The first logs

Today saw hubby fell his first tree to start filling our log pile. Obviously it will need to be seasoned but we're off!
The heating is going off soon too. The Aga warms the kitchen which is where we spend most of our time.
We have found a local supplier of coal so plan on collection some over the next few weeks and get stocked up for next winter.
Also I have been planning the shopping list that will see us through 2 weeks. I will be ordering it for delivery on 26th Feb and will post how we manage on it as it happens. I am really looking forward to it. I love challenges like that.

The view from the end of the garden looking back up to the house. We are so lucky.

The Veg Plot

A lot of people are asking, jokingly, if we will open a market garden.  Whilst I smile back at them and laugh along at the idea of us being able to do anything like that, I really like the idea of it.  We are hoping to sell the eggs on, for eating and fertile, the muck heap can go for free to allotments and home made bread is a hit with the family already, so the thought of growing something that people might actually like to buy isn't too far out there. Let's get it supplying food for our table first I can hear my husband saying!

We have a rectangular shaped veg plot, sectioned off and rabbit proofed (I presume this should state as much as possible here).  Looking from google maps you can see the veg plot on the bottom middle of the picture. 

 

The beds are as follows:

Central far bed.  Soil based, obviously used by previous owner as fire pit area.  We'd like to grow in it.

Onion bed before

Onion bed after

Stood at far end of veg bed looking back on row one

Bed 1 currently has roses in.  Not sure what value they have from food production point of view (for us I mean, not the previous owners)

Bed 2.  Why only half covered?  They had spare tarpaulin so wondering if there's a reason.

Is this asparagus?

No idea what's in here but there is some sort of frame at the far end.

Hopefully a bed ready to use this week.  We've not looked underneath.

Another one that should be ready to go.

Blue arches?

I think this is just weeds now.

Might weed this and leave it to see what comes up

This is where the ash was put but it hasn't been dug in?

The only bed DH has managed to start, which is more than I've done, is the onion bed.  We bought some onion sets from B&M to try and popped them all.  They take up about 2/3rds of the bed I labelled.  I am going to plant some mint around it too as apparently that's a good companion plant.  The remaining 1/2 may be potatoes, which will also have a full bed of their own.

 

How exciting!!!!!

 

The post wouldn't be complete without the latest animal pictures.

Not interested in getting their faces on the blog

Love this photo

The new and the old, all friends.

 

New arrivals...

Say hello to Jemima, Neville and 'to be named'.  Our new Geese!  Well done Denise on guessing!  These 3 beauties are our latest addition to the smallholding.  They are all supposed to be around 2 years old.  They are busy settling in to their new home without too much honking.  They will stay in there tomorrow and Sunday we will let them out for a few hours.  We have guests arriving on Sunday afternoon so will lock them up before people arrive as I don't want to stress them out.

Exactly as Dawn said, it's lovely when things start coming together.  Happy Friday everyone.

Open for business

This afternoon has been a 'doing' afternoon for my husband.  He has fenced off the copse of what appear to be previously unloved trees and put two brand new wooden chicken coops in there.  The girls have all been transferred to their new homes and the sign that he made last night is up above their entrance gate. 

 

So Chickenville is officially open for business.  Girls, start laying!

 

 

So that means the shed they were in up until now is free for something else.....which arrives tomorrow night.

Chickenville and first card attempt

We have a section of land that we are making in to Chickenville.  It will be the stately homes for our 10 girls, split over 2 coops and aptly named Chickenville.  Steven, my husband, has a tool that allows him to burn a design in to wood and has created the chickens a name plate for their land.  Fabulous I think.

I spent about 20 minutes making a card for our daughter's 9th birthday.  This is my very first attempt at this as I didn't get round to it for my friend.  I had kitchen scissors to work with so I was limited!  I am really pleased with the result though and I think she will like it.  My camera's flash had ran out :(

 

I don't know where today has gone.  Off to bed after working tonight.  The puppies barked a lot last night for some reason, so I'm hoping for a good sleep through.  Up early as usual so goodnight all.

February thoughts

We don’t want to waste a minute of our new lives.  Time goes by so quickly that we are making sure we embrace every minute we can.  With both of us working full time, that’s especially hard, though it does allow for some thinking time.  In addition to everything we want to do on the smallholding, I want to ensure a good quality relationship between us and the kids.  Making sure we find time each day to listen to their day, enjoy a game or two and generally be in each other’s active company.  That includes making time for the cheeky dogs who are not allowed to sit at the table despite their sweet looks towards me.

Without wasting any time then,  the sourdough starter that I referred to on my “we did it” post didn’t ever activate.  So I tried Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall’s method in the River Cottage Everyday book and by gum it’s worked!  I put around 100g wholemeal flour in with a bit of warm water to make a paste and whizzed it with my hand blender for a good few minutes, covered it up with cling film and left it in the kitchen.  After 24 hours it was bubbling a bit so I added a bit more flour and water and it’s well and truly away now.  I am really drawn to this type of bread as it’s made from the wild yeast in the air meaning it’s truly our smallholding’s bread. 

This morning, the wind was stormy again, however when I left the house at 7:20 I was amazed that it was light enough to see and without the need of my trusty torch.  I stopped to take a couple of photos of the vegetable patch.  I can’t wait to get in there and working on it!  It won’t be until this weekend, or even next before we can realistically make a start on it.  This weekend it’s my daughter’s 9^th birthday so the focus is on that at the moment.  However it doesn’t stop us planning what we’d like where and trying to identify what is already there. 

