Plants

This blog is both an aid for my memory and also a call for help. I hope to record the plants which appear over the year in the garden and, thus, create a list. I would be grateful if any anyone can name the unidentified flowers.

33.) Primula Japonica

32.) Daisy

31.) Forget-me-not

30.) Dandylion

29.) Celendine

28.) Magnolia

27.)

26.)

25.) Violet

24.)

23.) Bluebell

22.) Magnolia

21.)

20.)

19.) Periwinkle

18.)Flowering Currant

17.)

16.) Forsythia

15.)

14.) Viburnum

13.) Flowering Quince

12.) Bell Heather

.11.) Switch Ivy

10.) Camelia

10.) Camelia

9.) Crocus

8.) Snowdrops

7.) Daffodil

6.) Primula

5.) Primrose

4.)

3.) Hellebore

2.) Azalea

1.)

1.)
2.) Azalea
3.) Hellebore
4.)
5.) Primrose
6.) Primula
7.) Daffodil
8.) Snowdrops
9.) Crocus
10.) Camelia
11.) Switch Ivy
12.) Bell Heather
13.) Flowering Quince (Chaenomeles Speciosa 'Rubra')
14.) Viburnum burkwoodii
15.)
16.) Forsythia
17.)
18.) Flowering Currant (Ribes, Sanguineum, King Edward VII)
19.) Periwinkle (Vinca)
20.)
21.)
22.) Magnolia Stellata
23.) Bluebell (Hyacinthoides non-scripta)
24.)
25.) Violet (Viola odorata)
26.)
27.)
28.) Magnolia
29.) Celendine
30.) Dandylion
31.) Forget-me-not
32.) Daisy
33.) Primula Japonica

A new chimney

We have a new chimney. The Rayburn has been connected and is functioning. We are now in the happy position of being able to cook and generate heat from the wood on our own land. The new flue draws well and burns cleanly. After a short period of time the oven was up to 200 degrees and the hotplate was able to boil water with ease. However, the most exciting aspect is that the kitchen was comfortably warm.

Meanwhile the solar panels are working well. They are generating about 14 Kwh per day in the recent sunny weather.

Tadpoles

The frogspawn has started its conversion. Now a mass of tadpoles are busy in the pond and the leat. Tailed but legless they have started their transformation.

The two cockerels have settled in. Jeff enjoys his polygamous life and has been very active and hopefully helping us expand our stock. We we have created a box in the hope that one of the hens may go broody. Made out of recycled materials from the work in the boot room it will not be a great loss if we have to change our plans to an incubator. In the interim, Scampy is is using it as a refuge as he regains his health as Jeff and the girls do not tolerate his company.

We have started to get involved in the local gardening group and even at this early stage it has proven valuable.

Spring Arrivals

We have worked out the missing ingredient in our attempt to be self sufficient in chickens. It is the cycle of life, the baby chicks to replace the older birds, it is the need for a cockerel. 

We found two locally and Jeff and Scampy now have their places in the yard. Jeff has managed to set himself up as the head of the roost with his, currently tiny, harem.  Scampy is older and unwell so is spending some days in quarantine.. However, with rest, food and quiet he seems to be making a recovery.

We hope to get a much more poultry but will wait for the next poultry sale at the farmers' cooperative in town.

Mud, Glorious Mud

The weather changed a little today. The temperature dropped and the rain has started. After a brights start with sun and a light breeze for an hour, even the birds  tried to set a cheery theme, but the day was doomed to relentless drizzle.

To fit in with the watery weather I decided to start work on the drainage ditch and duck pond. No matter what anyone tells you this is not much fun. The mud creeps over your wellingtons, under your cuffs and under your hat. It also grips your ankles to stop you moving about and threatens to toss you forward into the pit. Each shovel full  that you manage to dig out dribbles back in a slow landslide back to its roots. A day's work looks around one percent of the job, so we may be ready by autumn.


The only bright spot in the work is that breaks can be taken by the ford. It is very relaxing to sit on the large slate bridge and listen to the stream flow by.


Because of the rain we let the chickens work indoors today. They enjoyed an afternoon in the greenhouse, hunting for bugs, in a dry, paraffin warmed, atmosphere.

Chickens happy to be working indoors.
(One chicken with a disgruntled expression has been cropped out)

Spring Sounds

Spring continues to slowly evolve. The days are warmer and brighter and over the last few days we have seen the solar panels deliver about 10kwH. More flowers are showing their heads in the garden with patches of colour appearing in the borders.

The greenhouse has been pressed into action. A paraffin heater keeps the frost away and fills the greenhouse with a characteristic smell which is very evocative of old men and allotments.


We are trying to recycle the as much as we can. Hopefully the tubes from inside toilet and kitchen paper rolls will make pots for seedlings. If they survive long enough, without degrading, they should allow the plants to be transplanted into the ground with minimal risk of root shock. We are also using beans which we found from the previous owner of the house. These french, runner, and broad beans are quite aged so we are taking a bit of a gamble. However, if in a fortnight they have failed we should still have time to get beans going.

We found a large cold water header tank. This was rusted and holed in many places but has been recycled to act as a local incinerator.

Some heavy digging in the near end of the woods has uncovered a large drainage pipe. This should allow us to drain some of the bog down there. It might also make an outlet for a duck-pond. It looks as if, which some unpleasant muddy work, we could dig out a reasonable pond here. Fortunately we are probably having visitors in March who might be enticed into heavy manual labour.

Chicken looking amazed by recycled incinerator.
(Another chicken with a blasé expression was cropped out)

This clip might also give some idea of our recent activities :- Sound

Here comes the sun .. ..

The weather has remained mild and it has felt almost springlike. There was no great wind today and for the most part it has been dry. Little work was done in the vegetable garden but the aged, Tesco garlic bulbs seem to have survived and are now sprouting strongly. It is quite encouraging to see some green in the first raised bed.

The main work of getting the wood store ready for the winter goes on. I have started to work on the far side of the wood where there are a number of trees that have fallen and a number which need felled. With the fm radio on the phone and a set of earphones it is a pleasant place to listen to The Archers' Omnibus and Desert Island Discs.  The need for a good wood store has become more pressing as it seems that we are going to be able to reinstate the old wood-burning Rayburn in the kitchen

The biggest change over the weekend, however, has been the installation of the solar panels. We now have the ability to make 3.36 kilowatts although when they were switched on, just before sunset in the  winter, we only made enough (80w) to light a few dim bulbs. I am glad to say that the panels do not seem too intrusive and  blend into the roof quite well.