Easter Sunday sees the return of our Swallows

Let's start with the weather.
It rained constantly for the first two months of the year with storm upon storm sweeping through, but all this wet and windy silliness was put to bed by Coronavirus. Since its arrival we've had gorgeous weather, particularly since lockdown. We've gone from complaining about mud and flooded paddocks to complaining about bone dry ground.

Not too longer ago things were very different

As I write this on Sunday evening, the Easter weekend has seen temperatures into the mid 70s (old money). Saturday night we had some heavy showers, but it didn't make much difference to the soil. To do that we need sustained rain, even if it's just drizzle. Late afternoon today brought a change though. A chill wind howled across the fields and thunder rolled around the fenland skies.

I was up very late last night after nocmigging till the early hours. I added another new bird species for the farm list. That's seven new species heard in the last two weeks. This will have to stop when I go back to work though, as I'm now seemingly too old to burn the candle at both ends.

There was a big job planned for today, planting the maincrop potatoes.
I grow six varieties of maincrop: Orla, Cara, Desiree, Blue Danube, Valor and Pink Fir Apple.

Fossicking chickens

I no longer bother with digging trenches or burying seed potatoes deeply. Now I just clear the ground, nestle each potato into a small indentation made with the trowel and cover everything with a thick layer of compost. I then have to net or fleece the bed to stop the chickens and turkeys scratching all the compost back off the potatoes. The beds can be uncovered once the potato plants emerge and the compost settles down a bit. By then the ex free range chickens will be confined to their pen again as they can be a little too destructive in the veg plot. It is lovely having them fossicking around the place though.




I managed to get four beds cleared and planted up today. Normally the beds would have already been cleared, but my bad back over winter put paid to getting ahead with everything.
One of the beds still had last year's parsnips in. I harvested to the end of one row and was very pleased with the parsnips I got, though some were afflicted by carrotfly. That's why I always grow more than I need. These are one crop that does require soil disturbance to harvest.
I left half a row of parsnips standing and just planted the potatoes in the spaces.

I also finally discovered where the other turkey hen has been hiding as I happened across her nest complete with three eggs. She is in last year's summer salad bed, which is now full of flowering rocket and borage. Fortunately her nest was at one end of the bed so I was able to clear enough to leave her nest and still plant my Cara potatoes.

One of the beauties of no dig is that it is far easier to leave things in situ and plant around them, whether that be a turkey nest, a perennial herb or a self-seeded plant like poppies, borage or marigolds.


Not everything goes smoothly in the veg plot though. The broad beans I sowed direct a while back have germinated poorly. It may be that the voles found them, but less than half came through. These were from quite old collected seed though. It's not a total disaster as I always end up with too many broad beans. I have resown into the gaps, two beans per station this time. If they germinate it will spread the broad bean harvest over a longer period.

Of course our smallholding has plenty of livestock too. Now that the paddocks are drier and the grass is growing the sheep pretty much look after themselves. The poultry are pretty easy to look after too, thought they need twice daily feeding and locking away at night, as well as chasing out of the veg garden occasionally.
They can be a little messy though, especially the ducks. While I pottered in the veg plot, Sue was busy deep littering the chicken houses. Every couple of weeks we (well, mostly Sue) completely clean out the poultry houses, but in between we just add more straw. This bedding makes a valuable addition to the compost heap.

The bees take a fair amount of Sue's time too. One of the new hive stands had settled down and left the two hives it was supporting leaning forwards. First job of the day, while the bees were very active in the glorious sunshine, was to lift up the whole shaboodle while Sue wedged offcuts of wood under the front legs. This involved putting myself right in the line of fire at the front of the hives. This is where you need total confidence in your protective bee suit. We managed to level up the hives, but not before a bee got inside my bee hood. (The suit has a small tear which was theoretically closed off with a clothes peg. I have since insisted that Sue patch it up for me.)



This was a bit unnerving, but fortunately the bee was more intent on finding a way out than attacking my face.

I've saved the big news till last though, so if you've not managed to read this far you won't find out, but then you'll not be reading this so you won't know you've missed out.

So here goes. DRUMROLLLLLLLLLLLLLL...

The swallows are back! Yay!!! Three appeared above the veg plot early afternoon. Their calls and chattering stopped me in my tracks as I delighted in the sight, the clearest symbol of the passing of the seasons.

Swallows and Lambathons

The first swallow soaks up the early morning sun

There is excited chattering above the smallholding once more.

Yay! The swallows have returned. And with temperatures already having reached 24C there should be plenty of insects for them.
That was Sue's wake up surprise for me on Wednesday.

