the accidental smallholder :: diary archives

New arrivals

Yesterday we popped up to Crieff to pick up this year's weaners - 3 8-week old Tamworth boars. Everything went very smoothly, they have settled in very quickly and found their ark within an hour of arrival. (They like the ark so much they stayed in it until nearly midday today!)

We introduced the dogs to them and then left them to their own devices. Tess will be obsessed with them for a month or two, Meg is indifferent.

We made a little video of the day for your enjoyment.

New Tamworth weaners from asmallholder on Vimeo.

Pig preparation. Now with added video.

I can't believe it's over four years since my last post titled 'Pig Preparation'. A lot has changed since then, as the photo on that entry shows compared to this video.

Anyway, we've got 3 Tamworth boars coming at the weekend, 8 weeks old and depending on us to provide them with a nice home. As you can see we've been busy getting the pens ready, painting the ark and making sure they're secure.

Pig preparation from asmallholder on Vimeo.

When they arrive we'll get them on camera and follow their progress through the year, to the abattoir, the butcher and eventually our plates.

Easter weekend

Despite, or maybe because of, the variable weather, we've had quite a busy few days.

Dan spent a morning in the orchard, weeding, fertilising and mulching the fruit trees. This had been on the list for a couple of weeks but for some reason, it's not our favourite job. He also headed out to plant a horse chestnut and a holly in the beech hedge. The holly will fill a gap at this end and the horse chestnut, which was a gift from Claire, is at the far end. When it grows, it will shade our little pet cemetery.

We tidied the garage, so we could put the Bennington under cover and still accommodate cheeps. Which is just as well as I've ordered 12 French Copper Black Maran hatching eggs. I ordered off Ebay, which I've never done before. I thought I had ordered Lavender Arucana - but maybe I've just got lavender on the brain! Next time.

I have lavender on the brain because I've just finished planting a new lavender hedge, about 30 feet long on each side of the new path. I've used English lavender this time, rather than Hidcote.

Dan started preparing for the pigs, which we should get next weekend. He picked up feed on Friday and is now pretty ready to go. Entirely coincidentally, he also started his beer making - 36 pints of finest bitter. If it works, we might try growing hops - not sure if they will grow this far north - but we won't be growing and malting our own barley!

Meg was bathed this morning in her special shampoo for scaly dogs. She's so good. She seems to be doing well on the treatment for her underactive thyroid. On the subject of scaly (Do you like the links?), we did the hens with louse powder this morning. Some were carrying a pretty heavy burden, so we'll do them weekly until it's better. The RIR are the worst, whether that's the breed or because they are oldest, we don't know. They definitely have fluffy feathers that are fluffy right to the skin, where the Black Rocks and the Light Sussex have much "cleaner" plumage. Our old Brown Leghorn never got lice at all - it was probably too scary a ride for them!

Now, what's next...

March at TAS video

Messing around with my camera today I did a quick tour of what we're growing at the moment. It was very windy, so sorry for the rubbish sound at the start!

More of these to come, we'll work on the quality...

March at TAS from asmallholder on Vimeo.

Farm visit

Forth Valley and West Fife Smallholders' Association had its first farm visit today. I think it would be judged a success!

We visited Mid Torrie Farm, near Callander, which is home to Bernard and Hilary Barker and their fold of Highland cattle. Eight of us went along; the weather was lovely and the hosts generous with their time, expertise and excellent meat pies!

A full report, with photos, will appear on the Association's website www.smallholders.info shortly.

Another March, another season starts

It must be a sign of old age. March seems to have come around quicker than ever, and the garden's already coming to life and reminding us that there's lots to be done. We got into the garden for a couple of hours this morning, before the torrential rain came on on, and it was lovely to be out and doing productive stuff again. Although we have pottered over the winter, it's never the same as doing something that has an end product.

I got our tomatoes sown today - Sungold, Gardener's Delight, Sungella and Tamina - and our leeks - Hannibal and Bandit. I added a few articles about growing tomatoes to the site, and plan to do the same with a few of the more popular veg we grow. As the season progresses we'll aim to add more.

The garlic and shallots are in the ground, we've got some mixed salad nearly ready to eat, with more just sown, and last weekend I planted some spuds in compost in big pots, including the Mayan Gold Rosemary persuaded me would live up to the advertising (to do that they'll need to peel and boil themselves).

Rosemary got stuck into the fruit garden, weeding, feeding and mulching, and forking in the manure that mulched the salad and potato bed over winter. The hens were happy to help, turning up enormous numbers of enormous worms.

So here's to a good growing season. As ever we're optimistic about doing better than last year, and hope you do the same. If you're growing anything unusual, or trying something new do let us know, either here or in the forums.

