Sean's Allotment - episode 2

Sean Cameron is the producer and editor of The Horticultural Channel, the niche tv series in which I was a presenter in 2011. He continues to run the website (http://thehorticulturalchannel.info) which, amongst other people's work, carries some of my blog posts, photos and videos.

Sean is producing a weekly video from his allotment and this is edition 2 for this year. My hens and ducks have a cameo role towards the end.

Taking shelter

I couldn't resist taking this photo today. Half my hens were perched in the shelter we built them last year to give them somewhere to stay dry during the constant rain. No rain today of course though it had snowed on Monday. The ground is frozen hard so the hens weren't going to have much luck free-ranging for bugs and grubs. At least on the perch they are off the cold ground.

So, a tip to any budding henkeepers: make sure your birds have shelter in rain and cold alike.

From duckling to duck

The ducklings we got in September are now fully grown. They aren't laying yet though the two point-of-lay khaki campbells we also got last year are producing eggs. One lays every day, the other on a more occasional basis.

The above photos were taken yesterday in the snow. Three of the ducklings have grown into ducks (none laying yet) but the magpie is a drake and, sadly for him, he will be appearing on our dinner table in the near future.

Bread making

There are some foods that we will probably not be able to grow ourselves, or at least produce in sufficient quantities (unless we are able to get a modest amount of additional land). Wheat is one of these. So our flour supply has to be bought. Later this year we will be having a go at making flour from acorns and potatoes but at the moment, our source of flour is the supermarket.

We have, however, implemented a new rule. Buying bread, biscuits and cakes is no longer allowed. If we want a slice of bread, or a cake or biscuit with our tea, we have to make them ourselves. So, yesterday was a baking day for me. I didn't make any biscuits or cakes but I did make 2 large loaves of bread and 10 bread rolls. They are glazed with one of our own eggs. I'm rather pleased with the results.

Sunrise over the allotment

There was a lovely sunrise over the allotment this morning when I was there opening up the hen and duck houses. So I whipped out my blackberry and snapped this photo, taken of the path leading to the allotment gate. Still lots of snow on the ground, as you can see. The padlock on the gate was frozen solid and some of the hen house doors were frozen shut. Doing the usual morning tasks therefore took a bit longer than usual.

How the hens and ducks coped with the snow

We had snow overnight so this morning I took a camera over to the allotment and filmed the reaction of the hens and ducks. The hens in particular were a bit confused. They didn't really know what to make of the snow. Normally they storm out of the hen houses when I opened them. Today they stuck their heads out, not sure what to do until they picked up the courage to go out. Meanwhile, the ducks loved it.

Mud!

2012 was the wettest year on record in England. As a result the ground is saturated. Since New Year, we have had a relatively dry period. There's been a bit of rain but not the downpours we had last year. Nevertheless, any rain now simply sits on the ground on the allotment. It cannot escape by draining into the soil. So even a shower leaves puddles behind it. The paths are churned up through constant use and I can't remember the last time I was able to walk about without wearing wellies.

The ducks and hens add to the mud problem. The ground in front of the duck house has been liquid mud since it was built in September. Our plan is to put in drainage there and along the main paths. Once the paths have their drainage dug, we will put down paving stones. Mud in the chicken run is not liquid. Instead it is thick and viscous. It's the sort of mud which, if deep emough, can suck your wellies off your feet!

My temporary solution is to blanket over the mud there with a layer of wood chippings. We have plenty of them. Last year, we had one of the old hedges cut back. It hadn't been touched for at least a decade. The hawthorn in particular had been allowed to run wild. The result of the cut back was a big pile of branches which were chipped and left in a large heap. I started today to spread it on the chicken run. There is still plenty to do. The heap of chippings is on the far side of the allotment site which therefore requires a walk of about 100 metres to get to it. This will be a job that will be completed later this week.

The hens however loved the chippings. Hours of endless fun followed as they kicked about the chippings looking for bugs to eat. Much better for them than mud.