The edible lawn mowers

Onto the sheep. They've grown very well indeed and I've sorted out the electric fencing so that I can graze them right to the bottom of the land. This will be the last cut for the grass this side of winter, so I've been strip-grazing them. When they've clipped the grass and eaten out the sow-thistles, I move them to a new area of lush greenery. They always delight in the first day's grazing a new area, though it's a wonder they don't make themselves sick!



I'm hoping that we can get all the way back down to the back lawn before it's time for the four woolly lawn mowers to go off - they're booked in for the end of this month. I've managed to sell all eight halves and have plans to keep about eight next year. I'm sure that the people who buy a half this year will all want a half next year too and we have a good while to find customers for the extra ones we plan to keep. I'm also thinking about keeping a couple through next winter, so that the grass is being cut as soon as it starts growing in the spring.

I will be sad to see the sheep go this year. I often spend time sat on a hay bale just watching them. It's a very peaceful place at the bottom of the land, at least until the sheep decide to start eating my jumper and trousers that is!

Bees under attack

Back to that wasps nest I mentioned.

No photos I'm afraid, as that would involve taking my life in my hands!

Our poor bees have been having a right torrid time. We've still got three healthy colonies, which is a fantastic situation in which to be approaching the winter. But they have been under heavy attack from battalions of wasps, not just stealing their honey and damaging inside the hives, but engaging in struggles to the death. My early interventions (squashing any that landed with a flat piece of wood) made little dent in the wasp numbers. So jamjar traps were deployed, cheap jam luring the wasps into a sticky, watery death.

Despite catching maybe 100 wasps every day, they just kept coming, until one day I came across a tiny hole in the ground over in the corner of the goose paddock. I noticed that insects were flying in and out, and as I approached I realised that I had located a wasps nest. They had set up home just around the corner from a very handy honey restaurant!
Much as I resist using poisons and chemicals on the farm, pragmatism was called for here so we duly called in the wasp man and the nest was eradicated. We've not got rid of all the wasps, but the bees are now firmly back on top.
Whether it was because of this or not, the three hives have got very low on honey. Nowhere near enough for the bees to make it through the winter. So for the last ten days or so Sue has been engaged on a morning and evening chore of feeding as much sugar syrup to the bees as possible. We purchased a couple of frame feeders, which are placed in the hive and filled with sugar solution. The bees have been devouring it and turning it into winter stores, which they have now started to cap with wax. So far Sue's given them 35kg of sugar. That's what I call a sweet tooth! Not that they've been very grateful to Sue, especially in the evenings when they have proved most tetchy!

A duck lost, a duckling born

So where to start with the updates?

Well, let's start with the sad news. We lost one of our Cayugas. It was while one of the girls was sitting on eggs under the old pea plants and we sort of assumed this one had sneaked off somewhere too, maybe in the dyke. But Sue was getting worried as this duck was not even returning for food in the morning or evening. Then one day I was over in the goose paddock investigating a wasps nest when I noticed something in the goose bath. You've guessed, it was our poor duck, long gone. It must have happened on the one night when we were away for the evening, otherwise we'd surely have heard her struggling and quacking to get out.

But, on the plus side, the sitting duck did, against our expectations, manage to hatch one duckling. This little creature is hilarious. For, as protective as she is of it, mummy duck does not wait around for her fluffy little offspring.

Instead, the poor duckling spends most of the day running as fast as it can through the long grass, those clockwork legs doing their best to keep up. Despite its constant extreme exercise regime, our new duckling is growing, though nowhere near as fast as those that Elvis recently reared.

These are now virtually indistinguishable from the adults and will be going into the freezer after Christmas, so I've been making sure that Sue doesn't get too attached to them!


Not so long ago these were cute, fluffy ducklings.
Now they look good enough to eat!

Elvis has already long moved on and is now sitting tight again on anybody's eggs she can find. So Sue has put some Cream Legbar eggs under her. A big softy is Sue.

Despite our attempts to stop them, I recently found Lady Guinea sitting amongst a patch of thistles, incubating quite a clutch of eggs. I've decided to leave be, but it will be a miracle if any survive till next Spring. For starters, it seems to be another of those communal nests where no bird is quite sure which eggs she's responsible for. It's late in the year too, so if any do hatch they'll have an uphill struggle against the elements. Guineafowl chicks are particularly susceptible to cold, wet conditions. The long grass won't do them any favours.

