Chickencam is now rather festive, with some multicoloured lights and a new webcam, that hopefully won't fall over all the time :)
Get your daily fix of chickens! Good for the health, calming and feathery ;)
Wednesday, 28 December 2011
Thursday, 15 December 2011
Vertical salad garden!
Thursday, 17 November 2011
Winter planting
Winter is drawing in, and as it's not been terribly frosty yet it's probably a good time to plant some veg in the now empty beds. One is currently taken up by a "convalescence coop" for a chicken who moulted rather heavily and was picked on by the other two. We bought a cheap rabbit hutch and put her in there until she's fluffier and more able to defend herself.
The other two small beds have good soil in, but could do with some manure or fertiliser, probably. Things we should plant:
Garlic: apparently now is good time for garlic, I'd like to grow those giant elephant varieties. Apparently you just poke a clove into the soil at about 10cm intervals, and harvest in 6 months when the leaves go yellow and fall over. That's my kind of gardening.
Spinach: a good veg to plant now as it won't bolt in the cold weather. Lovely to have fresh too, I love spinach.
Broad beans: apparently! I've never had much luck with beans or peas, the slugs eat them. Now that it's too cold for many slugs it might be a good time to try again.
Onions: for harvesting in spring. We've got very heavy clay soil though, so lots of digging needed. Oh goody.
The other two small beds have good soil in, but could do with some manure or fertiliser, probably. Things we should plant:
Garlic: apparently now is good time for garlic, I'd like to grow those giant elephant varieties. Apparently you just poke a clove into the soil at about 10cm intervals, and harvest in 6 months when the leaves go yellow and fall over. That's my kind of gardening.
Spinach: a good veg to plant now as it won't bolt in the cold weather. Lovely to have fresh too, I love spinach.
Broad beans: apparently! I've never had much luck with beans or peas, the slugs eat them. Now that it's too cold for many slugs it might be a good time to try again.
Onions: for harvesting in spring. We've got very heavy clay soil though, so lots of digging needed. Oh goody.
Thursday, 10 November 2011
Philips Urban Beehive
Philips have released a concept for an Urban Beehive: http://gizmodo.com/5858144/a-beehive-for-the-urban-farmer - it looks rather swish. I've wanted to keep bees for a while, but having kids living next door feels like it might be quite an antisocial thing to do.
I'm not sure if I prefer this design over the older wooden boxes, either. There's a certain charm to those little white houses. Interesting idea though, and if it helps keep the bee population up, all the better!
I'm not sure if I prefer this design over the older wooden boxes, either. There's a certain charm to those little white houses. Interesting idea though, and if it helps keep the bee population up, all the better!
Not just another hippy blog (promise)
Hello all :) One of my greatest obsessions (apart from the dinohoodies, and the cameras, and everything else...) is being self-sufficient. Not just in a "grow a few tomatoes" way, but in a more complete way. Growing food, raising meat, cutting costs down to as little as possible, while still maintaining a "not a crusty" air about yourself.
This blog will be a nice way to explore new ways of doing so, sharing ideas and tips with other people, and boasting about giant courgettes and the like. Join in! :)
This blog will be a nice way to explore new ways of doing so, sharing ideas and tips with other people, and boasting about giant courgettes and the like. Join in! :)
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