A Prickly Problem...This'll Sort It Out!

Come on! Face The Camera!

Tuesday 21st August 2012

Oh dear, we broke the farmer's tractor!

Yesterday the farmer was in the ex-rape field next door cutting the vegetation along the dyke with his tractor. We thought nothing of it until he appeared asking us if we had a knife and scissors. The huge sheet of polythene which once covered our old stack of haybales had blown into the dyke at some point and was now entangled in the farmer's machinery! We did sort it out, everything was amicable and no lasting damage was caused. But the reason I tell you this is that the conversation brought to the fore another job which needed doing...

A Prickly Subject

Remember back in early spring, after Squiggle and Curl had recreated a scene from The Battle Of The Somme along one edge of the pig enclosure, I had a brilliant idea. Bring in the electric fence and plant the area with Jerusalem artichokes, then in the autumn I could just move the electric fence back again revealing a tasty harvest upon which the new piglets could feast.



Here you can see the old fence line
and the forest of thistles in the background.

Well, it almost worked, but instead of Jerusalem artichokes I got prickly thistles! Now, much as I  and the birds and the insects like the thistles, I need to keep on the right side of all those around me and the fluffy seed heads have started drifting through the air in the summer breeze.
I can't really see it being an issue, as the fields get pounded with herbicides, fungicides, pesticides...you name it... I even found out that they get a liberal sprinkling of slug pellets. No wonder the wildlife struggles. 

Anyway, clearing the thistles was a job which needed doing. So this morning, at first light, I switched off the electric fence and began the painstaking job of moving it the other side of the thistles. Fortunately pigs have a very good memory for where their boundaries used to run and take quite some time to realise that the fence is not still there. Nevertheless, I worked as quickly as I could until I could switch everything back on.





I then set to work flattening the thistles. I wasn't really appropriately dressed, with shorts and no socks, but my big feet made relatively short work of rendering the forest flat.

Next job was to send in the pigs to complete the trampling and dig out the roots. Pigs are remarkably tough and seem completely unaffected by prickles and thorns.

But first there was the invisible line to cross! Even the temptation of lush grass and tall vegetation was not enough, but a sprinkling of pig nuts soon proved too much temptation as the first brave soul ventured his snout into previously forbidden territory.

It wasn't long before all seven were burying themselves beneath the thistles, shoving each other out the way and tossing piles of thistles aside to get at the pignuts beneath.

So there you have it. Happy farmer. Happy pigs. Happy me.

And the goldfinches, butterflies, hoverflies and bees? Well, I make sure there's plenty enough food and habitat for them spread around the farm.



Weaning Day

Saturday 5th May 2012

Yesterday was a wearing day. Nothing to do with the smallholding, but I had work in the morning and another appointment at the hospital in the afternoon. Everything was OK, but it was an emotionally draining day.

So it was that I blearily woke up, still in my smarter work clothes, on the sofa at 4:20am! Apart from a few showers, the weather was pleasant enough to work outside today - and that's what I did, from half past 4 in the morning until weariness beat me at 7 in the evening. 

Weaning piglets

Main job for the day was to wean the piglets from Daisy, their loyal but worn out mum.

Last time I weaned the piglets off their mum was the first time I had done it and I didn't really know what to expect. I had an ingenious plan to erect an electic fence to create a new enclosure next to the wooden fenced pen. A gate could be unscrewed and Daisy tempted into the new area, then I could screw the gate back on and mother and litter would be separated. The plan actually worked like a dream!

Having never erected an electric fence before, I researched as much as I could and found a very friendly company in Scotland who answered all my questions. Out of interest, an electric fence does not need to run in a loop to make a circuit. It works by completing a circuit through anything that touches it, through the ground and into a metal rod driven into the ground at the business end of the circuit.

But still I was unsure of myself and so I put it off until it really had to be done. I started by connecting it up around the inside of the wooden fenced enclosure, so that the pigs could learn about this new boundary without being able to panic and pass straight through it. This resulted in a few shocked squeals until they learned, which did not take too long.

