More willow, seeds and kittens - The Accidental Smallholder

Posted: Sunday 17 March, 2024

by Rosemary at 7:50pm in Smallholding No comments Add your own

Monday 11^th March

Office day.

Test results coming back for Riley are all negative – no campylobacter, salmonella – nothing. Which is good, but she’s still scooty. Blood tests next – and I’m extending her insurance. She’s put on half a kilo in weight though.

Tuesday 12^th March

Dan and Murdo finished cutting down the willow, trimmed it and planted a load along the ditch to stabilise the back. And signs of Spring are around.

The hawthorn is coming into leaf.

Wednesday 13^th March

Tomatoes, basil, sweet peppers and rocket sprouting. Although I’ve done this for years, I still get a buzz. On that high, I’ve sown two varieties of leeks – Zermatt and something else. They were out of date but if they fail, I still have time to get fresh. And I sowed more sweet peas and some perennial sweet peas.

Tomatoes sown 4th March coming through.

 

Thursday  14^th March

I’ve been watering the polytunnel for a few weeks now and the weeds are sprouting. Job for next week is to know them back. A few fewer to come up once the tomatoes are in.

Weeds coming in the polytunnel.

We’ve had a dump of rain, and more to come.

 

Friday 15^th March

Trip to the feed store. The stirks are going away on Tuesday.

Dan and Murdo repaired some fencing in Home and Near Ditch; Murdo’s not here next week, but they’ll just work their way round the other four paddocks, by which time the cows will be almost ready to go out.

More rain. Standing water in Home, Far and Near Top.

Saturday 16^th March

Lovely day, so I was at an all-day meeting in Perth, I took the train – lots of land underwater on the route.

Dan emptied the car, moved beech logs and split them and brushed Bryn – to the delight of nesting birds. But it’s an FA Cup weekend, so the kickball features heavily.

We had dinner in Dundee before going to see “Carmen” at the Caird Hall. I’ve long wanted to see it – my Gran sang in an amateur operatic group that performed it and she used to tell me all about it. To be honest, not my thing. But at least I tried it.

Sunday 17^th March

Happy St Patrick’s Day! Feels like a proper Spring day, although the fields are very wet.

Dan planted our new Oulinns Gage on the west facing wall of the West Range. He’s taken out an unused IBC to accommodate it. It’s going to be fan trained as opposed to espalier trained, as the pears on that wall are.

New gage tree in.

I potted up 18 sprouted peas – Douce Provence, which is an early variety

And we let the kittens out for the first time – thirty minutes, well supervised. Cooper stood in mud – I guess for the first time – and wasn’t impressed. He did the whole “cat paw shaking” thing. He’s much braver than Riley. Gwenna followed them around – it’s the greatest herding instinct I’ve ever seen in her.

Gwenna supervising her kittens.

I now have a stinking head cold – sneezing violently and nose running like a river in full spate. But only on one side.

And some kitten spam.

Windows designed for kitten fun.

Riley.

Cooper.