Scrapheap Challenge

[Snadger]

Sad day as lost one of my 3 month old Cream Legbars today. Found it wedged behind a wheelie bin I keep in the run to hold chicken feed. Can only assume it had got itself wedged in between bin and side of run. Moved bin to a more central position temporarily and will probably take out of run eventually.
There have been three chcickens and 2 ducks roaming around the allotment site all week. I was going to return the chooks to where i think they came from but the run door was wedged open and the water containers were covered in green algae. Someone appears to have done a bunk and just let them out. I managed to catch a white one today and put it in with mine. Poor thing was starving and attacked the mixed corn i gave it with gusto.
Unless i get a satisfactory explanation as to why they were abandonnned, its stopping with mine for the time being.

Watered the stuff in the polytunnel.

Harvested some calabrese and gathered some Japanes onions for kitchen use. Also took a bag of shallots home and filled two pickle jars with them! Tried to get a piccie of my own chicks but they wouldn't stand still long enough. This was the best I could do:-


They still have dual mothers as you can see.

[Snadger]

Took up the last of my onions for storing yesterday then gave the plot a good watering as some stuff was starting to wilt. Dug two shyes of Charlotte this evening. This still leaves about four plants to harvest before I start on my maincrop.

Curly kale is really starting to take off now! Sunflowrs are looking superb and sweetcorn is looking good.

Brought home another mahoosive Black Russian tomato, who's taste is deffo worth waiting for!

All in all its been an excellent bountiful year and I am now glad I took the scrapheap challenge!

[veggiechicken]

Last year I got a FREE packet of mixed perennial seeds some of which have now flowered.

Here's a couple of piccies of two flowers I am not familiar with maybe someone can enlighten me?

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Looks like an oenothera of some sort and a verbascum.blattaria (Moth mullein).
Sorry I'm late with this, I've been away

[Snadger]

Canny session at the scrapheap today. Stated off by doing a Rocky Balboa and chasing chickens. Once I had lept back and forth over half a dozen plots I decided the chickens deserved there freedom. I think they must have went feral as I have never dealt with such resilient chooks. Result was a win for the chooks and loss of face for snadge. It did cause a few laughs for the plotholders anyway!

Turned out my bucket with my True Potato Seed grown effort.



As you can see by the huge crop next to the £1 coin on the left it wasn't a massive success! Never daunted, I will keep these tubers if I can a nd plant them next year to see what happens.

On the way to the plot I called at the GC to see if they had any Japanese onion sets in yet. They didn't but they did have module grown Senshyu plantlets grown from seed. Roughly six plants to a module makes it not too bad for £2.50 for 36 plants. I will still get both the red and normal sets when they come in though.

Harvested loads of courgettes some of the bigger ones went straight to the chooks who quickly demolished them. Harvested a full carrier bag of green,purple and yellow climbing french beans, most of which are in the freezer now.

Dug up loads of unimpressive tatties and threw out loads of really small ones.

Decided i would have another go at my Yin-Yang pond. Marked out a six foot diameter and started to dig off the top layer. I have some 'sets' which I will use for the surround. I figure I need to position these loosely and level them as there is a slight slope and water will always find its level. Once these are in position it will give me a datum for how deep to dig the first layer. Ince furst and second layer are dug I can then take the sets off before adding the liner, then rplacing the sets!
This is as far as i got.

[veggiechicken]

Snadge - meet Vince



I don't have the heart to cut him open or eat him. Feels slightly cannibalistic.

[Snadger]

Snadge - meet Vince

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I don't have the heart to cut him open or eat him. Feels slightly cannibalistic.

WOW..............so he's a yellow semi beefsteak! None of mine have coloured up yet Mine seem a bit more 'angular' as well.Taste is a big thing for me, so you are just going to have to bite into him and give your verdict!

[Cadalot]

Hi Snadger can I please use your photograph on 689 to show how roof tiles can be used to define a bed on a post I'm writing on my blog please, the source will be acknowledged with thanks.

[Snadger]

Hi Snadger can I please use your photograph on 689 to show how roof tiles can be used to define a bed on a post I'm writing on my blog please, the source will be acknowledged with thanks.

No problem Cad!

[veggiechicken]

WOW..............so he's a yellow semi beefsteak! None of mine have coloured up yet Mine seem a bit more 'angular' as well.Taste is a big thing for me, so you are just going to have to bite into him and give your verdict!

Vince is odd! He looks just like a sweet pepper and your mouth puckers up ready to eat a raw pepper. The outer skin is crisp and solid but inside, he's all sweet and soft; no peppery tang. I'm expecting you to say that he's just like you, Snadger
Very few seeds and 2 well defined and empty cavities.

Reminds me of Yellow Stuffer that I grew a few years ago. If they're not the same they're very closely related.

[Snadger]

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Vince is odd! He looks just like a sweet pepper and your mouth puckers up ready to eat a raw pepper. The outer skin is crisp and solid but inside, he's all sweet and soft; no peppery tang. I'm expecting you to say that he's just like you, Snadger
Very few seeds and 2 well defined and empty cavities.

Reminds me of Yellow Stuffer that I grew a few years ago. If they're not the same they're very closely related.

You've whet my appetite . I can't wait for mine to ripen now!

I'm just glad Vince isn't a boring ne're do well. (not like me of course!)

One final question, which is the REAL question...............will you be growing him again next year?

[veggiechicken]

Depends on whether he earns his keep. He doesn't seem very productive but I'll wait and see. He's definitely different to the others I'm growing. Would make good topping on a pizza!
I'll save the seeds anyway so that Vince can spread himself around.

[Cadalot]

No problem Cad!

Thanks mate it will go into this posting on my blog Alans Allotment: Clearing a New Allotment

[Snadger]

Thanks mate it will go into this posting on my blog Alans Allotment: Clearing a New Allotment

Nice one Alan....................fame at last!

[Snadger]

Depends on whether he earns his keep. He doesn't seem very productive but I'll wait and see. He's definitely different to the others I'm growing. Would make good topping on a pizza!
I'll save the seeds anyway so that Vince can spread himself around.

I agree, not very productive, but unusual. I may limit him to one or two plants next year.............depending on taste!

[Snadger]

Do you think I've got enough onions and shalots to keep me going for a while!



Took the wire mesh down I had around the PSB,Caulis,Kohl Rhabi and winter cabbage. Pulled the caulis up and gave them to the chooks as they were rubbish. Pulled up the peas and gave them to the chooks. Watered the plot as it was bone dry.

Carried on with the digging of my Yin-Yang pond. For someone who practices no-dig I seem to be doing a lot of digging lately. I was losing enough sweat to help fill the pond so eventually said "Enough is enough" and left it for another day.

After a couple of chapters of a book and a half hour nap I decided to head for home.

As I passed one of the plots I noticed one of the feral hens I've been trying to catch for days. It spotted me and started running like the roadrunner then just seemed to vanish. I spotted a bit of brown under a Rhubarb leaf but when i lifted the lead it was off again. It vanished again and just like a dog, it burried itself under a cabbage leaf believing it couldn't be seen, with its backside sticking out. I had no choice but grab it by the tail and eventually took it into custody. It was pecking like mad at me but I eventually got it into the coup with my other hens.
I have a lot of respect for how quickly these chooks have reverted to the wild, hiding and biting unlike my tame chooks.
It got a bit of a shock because the cockerel mounted it as soon as it went through the gate and after that it just filled itself up with the handfuls of corn I gave it.