessed after school that once back in her class they were discussing the chickens she completely forgot Marges name. One of the boys said he didnt realise she lived there.

Now, as the girls have taken the hut to be their beauty parlour they are regular visitors in there which is fine except they have no concept of not pooping on the floor. Being fed up with the smell in there it was time to wash the floor. I blocked the door off with a window pane that was big enough and cleared the floor. Rita didnt see the barrier as an obstacle, jumped up and knocked it over, giving herself a bit of a shock. 'Bloody hell Nicola, I need a nice cup of tea after my ordeal' I think she'd say.

After my little show and tell it was off to greenhouse one and sadly had to throw away the pumpkins that had gone rotten and the sunflower heads that wernt much better. Having nothing left to do, I sat down outside with a blanket wrapped round me and just enjoyed being there for a while. Penny came and sat next to me for a bit. I like to be able to pick out little personality traits for all of the chickens, Alisons didnt come out until after Cairo had died and for Penny its taken a while for me to recognise her personal habit. But sure enough she has one. She likes to explore higher areas, which I think comes from her knowing that all the best treats in the hut are up on the table. Now as I explained about the state of the floor I hastily remove her from the surfaces in the hope she'll learn that I dont want her up there (and pigs might fly.)

I was very impressed with the Blurs shepherding this week as she managed to get the girls to walk in a line along the fence and into the coop. I wish it was always that easy.

The Site Inspection

When we arrived at lotty this morning to let the girls out we were thinking about how much we needed to cut the hedge as there was a site inspection by the council this morning. David walked past and John said 'I think David needs a couple of eggs.' Davids wife wont buy or cook him eggs after she got ill from one when she was in her twenties. He came in and told us that our hedge isnt too much of a problem and we said we'd planned to do it as a winter project. He gave us some advice on planting sprouts and told us a few other things. He was dubious as to whether some of the crops we have just planted would grow but I think he likes that fact that we tend to be experimental with what and when we plant. On our way out he called us into his plot and gave us a lovely, heavy white cabbage in return for the eggs. We've now considered leaving eggs out with a note offering to swap eggs for veg. I told John that someone had left out a big bag of Jerusalem artichokes out in the week for other people to take, but as I didnt have a clue how to cook them or what with I hadnt taken any.

We returned this afternoon so that I could clean out the coop and John could make a big fire. After all the bad weather this week the fire didnt want to get going, but what there was of it warmed my hands up after using freezing cold water to wash the chickens tarpaulin. John came down and had a look in the coop and said he wished he could go to sleep in there. I told him that when we have a barn i'll make it nice and cosy for him to go in. It may look cosy but sometimes when I have to crawl in there to sort it out I think id rather have a proper bed any day.

Once again despite the cold weather im glad I got to spend a few hours there this week. Roll on spring when iv got more to do there than I have hours in the week to do them.

Snow And Hail

Sundays Snow

Having looked out of the window early on Sunday morning and seeing snow on the ground my first thought was lotty. Not just the chickens, but our recently planted onions and potatoes. They've so far managed to survive the frost but I was unsure if they'd be able to cope with a layer of snow. Luckily the onions seem to be just fine. As the potatoes are planted alot further down and then covered in a foot of hay I cant as yet tell if the weather has had any effect on them. Im hoping the hay has offered them some extra protection.

Aside from having cold feet (the bottoms of chickens feet are similar to ours) the girls didnt seem too put off by the snow, although they did seem quite keen to get into the hut as soon as the door was open. As Saturday was particularly cold, I took some tea to lotty to drink whilst I cleaned the coop out. I felt slightly bad as all the chickens had to drink was some near freezing water. So I got an extra mug and offered the girls some tea. It seems Rita may not live up to our impressions of her wanting to come home with us for tea and cucumber sandwiches after all, as none of them looked impressed and turned their beaks up at the offer.

Mondays Hail

Yesterday afternoon I watched from the kitchen as a huge dark cloud rolled closer and closer to the house, and eventually pelting down what I can only call the worst hail storm I have ever seen. As much as I love our chickens I have to admit that chickens in general are not intelligent creatures, so the concept of going inside during the hail probably never occurred to them. When I arrived to put them away they still looked ruffled and damp. Now as I said the hail was coming down hard, so much so that it snapped one of the thick posts that is part of the girls run. Although we no longer keep the girls in there anymore its essential for getting the chickens away at night. What made it even harder was that it was my first time putting them away on my own as the Blur had gone to a friends house straight from school. I put the tub of chicken mash in the coop which tempted two of them in. Alison and Betty were unceremoniously and in Alisons case indigently caught a placed inside. Marge on the other hand decided to give me the run around and escaped the run by jumping over the fallen fence.

Repairs

After letting the chickens out and giving them something to eat I found a new post, step ladder, gloves and a brick and proceeded to strengthen the fence again. The step ladder has a rung missing from my apple picking in the summer and its really not very steady, so very carefully I climbed the remaining steps and started banging the post in with the brick. Two blows in and all the concrete stuck to the brick shattered over my head. I was still brushing bits out of my hair whilst paying for my shopping.

To end on a high note I can say for definite that all five of the chickens are now laying. Payment pending we have sold our first dozen eggs to a neighbour. Now all we need is as many egg boxes as we can lay our hands on.