As you may have seen, we have two chickens that we keep at home in our garden. I thought I’d take you through what we do with the chickens on a daily basis. During the summer months, we don’t tend to shut the chicken house up at night. This is to help with ventilation and…Continue reading A day with the chickens
Month: June 2015
A few potatoes!
We dug a few potatoes up at the allotment this evening! These were supposed to be first earlies, but we rarely eat much in the way of potatoes so most of our plants have stayed in the ground (lesson learned for next year – we don’t eat many potatoes so don’t plant many!). Ashley noticed…Continue reading A few potatoes!
A ‘no dig’ bed
I thought I would share with you the process for building a ‘no dig’ bed. We have learnt this from our Charles Dowding organic veg book. I’m not sure we’re doing it quite right – Charles leaves areas covered with carpet or black plastic for months before building the bed but we have been impatient and skipped…Continue reading A ‘no dig’ bed
Citrus cleaner
I mainly use my citrus cleaner in the chicken house as it is all natural and shouldn’t harm the chickens. I read about it first in a chicken keeping magazine that we purchased when we first got the girls. I spray the onside of the chicken house, give it a good scrub then rinse it…Continue reading Citrus cleaner
Elderflower cordial
One of life’s greatest pleasures (for me) is to be able to forage free plants and berries and turn them into something delicious! At this time of year, hedgerows are filled with delightfully scented Elderflower. Earlier this week, on a lovely sunny afternoon, I took a walk round what is technically ‘wasteland’ just at the end of our road…Continue reading Elderflower cordial
Start of the harvest
A quick trip to the allotment this evening was a pleasure, even in the cool and misty weather we’ve had today. We pulled up the first potato plant and brought these beauty’s home, this should last us the week! I also picked just a few swiss chard leaves. It’s great to finally have produce to…Continue reading Start of the harvest
Finding an alternative Laundry soap
I have tried not to use commercial laundry detergents for a few years now. First I tried soap nuts, little dried fruit shells that contain a lot of saponin (soap). They are supposed to be hypo-allergenic, can be reused several times and are compost-able. The grey water can be used in the garden too, which…Continue reading Finding an alternative Laundry soap
16th June, quick allotment visit
I popped by the allotment this morning as I was nearby. There was a rabbit on the plot, not quite a baby but certainly small. I think I’ve figured out where he’s getting in so will have to fix that soon. Luckily, he doesn’t seem to be doing too much damage, though my herb fennel…Continue reading 16th June, quick allotment visit
Cleaning scrub
I’ve been on a mission for the last few days finding uses for Castile soap in my journey to swap from commercial, chemical loaded household and personal care products to the more natural and homemade. I’ve long used bicarbonate of soda to clean around the house, including the bathroom. I find that it’s great for scrubbing…Continue reading Cleaning scrub
Vertical potatoes
A week ago, Ashley and I were at the allotment debating what to do with a box of chitted second early potatoes that hadn’t been planted. We had intended to have more beds put in sooner and so the potatoes should have been growing away by now. As we don’t have any room in the beds…Continue reading Vertical potatoes