Little Allotment Fox blogs...

3rd Nov 2015

Today, I thought I'd treat the chickens to their first chard meal...they weren't very sure at all to start with. But of course they slowly started to get that the weird green stuff might actually be tasty. It's very rewarding watching them start to get to grips with normal chicken behaviour. The past couple of nights, two of the chickens haven't worked out that there's two snug warm hen houses to sleep in. I've found them fast asleep outside, just at the entrance to one of the houses. So they needed popping into their house to keep warm and safe.

I've also decided to keep a track of eggs and a mini record of the hens. It's a good way to track, injury, who's laying (if you can tell), what's happening at what time of the year...etc etc. This morning there was one egg. Yesterday there were two...so they seem to be fine and settling in nicely. 

2nd Nov 2015

So this is a picture of our first egg and Little Blue. Poor Little Blue wasn't feeling too bright in this picture. She unfortunately got stuck in one of the doors on her journey from the battery farm to the rescue centre. The other hens thought it was a great game to peck her bum. As we arrived at the rescue centre, one of the volunteers was carrying her to give her a little sunshine and asked if we wanted to take her...I promptly said yes. I just figured if we were going to rescue unfortunate chickens, we may as well rehome one of the most unfortunate. I wasn't sure how many other people would want her, as she looked pretty awful.

Anyhow, as chickens are attracted to the colour red, any bleeding wound can attract attention and result in quite serious injury. The rescue workers sprayed her bum with gentian violet antiseptic spray...so her bum is blue. And she subsequently got called Little Blue.

I should also mention, she did not lay the egg in the picture. As soon as the chickens were released into their new home, one of them quickly discovered the nest boxes and kindly left a homecoming gift. 

31st Oct 15

Halloween pumpkin head!!!

30th Oct 15

What a stunning morning it was going for a lovely early puppy walk...I do truly love autumn mornings. 

29th Oct 15

28th Oct 15

27th Oct 15

I have bug hotel envy!!

 Earlier in the year, I bought a lovely little blue bug hotel for the allotment. It's about 30 cm big. So this bug hotel is a little more impressive. I might have to recreate something similar on the plot this winter, if I ever have any time, in amongst moving from plot 18 and getting 51 straight...but a girl can dream. 

Photo of the Day: 26th Oct 15

I was given these roses about a week ago, as small buds. And they've bloomed into the most beautiful flowers. I'm actually really impressed at how well they've lasted. I have a stunning old climbing rose at the front of my house, but if you pick the flowers they last about five minutes. Maybe I need to find out what kind of roses these are and plant some bushes. 

Photo of the Day: 25th Oct 15

Today we went to a local goat farm. We went and saw all the goats before buying some lovely homemade products. 

Photo of the Day : 24th Oct 15

Marketing day and I couldn't believe the size of these chou...definitely not mon petit chou!!! I think the squash also look really good eating. 

Photo of the Day: 19th Oct 15

Puppy in the bed.

Photo of the Day: 18th Oct 2015

Garden chickens...

Photo of the Day : 17th Oct 2015

Tomato harvest...a few green ones, as they had fallen or the trusses were overburdened. I also picked some of the lighter red ones, as they'll ripen at home. 

Photo of the Day: 14th Oct 2015

A few of the flowers from the garden...at the moment, my garden is a bit of a mess. During the summer, I had a lot of work done on the house and during that time, had a lot of skips and labourers. There was quite a bit of down time, where the plasterer/electrician etc was working we made use of the skips and the manpower to remove the disgusting decking and dig the old concrete patio out, to get ready for the new garden. This won't be done until new year, when the kitchen is finished...so it looks like a bit of a bomb-site at the moment. But the apple and pear trees have been in bloom, the herb patch has carried on smelling and tasting delicious and there have been some really pretty flowers/weeds. :)

Photo of the Day: 13th Oct 2015

Perfect London morning...

Photo of the Day: 12th Oct 2015

Perfect flowers

Photo of the Day: 11th Oct 2015

How great does plot 67 look???

Photo of the Day : 10th Oct 2015

Beautiful dahlia

Photo of the Day: 9th Oct 2015

It's a tiring life being a kitten with mittens...

Photo of the Day: 8th Oct 2015

So today was a day out in London for a conference. The traffic to the train station was much worst than I'd planned for and I was running a little late, so grabbed a cab from the station to the venue. I think London Underground is great for getting around, but you miss so many of the sights when in the depths of the earth. I love getting a chance to drive across London and see the beautiful buildings and monuments and it was a lovely sunny morning.