Tyred and tired!

My M10 Tank Destroyer

The lighter mornings and evenings have meant that Coco has changed her clock and our day now starts at anything from 6.00am to 6.45am.

So when Uncle Robin came over for modelling club last night (not that kind of modelling, miniature military modelling! See right), we arranged to meet him at Listers Farm this morning and collect a tractor tyre to use in the play area of our garden as a sandpit. We thought it would make our morning go quicker.

So we got up nice and early, did our chores of letting the dogs out, feeding and watering the chooks and feeding the cats before getting our breakfast ready. Now at just over thirteen months old you will probably wonder what Coco's role in all this is, well, she strokes the dogs and cats, puts the chicken food in a cup for me, (some of it actually gets in the cup as well!) and tells Brutus the cockerel to be quiet by giving him a really loud "Ah!".

Waiting to go

After breakfast we set off in the van and went along a very bumpy dirt track to get onto the road to Uncle Robin's farm at Southery.  Coco was jolted about in her car seat like jelly on a plate and she laughed and chuckled all the way.

I need a cushion!

We got to the farm and had a look at and in all the tractors, Mr Bumble our Norwich terrier came with us and he was soon searching for rats around the farm buildings, he didn't find any though.

Coco had a sit in the cab of Uncle Robin's tractor and wasn't phased at all, even when Uncle Robin sounded the horn. When we look at Coco's books at bedtime we call every tractor Uncle Robin's so this probably prepared her for seeing them.

Piece of cake!

We didn't get to go in the biggest tractor because that had been used for spraying and we didn't want little fingers getting into contact with it.

We then went to choose a tractor tyre for the sandpit and found one that was nearly as tall as me. The tyre only just fitted in the back of our van and was very dirty but with a wash we are sure it will make a fine sandpit.

Once we got home we had toast and it was time for Coco's nap so I did a bit of potting-on in the potting shed and put my plants out to harden off.

My Morning Glory plants were a picture of health and vibrant green happiness and sitting there in the sun they made me feel very proud.

When I came back about an hour later there were fourteen leafless stems sitting in moist compost and one very smug looking chook! I explained the process of stuffing a chook prior to cooking and the smugness disappeared, she'll not do that again! I should add that no harm was done to the chook in any way what so ever, however that does not mean it wasn't thought!

With that I worked on the fence between the chook run and the front drive.

It's a real joy to be outside and again I thank the stars that I am lucky enough to be able to do it almost whenever I want, jobs for Nanny Southwellski permitting of course. Having said that as we are planning to increase our level of self sufficiency it is important that we get the work done outside.

Faster Grandpa

I mentioned our turf disaster well it's starting to come good, I think, or is it wishful thinking.

In the picture you can see the turf,  it looks worse on the photograph than it actually is, honest!

Coco and I had just come through the forest garden from the bottom veggie plot where we had just put the canes in for the runner beans and prepared some ground for our parsnips.

Our veggies are looking good and the seeds in the potting shed, which I also use as a greenhouse, are coming up nice and strong.

It's truly amazing to spend an hour or so in there of a morning and then return later in the day to find that the tray of compost that has sat there for two weeks is suddenly alive with green shoots.

I recently planted two plastic barrels with Charlotte potatoes, and they have since yesterday sent up strong dark green leaf clusters. Never tried this method of growing before and as the previous occupants here have left a number of tatty grey plastic barrels around  I thought recycle and re-use!

On the note of recycling, whilst Coco and I were at the farm this morning Uncle Robin said we could have some old car tyres as well, I said "No" initially but something he said last night about worm compostors and tyres being good for that purpose has made me rethink and I will be looking around the garden tomorrow to see where we could put them.

It's the Royal Wedding on Friday so we are having a few friends over for a wedding watching and a barbecue. It's almost beyond belief that some groups asked for permission to protest outside Westminster Abbey on the day of the wedding, how do they think that will help their cause? Ah well, it's a funny of world innit!

Hopefully it won't rain, although we desperately need some for the garden, especially the turf I laid this week.

Sunset over the weaves.

I took the dogs into the paddock this evening for a game of ball and found myself just watching the sun slowly sink and leave the most beautiful sunset, suddenly the Morning Glory plants weren't that important after all.