However, by the time everything was ready, the piglets were gone nine weeks old and Daisy was thoroughly fed up with them. Her teats were scarred (piglets have needle-like teeth) and she needed a rest. It is almost impossible to keep the sow's weight up when she is feeding a full litter, but it wasn't long before she came back into very good condition.

We had read all about providing the piglets with 'creep feed' to ease them onto a solid diet, but our enquiries suggested this was not necessary. In fact, from the age of about two weeks the piglets had been attempting to eat solid food, and by weaning they were all tucking in and competing enthusiastically, even with mum!

So we had learned from our first litter. Commercially piglets are weaned off the sows much earlier, but it is much better to leave them with her till 8 weeks. But we knew that we needed to be ready to separate them at this age and not beyond.

Daisy has stayed in relatively good condition with this second litter and I suspect that they almost weaned themselves anyway.



On the other side of the fence
I've sown the seeds
of a late autumn feast for the pigs.
Daisy has enough grass to be going on with
... for now.

Before tempting Daisy away from her offspring, I had a plan to make some adjustments to the route of the electric fence. This was a process which involved much walking up and down the fence, lifting and shifting the plastic posts which hold the wire.

The idea is to create an area where I can plant all the spare Jerusalem artichokes left from last year, as well as a few seed potatoes and maybe some other fodder crops. When the time comes later in the year, I will move the electric fence again so that these become accessible to the pigs. They will love being able to snout around and find food naturally. Besides, Jerusalem artichoke is a great food for pigs. Unlike potatoes, its nutrients are just as available to pigs when uncooked.

The Grass Really Is Greener On The Other Side

Daisy followed the feed bucket straight throught the gap before the piglets even realised what was going on. Once through, Daisy set about the task of munching every blade of grass she could get into her mouth, while the piglets could only look on from the other side of the fence!

And so it was that the piglets spent their first night in the ark on their own.

Old Wisdom

Wednesday 4th April 2012
The rain continues in ernest.

With my plans for the Scillies postponed and no prospect of working outside today, I came up with a new plan.
My father has been in hospital for a few days and more, so today we 'did' the animals early then headed over to Essex. I must admit to not being the best at keeping in touch, so it was nice to see my mum and my uncle and aunt. Dad seems to be slowly on the mend. Unfortunately his sense of humour has survived! - Look after yourself dad.

The Blog Effect
I may not be very good at keeping in touch with people, but since I started blogging, everyone knows what I've been up to. It can be quite disconcerting. I start telling people about something and they tell me the rest!

Wisdom of Old

I hadn't realised, but when my grandad moved his young family away from Liverpool, he had worked for the queen's surgeon, looking after his country home. So he had bought himself a book, The Smallholder Encyclopaedia, edited by S.A. Maycock and John Hayhurst. This explains why mum knows so much about gardening and keeping animals.

I think grandad would be proud of what we are trying to achieve here and it's a shame he couldn't be around to see it.

Anyway, my aunt had managed to dig out his smallholding 'bible' for me, and I am sure it will contain many nuggets of old wisdom. Funny to think that I will be referring to the very same book which my grandad used 60 odd years ago.

I couldn't find a section on polytunnels, though, nor did the beekeeping section offer any advice about how to manage varroa.

There was some useful advice on insect control though!

It was also lucky that we read the section on Bacon Coupons. We hadn't realised we needed to surrender 104 coupons when we sent Squiggle and Curl off!

But, joking aside, there will be a wealth of knowledge in this book for me to peruse and soak in. In fact, sections on Jerusalem Artichokes and growing dandelions for their leaves seem to be touching the trends of today. The internet may be a wonderful source of information and opinion, but it is wonderful that nuggets of wisdom, almost forgotten, can be rediscovered by opening the musty pages of an old book.

