Runner beans and a small flood

Runner beans and a small flood

Last year the runner beans were a disaster. Slugs ate all but 1 or 2 before they could start climbing. I'm determined that this year will be different and so started sowing at the beginning of April inside the greenhouse. Over the last 4 or so days they have been left outside in the cold frame with the lid off for the last 2 and there has been 2 ground frosts, neither of which have been bad.

The last few years our last frosts have been in the first week of May and I've always had runner beans out and have never had any problems with the cold but with this years crop starting earlier I have sown direct into the ground 1 seed at each pole plus now planted half the poles with young plants. I have also sown a load more in the green house.

All poles have a bean sown direct and 20 poles also have young plants.

Although we have had 2 frosts recently neither days / nights saw the air temperature drop below 1.5 deg C so I'm guessing the ground temp barely dropped to freezing but I have attempted to build some protection for them made from corrugated  clear plastic. It'll keep the wind off of them and may perhaps just hold that little bit of warmth in for an extra hour or so. 

Being earlier in the year by a few weeks there are less slugs around at the moment so I'm hopeful these beans may just get climbing before the slugs become a problem.

Luckily we have been given a load of pots so if all else fails then I can pot up a load of beans and get them a foot tall or so before planting out. I have loads of seeds this year to throw at the problem and still plenty of time in which to sow them. Fingers crossed.

Mini Flood

Despite digging drainage, channelling water into 2 ponds, having loads of grass to expire water, hundreds of plants, dozens of young Willow trees and a couple of dozen fruit trees, about 60 hedging trees and having raised the ground in a few areas we still have a boggy little field. I knew we had a small issue with water where we placed the Poly-tunnel but this last week saw a lot of rain and the Poly-tunnel had a inch of water on the floor. The trellis bed next to it also was totally full of water and my young wild flowers that have only just germinated were in danger of drowning if I didn't do something.

When we get around to building an extension we'll need a soak away so I've taken the opportunity to site this and started digging. So far I've only just removed the top 4 inches of turf, plus dug a little soil (clay) out but it was enough to drain the bed and most of the Poly-tunnel.

 A small channel from the trellis bed filled the hole as I dug away the turf. It had drained a bit by the time the photo was taken but it did lower the water in the bed and tunnel so that the roots of the seedlings aren't constantly in water.

This hole is still full of water several days later and will take the week to drain. I have to hope that when dug much deeper I find less clay and hopefully chalk otherwise it won't be a soak away but more a sump.

Many other veg beds around the garden still have the water sitting just a few inches below the surface. Most main beds are raised so this isn't an issue but every fruit tree is in effect planted in a bucket made of clay and therefore is sitting in water. As long as we don't have too much heavy rain in the next few weeks it'll be fine.

The turfs will be put to good use in the chicken pen, given them grass in the bare parts but also raising the ground to avoid their flooding problem.

Update - the day after
Plan A with the runner beans may not have lasted very long. Hard frost last night with air temps down to -1.5 so ground temp would have been lower. Will be interesting to see if they survive.

Chickens

Chickens

Last year when the fox got 21 chickens we took a break from having chickens and needed to re-think whether the effort was worth it. It wasn't the first fox attack we had suffered. Three attacks. The first lot of chickens lasted a good year and we regularly saw the fox walk around the boundary feet away from the chickens and totally ignore them day after day, month after month, then it attacked.

After that the fence was raised in height. Another attack with all chickens gone. After that attack we put an electric fence around the pen but that failed as the electric fence was on top of the main fence and the fox bounded over both.

This time, having decided that we really did want chickens the fence got raised much higher and the electric fence was put in a better place, outside the main fence and 3 lines near the ground and a foot or 2 away from the fence.

The problem with raising the fence is the expense so the main pen became much smaller. This had the problem that the chickens scratched the ground so much it became mud, and after rain became a bog. Which wasn't nice. The new chickens weren't laying eggs very well, plus they weren't getting enough grit (calcium) in their diet and many were laying soft eggs. The problem with soft eggs is that immediately they were laid another chicken would eat them. From 20 chickens we were only getting 2 to 6 good eggs a day.