Green side up! Do's and Don'ts of laying turf!

Well here we are again, back at the keyboard and 3 weeks since I was last here, I just don't know where the time goes. I have to start this post off with this pic, its exactly how I want the garden to make us feel.

Just chillin' Grandpa

Wideham Farm

Recently we visited some friends of ours, Leigh and Jane, who are setting up an equestrian centre at West Stow near Bury St Edmunds (www.widehamfarm.co.uk) and have started to take a serious look at becoming self sufficient.

They introduced us to an author (not in person) called John Seymour who is an authority on self sufficiency and has two books in circulation, 'The NEW complete book of self sufficiency' and 'The NEW self sufficient gardener'.  They are worth searching out either to buy or borrow from the library just for the illustrations alone!

 Leigh has to be one of the most remarkable people to see working alongside horses, a genuine whisperer, he demonstrated some of the things he does with his horses and it was amazing.  It was also Coco's first experience of horses and she just took it in her stride.

One of the things we talked about was how will most people manage if we have to start moving away from being totally dependent on being consumers and have to produce some of their own food?


My school had its own Rural Science department where we grew most of the vegetables used in the school kitchens and plants were also sold and the department was self sufficient as far as seeds and plants were concerned.


Many of the skills we used to take for granted that school would teach us have sadly gone and whilst the younger generation is undoubtedly talented, is it in the right areas?

That's it, my grumpy old man moan is done!

All work and no play, well not too much work!

Its been all go in the garden the past three weeks and we have invested in yet more new fangled machinery.  Well its hardly new, but we now have a rotovator found on eBay and collected and put to use straight away, its at least 10 years old give or take a few years but the engine is new and runs like a dream!

When I started this blog I thought it would be about the veggie plot but then it went on to include the forest garden, which is taking shape, and now we need to add Coco's play garden which has taken most of my time during the last week or so.

Anyway, we decided to turf an area at the back of our bungalow for Coco to have as a play area, adjacent to the new decked area and in view of the kitchen so that Nanny Southwellski and I can keep an eye on her. So bring on the rotovator! It churned up the rubbish and old grass a treat and being very dry it was a cinch to rake it all off and put in the compost bin.

Our friendly farmer, Uncle Robin has put a tractor tyre to one side for us to use as a sandpit, Nanny Southwellski found this link which tells you how to prepare the tyre to use as a sandpit. http://www.ecostreet.com/blog/eco-friendly-parenting/2008/04/02/eco-diy-recycle-a-tractor-tyre-into-a-childs-sandpit/

Its a bit of a long link but there is some good stuff on there.

The turf arrived on Thursday last week and I started laying it straight away,  I had rotovated the ground and removed all the rubbish, big stones and what have you before it arrived.  I levelled it out with a rake and rolled it before raking and rolling it again. The joints were staggered and yes, it was laid 'Green Side Up!'

Friday was a scorcher as was Saturday so I decided not to lay any more until today, what a mistake. As I started to load the barrow with the turfs and noticed they were not just warm but very hot!  The further into the pallet I went the hotter they were, steaming in fact!  They had started to go into meltdown and on some it was decidedly slimy in the middle! Now we are waiting to see if they are going to survive.

The ones laid on Thursday are lovely and Coco has already ventured onto them.

Now, I have been building my compost heap for several months now, layers of green between layers of brown, turning it, covering it in the cold days, keeping it moist and heaping more love on it than a compost heap deserves and it isn't anywhere near as hot as the pallet of turf got in three days. Now what's that all about?

The chooks are doing nicely, we get 7-8 eggs a day on a regular basis, Little Nanny Mero takes some of them to the place she lives in and sells them to the residents there, she says she can't take too many because it affects their cholesterol.

Best of friends

Coco and I have chores to do before breakfast and feeding the chooks, is one of them.  Then we let the dogs into their run and then we let the two old girls, Meg and Lou into the garden, only then do we have our breakfast.

Our youngest terrier cross, Blossom (right) is a real nutter until it comes to Coco where she is a gentle and affectionate little dog. If Coco is around you can be sure that Blossom isn't very far away.