When we viewed the house, I thought there was rhubarb but I can’t see any shoots so I wonder if they took it with them.  Surely not!  There is a bed of Asparagus which I need to identify and mark down as one to leave.  Also raspberries and blackcurrants I think.  Some items (not sure what) have ash on them around the base, so I need to read up on that too.  Hubby bought a new raspberry and blueberry cane to see if we can bring those on.

I also have seeds en-route from Thompson and Morgan that will be ready to plant as soon as they arrive.  We plan on staggering their sowing period to hopefully keep us in veggies for a period of time opposed to a huge glut.   Those that we planted last night are in the kitchen, greenhouse or utility depending on what temperature they require! 

Tomatoes - cherry and beef

They are taking over already!  Seeds due for delivery today are:

Pea 'Terrain'

Broad Bean 'Jubilee Hysor'

Dwarf Bean 'Golden Teepee'

Leek 'Autumn Giant 2 - Porvite'

Broccoli 'Aquiles' F1 Hybrid (Calabrese)

Carrot 'Amsterdam Forcing' (not dispatched yet)

Potato 'Rocket' (not dispatched yet)

Our electric fence has arrived, ordered from Mole Valley Farmers so that needs putting up in the main field to hopefully keep the horses in.  Something we have never done before, so that will be interesting.  We can’t afford to put a new post and rail fence up yet so this is the next best thing.  It is to stop the horses getting down in to the river which is down a bank at the bottom of our main field. 

It's always nice to come in and warm your bum on the Aga

 

Happy new chucks...

The new chickens seem to be settling in and this morning they were all perched together, bar one who always sleeps on the floor anyway.

They had to stay in for the remainder of the day as they are still getting used to where their bed is.  However once we got home we thought we'd try them out of the shed which they loved.  A little nervous but very inquisitive, they were soon exploring with the other 6, our 6 old faithfuls.  We were given 2 eggs as a thank you.

This evening after doing the horses, we got stuck into planting some seeds which are now in the greenhouse.  The tomatoes came in the house though for a bit more warmth.  It's all trial and error for us.  We've never really grew anything before so wish us look.  The camera ran out before I managed to take a few snaps of the seeds.

I quickly charged it in the house to show you the frittata I cooked for tomorrow's lunch boxes.  They are so simple to make and amazingly tasty.  This one had left over ham, cheese, cherry tomatoes, mushrooms and onions in it.  Started on the simmering plate then once the eggs had started to firm slightly I popped it in to the roasting oven for 5 minutes.  Delicious!

 

Also, we're expecting 3 new family members on Friday.  Sshhhh, don't tell anyone yet.

First 'proper' weekend

Although we were moved in last weekend, it was a non stop work weekend.  So this one is our first "proper" weekend in that we would do normal things that we would do most weekends and enjoy our new home.

The front of the farmhouse, with a cheeky little girl sneaking in after their daily hack out.

The only difference to a normal weekend being that we made it to Durham Hens at Tow Law which I highly recommend.  The guy there was so helpful and the views on the way were simply stunning.  We bought 4 new hens (Rosemary, Laura, Felicity and Lilly) that are around 26 weeks old and are all supposed to be laying well, so much so our first egg of the day was a double yoker! 

We also bought 18 fertilised pure breed eggs.  6 Buff Orpington's, 4 Cream Legbars, 2 Welsummers, 1 Derbyshire redcap, 2 Lakenvelders, 3 Columbian Blacktails.  The 4 layers are hybrids and should lay pretty much all year round.  The pure breeds, if we get any and when they reach point of lay, will generally stop during the winter, according to our experience of our own and what the guy said, but time will tell.

Each one is numbered and the number represents the breed.

We've taken a family guess at how many chicks we think we will get and the guesses are 4, 10, 12 and 18.  If only 1 hatches we will be happy!! We have an automatic turning incubator that I bought online, so fingers and toes crossed for a healthy lot of chicks in 21 days time.

My Nanna came to visit today.  It's the first time she's been since we moved in and she loved the place.  She's in her 90's and is doing amazingly.   I made her some home made bread buns with slow cooked ham, a bought quiche (eventually I plan to have a few homemade ones in the freezer in case I don't have time to make fresh ones) and a nice pot of tea.  She had a lovely time and really enjoyed it.

Proving (as I now know it to be called).

Freshly baked

I have finally got round to making a cake for the farmer who helped us no end when we moved in.  His eyes lit up at the thought of the cake my DH kindly offered on my behalf ;) and so I made a chocolate cake per Mary Berry's instructions.  It was the same as I made for my friend last week, however this time I made a dip in the middle of the cakes before baking so they came out a lot flatter rather than domed (opposed to doomed, which I nearly just typed!).

Back to the grind of work tomorrow.  Menu plan to follow, however tomorrow night will be a one pot, something simple to scoop in to a bowl with home made bread after a first day back in the office. I will keep the memories of this weekend with me to see me through each working day!

I managed to squish in unnoticed.

View en route to Tow Law for the chickens

He wouldn't let me in...

My gorgeous girl. 

Question/s of the week.  What's the purpose of a cold frame?  Do you think we will benefit from one in addition to the greenhouse?  Are they not similar in use?