Thursday's surprise was that we have our fourth lamb, an adorable all black single ewe. She was the offspring of badger-face number 00009. This ewe always drops her sprogs without warning.



So the lambathon bit of the blog title is a bit (well a lot) misleading. We have had four lambs - oh, did I forget to tell you about the twins born two days previously to Number 0001.

All are doing well. All were born with no problems for mums or babies. There are three girls and one boy which is a very good ratio. They were all born within our Easter holidays, as planned.


And that's about it.

Oh. They are adorable as ever!

Cutting a path throught the swathe

There are still a couple of nests in the stables with young swallows leaning over the mudbrick edge, their bright yellow gapes wide open begging for food, but some of the others are now empty, their occupants fledged and taken to the big wide world. Every evening dozens of swallows gather over the smallholding, playing delightfully in the air and chattering loudly. They are joined by family parties of screaming swifts. It's a sign that nature's clock is inexorably ticking round.

This newly fledged young swallow was reluctant to join its siblings in the air.

The first combine harvesters have been in the fields, their distant chugging and clouds of dust signalling that harvest time is upon us.

When the crops are growing it becomes a bit trickier to walk the dogs along the field edges, so last week I decided to create a circular path around our land. I had been considering this project for a while but when it happened it was as usual very spur of the moment.

A nicely clear fence line and a new path for the dogs (and humans)

I needed to mow both sides of the electric fence, a major job which involves lots of walking and mowing up and down along the fence line, move the fence posts first one way and then the other. Thankfully it is a job that only needs doing a couple of times a year. I also wanted to replace a few of the posts.

But while I had all the tools out, the mower, the wheelbarrow, spade, post rammer, earth tamper... I decided to cut the new path, which meant completely moving the electric fence about 8 feet to one side. This way I could still leave a corridor of wild vegetation alongside the dyke.

The end result is brilliant. Most importantly, the dogs approve!


The new path gives a different outlook on the whole smallholding too. It takes us through previously inaccessible areas of young woodland and long grass, past the far sheep paddocks and along the side dyke, emerging at the back of the old pig pen and pumpkin patch.

Animal Escapades

Getting a bit behind, so here's a week's worth.
Another week's worth tomorrow.

18th June - Collect hay while the sun shines

A couple of early morning trips to a local field to collect hay for the winter. Such a wonderful smell!
The afternoon was the monthly Fenland Smallholders Club at the wonderfully named Hooters Hall, where we met friends and learned about the butchery room and the wool room. Sue had a go at spinning, not very successfully.


20th June - Baking hot
The day of the dead swallows. I've already posted about this.

21st June
I'm gradually getting more into moths. The hot weather and an open window at night mean that the landing wall becomes a bit of a moth trap.




One family of swallows has managed to escape its death trap clay oven nest. The chicks are very exposed to predators on the floor but better that than being baked alive. One has already fledged and the others look very close.

25th June 2017 - A Summer Outing
The Grow Your Own group summer trip out today. Hindringham Hall over in Norfolk.
The hall itself was beautiful, surrounded by a moat complete with family of Black Swans. The gardens were nice, but not stunning. A nice place to spend a couple of hours, but not quite as grand as the entry price might suggest!

We returned home early evening to find the four sheep missing from the top paddock. The gate was open and there was no sign of the sheep. A bit of a panic as thoughts went through my head of sheep rustlers or our sheep munching their way through the local fields. I systematically covered as much ground as possible but still no sign, not until I reached the sheep field proper where there were now thirteen sheep instead of nine!

It was quite an escape act, but more remarkable was how they had found their way there. They must have travelled along the dyke and cut through the electric fence!
At least they were all present and correct.

26th June 2017 - Lucky to make it to the end of the day alive
Well, today I got stung by a bee, head-butted by a sheep and zapped by the electric fence. Smallholding can be a hazardous occupation.

A very swollen ear

The bee sting came from nowhere. I was observing Sue's hides from a distance when one of the blighters dive-bombed kamikaze style straight at my left ear. No warnings, no buzzing around the head, just an instant sting. And it hurt.

Next up was the discovery of lamb poo in the orchard. These are the lambs which have only recently escaped the top paddock. Then, twice in the space of fifteen minutes, actual brown lambs in the orchard doing their best to strip the bark off my fruit trees.
Sue wasn't around to help, but I needed to round up the sheep and send the two brown lambs back to the top paddock. It crossed my mind to use this opportunity to wean them off mum, but it is a little early so I caught her too. This is when, as I lifted her over a sheep hurdle, she flung her head back into mine. Sheep skulls are very hard.

