An Ode to Spring II

My main aim in the garden this year is to increase the number of flowering, fruiting and edible plants.


ash cottage garden


While last year involved a lot of clearing, this year I hope to plant more.  It's wonderful to sit here and look down the garden at an expanse of lush vibrant green.  Until last year your gaze would have been arrested by an ominous wall of dark, deep green conifers, which we have taken out.  We cut down a lot of trees, so this year we are planning on planting new ones and have also put up bird boxes and feeders.  I've planted a walnut tree at the end of the chicken run to replace two large conifers that were shielding us from our neighbour's view at the side of the garden.  

I've tied in the young apple trees I planted last year and am excitedly waiting to see them blossom.  James Grieve looks to have lost its' lead shoot, which is a little worrying, but there are 2 other healthy looking verticles, one of which I guess will have to take over.  

young grape vine

In the hexagonal greenhouse the fig and olive trees have made it through the winter and are starting to wake up.  And above is a picture of the cutting taken from the grape vine in our old garden, which is sending out new leaves and shoots. My Mother's Day gift this year was a quince tree, it is presently in the greenhouse, I've not decided where to plant it yet.  


We have managed to erect the frame of our other greenhouse on the veggie patch.  Just the glass to put in now and then it too can be used to propagate new life.  There are 3 more raised beds to finish building on the veggie patch.  In one that I constructed last year are autumn planted onions and garlic that seem to be surviving the chicken's attentions at the moment.  I guess the chicken's will have to be confined to their run once seed sewing starts in ernest, otherwise they will just be digging everything up as quickly as I can put it in.

geranium plug plants
Little geranium plugs in the greenhouse

In the hexagonal greenhouse I've sewn nasturtiums, tomatoes, chilli and cavalo nero seeds.  36 classic red geranium plug plants will soon be joined by some Geranium Appleblossom Rosebud, which look gorgeous in the catalogue.  I've two Viburnum shrubs waiting to go out, and cuttings from lavender, curry plants and a few other shrubs from my mother-in-law's garden.  

Meanwhile, potatoes are chitting on top of the quail brooder.

quail chicks

Of our quail; Amber and Sleepy are thriving, Squeeky Cheese remains much smaller and we are hoping this is because Squeeky is a male.  In Japanese Quail they tend to be smaller than the females.


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Spring - Part I

ash cottage garden with hens

Oh what a lovely day it was yesterday, it finally feels like spring. I sat in the garden writing and taking photos as the hens pecked around in the grass at my feet.  Lovely girls.  

We've our 7 new Maran hatching eggs due to arrive in the next day or so, just in time for easter.  
So last week I did a full on spring clean of the hen house and run ready for the new arrivals.


chicken hen having a dust bath
Astrid taking a dust bath to clean herself of mites.












I raise my hens more or less organically, but this year I decided to give the hen house a good disinfect, with a red mite insecticide.  It's a once a year thing for me and it wouldn't usually be my choice to use this type of product.  However, after much research on the various poultry forums and reading up on each of the active ingredients in my chosen brand, I decided that as the girls had spent so much time indoors over the rainy winter days, and with new young hens about to join them, I wanted to give the house a good one off clean.


daffodils and grape hyacinths


As the bees are the members of our little herd most likely to suffer from the toxins in the insecticide I was using, I thought it better to clean while they are not flying too much.  However, they are out and about in the Spring sunshine now. 

hives in spring

I have 2 hives and both seem to have made it through winter in relative health - I've not opened them up yet, but there are plenty of bees outside and they are obviously finding pollen, as I can see it stored on their legs as they come in to the hive.  


honey bee on grape hyacinth

One of the lovely things about taking photographs for this blog is how often I see honey bees on the few flowers I do have in my garden, even at this time of year.  So, hopefully, I must be doing something right, even if it is often a balancing act between the needs of one or other of our garden inhabitants.

Joining in with Annie, with How Does Your Garden Grow , pop on over to see some beautiful gardens this week.




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Egg Box Easter Wreath.


egg box easter wreath

We tend to keep hold of our old egg boxes, we sell our excess eggs in them and there are so many other things you can make with them too.  There are an abundance of Spring crafts to be made with the humble egg box. To prove a point; here is a craft that is easy and fun and perfect for Easter.

For your Easter/Spring wreath, you will need;
egg boxes
square of cardboard
green felt or paper
paints
paintbrushes
glue
buttons
scissors
(glitter if you dare - I boorishly bar humbug glitter as I can never get rid of the stuff)


Instructions


  1. Cut a large 'polo' shape out of your cardboard - I used an old cereal packet - and paint it green.
  2. Cut leaf shapes out of your felt OR paint a sheet of paper of card various shades of green and cut out your leaf shapes.
  3. Cut the rising tips in the egg cartons out and cut the egg carton cups out.  Cut the side corners out of the cups if you'd like to make the petals more defined.
  4. Paint your tips and cups any colours you wish.
  5. Once the paint is dry, stick the tips into the middle of some of the cups, and buttons into the middle of others.
  6. If you want to, you can poke cuts of string or thread into the button holes to create filaments.
  7. Stick the leaves around the cardboard circle and stick the flower heads onto the leaves.
  8. Stick string to the back using good tape and hang!


Here's another idea for egg box spring flowers, taken from our April Crafty Box a few years ago, the leaves can be made equally well out of paper and the stalks were made using pipe cleaners and gardening sticks.


egg box daffodils



…and if you're stuck for something to do with the lid and are putting on an egg hunt...


egg box spring basket


…or perhaps...


easter crafts


…or even…

easter crafts


Don't hold back, let loose with your imagination, it was only going to go in the recycle bin after all!

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Our Quail Chicks

quail chicks in incubator

Meet Amber, Sleepy and Squeeky Cheese.


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