Too much gallivanting

Long time, no blogging! Too much gallivanting I'm afraid. Chasing after rare birds. A couple of pretty disastrous misses in south-west Ireland kept me busy late September, but I bounced back with a Thick-billed Warbler on Shetland this past weekend - only the fifth ever recorded in this country, all on Shetland.

But the farm does not stop for me and much has been happening. It's just that I've not had time to write about it.

We've had births and deaths, insect battles, we've been to the abattoir and the last of the harvest has been coming in.

I guess the best way to do this update is with a flurry of posts to catch up. Until, that is, the pager starts wailing at me and I up and go again!

Cider making

A couple of days spent with friends. Some good old hard work. And at the end of it, 4 gallons of cider and ten bags of apple pulp for the pigs.

An orchard dripping with apples.

Here's the story in photos.

Easy picking
 



And the next day...

 

Just a few apples to pulverise

Chop

Pulverise (proper word, scratting)

Pulp



Squeeeeeeze!

 

The whole operation

A  well deserved break

 

The next day...

Should be ready to drink by Christmas!

Two Turtle Doves... Not Likely!

What to do?
I'm already running five minutes late and it's only my second day working in a new school.

But just what was that bird which flew up into the ash tree as I was heading back to the farmhouse from giving the chickens their morning feed?
It was similar in size to a Mistle Thrush, or even a Little Owl, yet something just wasn't quite right for either of those birds, both which I see in that very same tree on a regular basis. Maybe it was the length of the tail or the shape of the wings, maybe just the way it flew, but something was nagging me to go take another look. For the bird that came to mind was turtle dove, that beautiful, diminutive dove which graces our shores for the summer  months before heading back to West Africa.

Not too long ago, in the right habitat, I would have expected to run into a few turtle doves during a days birdwatching. But they have undergone a serious and rapid decline, to the extent that it is now a notable occurrence.
Across the whole country, turtle dove numbers have gone down by 93% since I were a lad. In fact, there is a very real chance that they will disappear from this country within my lifetime and that would be a great shame indeed.

Now we'd like to blame those nasty foreigners for this and it's certainly not helping that, as they undertake their annual migration across Europe, they are regularly blasted out of the sky by hunters in countries such as Malta. And surely something must be going on in West Africa? What are they doing to our lovely turtle doves?
So research has finally begun to try to find out why we are losing our little doves at such an alarming rate. All a bit late really, but at least it's happening. And the findings don't surprise me one little bit. It turns out that the number of breeding attempts per year has reduced significantly, almost certainly because of lack of enough wild seed. The figures show that this fact alone could account for the decimation of their population. But hang on a minute! Surely that can't be! Turtle doves breed here. But that means... that means it's our fault! We can't pile all the blame on those nasty foreigners.
Surely it couldn't be anything to do with the fact that our farmers persist in obliterating all nature that stands in the way of their crops and their subsidies?

Now I'm sure that other problems on their migration and in their wintering grounds aren't helping the matter, but the fact is that we have to look closer to home. Not that most of us care. We'll only be happy when every square inch of this country is covered in concrete or sterile farmland maintained by chemicals and poisons. Just as long as our food is nice and cheap.

For me, the cost is just too much.



So, back to this morning. I should really head straight for work, but if that actually was a turtle dove that flew up into the ash tree it would only be the second I'd seen on the farm in three years.  It was a no brainer. I grabbed my binoculars and headed for the garden. And there it was, the beautiful scalloped back of a turtle dove sat right out on a branch.
It flew down into the field edge to forage for seed, then back into the ash tree, before being harassed and chased off by a blackbird.

Aha!! Maybe it's the blackbirds to blame.

Or maybe the blackbird was just not used to seeing turtle doves.

Anyway, I really did have to head off for work now. But it would be a better day after my brief encounter with a turtle dove.
In the car I wondered how many more times I'd see a turtle dove in an ash tree. For it seems that our ash trees are about to experience a drastic decline too.
Probably more chance of encountering eleven pipers piping.

And as for a partridge actually sat in a pear tree. Well, just as turtle doves aren't in this country at Christmas, partridges don't sit in pear trees. And, thinking about it, it's well over a year since I saw a grey partridge around these parts too.