Finally back up at the top paddock, I turned the electric fence back on only to receive a thumping great shock from the metal hurdle I was leaning over. Unbeknown to me, the sheep had moved it into contact with the electric wires. These are the worst shocks, for the metal hurdle ensures you get a good full blast of electricity.

I decided to take it easy for the rest of the day and do something more gentle, so I put the small chicks out into a cage on the lawn. Their first fresh air, their first view of the big wide world, their first taste of real grass.
Lady Penelope quickly came to investigate and then settled down in attendance for the afternoon.

27th June - Why Did The Cow Cross The Road?
After yesterday, I stayed late in bed which seemed the safest option.
I was woken by the dogs barking. This is usually caused by the phantom intruder, but this time their was actually a reason for their warning. At the farm gate there stood a woman in full golf attire. It would be quite a shot if she had lost her ball over here, for we are a good couple of miles as the crow flies from the local golf course.

Turns out there was a cow in the road and she thought it might be mine. Many of the fields round here are rented out and I knew that the owner of the cattle lived over near Market Deeping. A cow in the road is not unheard of, but is obviously fairly hazardous. As I threw on some more appropriate clothing the phone rang - the local police trying to find the owner of the cow. Then a Facebook message from a friend who had driven past earlier and noticed... you've guessed... a cow in the road. Word certainly gets around quickly.
To cut a longish story short, I eventually tracked down a number for the owner and left the cow and traffic control in the capable (?) hands of the local PCSOs.
For what it's worth, the cow had simply been curious about the hawthorn bushes on the other side of its fence and was now happily munching its way through them, totally unconcerned by the passing traffic or the attentions of the police.

Heatwave deadly for young swallows

So the summer solstice marked the end of a heatwave with temperatures in the low 30s for days on end.
But that heatwave spelled bad news for some. We lost one of the turkey poults, even though I thought they had now grown to an age where they would be safe. Even more sadly, at least 3 of the swallow nests have failed.
The first hint of this was when I found two dead swallows on the floor in one of the stables. They were well grown young, on the point of fledging - in fact that very morning I had noticed the first young swallows joining their excited parents in flight over the farm.
Another stable and another three dead young, another alive but helplessly crawling around on the floor.

And finally a gruesome find in the chicken feed shed down near the poultry pen. These swallows have nested for the last three years just above the flimsy shed door, virtually at head height. Every time we enter the shed to fill the feed bucket out shoots a swallow.

A couple of weeks back I found a broken egg on the floor and a peek inside the nest revealed at least four rather ugly youngsters, their mouths gaping open hoping for a nourishing insect meal.
Then, just a few days back, five well grown chicks were hanging over the edge of the nest. I just presumed that they were growing too big for the nest, but on the morning of 20th June I found one dead, hanging out of the nest. Another three were dead inside the nest. Looking back on that photo with the benefit of hindsight, I wonder how well those chicks were at the time.

The last time I saw the chicks alive... but how well were they?

I posted this sad news onto Facebook and discovered that swallow nests all over fenland have been failing, with many dead young being found during this heatwave, others found on the floor having left the baking nests prematurely.

As I write, I am hoping to bring some good news too. For this morning I found another four young swallows on the floor in the stables. But these are alive and survived the whole day. The parents are coming in and feeding them on the floor. Obviously they are far more at risk of predation, though this has got to be an improvement on the prospect of being cooked alive in a clay oven nest.

Hooray! The First Swallow.

I've been anticipating their arrival for a while now but this evening, as I relaxed in my living willow chair with a cold beer and the two dogs, admiring another glorious sunset, I heard the familiar call of a swallow overhead.

I swear they call either to say hello for another year or with joy at  the completion of their journey. There was just one swallow, but more will arrive over the next couple of weeks until we reach five or six pairs.
This moment I look forward to every year, for it really is a great time of year symbolised by the return of these joyful birds from their amazing migration.

It cheered me up greatly, for it had started badly with me having to put one of the guinea fowl out of its misery. It had a damaged leg and wing and was getting more and more sickly. We just have three left now and with no breeding success for a few years it is looking like these comical characters won't be gracing the farm for too much longer.

There was mixed news though this morning, for one of the Muscovy girls was flopping around last night, seemingly unable to walk. I put her to bed but was expecting the worst this morning. Instead, out she came right as rain.



The incident did make me consider whether two Muscovy females is enough though, so today I collected a third, a chocolate brown girl. She really is very pretty (for a Muscovy duck).