We want to teach Coco that animals are a responsibility not to be taken lightly and that they are to be respected.  In return the benefits, enjoyment and affection we get from them more than makes up for any inconvenience we might experience.

Coco has been helping to pot on some of the seedlings we have grown, she takes the rubbishy bits out of the compost for me, and then tries to eat them!  Mmmmmmmmmm!

Working term times, and I have to say being lucky enough to only have to work a couple of days a week gives me plenty of time to do stuff in the garden, and around the house although my indoor job list isn't getting any shorter with the nice weather.

Into the 21st century!

I need a cushion Grandpa!

It stays lighter in the evening until later and its light in the morning when we get up at about 7.00 for breakfast but there seems to be fewer hours in the day!

No, I don't understand it either.  When we moved onto BST (British Summer Time) I thought 'Great!' more time on the plot.  Instead it's more like losing the plot.

Never mind, we joined the space race today here at Grandpa Southwellski's garden we bought a Westwood S800 ride on mower/garden tractor. Now don't be thrown by the shabby exterior, remember the Delorean in Back to the future 1, 2, 3, 4, ....... 27, 28 etc etc.  I will say no more, other than we have 8.5 horses under the bonnet!

Okay, so it's not new, but it's ours and we bought it from a local church so we know it's fairly legit, don't we?  I managed to break the battery clamps this afternoon and it has no petrol but apart from that it's a beaut!

Cluck,Cluck, Cluck woof! I am a chicken now feed me!

More news from the garden, the chooks have been confined to quarters after unplanting most of our onions and levelling our potatoes, but they are laying 7-8 eggs a day so they have got off quite lightly this time.

We bought a second coop before we got the last chooks but they all insist on sleeping in one coop which is supposedly designed for 6 tops.

The chooks weren't impressed with the fencing but it kept Mr Bumble in!

We have had some stunning sunsets just recently, this (below) was a few days ago. Where we live we are lucky enough to be on the top of a hill and get the sunrise and the sunset all under a wide Norfolk sky.

Even on grey days the skies here are stunning, and the way nanny Southwellski designed the kitchen means we have the maximum light all the time and the sunsets as well.

Its made a difference health wise as well, we were all much more relaxed this winter.

We have worked on the Forest garden and the middle level trees I orderedlast weekend arrived and have been planted.  We have three nut trees, two Red Filberts, and an Almond all of which shouldn't grow too tall so won't challenge the taller fruit trees for light and will offer some protection to the ground cover plants and fruits.

We also planted two apples, one pear and a plum. Our raspberries are yet to arrive and we are planning to split these between the garden and the forest garden.

We have a scarecrow on the veggie plot now, Frosty our long standing snowman is now a permanent resident to keep the birds and animals off our veggies.

The chooks love him and make a bee line to say hello to him in the mornings, and just for good measure they dig up the onions while they are there.

Well tomorrow is fast approaching so it's off to bed, Coco was asleep hours ago so will no doubt be up nice and early.

Go Girls!

We made another trip to Little Hen rescue on Sunday and collected another 6 hens to add to our flock.

It would be good to say they all got on famously from the minute the new arrivals stepped out of their crates, but that wouldn't be the truth.  In fact poor old Brutus aged about twenty years in the first hour from running around stopping fights, rounding up the ones who were wandering off.  It was hard work, this I know because as Brutus was stopping one fight I was stopping another!

But I take my hat off to the boy, he knew what he was doing and did it very well, and very calmly until one of the new hens went under the trailer at which point he just gave up and walked back to the flock.  Mr Bumble helped to shift the reluctant hen from under the trailer and got a peck for his troubles.

Two days on and I just went out to lock the coop doors and all 10 hens and Brutus are crammed into one coop and very contented noises they were making too.

Egg production is up as well we have rocketed from 2 a day to 7 a day and very nice they are as well.

On the downside I have replanted my onions at least twice now, and in the case of the poor little onion closest to the hen houses, at least a dozen times!

Nanny Southwellski suggested that we introduce the dogs to the hens and I thought she was a little premature but I followed her instructions and the dogs have developed a very healthy and wise respect for the beak.  Mr Bumble has had a couple of pecks on the noggin and that was more than enough for him.  He now keeps out of reach.

