I mentioned last week that we were hoping the 4 ewes were pregnant. I took these photos of Edna, the oldest ewe, in the past couple of days and she is starting to show her size. Jo, from whom we got the ewes, told us that Edna normally gives birth early but is a good mum. She has calculated that we will need to start checking for lambs on 16th January. It is the earliest possible date based on Rex, the ram, going in with the girls on 24th August. Busy times ahead (hopefully)!
All our poultry are confined to runs at the moment. DEFRA have ordered all poultry must be kept caged for the time being until the recent outbreaks of bird flu are behind us. The ruling applies to all poultry in England. We had been planning to dismantle our duckling run but fortunately we did not get round to doing so. It has been brought back into use as a run for the 7 call ducks. We have had lots of rain recently so the ground is rather muddy. The call ducks were starting to get muddy so we added this large bowl previously used as a water trough for the goats. We had to build a rampart at one side to give the ducks access. They are, however, loving the pond.
Our 4 ewes have been with the ram since the end of August. We have no definitive proof they are pregnant but they are looking bigger around the waste. Perhaps it's down to the woolen coats or eating too much grass. But perhaps the ram has had his way with them. Fingers crossed!
This is the first time we have kept sheep so lambing will be a new experience for us. The first births won't be before late January. So at least a month to go.
I'm saddened to report that Houdini, our oldest hen, passed away a few days ago. She was over 9 years old and was in the first batch of hens we bought, back in 2011. She served us well and passed away in her sleep. We think she died simply of old age.
I spent a good part of today working out how to create enclosures for our ducks and chickens. From 14th December, new restrictions come into force which will require all poultry to go into their own version of lockdown to counter recent outbreaks of avian flu. While the rules are in place, the birds will have to be caged. So far we have drawn up plans to move young birds to the quailhouse. Two sets of birds will go into two greenhouses. Some chickens will be moved into our fruitcage and a big new henhouse will have to be built from some old garage doors.
My Christmas booze is now sorted. This weekend I've made 7 bottles of hawberry and honey beer and 5 of raspberry and honey beer. The honey was washed off the squeezed honeycomb a couple of weeks ago. We still have lots of this honey water to use up. I'm working on recipes and ideas now!
15 jars of apple jam made tonight. They will be part of a batch of 100 jars of jam I'm making to go into Christmas food parcels which Gateshead Council will be delivering to vulnerable households.
The last of the tomato crop is now picked. Most of the late ones were green. Time to make green tomato chutney. This pan produced 11 large jars.
I hate waste. So, faced with some leftover cabbage and some potato peelings, what was the best way to put them to good use. Answer: make them into soup.
We were given 4 rabbits by a friend who goes shooting. We have skinned and gutted them and put them in the freezer where they will remain until I make game pies later this year.
October is the time of the year when the hens' productivity drops to scarcely anything. Typically we get 2 or 3 eggs a day though we broke all records last week when there were 6 eggs on a single day! It is our Rhode Island Reds we should be thanking for producing eggs. We have 3 adult hens and they often outperform the other 35 or so hens. We have been aware for some time that this breed is very productive so we have put a great deal of effort into raising chicks. We have about 12 though we don't know the proportion of hens to cockerels yet.
The recent heavy rain has meant we are dealing, yet again, with lots of mud. While most of the time this is not a problem for the ducks, occasionally they get so overwhelmed that they are unable to clean themselves. And when that happens, they probably won't survive. So recently we found one of our ducks covered in mud. We brought her back to the house and put her in the bath where we showered her (ducks love that!) and washed off the mud. A meal of wheat followed before we returned her to the livestock plot.
We are planning to move some of the ducks to our main field where we will set up a duck run. They will therefore be on grass and the aim is to let them eat it to clear plots for planting with vegetables. Once they have cleared a plot, we will move the run (which is made from the frame of a polytunnel) to another site and we start the whole process again.