Smaller pen with no grass

When the main pen became smaller we also used the other part of the pen with a lower fence for a couple of chickens we were given by a neighbour. The pen wasn't nice for us to walk into or the chickens.

The new pen is twice the original size and 4 times as big as the pen we last made with a high fence.

Before the enlargement.

After the enlargement which incorporates a pear tree and an area of Willow and a few fruit bushes.

Click to enlarge.

It's nice to see the chickens are now spread out, plenty of room for each of them to avoid each other and there is now plenty of grass. Because it incorporates 2 fruit bush beds there is also plenty of manure used as a mulch which they have happily been sifting through looking for worms and slugs.

Comparing The Past - February

Comparing The Past - February

It's been three years developing the little field and every so often I like to compare month for month between the years.

Click on images to enlarge.

February 2013

The first year saw flooding.

February 2014

The second year saw trees and a pond plus drainage ditches.

February 2015

The third year saw areas taking shape.

February 2016

The start of the fourth year.












On the enlarged pictures the trees are now getting big enough to see from a distance and there are many lumps and bumps. Bit by bit we are trying to put some height into the field to reduce the wind. Within the last few months a Poly tunnel went in but the wind damaged it and recently some trellis screening went in to protect it (far left with most of it out of view).

The fox has still been an issue for the chickens, well more than an issue, it killed them all, and so better fencing with a better electric fence has just gone in because we took delivery of another 20 chickens this week. The water proof electric fence controller turned out to be not water proof and died. The chicken run has now got 6 ft fences and has been split into 3 pens. Two of which I hope to roof. The theory being that if the fox does get in again chances are it will only get in to one pen before we realise and can react to protect the other chickens quicker.

The drainage ditches are also being redug, because although they work they are slowly filling up and this winter has seen a fair few very boggy patches - no flooding though.

This week I have also ordered 10 Silver Birch, 10 Hazel trees and 10 Sweet chestnut to go mainly around the boundary.  

New Chickens

New Chickens but also an electric fence

Yesterday 19 white chickens arrived yesterday from a commercial farmer who takes day old chicks and grows on until they are ready to lay. They are commercial Point Of Lay chickens but I can't remember the make and model number of them. 6 Cockerels, 1 to keep and 5 to fatten up and eat.

They were kept in the shed for 24 hours before letting them out and the first thing that struck me was how much and how quick these things eat compared to the Leg Bars, Leg Horn and Silky chickens of before.

The previous chickens would slowly eat their food and there would have been some left after 30 minutes but these lot eat everything within 2 minutes. When I fed them in the shed all I could hear was tap tap tap as the beaks hit the floor as they pecked, and then it fell silent as they finished.

Around the pen I've put an electric fence at the top which will hopefully stop the fox but of course time will be the judge of this.

The last lot all had names and different personalities but with 19 white commercial almost identical chickens that's unlikely to happen without a tin of spray paint and some imagination.

With the wings now clipped it's just a matter of sitting back waiting for eggs and since they are from commercial stock these things are likely to lay eggs in a prolific fashion so our diet is likely to change to omelette, scrambled, poached and boiled egg along with lots of cakes :) .... or alternatively a possibility into starting to sell produce at the country market.

They are supposed to have 100g of special feed per chicken per day (almost 2kg) while we slowly wean them off of their normal food onto corn/wheat, layer's pellets and kitchen scraps but luckily the farmer gave us 4 bags of their normal feed thrown into the price. It's looking like the feed might be close to a £1 a day once they start laying. This living cheaply and having your own eggs and meat is beginning to look like the expensive option - especially during the winter when no eggs are forth coming!