Sue and I worked outside all day today. Sue spent much of the day on the mower while I concentrated on taking the tops off a few willows which were in danger of becoming too big to handle. It was a gorgeous spring day. The Shetland ewes are back outside for the moment - it was getting stuffy in the stables and they were not showing any signs of going into labour. They appreciated the willow cuttings which I threw them.

Over in the veg patch, the Morello cherry is out in blossom and the honeybees are doing a great job of turning those beautifully delicate flowers into nascent sour cherries.


Today spring was most definitely in the air.

Hedgehog Poo

28th August 2016
Little chicks set loose into big wide world
The little chickens, destined for the table, were let out of their pen today to take their chances with the rest of the poultry. We were not too worried about them, for the chicken enclosure is very large and there is plenty of space for everyone. With there being eleven of them, it was unlikely any one individual would get picked on.

As we expected, they made themselves at home very quickly. They are confident little things.

The reason for them losing their protective barrier is that the Muscovy ducks (also destined for the table, maybe sooner rather than later if they don't start behaving) have been a real pain to put to bed for a few nights. So we have moved their house to a corner and set up the barriers to funnel them toward the door.

A Reed Warbler stops off for a visit
Fresh easterly winds today were accompanied by sporadic showers, so it wasn't a surprise to spot a couple of migrant birds on the farm. Best was a smart Reed Warbler hopping around the herb patch. A close encounter with a Barn Owl at chicken bedtime was a welcome surprise too.

29th August
Run Rabbit, Run Rabbit...
I've been attempting to catch rabbits for ages but, despite me trying to get into the rabbit's mind, they are never tempted by what I put in the traps. In fact, I'd given up baiting the traps and shut all the doors, hoping that maybe they would become familiar with the traps and no longer be so wary of them.
But yesterday I decided to set up a couple of traps right next to one of the rabbit burrows under the hollow ash tree.
This morning, bingo! I've not handled wild rabbits much and it kicked more strongly than I thought and managed to escape. Sorry, but I'm not sentimental about rabbits.

My six monthly hospital check is coming up soon and it's always a bit of a worry. This one is a bigger three yearly 'investigation' so I've been wandering around not getting much done for the last couple of days.
At least it's been a chance to step back and spend some time appreciating our achievements here on the smallholding. I've been carrying the camera around too.

One of our honey bees deep inside a pumpkin flower

One of the sunflowers that made it, much appreciated by the bumble bees

The pumpkin patch is coming

along nicely

I think this is a Lesser Stag Beetle,

accidentally disturbed when I moved a large log

30th August
Vermin!
Another rabbit caught, or the same one again. This time it didn't get so lucky as I managed to quickly dispatch it. Arthur may be a sweet little dog, but the terrier in him appreciates a bit of wild food. Whereas Boris just wanted to play with his new rather macabre furry toy, Arthur soon claimed it for himself and set about tucking in.
Other rodents have been busy on the farm too. It's a shame they can be so destructive. They are very welcome to live in the young woodland or the long grass areas, the dykes or the sheep field, if they could only stay away from the farmhouse end of the smallholding. I have been trapping plenty of field mice and voles in the polytunnel. There must be thousands of them around for me to catch so many.
I topped up the rat bait stations yesterday too and the bait was all gone today. It is important to hit them hard when they move out of the fields so they don't start breeding and get established.
I have some excellent bait stations where you can monitor the amount of bait taken without having to disturb anything.


Welcome wildlife
Other wildlife is much, much more welcome though, even the hobby which had a successful raid today snatching one of the young swallows from the air. The swallows in the chicken feed shed have a very late brood, but it shouldn't be too long before they fledge. There were five eggs but I don't think there are five chicks in there now.
It is amazing that they will be flying to Africa so soon after they have taken to the wing for the first time.



Hedgehog poo!
Down in the young woodland I came across a rather unfamiliar dropping today. About 4cm long, all shiny and black and blue. It was obviously mostly composed of beetle wing cases. Back in the house I consulted a book which confirmed what I thought, HEDGEHOG POO! Fantastic!





31st August
An early start and an unwelcome drive down to London for my hospital check-up. It is not the most comfortable of procedures but it has to be done.

Back on the farm I had to take it easy for the day. The flowers in the veg patch are coming good now.

In the stable, Priscilla is enjoying clucking over her two chicks. Priscilla has always spent most of her time down near the stables and I suspect her two offspring will be the same.

Farewell summer
Tomorrow it is September. Even worse than the demise of summer is the fact that I have to go back to work!