Interns, Chickens & Harvesting

We have just enjoyed our first permaculture trained farm helper, which was a delight on so many fronts. Not only did we have some help to do all of the many farm jobs each day (feeding the poddy calf, cattle, pigs, poultry, gardening), we made a new friend & enjoyed good conversation too. All of the vegetable seedlings have been planted out, & about 3/4 of the kitchen garden has been weeded & thickly mulched, also providing much interest & nutritional work in the chicken & pig pens. And, we look forward to a repeat visit early in the New Year as well as later in the year, so it seems to have been a beneficial practical learning experience for them too. Having learned some more about the various permaculture internships on offer, it is making us think very deeply about what we can offer in terms of really ethical practical structured internships at our farm, so I'm sure there will be more on that front in the new year.

Last week's searing heat & scorching winds were a challenge for all of our farm animals, especially our chickens. Although we lost 4 of the 1 week old Buff Orpingtons (despite eyedropper feeding with cold electrolytes & bringing them into the house in a cat box), all of the other poultry (even the old girls) came through unscathed. All of the pens have deep shade, with multiple water dishes in the shade too, but even so, I went around to all of the pens at about 3.30pm delivering electrolyte solution with ice blocks! We had put a plastic sand pit filled with water in the pig pen, & they really love lying in it to get cool! On the really hot days, I have been opening all of the gates & letting all the poultry & pigs who live in Chookingham Palace (our permanent poultry pen, with 4 separate areas inside 100m of electronet, currently inhabited by geese, ducks, chickens - an egg laying Black Sussex cross flock, a meat bird/eggs Buff Orpington flock, & all of the recently hatched chicks) find the coolest place to rest. This has also meant that the pigs have dug up lots of lovely compost, which is easy to wheelbarrow back to other places where it is needed. The last few cooler days with some rainfall have been a welcome relief to all humans & animals alike (to say nothing of the plants' relief!).

One evening late last week, with the help of our visiting intern/farm hand, we moved our 2 herds of alpacas into new paddocks, after setting up & filling the mobile water troughs. Not only do they get more grass & feed, there is more shade & shelter. The new calves are growing well, including our poddy calf (Shadow), & as he seems to be fostered by all 3 of the other mothers who are feeding calves, we have been less rigourous in appearing at dawn & dusk with a bottle for him - most of it seems to get poured on the ground, hopefully to feed some of the soil biota at least! We have started a new worm farm in the kitchen garden in an old bath, from our existing smaller farms, & set up in the corner of the walled garden protected from the winds, so we can happily leave a bucket underneath the plughole without it being somewhere down the paddock on a windy day. It's hard to tell if the worms are happier, but one of our cats likes the way water pools on the chipboard roof, as it's fun to splash about it! More chicks have been hatching, with some losses too, & I put out a dozen Orpington eggs under my 6 broody bantam pekin/silkie crosses in Fowlmoral (the mobile bantam pen) as they have been sitting for a week, not laying, & not letting any other hen lay either, & I was most worried about them on the hot days last week (all survived unscathed). One of the new red Isa Brown laying hens has gone broody too (in Chookingham Palace) & was pecking me when I got the eggs out from under her, so I might take up some of my Orpington eggs from the incubator for her if she is still sitting tomorrow.

We have been harvesting raspberries this week - delicious fresh, delicious as jam, delicious with buckwheat pancakes - heaven on a plate! We also picked our very first apples today - Beauty of Bath - from our espaliered tree in the kitchen garden. They taste sensational! Carrots, kale, coriander, & parsnips are all in good supply, with some peas & spinach too, & the new seedlings have taken well so we should be eating the lettuces soon.