Since the farmer doesn't want cockerels I have been told I can have as many cockerels as I want or can cope with but now we are about to find out if the cockerels will tolerate each other. They have been split up from the hens (although 1 was left with the little flock, brood , peep, clutch or chattering or what ever the group is called). If they can't get along we'd better create some freezer space!

Since the neighbour has just given us a 4 yr old apple tree which I planted in their coup I guess I can now say the eggs come from "woodland chickens" as is now the fashion. That's what another local chicken farmer has done, planted a few young trees in a field where the chickens can roam and now the supermarket has "from free range woodland chickens" printed on the boxes, with a higher price of course.  

Just remembered the chicken shed needs some more roof felt and another roosting perch, more items on the job list.

Who'll be the first to get a shock as we forget the electric fence is live in the morning? Seems like the kids have got the job of letting the chickens out in the morning :)

Bad Fox

Bad Fox

Today, sometime during the afternoon, early evening perhaps, a fox entered the chicken area and killed all the 10 chickens. We found 9 dead, and one missing that the fox must have taken away for food, when we went to put them away for the night.

Bigger fence is obviously needed. Learning the hard way.

More Seeds Sown and Sea Buckthorn

Today I managed to sow a row of Spring Onions, Pak Choi and Chinese Kale in the main vegetable bed. Another job that needed doing.

Pak Choi (Shanghai)

I'm not too sure whether the Pak Choi will work outside unprotected but like everything it will be an experiment. I've no idea about the flavour but if Tesco's are selling it then it has obviously become more popular and is supposed to be good in salads and stir fries and I think maybe a good addition to the vegetable patch as it'll give us some variety since I have normally stayed away from  growing "foreign" veg but if we are to move into being as self sufficient as possible then we need as many things as possible that can be grown all year round.  I've read different names for Pak Choi and there appears to be various different varieties but often it appears to be called Bok Choy or Chinese Cabbage with some saying it needs to be grown under cloches and others saying it is easy to grow with no other mentions of care.

The seed packet says that it needs to be kept moist otherwise a dry spell will cause it to bolt but it also says that you can and should pick the baby leaves to encourage growth and goes on to mention that it can be cut up to 4 times and will re-grow. I don't know if this means the leaves you pick will re-grow or wether it will re-grow if you pick all the leaves in one go. Time will tell I'm sure.

Spring Onions (White Lisbon)

Spring Onions have always failed when I have tried them. I presume something eats them or maybe I forget they are Spring type and leave them to become big Onions but hopefully by writing what I have planted and where I'll remember this time. It says on the packet that these are quick growing and if you sow them in October they will be ready by March/April - that doesn't sound quick to me. Anyway, another vegetable for a stir fry or salad and sandwiches. I have sown these in between the rows of Durham Early Cabbage simply to cram a bit more out of that bed.

Chinese Kale (Kailaan)

Something else I've never grown before but once again the packet says the flowering stems and buds can be used is salads and stir fries. The larger stems need peeling and cooking. Other thing tried for variety and once again sown within the Durham Early Cabbage and White Sprouting Broccoli to make more use of the bed. Sowing was supposed to be up until early autumn but it is still mild and worth a try.

I think I'll try sowing a few of each in the greenhouse as well later today.

Bedfordshire Champion Onions

I had found an old seed packet, pre opened and 5 years old. It says to sow in Spring but I've sown 3 seed trays worth in the greenhouse just to see what happens. If they grow then I may be able to transplant them outside in the spring. I've bought a new packet of these ready for the Spring so this opened packet wasn't doing any good just sitting in a box so it has to be worth the experiment.

Lambs Lettuce (Corn Salad, Valerianella locusta) 

I have sown 2 medium sized pots of Lamb's Lettuce since when reading loads of other people's blogs I keep coming across it. Apparently it has a nutty flavour and can be grown all year round although it is an annual. It has many nutrients and goes well in a salad.  According to Wikipedia it has been commercially available in the UK since the 1980's but has been eaten, or foraged, for centuries before and is popular with the French. Good enough for me then.

