Baking and Doves.

Home baked bread.

A few weeks ago I spied a roasting tin in Lidls for about £26.
Now, in the usual scheme of things, £26 is a fair amount for me to consider spending on kitchen goods, so I hummed and harrd and finally got told to "For Gods sake! Just buy the damn thing!"

Naturally the idea was to use it on the log burner as a small oven, but I was unsure if it would really do the job. Other experiments tended to end up with soggy under cooked tops where condensation gathers on the inside of the lid.
So last night I finally had the oppotunity to put it to the test.

After pre heating for a while on the log burner, I put the ring part of cake tin inside, so that the baking sheet wouldn't be touching the bottom.

Lid went on and the whole thing sat there on a ticking over flame for about an hour and 20 mins.

Result? Perfectly cooked loaf, well risen, firm base, browned but not over cooked top (something that I often struggle with in my little oven.

And the best bit? It was cooked for free!

The log burner had been lit for hot water and cooking that evening.   

Perfect, no?

Dave the dove.

So we have a new pet..... possibly temporary, although its looking more and more likely that he's here to stay.
Oliver saw Dave (as they've called him) on the ground about 2 weeks ago.
naturally, I told him to leave it, his mother was probably still feeding him and he'd be fine.
A few days later Owen and Alfie came home from school, clutching a soggy dove.
They'd found him flailing about in the burn.
So I popped him in a box to dry off and rest, gave him some chicken food and left him in the bathroom, thinking that is he survived the night, that we'd let him go in a few days.

A quick facebook with The New Ark confirmed this and so the next day, I started to work with Dave to get him ready to fly properly. This means "dropping" them from a few inches to start, so that they flutter to the ground.

He was soon flying from my hand to his box quite strongly.

He was soon in need of more space so he could practice his flapping without having to wait for me to get him out, so I fitted out the dog crate for him.

Dave showed a lot of interest in going outside, getting more unsettled so on Saturday we decided to let him go.

....and off he went.

He flew strongly and we were pretty pleased with a job well done.

During the day he came back to the garden twice and when we drove down the lane to go shopping he was down the end messing about in the puddles.

As there were other collared doves very near we though that was that.

When we came back from shopping though, we were startled by a bang at the window.

Dave had flown into the window that had his cage on the other side.

He waited patiently outside (no, he wasn't stunned!) for me to go and fetch him in, and this happened.

he ate.....

......and ate.....

Then slept for about 12 hours.....

Since then, he's showed no interest in going outside again, preferring to come out of the crate for a fly around the kitchen twice a day before going in his cage for food....

So.... oops :P

  

Reduced.

I love the reduced bit in shops.

Buy fruit and veg from the reduced table. There are several reasons for doing this.

1. You're paying a good deal less for something that would have been full price yesterday.
2. You tend to be more adventurous and try fruit and veg you might otherwise have passed over or considered too expensive.
3. When foods are in season and there's a glut of them you often find BOXES of reduced.. things like strawberries, spinach etc.. this is the time to buy  them up and freeze, make soup, make jam, whatever!
4. If you time it right you can get MASSIVE reductions. It's worth noting when they get deliveries, the night before is usually the time to grab a bargain.

HOWEVER.
Check prices carefully. If something is reduced by a few pence, make sure it's not part of an on going special offer or you could be spending MORE on reduced than on produce still in date!

You have to be prepared to cook or preserve what you get though.
There's been times when I've come home with bags of stuff only to end up giving half of it to the chickens.
Now, when I have a stash, I nip to google.... the internet is your friend and  there are whole websites devoted to ONE vegetable or fruit, so there's no excuse ;)

     

John Seymour would be proud.

New chicken run and "house" for Gatsby and his wife.

Seeing as neither of this pair are at all productive in the traditional sense I wanted to find a way for them to contribute to their upkeep.

 I also needed them out of the brood pen as Blossom is sitting on two eggs which should hatch any day now!

So anyway, here it is.

  

The run itself is made from plastic water piping, which we've had round the back of the shed for years doing nothing, and old stock fencing, topped with chicken wire. This makes it super light to move around.

The "house" is made from a broken wheelie bin, its not puuurty, but its water tight and (hopefully) fox roof, and highly movable. It even has wheels!  

The run is simple for two people to move, so this pair will get moved around the garden, weeding and manuring as they go.

Also, the ore green food and bugs they get to eat, the less I need to feed them in grain!

Its a win, win.  

A pic here of the old muck heaps, sporting their own crop of potatoes and onions. Because why  take the muck to the veg., when you can cut out the middle man ; )

What do our chickens eat?

......everything.

Well nearly. With the exception of avocado and onions they're more than willing to chow down on any scraps.

I keep a tub in the kitchen to fill with veg scraps, left over rice and pasta, fruit that's taken to many trips to and from school in a lunch box.   

In the morning I blitz it in a food processor. This reduces waste and means that the chickens can easily eat things like carrot peel, which are a bit too hard otherwise. 

When its feed time I mix it up with some rolled oats and scratch corn. In the winter, when its very cold, I might add some warm cooked barley as well.  

Other extras can include, a glug of oil, garlic, herbs, even nettles. 

In the summer, the chickens don't need much feeding, as the have access to the paddock and spend a lot of time pecking at the grass and eating bugs, worms and grass seeds.

But anyway, here's the proof.... tucking in ;) 

                                       

Paying homage to the slug gods, and other things to do in June.

We're all getting busy, now the weather, and earth, has warmed up considerably, its an endless round of weeding, watering, hoeing, mulching, planting out, bring on, netting and about a million other jobs too.    

Salad leaves and pak choi in Tesco boxes. 

Just planted out cabbage seedling and naturally I had to pay homage to the Pagan god of slugs....

..... Pennies around seedlings to give slugs and snails little, coppery, electric shocks... @20p per plant, and you get it back at the end of the season.   

The main vegetable garden is slowly taking shape. Another two beds have been added this week alone. 

Love little glimmers of Permaculture....

.....mixed salad leaves from plants that seeded themselves at the end of last season.

Strawberry flowers.

After losing two hens to the fox a few weeks back, I relented and allowed blossom to sit on another two eggs.

Apple blossom is late this year, but this means no blossom drop after late spring frosts.   

The horses are still generously donating poo...

Jerusalem artichokes. 

Potatoes.

Potatoes in an old compost bin, experimenting with yields this year. 

Courgette.

Some of the apple trees.

This space, behind the steading, is earmarked to become a walled orchard!

Onions growing in an old muck heap....

....as are these potatoes.

Fencing nearly finished for the "Paddock paradise" track, for Badger and Mousse. 

Little caravan, tool shed, needs a new lick of paint. 

More potatoes, in an old chest.

Carrots.

Cabbage seedlings put to bed.

Temporary tomato house.

Sage and Marjoram.

Chives 

Broccoli 

Salad leaves

Basil and Parsley

More salad leaves.

Extra peas and (hopefully) squash.  

Another experiment, carrots in 2lt bottles. 

New book!!

First book I've come across that doesn't assume that frosts end in March.