A quick visit to the lottie and enclosure additions

After feeding the girls this morning we went up the allotment. I had wanted to stay the whole morning and potter, but unfortunately we had visitors coming so was not allowed the luxury.

We put all the garden prunings in the giant fenced off compost bin at the end of the lottie by the field and the soft stuff and chicken manure in another half way up. This is the one where we have horse manure, vegetable and other mixes and now chicken manure – I have great hopes for a really nice compost in another year’s time.

Geoff was up there pottering about with his rotorvator – doing a minor repair, so I called out to him across the allotment and stopped for a little chat on my way out.

Les had just started shovelling his pile of horse manure, and at the very far end I saw T with his dogs and heard him shouting for all his worth at one of them which was not taking the slightest bit of notice and chasing a couple of black chickens one of which flew up high into a tree to escape the spaniel. It was funny to watch, but not the least bit funny for the chickens.

We moved a beautiful red rose that had grown really big from a little cutting that I took last winter. It was in the wrong place, namely where I later put the horse manure bin, but it really hit home to me what a difference manure really does make. The other cuttings are at most 12 inches tall and were all planted at the same time, so you can guess what I shall be putting on the other roses over winter.

I was really excited to see that my new allotment neighbour has strimmed all his weeds – it looks lovely – and this afternoon or tomorrow morning he is getting the whole lot ploughed up. Brilliant huh?

I dug up a romanesco plant complete with stalk and brought it back for the girls. I had to tie it to the fence it was so tall.

As soon as they saw it, Adelaide (obviously nominated as the poison taster) checked it out took a bite then tucked in and the others followed.


This photo shows you what it looked like ‘before’ they started tucking into it at lunch time today – tomorrow I will take a picture of the ‘after’ photo – it will make you smile.

I probably have done a silly thing, because if they go up the lottie in the summer they will now know what to make a bee line for!

I have two more romanesco plants left that are just forming the sputnik type heads, and then I will do the same with those and bring them down here. You can’t get any fresher than that can you? Organic veg that has travelled just a mile.

What pampered girls.



I made a cover over a pile of compost for them to have a dust bath – but as they haven’t had a bath since they got here, I am wondering if they even know how!

I think that I will draw the line at lying in the dirt and throwing it under my arms and over my back whilst scratching behind my ears with my leg!

Adelaide and Ginger laid an egg each late morning and they were lighter than they have been at 60grams and 62 grams so I think that the fireworks must have had an effect on them.

They tucked into a breakfast of mashed potato with warm milk and bits of our leftover cheese – mixed with their layers mash. There was not a peep out of them as all three stuck their heads down, bottoms up and tucked in. You should have seen their faces, smothered with creamy potato!

I had little time to look at them as much as I usually do as I had to make a roast lunch and do all the rest of the things you do when you are expecting visitors.

They went when it was dark, so I popped out to check up on the girls and who were fluffed up in the Eglu but not asleep. I never got my goodnight chat from them, but

I did make sure that I took the opportunity to cuddle each one this morning – well a couple of times actually. They don’t seem to mind; they make a little noise when I do, and I hope that they are not saying ‘Oh for heavens sake, do you have to keep cuddling and stroking me?

Eggs - Total to date:9

KoKKo 3 (76grms)
Adelaide 3 (64grms)
Ginger 3 (62grms)