Hi all,
I have recently updated the news area on the site, with the most recent YouTube video. It is all about how my 7-year-old granddaughter helps me to carry out a procedure on our chicken, to deal with her bumblefoot. Bless her, she did brilliantly. She loves animals but isn’t too keen on procedures but wanted to help. I have to say that she did an amazing job. I know I am bias, but I am sure that if you watch it, you will totally agree. Also, the conversations that we have are rather entertaining so if you want a little giggle, come over and have a watch. If you do enjoy the video, if you could click the subscription (which does NOT cost you anything, it just helps the channel to grow) and a like would be fab. Also, if you click the bell , you will be notified every time I make a video. That way you won’t miss anything. No worries if not, I know that it isn’t everyone’s thing.
I may as well start with the weather again! We had our first frost on Saturday morning, so that came as a bit of a shock. I bet it did for the animals and plants! However, the sun did come out and made up for the chilly start. To be honest, I would very much prefer it colder and dry, rather than rain, rain, and more rain, I don’t know about you. Although Sunday was another day entirely, much warmer, and showery.
The goats are all doing well. The exciting news is that I am pretty sure that Snow is pregnant, as her udder has swollen up and this can be due to the surge of hormones from the pregnancy. She also, has not come back into heat, so we look like we will have the trip trap of little hooves towards the end of march, yay. I don’t know about Storm, just yet. We will have to wait and see, fingers crossed. Snow and Storm’s young, from march this year, are doing well. However, I have made the decision to sell them on in the spring, after mating season has finished. They will make a great addition to any herd, but I don’t feel that I can keep them, due to them not being dehorned. It is not advisable to keep horned and dehorned goats together, as they are not on an even footing. Also, with having the alpacas, it makes sense not to have horned goats. I am sure that when the time comes, I will find great homes for them, as they are absolutely gorgeous specimens of Saanen goats. Due to the leaves falling from the trees, there is less browse for the goats, so that means that they are eating more hay. I also feed them other vegetables, which I have grown. They also, enjoyed some left-over pumpkin, which my daughter gave to me. They have really enjoyed that. I also had a couple of my apple trees cut back today, and they enjoyed the last of leaves on the trees, as well as a couple of apples.
The alpacas have been keeping well. I am not sure if they are hilarious when I feed them or just a pain! Every time I feed them the same way, in the same order and they often fall out, try and pinch each other’s food etc. This can be hilarious when you have the time to enjoy it but if you are in a hurry or not feeling brilliant, it isn’t quite so funny! However, they are so gorgeous you can’t get upset with them.
The chickens have settled into flockdown, however they don’t like it, and their egg production had declined dramatically. I am having to think of ways to keep them entertained. They have had fruit, pumpkin and greens hung up so that they can peck at it and bark chippings to scratch around in, to keep them entertained. You need to keep them entertained so that they don’t fall out. The more bored they become the more likely it is to have bullying issues and feather plucking etc. If you have any boredom busting ideas for chickens, then please send them to me. I can then update as to whether they have been enjoyed by the chickens.
On the garden front, I have planted my garlic, elephant garlic and onion seeds. I have planted the onion seeds outside in my raised bed and also in modules. The ones in modules have been put into my potting shed come medical room. I will just have to see which ones do best. Whichever ones do best, will be the way that I move forward in the future. Although, I watch Liz Zorab on YouTube and she said that her Welsh onions, were the way to go as they are bunching onions and a lot easier to grow than conventional onions. You can use the leaves and some of the onions but if you leave some in, as they are a perennial, they come back again and so forth. I have decided to give these a go, so have bought the seeds. They are to be planted in the spring, so I will have to see how this works. I think that I will always grow red onions, as we really enjoy them. I usually grow Red Baron as they seem to grow well, well they do for me, and they taste lovely. I actually want to grow more this year as I love red onion chutney, especially with goats’ cheese. My purple sprouting broccoli has come on well, but I do need to stake them or I fear the wind might break them off. I am very proud to share that I have grown sprouts for the first time, and although they are not yet as big as I would like, I am looking forward to eating our own sprouts on Christmas day, along with my first grown swede. We will also have our own spuds, carrots, and greens. I absolutely love it when we are able to be as self sufficient as possible, along with being able to feed the animals with some lovely vegetables.
I have been making soup. I made leek and potato soup today but added a bit of our kale, it was scrummy.
The soup recipe was:
3 leeks
3 potatoes
Large handful of kale leaves (harder stalks taken off)
3 cloves or garlic
1 small onion
1 stock cube
It is a really simple soup. You just peel and chop the onion and garlic, put them in a little oil and sauté. Then add the leeks, potatoes, kale, stock cube and some water to cover the vegetables. Don’t forget to add some Susie salt and Percy pepper, to taste. Simmer for about 20 minutes and then blend. You can add a little cream, to make it extra creamy. It is lovely with some crusty bread.
Anyhow, it just leaves me to say bye for now and I look forward to updating you on our goings on in a couple of weeks. Don’t forget to pop on over to YouTube to see what is going on, and also watch for updates on both Instagram and Facebook. I do try to keep them as up to date as possible.
Take care for now,
Cathy
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