The 21st Century Good Life?

Raised beds

2005-12-01T20:01:00.000-08:00

This year I am going to try raised beds, mainly because i had such trouble with weeding and keeping grass away from the edges of my beds last year. Hopefully they will become 'no-dig' beds a la Bob Flowerdew.
As you can see from the picture below i have not filled it to the top with compost as i will be mixing it with topsoil when it has settled a bit. The plastic mesh is to stop the cat from going to the toilet in it. I have more to make (because one isn't enough - 7ft x 3.5ft), hopefully this weekend but so much time seems to be taken up with building the house at the minute I never seem to get an hour to myself.

This second picture is of a bed from last year 'converted' into a sort of semi raised bed. I planted my garlic in there a few weeks back so it should be resting nicely in there. Its not yet finished because I made it with scrap wood I had lying around and i haven't found a piece for the other end yet :) donmcfeely@gmail.com

Say hello to... the chickens

2005-11-30T17:30:00.000-08:00

This is a picture of some of my chickens. I currently have 4 Rhode Island Red, 1 new Hampshire, 2 white silkies and 3 black pekin bantams. They all get on wonderfully and help to keep weeds and grass down around trees.
The RIRs and the New Hampshire I hatched myself (along with another new hampshire which died - see previous post entitled 'dead chicken') whilst I got the silkies and the pekins through a friend. I have had the RIRs since June and I found 4 was just not enough I always buy the local farm newspapers to keep an eye out for a bargain.

My coop is big enough for a few more birds and when its full, well... another coop isn't going to cost much to build is it? ;) If you dont have much space in the garden it doesn't matter because they dont take up much room get some and you will never regret it!

donmcfeely@gmail.com

A reason to love winter.

2005-11-20T17:41:00.000-08:00

A view like this on a frosty evening from my front room. Reason enough for me :)

donmcfeely@gmail.com

Mushroom ring...

2005-11-20T17:35:00.000-08:00

...or could it be fairy ring???

I just noticed this a few weeks ago and it's still going strong at the top of my garden. It's almost a complete circle of BIG mushrooms and they have never been there in the previous 2 winters that we have been in the house. Can anyone identify them from the close-up below??

donmcfeely@gmail.com

Say hello to... Bracken

2005-11-19T18:24:00.000-08:00

Bracken is an 8 1/2 year old miniature yorkshire terrier and she is a grumpy old girl. This young cat (velcro) and dog (toaster) that have started to edge in on her territory are no good and she is not afraid of being vocal about it.
My parents have two alsatians and even they have been on the wrong end of a few ear bashings from Bracken.
She loves being fussed over and if she thinks she isn't getting enough attention she will jump up and bounce off your leg repeatedly until you do something about it.
We have had bracken since she was 1 year old - her previous owner had her sharing a kennel with a boxer dog, she was afraid of her humans and was messing in her own bed, but we took her and she now has so much confidence she will happily sqaure up to the biggest of dogs.

donmcfeely@gmail.com

Changes

2005-11-15T17:35:00.000-08:00

This is a similar pic to the one with the first post on the blog and you can really see the changes that autumn brings. The little mounds of compost you can see is my hybrid willow trees (for coppicing) i have 90 more of them to do and 200 more to put in the ground next weekend (a sore back for christmas I think). Supposedly they grow up to 2 metres a year and top out at around 4-5 metres and after 4 years you can cut them down for fuel. They just shoot back up after this for more in another 4 years :)

The chicken coop is on the right of the picture and at the top of the garden you can see the block for the building of the renovation. The mound of dirt behind the chicken house is currently being used by the cat as a toilet. Nice.

bye for now.

don

Save money... and the World!!! #2

2005-11-14T17:30:00.000-08:00

A compost heap...

Not pretty, but practical.

This goes hand in hand with the first suggestion in Save money... and the world. All the old hedge trimming, cuttings, peelings, unused parts and most other organic waste can be composted. This make next years soil better because you are putting a bit of goodness back into it.
It coudn't be simpler, you can either buy a 'dalek' type composter from B&Q or your local council (which should be cheaper) OR make your own using old pallets which I did as you can see from the picture.
After you have your composter you simply keep adding stuff to it until it is full - wait 6 months to a year and the you can start using the stuff. Its amazing stuff and absolutely free - which is cheaper than buying it from a garden centre.
I got a great sense of satisfaction from my first 'harvest' of compost and it was great stuff. I have another full heap now for use next year and have another started for use the year after.

Even if you dont have a garden now but plan to in the future then get started, I started my compost heap a full year before I planned to plant veg in my garden. I planned in advance because I knew that I would need it come the time.

Try it and reap the rewards - ask neighbours and family if you could have their scraps, I did and mine certainly filled up more quickly than I could have imagined.

bye for now

don
donmcfeely@gmail.com

Say Hello to... Velcro

2005-11-12T16:18:00.000-08:00

Velcro is our cat who likes to watch the chickens (a lot!!) and wrestle with Toaster. He is 1 year old and he is a real softy, he used to get beat up by another feral cat in the area but we haven't seen it for 4 or 5 months, so we hope its gone for good. At least we wont have to go to the vets so often to get him patched up.
Velcro likes to poo in newly dug beds and is adept at destroying seedlings - a useful skill for a cat who belongs to a gardener.
He is a really chilled out character who likes to be at my side when Im gardening whatever the weather and since we have had him there have been no more signs of the rat at the compost heap :)

DEAD CHICKEN!!