I occasionally take guest posts from others where I broadly support the views they are putting forward. Below, the post wassent to me by John Hannen of Mediaworks.
The Importance of Carbon Offsetting
One rising issue that the UK face is how to tackle climate change. As our populations and economies grow, the environment is feeling the strain of our increased energy needs. This means we all need to look for ways to reduce our carbon footprint, and quickly.
For some, choosing to reduce the amount of plastic we use, recycle more, or even turning down the thermostat in our home by one degree, the journey towards a greener way of living has already begun.
Despite this, more is needed to be done. Last year the UK government announced plans to achieve ‘Net Zero’ status by the year 2050[1], a target which aims to stop the UK from contributing to the increase of CO2 in the atmosphere. However, public awareness on how this will be achieved is still lacking. In fact, a recent report from the Citizen’s Advice Bureau found that just 38 per cent of us are aware we’ll need to change the way our home is heated if we’re to achieve this goal.[2]
The reality is, until
the day comes where we are entirely carbon neutral, creating a carbon footprint
is unavoidable. From heating our homes and offices, to driving our
cars or even making a cup of tea, it’s inevitable that we can’t always live up
to the green standards we’d like to.
However, for those wanting to find ways to avoid being accountable for some of these inescapable emissions, there is a solution – Carbon Offsetting. Here, we look through the benefits and how it can lead to a greener life.
Defining Carbon Offsetting
For the emissions that can’t be prevented, carbon offsetting provides an alternative to this. A process in which people compensate their emissions by funding projects that provide sustainable development in communities around the world. These projects offer an equivalent reduction in emissions to those you create; either counteracting or absorbing carbon dioxide and bringing balance to the environment.
For many big brands, this strategy has already been adopted. The likes of EasyJet[3], Shell[4] and Gucci[5], all now use Carbon Offsetting to help improve the environmental impact of their businesses.
The Importance of Carbon
Offsetting
When emissions can’t be avoided, carbon offsetting allows for people to make a positive contribution to the environment.
These causes have also received huge funding, helping to improve the economic, social and health situation to whole communities. With people at the heart of Carbon Offsetting, as well as ecosystems, it allows us to begin future proofing for a cleaner, greener world.
Why choose to Carbon
Off-set my Emissions?
All of us have a shared responsibility to lower carbon emissions for the future. For the likes of homeowners, this means being given the chance to balance their carbon footprint. For the environmentally conscious and those looking to reduce their impact on the climate, Carbon Offsetting gives them the tools to make a difference. Whilst it shouldn’t be used as a stand-alone approach and is best used as part of a wider carbon reduction strategy, it will help people reduce their impact on the environment. Additional changes that individuals make in order to lower the impact they have on the environment is by switching from gas to Liquefied Petroleum Gas LPG.
Off-setting the carbon
emissions I can’t control?
From helping some of the poorest households in West Africa to access eco-friendly cooking equipment, to supplying clean hydroelectric power to the local grid in rural China, there are a diverse number of benefits to carbon offsetting. One example is the Kariba REDD+ Forest Protection project in Zimbabwe, Africa. Since its launch in 2011, it’s avoided more than 18 million tonnes of carbon dioxide from being released into the atmosphere and has prevented deforestation in an area of nearly 750,000 hectares.
Although carbon offsetting
isn’t the only answer, it can play a part in the bigger solution. Many individuals
and companies are already doing much to reduce their carbon footprint but choosing
carbon offsetting is another step in the right direction, by supporting worthy
sustainability projects that deliver quantifiable greenhouse gas reductions.
[1]
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-becomes-first-major-economy-to-pass-net-zero-emissions-law
[2]https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/Global/CitizensAdvice/Energy/Energy%20Consultation%20responses/Zero%20sum%20(2).pdf
[3]
http://corporate.easyjet.com/corporate-responsibility/environment/climate-change-carbon-emissions-and-carbon-offsetting
We are putting in a last dash to get pick the weeds on our Farside plot before they die off for the autumn. Weeds may be pests to other people but to us, most can be used as food for our goats. They love them!
