My First Gardening Experience
Ah, to this day I still remember my first gardening experience. It was
such a disaster that I didn’t think I would ever want to garden again. I
almost decided to turn my casual hobby into the most rage-inducing topic
you could possibly bring up to me.
It all started a few weeks after I moved in to my first house. I was
excited just to have my own grass to mow, since I had been living in a flat
for quite a while. In between plans to paint walls and renovate
the inside to exactly how I like, I thought it would be a good idea to
start a fruit garden so that I could have some fresh produce and put my
yard to use. At that point I didn’t really know anything at all about
gardening. But still in my spunky youthful years, I decided I didn’t need
help. How hard could it be to start a garden and grow stuff? After all, it
happens in nature all the time and nobody even has to do anything.
I already had a grassless patch in my yard where it looked like the
previous owner had attempted a garden. But any attempt they had made
turned out to be an utter travesty. The area was full of rocks and weeds,
with no signs of any agreeable plants. I spent several hours of work
spread over several days to clear out the entire area, leaving nothing but
dirt. At that point, however, I didn’t realize the difference between
“dirt” and “soil”. I was dealing with barren, hard, nutritionless, and
unforgiving land.
I made some attempt at making my garden look nice; although I think even
Martha Stewart would have had difficulties. I took some stained boards
that were sitting in my basement (quite convenient, no?) and used them as
a border for my garden, to keep out all the pests that couldn’t jump more
than a foot (I figured I would be safe from lawn gnomes). I used the pile
of rocks I had collected from the garden to make a creepy shrine looking
thing in front of it. I don’t know what I was thinking when I did that.
I went to the store that very day, and picked out whatever looked tasty.
Strawberries? Sure! Watermelon? Yeah! I hacked away a hole in the
rock-hard ground and poked the seed in. After that, I think I watered it
faithfully every day for several weeks before realizing that it was not
going to grow anything. But even after I had that realization, I continued
to water in hopes that my seeds would pull a last minute sprout on me. But
I knew there was no hope, and I was heartbroken. After all those hours of
pulling up weeds and tossing rocks into a pile, I had no fruit to show for
my labour.
So, feeling dejected and betrayed, I logged onto the internet and searched
for a guide to gardening. I quickly ran across a site that led me to
realize the true skill required for gardening. It was then I learned about
soil consistency, nutrients, ideal watering conditions, seasons, and all
those things. After I read up on my area and how to grow fruits, I learned
exactly what to do. I learned how to get the ideal soil, when to plant the
seeds, how much to water, etc. Just a night of browsing the internet and
printing off sources, and I was totally ready for the next planting season.
If you’re in the position I was, and you’re just itching to start a new
garden… I urge you to learn from my mistake. Make sure you do plenty of
proper research on the types of plants you’re trying to grow, along with
the climate. Spend money on good soil, good fertilizer, and good garden
tools. Hopefully you don’t have to go through the emotional disaster that
I went through.
Sunday 11 November 2012
Thursday 1 November 2012
How To Make A Raised Bed
How To Make A Raised Bed
Following on from yesterdays post about container gardening I thought I would share some information on how to make a raised bed, please feel free to comment below.
If your current planting goals involve plants that require good water drainage,then you might want to consider a raised bed vegetable garden, I am sure you know how frustrating it is to have a garden that just won’t cooperate. Some plants can handle the excess water that comes about from being in an area that doesn’t drain properly. In fact, it might just cause them to bloom more lushly. However, other plants don’t cope as well, and it will cause them to die a gruesome, bloated death. You should always find out about the drainage required for every plant you buy, and make sure that it won’t conflict with any of the areas you are considering planting it in.
In order to test how much water your designated patch of soil will retain, dig a hole approximately ten inches deep. Fill it with water, and come back in a day when all the water had disappeared. Fill it back up again. If the 2nd hole full of water isn’t gone in 10 hours, your soil has a low saturation point. This means that when water soaks into it, it will stick around for a long time before dissipating. This is unacceptable for almost any plant, and you are going to have to do something to remedy it if you want your plants to survive.
The usual method for improving drainage in your garden is to create a raised bed. This involves creating a border for a small bed, and adding enough soil and compost to it to raise it above the rest of the yard by at least 5 inches. You’ll be amazed at how much your water drainage will be improved by this small modification. If you’re planning to build a raised bed, your prospective area is either on grass or on dirt. For each of these situations, you should build it slightly differently.
If you want to start a raised garden in a non grassy area, you won’t have much trouble. Just find some sort of border to retain the dirt you will be adding. I’ve found that there is nothing that works quite as well as a few two by fours. After you’ve created the wall, you must put in the proper amount soil and steer manure. Depending on how long you plan to wait before planting, you will want to adjust the ratio to allow for any deteriorating that may occur.
