Easter Sunday Lockdown Blog Resurrection

Well how things have moved on since I returned from Thailand and had to go into self isolation for a few days as I brought a cough back with me. I've actually been in isolation again since then, but whether or not I've had the actual virus is unknown.

Coronavirus has turned the world upside down, but as smallholders we are in a pretty fortunate position compared to many others. We have plenty of outdoor space in which to spend our time and keep busy. In many respects things haven't changed too much for us, except we have a little more time to do what we enjoy doing. We are fairly self sufficient too, although this is traditionally the hungry gap.

One of our chooks struts past 

an early asparagus stem

Unlike much of the country, we have eggs coming out of our ears - hen eggs, duck eggs, turkey eggs, goose eggs. Rhubarb has been on tap for a while now and the first asparagus tips have rocketed from their winter hibernation (necessitating a quick emergency weeding session!)
We still have some vegetables which have stood over winter - plenty of parsnips and leeks though they are past their best.
We haven't yet learned how to grow loo roll!

There have been other benefits - a much quieter road and the cheapest heating oil we've ever seen. In fact coronavirus has given the earth a chance to breath and just maybe lockdown will give people a chance to reflect on their lives and habits. I will write another post about this soon.

The dogs on lockdown

But for now there is no excuse for not getting this blog back up and running again. In many ways the digital world has come to our rescue, so the resurrection of my blog can be my little contribution to that!

I won't try to cover everything we've been up to here since I've been back from Thailand, but lockdown has given us a good chance to keep on top of things without having to work 25/8.
For now, here's a few photos from the last couple of days

These two hives down in the orchard are very strong and active.

Sue has been busy with her bees. We are down to six very strong colonies and they are already making honey. Three colonies did not make it through the winter as numbers had dwindled too far or lost their laying queen. Six hives is more manageable for Sue, though swarm season will be upon us soon. Sue has already found a queen cell in one of the hives.

We have put all the hives up on hive stands which makes for working at a better height and easier lifting as beekeeping can be heavy work.

The fruit trees are coming into blossom now and with fine weather we should hopefully get a good fruit crop this year.

The paddocks have now dried out and the grass has started its spring growth. We are not lambing this year but it is now safe to move the rams back in with the ewes. They were super excited (!!!) to be reunited. Things have settled back down now and the three boys have stopped chasing the girls around.

With a little more time on our hands we have been having a good tidy up. I have adopted a strict no plastic policy, so every shred of plastic I find on the smallholding gets collected. We've gone round and picked up all the old bits of wood and half rotten pallets too and enjoyed a rare bonfire. This is a great chance to burn materials which can't be composted, such as the old raspberry canes which I pruned but prefer to burn to limit disease.

The bonfire kept me warm

on a chillier nicmig night.

This was the night of a Supermoon, 

a term which seems to be used

every time there is a full moon these days.

Although my twitching has been curtailed, like many other birders I have discovered a new form of my hobby. It's called nocmigging (nocturnal migration) and involves sitting out in the dark listening for bird calls. There is the option of simply placing a microphone outside and then reviewing the recording in the morning, but I prefer to hear the birds as they fly over. Conditions for this have been perfect. Nights have been warm and dry and the road and skies devoid of engine noise. It has meant many late nights, but late mornings don't really matter at the moment.

It has been fascinating doing this. Firstly I have added seven new species to the list. What flies over in the day is quite different, it seems, to what you see during the day. It has been good to hear owls on territory too. We now have tawnies firmly established alongside the little and barn owls.

As well as the birds, I hear dogs, cows, sheep and even a donkey.
And on the wildlife front there is the occasional rat, barking roe deer and one night I could hear fox cubs excitedly shrieking when they were brought food.
This is a little worrying as we have already lost one chicken which did not go to bed one night and our brown Muscovy girl has been missing for a week.
The turkeys are laying now and the girls do not go up on the fence every night either.

Growing our own food has continued apace too. This is a very busy time of year raising young plants from seed. There is a conveyor belt of seeds and they are now beginning to go in the ground.

I never thought I'd say this, but we could actually do with some rain!

Sue, Boris and the chickens getting involved.

Here we planted calabrese and rat-tailed radish (grown for edible seed pods).

We left the poached egg plants and red dead-nettles in situ,

but took out more persistent weeds like couch grass, docks and creeping buttercup.

Trays of summer salad ready to be planted out.