I wonder why that is?

Nasturtium Capers

There are five reasons I can think of to grow nasturtiums.

One: They look beautiful

Nasturtiums come in all shades of yellow, orange and red

Two: They provide ground cover

Parasol leaves provide excellent ground cover,
shading out all the weeds

Three: They attract blackfly and caterpillars away from more important food crops

Can you spot the caterpillar in this picture?

Four: You can eat the flowers and leaves in salads. Very peppery


Flowers and leaves a peppery salad addition

Five: You can make your own capers.


The seed pods can be pickled to make
nasturtium capers

The last of these is exactly what Sue has been trying her hand at this week. For nasturtiums produce fulsome seed pods in profusion. It didn't take long to gather the 100g needed for the recipe, collected whilst still plump and green.
These were then soaked in brine for 24 hours, dried off and packed into sterilised jars.

Nasturtium seeds being dried after a soaking in brine

She then covered them, one in cider vinegar, one in tarragon vinegar. A couple of bay leaves, lids on and wait a couple of weeks before using.
Yummy!
I've got my eyes on a recipe for lamb chump with a parsley and caper sauce. I'll let you know how it goes.
And if anyone can think of any more reasons for growing nasturtiums, please do leave a comment!

What to do with cabbage white caterpillars

The sign says it all.

New Public Enemy Number One.

I love insects. They come in so many shapes, sizes and colours. They're like miniature alien creations. But they're not all welcome in my garden.
It's been a great year for butterflies and this pleases me greatly. Who could not marvel at the sight of butterflies fluttering by?

JUST AS LONG AS THEY ARE NOT THESE BUTTERFLIES!!!



A group of five cabbage whites cavorting over (and under)
the netting which is supposed to protect my greens. 

In the year when I have put more effort than ever into growing my greens, nature has put more effort than ever into eating my greens! Those scraggy butterflies have found impossible ways of getting themselves on the wrong side of my netting. In fact, when I show people round I joke that the netting is there to protect the butterflies and their offspring from predators.
And therein lies my dilemma. I have to net my brassicas or else every leaf would be reduced to a skeleton by caterpillars and pigeons, but in so doing I deny access to the ducks who would be more than happy to help with caterpillar clearance.

So instead I have a new fixation - hunting out the caterpillars.

They're not always as easy to find as these two were.

 And I have a new entrepreneurial idea. Caterpillar racing!

 

 

However, before I find this too depressing, let's remember that I should still get an ample crop for the two of us.
OK, they may need a soak in salty water to coax out any extra creepy-crawly protein, but for the first time I am producing our own calabrese, kale and cabbages.
Hopefully cauliflowers and sprouting broccoli will come, and maybe even some sprouts for Christmas.

Let's remember, too, that not every insect is bad. Which is why I don't just aim to kill everything that comes near my crops.


One of the friendly bugs.

As for those cabbage white caterpillars. Well they're currently being put to good use too.



The last piglet

The last piglet

On Sunday we sold half of our last piglet, which was the reason for my visit to the butchers on Monday.
In fact it was one of the most pleasurable sales I have made as the buyers are potential future smallholders and we invited them for a look around our little venture. We seem to be getting a lot of visitors lately! I hope they were suitably impressed and inspired.

The sale of half a pig does, however, leave us with a not so small problem... the other half of the pig. To be more precise, the freezer space for half a pig. We certainly need to make sure that most of the four lambs get sold before they go off in late October, otherwise it'll be like trying to squeeze the whole of Noah's ark into a dinghy! Meanwhile we are trying to eat away a suitable space in the freezer but I keep appearing with armfuls of veg to be processed too. Fifteen portions of courgette and mint soup went in yesterday, though Sue did manage to turn the rest of the courgettes into a rather tasty chutney.



Not to worry though. We have a master plan.

Winging its way to us is a Weston burger press, for we plan to get our half of the pig mostly minced so that we can get creative with burgers.
These will provide another outlet for our pork, but more importantly they will be much more space-efficient than oddly shaped legs, shoulders and bellies.



Unless, that is, anyone out there wants the last half pig? If anyone is interested, you'll need to get in contact in the next three weeks. For I reckon it'll be at least a year before we get any more piglets in.