The plot is taking shape very nicely now and a handful of corn scattered in the right place means I get the grass stripped up by the chooks leaving me to turn the soil over. The sunsets have been beautiful these last few days although a bit of rain, more than the few drops we had today, would be very welcome.

Our strawberries are in and under fleece cloches now, to keep the chooks away as much as protect them from the weather. Our potatoes are also in and the runner beans that didn't get frazzled are almost ready to go out.

I ordered the middle level fruit and nut trees for the forest garden at the weekend there are some good offers out there at the moment if you look for them.  I used D T Brown, I bought my hedging, strawberries and potatoes from them and was very pleased with the quality and prompt service they provided.

I also finished the deck at the front of the potting shed so that Coco and I don't have to tiptoe across the bearers anymore and it gives us somewhere dry to stand as well. While I was doing that Coco dismantled all of my neatly stacked pots and emptied my compost all over the floor, bless her!!!!  It looked like we had been burgled.

If the good weather holds it will be more digging tomorrow.

No rosettes today

We took Scarlett and Mr Bumble to a dog show at the showground near Norwich today.  Came away empty handed but met up with some familiar faces again so it was worth it. Before Coco came to stay with us we did about twenty or shows a year and travelled all over the country.

Last year we did maybe two or three shows, Coco's first show was at the Royal Norfolk Show in July last year and it was a scorcher of a day. We did quite well there with a first for Mr Bumble and a Third for Scarlett.  Now that Coco is a bit older we will be doing more shows this year, fuel prices allowing of course. 

Mr Bumble moved really well today for Nanny Southwellski and he looked a picture.  The judge seemed to prefer leggier dogs and the terrier group was won by an Irish Terrier, in fact in both Scarlett and Bumble's classes the littlies came in the last positions.  Scarlett looked lovely like she always does, but judges generally don't seem to like her very much.  Never mind we love her and are very proud of her.

An Orpington Cockerel

The Norfolk Poultry Club had their show at the showground today as well, so Coco and I had a little look in the building and boy what a racket! Coco was completely overwhelmed by the noise of whole plethora of cockerels all crowing at the same time.

I thought Brutus was a big lad but compared to some of the cockerels there today, like the Orpington (Left) he is a budgie!

We were surprised at how many entries there were in the show, it was packed with cages.  The website address for the club is www.norfolkpoultryclub.org.uk.

Our girls, with only enough feathers to make one decent hen between the lot of them, would have looked out of place there today but they were happily scratching about in the paddock when we got back and they laid two eggs today which seems to be the average for them at the moment so we don't care what they look like as long as they are happy.

We took some photos of Coco sitting in the apple tree in our garden it was meant to have been taken on her birthday but we just ran out of time and never got round to it but we will make sure we take it on the right day in future.

Just to put your mind at rest I was behind the tree with a handful of wooly trousers while Nanny Southwellski took the photo.

I love you.... says it all really

Never look a gift farmer in the mouth!

When Coco and I started work on the plot it seemed the right thing to dig it all by hand.  Uncle Robin, our farmer friend had offered to come and cultivate the plot with his tractor and cultivator.  It felt really good saying "No thanks, we'll dig it by hand".  What we should have said is "Please, please, please come and do it for us!" Ah well, lesson learnt. So today we have been digging the plot for the potatoes to go in.

Digging for Victory (Well potatoes actually!)

We had one plot already dug over and we planted our garlic and onions in there this afternoon.  While we were doing that Uncle Robin and Auntie Angela arrived for a visit, so while Nanny Southwellski and Auntie Angela chatted the three of us started digging the potato patch.

It wasn't too bad digging the plot, it had been covered by our caravan while we renovated the bungalow so all the grass had died off and the digging was easy(ish).

Less click click Nanny, more dig dig!

Coco did really well digging but got very tired and just watched for a little while from amongst the canes which mark the rows of onion sets and garlic.

Nanny Southwellski was busy taking photographs of the progress in the plot, (you can see these on Southwellski on Flickr) and Auntie Angela came and played with Coco they went went indoors to help Nanny  make some tea to have with hot cross buns.

Faster Auntie Angela!

On the way Coco and Auntie Angela took a little detour and they played on the swing for a while.

