Potatoes growing well

 

Our potatoes were planted a bit late this year but that doesn't seem to have stopped them growing well. The photo above was taken on 3rd July. The one below was taken just 17 days later. Potatoes are one of our key crops and probably our most important sources of carbohydrates.

New baby

 

One of our nannies, Star, gave birth yesterday to a baby boy. Both mother and baby are doing well. He was quite a weight.

A year old

 

Our two young billy goats Ant and Dec have recently turned a year old. They are both in excellent health and are thriving on the vegetation I pick for them each day. They consume between them a heaped barrowful of greenery every day - mainly willowherb, nettles, dock and goosegrass. There is an abundance of these weeds on local footpath verges so we have a ready supply for free food for the boys.

An unexpected chick

 

I recently found a day old chick wandering around our Nearside allotment following a hen which was clucking away. I have still not found the nest but I gathered up both and put them into the quail house. Both are doing well but I wonder if there are more unexpected nests waiting to be found.

On the verge

 

The lane outside our smallholding has been getting a bit overgrown on the verges. We therefore took the haycutter and trimmed all the verges and the central strip. The byproduct was a large amount of cut grass and vegetation which after a few days was turning into hay. We fed as much as we could to the goats and the rams in the paddocks at the bottom of the site. We will run it over the bottom of field 2 soon to ensure we have another heap of feed for the animals.

Saddle up!

 

This morning I experienced one of those rare occasions where all the animals lined up for an amusing shot at the same time as I was ready with my phone to get a good picture. Our chickens have taken a liking to sitting of Nettle's back. And Nettle herself doesn't mind.

Just in time

 

Our two billy goats, Ant and Dec, are living temporarily in the secure paddock on our Farside allotment. We recently dismantled and moved it within the paddock. Ten minutes after finishing, the skies opened and there was a huge, if short, storm and downpour. Fantastic timing.

Redcurrant gin

 

We made this redcurrant gin last year and sampled it over the weekend. A very pleasant, smooth taste. I will be putting some aside for the fruit liqueur competition at the Bowes Agricultural Show in September. And remember - please drink resposibly.

Nuts!

 

One of the most important wild crops is hazel. The nuts contain protein, oils, carbohydrates, roughage and so on. They could be called a superfood. I checked out some trees recently and found a good crop of nuts. They are not ready for picking yet. That's a job for September. 

Spare wool

 

In June we finished shearing our 27 adult sheep. We therefore have a large amount of unprocessed wool. We have no use for it ourselves though we have given a bit of thought as to what to do with it. (Using it as filling for homemade cushions is the only idea we have so far. Someone took 3 sacks last week to use in a garden and she gave one of the sacks to a local gardening charity. One friend is wanting to take some to protect plants from frost during the winter. Any ideas on what to do with the remaining sacks of wool will be appreciated.