2005-11-10T17:50:00.000-08:00

This afternoon a friend of mine (Chris) who helps me sometimes went down to paint the chicken coop while I was at a job interview and found one of them dead by the chicken run. The only mark on it was a small (1cm) cut on the shoulder where the wing joins its body. Chris also keep birds including chickens and he thinks that it died because of the shock of the attack. I thought because either Chris or myself would be around I would let them have the garden to themselves.
Velcro (the cat) is not a suspect because he was inside all day long and unless he can unlock and open a door then he's not to blame. There was a feral cat in the area a while back which attacked velcro on a few occasions but he had been away so long I thought he had left for good. But why would he leave the bird? - it was only a 4 months old bantam so it wouldn't be too big for him.
On closer inspection there were small cuts and scratches on the birds legs which only adds to the mystery.

I think from now on I will have to be on constant watch if they are out in the garden.

The one that died was one of a pair which my girlfriend called Jimmy and Choo (circled in the picture above - click to see a bigger pic), we never knew which one was which - so the decision has been made to call the dead one Jimmy. We were quite attached to them because we bought them as fertile eggs and hatched them ourselves.

R.I.P. Jimmy. July '05 - November '05 :(

if anybody has any theories email donmcfeely@gmail.com

First order of the year.

2005-11-09T19:08:00.000-08:00

I ordered my potatoes Epicure (early) & Golden Wonder (maincrop) today, along with garlic. This year I am going to try growing the potatoes in containers and my main container will be the bath from the house. Not whilst it is in the house of course :) I'll be taking it out soon because of the renovations and I'm sure I'll find a suitable place for it so that the spuds can be put in it.
I'll be putting the garlic in as soon as it arrives so I'll have pics of the *new raised beds * I'm trying out this coming year with the garlic in them.

donmcfeely@gmail.com

Save money... and the world!

2005-11-08T18:06:00.000-08:00

Thats a catchy title if i do say so myself ;) I thought I'd have a little bit in the blog every couple of days with a suggestion of how to save money whilst caring for the environment at the same time.
I thought I'd start with the obvious one first which most people on A4A will be doing...

GROW YOUR OWN FOOD
Simple really but not a lot of people do it because of various excuses - no time, no space, don't know how to - the list is endless.

Its easier than a lot of people think to get reasonable results. Okay if you want trusses and trusses of perfect tomatoes its a bit more work but if i can do it anyone can. I got 80 tomatoes from one plant the first time I tried growing tomatoes. Fare enough i only had one plant but its a good way to start.

A handy hint which people dont always think about when growing their own food is - only grow what you like to eat.

It also means that your broccoli hasn't came from Italy or your strawberries from Israel - thus saving the environment from harful emissions from aeroplanes and delivery trucks.

And you can be sure what chemicals have been sprayed on it - NONE!

Even if you only grow 0.05% of the food you eat per year its more than the 0% of a lot of people. Everyone doing a little bit can make a lot of difference.

donmcfeely@gmail.com

Say hello to... Toaster

2005-11-08T17:50:00.000-08:00

Toaster is the baby of the family. He is a cross between a jack russell and a pom with possibly some corgi in there - according to the vet. We dont know for sure because he was an unplanned pregnancy for the family we got him from. This picture (sorry about the quality) is when he was 8 weeks old, he is now around 14-15 weeks old and a bit bigger. We love cats and dogs (which doesn't always benefit the garden) but we couldn't say no when we saw him for the first time.
He loves eating:

- the cat's (Velcro) food
- the other dog's (Bracken) food
- shoes
- his blanket
- the cats ears

and sometimes my hand. I think you get the idea.
Tomorrow I will have Say hello to... Bracken. And on Thursday Say hello to... Velcro. With possibly a Say hello to... The Chickens!

donmcfeely@gmail.com

The Renovation Begins!

2005-11-07T22:48:00.000-08:00

As you can see from the picture the foundations for the extension have been dug and filled with concrete. Bricklaying should begin (according to the brickie) middle of this week... hopefully. I priced Geothermal Heating for the house when i was getting the building work priced but I didn't expect it to cost £8500! I decided to wait until i win the lottery to get it along with the yacht etc ;)

A New Day, A New Blog

2005-11-07T11:11:00.000-08:00

Hello everybody! this is my garden and my house at the left of the picture. im getting it renovated at the minute (pics to follow) you'll be able to see the polytunnel in the distance as well. I had my first stab at veg. gardening (and chicken rearing) this year and learned a lot - i.e. it isn't easy!
I'll be posting here every day - to keep you up to date as well as a reminder for me as to what I done and when.
Im in work now (dont tell the boss) so I'll post new pic here later on. If you want to see a better quality version of the above pic please click the image and it will open in a new window.

feel free to email suggestions or questions to me at:

donmcfeely@gmail.com

Thanks!