Uncle Robin and I kept digging until we had finished the potato patch and now all Coco and I have to do is take out the clumps of grass and rake it over.

The chooks were very good at scratching up the grass clumps on the onion/garlic patch so we hope they will do the same on the potato patch.

Stop thief!

We have been taking time to introduce the dogs to the chickens and today we brought Mr Bumble and Scarlett, our two Norwich Terriers, through into the garden.   

They have been through before but today we had more time to supervise them.

Mr Bumble is the leader in our dog pack and felt that he should now have the chooks under his 'wing', however when they first met Brutus had a quiet word and now you can see the mutual respect between them. Except when there is a stale crust of bread about.

Just another chook.

Scarlett is a regular visitor and we are sure she just thinks the chooks are dogs just like her.

Our other two terriers, Monty and Blossom are a different matter altogether, as they are both very highly strung we will take a lot more time to get them used to the chooks.


Blossom managed to clear the dog run fence on Thursday and get in with the chooks but I was able to stop her before any damage was done. In all honesty I was more concerned about what the chooks would do to her than the other way round.  The dog run fence is now doubled in height!

Our two old girls, both cross breeds and both 17 years old are almost oblivious to the chooks although we do keep an eye on Lou as she has previous for killing chickens.

Anyway back to the garden, we have planted 9 bulbs of garlic and about 50 onion sets this afternoon, 8" (20cm) apart in rows also 8" (20cm) apart.  The soil is really good and Coco and I are really pleased with how it has cultivated into a really nice crumbly soil.

We have a dog show tomorrow but when we get back its all hands to the potting shed to plant some more runner beans to replace the ones we lost last week. We also have some peas to get sown as well and as these are Coco's favorite veg they are high on our list of important jobs. Off to bed now, early start tomorrow.

Its been a while I know but....

Brutus!

Its been a busy couple of weeks, hence an abscence of news from the garden.

We have 5 new additions to our menagerie, 4 ex battery hens and a stunningly handsome Cockerel called Brutus, no other name seemed to fit.

The girls are settling in extremely well, although they seemed a little overwhelmed by the amount of space around them on the first day we got them home, but now, almost a week later they are happily exploring the paddock which is their new home.

They also seem to have got Brutus exactly where they want him, it's a cold night here in Hockwold and when I checked on them a little while back, all 5 were crammed in one of the nesting boxes in the hen house, and who was in the middle? Brutus.

Two of the girls

 The girls aren't looking their best just yet, these pictures were taken a few days ago, but already we are seeing a change in their confidence, and they also seem to be putting on a bit of weight.  They have given us 10 eggs so far and very lovely they are too.

They now follow Brutus around and its lovely to hear the gentle clucking coming from the hen house in the morning. Coco and I go and let them out first thing, fill up the feeders and put down fresh water.  

Coco has got the hang of throwing some corn down for them, that is now she has discovered its not that nice to eat it and it is in fact a bit hard to chew when you only have four teeth!

We got the Chooks, as Nanny Southwellski calls them, from Little Hen rescue, at Flordon near Norwich.  Their website is www.littlehenrescue.co.uk and even if you don't want hens you can find a whole wealth of info about chickens, and while you're there why not put your hand in your pocket and donate something or better still get some chooks!

This isn't our first experience of ex battery chickens, we had three a few years back, they came to us after our dog, Lou a Rottweiler cross, killed our two young hens we had only just acquired. She thought she would try and do the same to the three ex batts.  When she tried they cornered her, and we found her penned in tight against a fence and squealing like someone had beaten her. She never went near them again. Beanie, the leader, had real attitude and on more than one occassion fronted up to me. If she was human she would have carried a knife!

We hope the new chooks are as happy and live as long as Beanie, Irene and Ida.

One piece of advice though, and ignore it at your peril, if you have chooks, DO NOT GO NEAR THEM WEARING CROCS!

Anyhow, we are planning to start planting tomorrow on the garden, our onion sets will be going out, and we should finish the bed for the potato's, we did have a bit of a disater, our runner beans which have been living happily on the shelf in our potting shed protected from frost by the pariffin heater got scorched by the sun on the one really warm day we had last week and we have halved our plants.  Never mind we can plant some more.

Anyway enough for now, busy day tomorrow.