The Perfect Synergy of Man and Machine

Monday 2nd April 2012

As well as my designer veg patch, I have been trying to cultivate a large area down by the pig enclosure. In fact, part of it used to be a pig pen, so I am hoping that all that muck has done some good for the soil.
This area is for veg which take up a lot of space, such as squashes and maincrop potatoes. Also for sowing excess seeds - some of the seed packets come with enough seed to grow a forest. Maybe, too, an area for fodder crops and for flowers for the vase.

I attempted to cultivate this area last year, but the task was daunting. I reluctantly, and against my instincts, treated the long grass with glyphosate weedkiller. After this, a farmer came with his power harrow - this is the boy's toy of farmers, miraculously turning lumpy ploughed fields into beautifully neat, flat areas of perfectly tilled soil.



It looked beautiful when it was done, and the seed weeds which had been lying in wait really enjoyed their new facilities! Keeping on top of all this proved impossible, though I did manage a half-decent crop of mangelwurzels, a few patches of sunflowers and a line of spare runner beans. After this, though, the grass made a very determined attempt to re-cover the ground.



So I started this year staring at an area which very much resembled how it had looked at the very beginning. Don very kindly dragged the area with his tractor twice, which broke up the soil, dislodging or burying large clumps of turf and weed.



I have made friends with my new rotavator



This morning, it was finally time to deploy the new rotavator. I had been putting this off for two reasons. Firstly, I suspected I would have teething troubles which would stop me getting much done. Secondly, I feared it would not be able to cope with the mighty job ahead of it, which would make me despair of the task.



The spare veg patch

However, I had used all my allocated beds for early potato varieties, so today it was time to take the plunge or face having nowhere to plant the maincrop potatoes which will take us through next winter.



Until I get to work it more and add plenty of organic matter, the soil in this area can be a bit cloggy when wet and like bricks when too dry. So I had been waiting for just the right moment. Any further delay and I would be running the rotavator over an impenetrable concrete pad.



Well, as you can see, me and Mr Rotavator got along fine, though he kept trying to run away from me for a while. He woke up muscles which have been sitting lazy and unused for quite a while. I made a more than satisfactory start to the job and am feeling much happier about being able to manage everthing now.

Artichoke Alley

Sue magically commands the plant label towards her

The first crop to go in the new patch was the mountain of Jerusalem artichokes produced from the ten or so tubers we grew last year. So this year we will have 161 plants! I hope the pigs like them! If not, at least they look good and they'll provide a windbreak for more delicate vegetables. Sue got stuck into this job with gusto while I played with my new toy. 

As you sow...



Wednesday 21st March 2012



Thursday 22nd March 2012
A surprise frost, a warm day ahead.
I didn't miss the sunrise, it took this long to break through.





Piglet Progress
The piglets have been provided with the luxury of a heat lamp to keep them warm. Today I decided to try them without. In theory the straw and their mum's heat should keep them warm enough, and they should have enough body fat by now to help keep themselves warm.



I'm not sure whether Daisy is happy

about this or not, but the piglets

now cuddle up to mum instead

of huddling under the heat lamp.



Outdoor sowing

The last of the winter crops has been harvested, most of the beds are prepared, and it's time to get the show going! In went the parsnips, with garlic and marigolds as companions. They'll be ready for harvest come next year's frosts. Then turnips, a quick growing crop to use the soil space before the cabbages go in. Next some broad beans, dipped in paraffin to keep the mice off them. They'll need netting before the shoots appear, as those tender tips proved irresistible to something last year. Two varieties of pak choi - I don't particularly enjoy eating anything green, but these I find one of the more palatable. And this year I have a plan to thwart the flea beetles and whitefly that plagued last year's plants.

Finally I dug over the Jerusalem artichoke patch and replanted a dozen of the healthiest looking tubers. Alongside these I put in eight large bulbs which I found tucked in an envelope, already beginning to sprout. I think they're Elephant Garlic. It's unusual for me not to label something, as I know this is what happens - miscellaneous crops.