I have read that it can be very invasive and in the Spring when I sow some outside I think it may be a contender for being confined to a small raised bed.

Cauliflower

Cauliflower has to be one of my favourite vegetables and I don't remember growing it before so a couple of seed trays were sown in the greenhouse. The packet said it could be sown in the Spring or indoors during October. I'm hoping I can grow enough of these to freeze a load so we can eat them during the year.

Mizuna Lettuce

Another one I've not tried before but it said can be sown in the Autumn and has a peppery taste. It follows the salad and stir fry theme I seem to have today and will hopefully open my eyes to yet another variety. 

Sea Buckthorn

 I was reading Deano's blog post http://sustainablesmallholding.org/diploma/project-7/ about a Chicken scavenging design  and in there a comment someone made mentioned Sea Buckthorn being something chickens liked to eat and since one of my duties as a Wildlife Trust volunteer is to help manage the Sea Buckthorn I thought I'd pinch a few tiny plants when we had to remove them from an area. Normally the bushes are burnt but I pulled 4 or 5 tiny plants that came off of runners and have stuck them into pots of compost. Hopefully they have enough roots on them to take if they are kept well watered. It must be the wrong time of year to try this but if successful then I was hoping to grow them on a bit before adding them to the chicken run. Hopefully the chickens can supplement their diet, save us money on chicken food and give them a more varied environment. Deano had commented that his soil wasn't right for Sea Buckthorn but I think if they take then I will dig a patch and make the soil right, which is light well drained and sandy.

Sea Buckthorn can be a very invasive bush but if it did grow too well and try and take over then all that is needed is cutting back or digging bits up which isn't the end of the world considering the field would benefit from this pretty bush plus the branches and leaves are very good at fire starting so I could even get a supply of kindling.  The Buckthorn has male and female plants so fingers crossed I have some female plants, if not I'll have to try again in the Spring.

The berries are very popular with birds which will help make the field a wildlife haven plus they can be used for food so they seem like a good plant to me.

Wild Flowers Sown

Today I have sown various Wild Flowers. Agrimony, Greater Knapweed, Bird's Foot Trefoil, Yellow Rattle and some Meadow Sweet in the areas I think are wettest. Also a packet of Carnations was scattered around - just because I found a packet.

I have held back some Yellow Rattle in the freezer for a month and will sow them when I remember in November sometime.

It'll be very interesting as to what and how much comes up in the spring because they were all scattered over the grass which is a bit tufty in places rather than scraping back some of the grass to reveal soil, how ever I note that nature doesn't bother too much with scraping back grass when sowing so I'm sure some will work. If it fails then there is always next year.

The drainage channel near the shed was deepened this morning and while I was digging deeper to make a soak away pit I came across a land drain - which was handy to say the least - and within the hour all water had drained away. Later this afternoon or perhaps on Tuesday I will lay a drainage pipe and cover with sand and gravel, but for now the flood prevention near the shed has achieved the main goal. The water butt overflowing problem is no longer a priority since it will overflow next to the drainage channel so I can put off this issue for another week or so.

This time last year we were house hunting and didn't get a chance to do anything garden wise until January or February so it feels like we are 5 months ahead of ourselves and well on track. The first 2 months last year were simply flood fighting and we didn't get a chance to dig beds until April were as this year we already have all the winter vegetable beds done, a huge manure pile composting, pond established and greenhouse built. Everything from now on is adding to last years efforts.

The one failure this year was the Willow that I planted, 50 little sticks, and only 8 or so took and grew leaves but no height. I must remember to water them more and mulch all around them as we think that they were out competed by the grass and weeds. Mulching around them and replanting some more should produce better results. 

The chickens have a far better home this year but already their hen house is too small and they will need somewhere dry for rainy days as yesterday they got soaked and looked a little water logged, so the next building project will be a new hen house with a covered area for them to shelter outside.

Mice have also taken shelter somewhere in the house with all the rain so they'll need addressing next week as well.