Poultry update

Our Hubbard meat chicks are now 7 weeks old and will be changing from chick crumbs to grower / finisher pellets over the next week or so. They are all growing well and have (finally) got the hang of the ladder up to the roosting area. This saves us the job at night of putting them to bed! Of course, now they've got the hang of it, they disappear at the first hint of inclement weather - which deprives Tess of her hen TV. They don't seem as active as the chicks we bred and raised ourselves last year, but maybe they're bred not to burn off energy tearing around. They are certainly very docile.

Our Brown Leghorn hen died recently - we assume the fox got her, which is surprising since she was the most alert and flighty of all our hens. She was also the oldest hen we had - we got her in March 2003 so she'd had a decent innings. She was Dan's Dad's favourite, so he has a few of her feathers in the band of his hat!

The eleven remaining hens are laying six or seven eggs a day, but we think one is eating eggs. We just haven't identified which one yet. I think it's mainly the Light Sussex and the Black Rocks that are laying - the three RIR are a bit older than these.

We haven't got another cockerel yet and might not bother just now.

A friend of mine has recently taken delivery of three Black Rock pullets - now called Madge, Annie and something I can't spell but which Margaret's wee grandson can say. Her husband has built a superior enclosure in their back garden, so when I visit, I will bring back some photos.

Smokey's sair feet!

When we came back from holiday, Smokey had developed a mild case of laminitis. While we were away, the weather had been mild and sunny resulting in a flush of grass - so sair feet for the boy. Laminitis isn't uncommon in slightly overweight ponies who aren't doing much work but it can be very serious if the inflammation is bad.

Lucky for us, it wasn't but it's put an end to Smokey's outdoor 24/7 lifestyle. He's now boxed at night and out for part of the day in a field with his chums but with very little grass. To be honest, he's quite content being in - I thought he might fret, but no. A fellow owner feeds him in the morning, gives him a fresh haynet and tops up his water. I go up at lunchtime and longrein him in the arena before turning him out; I do his box and fill his haynets for night then go back to work (I have my office window open now!); I then go back up about 6pm and bring him in for the night. It's much more intensive management BUT the increased contact has improved our relationship, I think, and hopefully, I'll be able to get some weight off him.

Two other native ponies at the yard has also developed laminitis in the last couple of weeks, neither very serious, fortunately but it's much earlier than usual, so we'll need to be VERY careful in the "real" spring.

"Home Farmer"

I have recently subscribed to a magazine called "Home Farmer". I got a sample copy somewhere, but I can't remember where - and really enjoyed it. The first "proper" edition came yesterday. It's not in anyway "technical" but the articles are simple and accessible. In the sample copy, there was a recipe for soda bread and instructions on how to make cheese - I've tried the former (very good, too) and hope to get to the latter shortly.

This month's edition exlains how to make butter using 500ml double cream and a 2 litre milk carton; how to make a pork pie; an article on bee keeping, how to install a wood burning stove and loads of other stuff (I haven't finished reading it yet!). Because it's not "technical", it's very encouraging - the aim of the magazine is to let more folk become more self reliant, even if they live in a town or city.

If you see it around, it's worth a look. It's published by "The Good Life Press".

Dogs and cats

One of the symptoms of an underactive thyroid in dogs is that they don't shed their skin in the normal way - so when the medication kicks in, all that retained skin comes off. So Meg now has SERIOUSLY bad dandruff. Today, we bathed her with a special shampoo. We don't bath the dogs often - well, actually, never. If they are really minging, they get hosed down outside and dried with a towel. Both have quite short coats and are pretty clean - I'm sure sure they're not "doggy" although it woudl probably take a "non-doggy" person to judge that.

Dan wanted to shampoo Meg outside, but I insisted that she went in the bath so we could have warm water. I know she was swimming in the Dam yesterday, but that's not the same as a bath. Anyway, I didn't want to have MY hands in cold water!

She was as good as gold (as Meg is generally), although I don't think she enjoyed it much. She's still flaky but she'll get washed again next weekend, too. The hair on her chest has grown back a lot and her tail's not so ratty; her nose is still bare though - the vet says it might be months before all the hair regrows. Just as well summer's coming!

Catch up

We were shocked last night when an email reminded us that it was almost a month since we'd last posted! We couldn't believe that it was that long but it was!

So this is a short post, prior to better ones, just to reassure anyone who migt be concerned that we're all fine. Now.

Since 8th February, Dan and I have been away for a week's welcome break in Madeira (third time, same hotel - we're getting old!). When we got back, my horse, Smokey, had developed laminitis - fortunately mild - but it meant he was on box rest and I was going to the stables three times a day. Dan's also been away on business; we've got landscapers in doing some work on the garden; Meg stuck her stick in the mud last night and punctured the inside of her mouth so emergency trip to the vet (she's fine this morning).

But we're fine. We have been a wee bit busy in the garden as the weather's getting better and hope to get into the orchard at the weekend so we'll put up some interesting stuff on Sunday.