I occasionally get sent products to test and then write about on this blog. This is the latest, the ION8 leakproof bottle. Regular readers will probably know I hate waste and single use bottles are a particular focus of my hate of appallingly bad use of resources. I am a very liberally minded person but if I were dictator for a day, near the top of my to-do list would be to ban the production and sale of single use plastic bottles, especially those used in the sale of bottled water. (I never understand why anyone would want to buy bottled water when you can get it from a tap for nothing!)
Anyway, when I was asked to test out the ION8 I decided to give it a go. We have tested it to near destruction on our smallholding and despite that, it continues to live up to its billing as leakproof. Despite our best efforts to put it through its paces, it is just about indestructible. So this is far away from the throw away society I dislike so much and which is so damaging to our environment.
So, stop buying bottled water and use tap water instead. And as the ION8 has survived the hard work of being used on our smallholding, it will survive just about anywhere else. Fill it with tap water and enjoy!
I found some ricotta cheese in one of our freezers recently, made from some of our goats milk. I therefore mixed the cheese with breadcrumbs and chopped onions and then filled a marrow with it before baking it. A very pleasant meal.
We have had lots of rain recently and this inevitably leads to lots of mud as the poultry churns up the ground so readily. In the chick run we have come up with a simple solution to keep the birds and the ground dry. We have made a lean to shelter from two transparent plastic roofing sheets. They work very effectively.
Over the past couple of weeks we have collected nearly a tonne of apples and pears grown in people's gardens locally. What we collected was surplus to requirements and most would have ended up in the garden waste bins if we hadn't collected them. We have started to feed the most bashed and damaged apples to the goats as they won't last long. The rest will go into storage over the winter to be used as goat food. Thanks to everyone who swapped their fruit for our preserves and in some cases simply gave us their fruit. It will all be used in a sustainable way. Nothing wasted!
Once we have sorted the storage of the half tonne of apples we've gathered from local residents for goat fodder over winter, we shall get the whole of the potato crop harvested.
He is making a good recovery. When I checked him today, there were fewer scabby lumps. He and Sweep however will remain in the paddock away from the other animals until he is fully recovered.
We are still collecting surplus fruit - indeed tomorrow I will be making more calls. We also have more apples to collect from the tree on our Farside plot. We have 6 sacks already but there are still some apples on the tree. We will now sort the fruit and use up the bashed ones in preserve making. The rest will go into storage for the winter for the goats.
It looks like we are heading for a good apple crop this year. We've started to collect the apples from the large tree on our Farside plot. 5 sacks collected yesterday and lots still more to come. Most will be used over winter as feed for the goats but there will be ample opportunities to make pies and preserves.
We had a big gooseberry crop this year, enough to allow us to experiment with creating new recipes for preserves. We have lots of rowan (mountain ash) growing near us. They produce bright red berries which are packed full of pectin, so any preserves set well. They have a bitter taste so I decided to combine them with gooseberries to make a jelly. The result was better than I expected. The video takes you through how I made it.
A couple of weeks ago we came across an injured deer near our smallholding. She had got caught up in a barbed wire fence next to a public footpath. She was still alive but there was a deep slash across her stomach. It was clear she wasn't going to survive. We removed her from the fence and made her as comfortable as we could. Phone calls to wildlife charities to get someone out to put her to sleep turned out to be unnecessary. She died an hour later.
We took the carcass home rather than leaving it to rot next to where people walk their dogs. We found a game butcher in Acomb near Hexham and booked them to butcher the carcass though we had to gut her first. We got the meat back last week, most of which has gone into one of our freezers. We passed a venison joint on to the friend who pointed us to the game butcher.
Expect us to post about venison dinners, game pies and game sausages over the coming months.