If you’re trying to install a raised bed where sod already exists, you will have a slightly more difficult time. You will need to cut the sod around the perimeter of the garden, and flip it over. This may sound simple, but you will need something with a very sharp edge to slice the edges of the sod and get under it. Once you have turned it all upside down, it is best to add a layer of straw to discourage the grass from growing back up. After the layer of straw, simply add all the soil and steer manure that a normal garden would need.
Planting your plants in your new area shouldn’t pose much difficulty. It is essentially the same process as your usual planting session. Just be sure that the roots don’t extent too far into the original ground level. The whole point of creating the raised bed is to keep the roots out of the soil which saturates easily. Having long roots that extend that far completely destroys the point.
Once you have plants in your new bed, you’ll notice an almost immediate improvement. The added soil facilitates better root development. At the same time, evaporation is prevented and decomposition is discouraged. All of these things added together makes for an ideal environment for almost any plant to grow in. So don’t be intimidated by the thought of adjusting the very topography of your yard. It is a simple process as I’m sure you’ve realized, and the long term results are worth every bit of work.
Following on from yesterdays post about container gardening I thought I would share some information on how to make a raised bed, please feel free to comment below.
If your current planting goals involve plants that require good water drainage,then you might want to consider a raised bed vegetable garden, I am sure you know how frustrating it is to have a garden that just won’t cooperate. Some plants can handle the excess water that comes about from being in an area that doesn’t drain properly. In fact, it might just cause them to bloom more lushly. However, other plants don’t cope as well, and it will cause them to die a gruesome, bloated death. You should always find out about the drainage required for every plant you buy, and make sure that it won’t conflict with any of the areas you are considering planting it in.
In order to test how much water your designated patch of soil will retain, dig a hole approximately ten inches deep. Fill it with water, and come back in a day when all the water had disappeared. Fill it back up again. If the 2nd hole full of water isn’t gone in 10 hours, your soil has a low saturation point. This means that when water soaks into it, it will stick around for a long time before dissipating. This is unacceptable for almost any plant, and you are going to have to do something to remedy it if you want your plants to survive.
The usual method for improving drainage in your garden is to create a raised bed. This involves creating a border for a small bed, and adding enough soil and compost to it to raise it above the rest of the yard by at least 5 inches. You’ll be amazed at how much your water drainage will be improved by this small modification. If you’re planning to build a raised bed, your prospective area is either on grass or on dirt. For each of these situations, you should build it slightly differently.
If you want to start a raised garden in a non grassy area, you won’t have much trouble. Just find some sort of border to retain the dirt you will be adding. I’ve found that there is nothing that works quite as well as a few two by fours. After you’ve created the wall, you must put in the proper amount soil and steer manure. Depending on how long you plan to wait before planting, you will want to adjust the ratio to allow for any deteriorating that may occur.
If you’re trying to install a raised bed where sod already exists, you will have a slightly more difficult time. You will need to cut the sod around the perimeter of the garden, and flip it over. This may sound simple, but you will need something with a very sharp edge to slice the edges of the sod and get under it. Once you have turned it all upside down, it is best to add a layer of straw to discourage the grass from growing back up. After the layer of straw, simply add all the soil and steer manure that a normal garden would need.
Planting your plants in your new area shouldn’t pose much difficulty. It is essentially the same process as your usual planting session. Just be sure that the roots don’t extent too far into the original ground level. The whole point of creating the raised bed is to keep the roots out of the soil which saturates easily. Having long roots that extend that far completely destroys the point.
Once you have plants in your new bed, you’ll notice an almost immediate improvement. The added soil facilitates better root development. At the same time, evaporation is prevented and decomposition is discouraged. All of these things added together makes for an ideal environment for almost any plant to grow in. So don’t be intimidated by the thought of adjusting the very topography of your yard. It is a simple process as I’m sure you’ve realized, and the long term results are worth every bit of work.
Wednesday 31 October 2012
Getting Started In Container Gardening
Getting Started in Container Gardening
One of my great pastimes here on the smallholding is Container Gardening.
I love to grow both flowers, fruit & vegetables in containers so heres some
information for those that might want to give it a go.
Sometimes, the urge to garden might be stomped out by other circumstances,
such as living arrangements or space constrictions. If you live in an
apartment, you can’t really operate a full garden, just because you don’t
really have a yard! I think that one of the best solutions for this
problem is to grow plants in containers. You can hang these, or just
arrange them on your patio, window sill or balcony. Just a few baskets or
pots, and your whole living area will look much classier and nicer.
A benefit of growing in small containers is the fact that you can move
them around to suit your needs. If you rearrange your furniture and you
think that it would look nicer if it was in the other area, it’s no
trouble at all to scoot it over. As long as the lighting is about the
same, your plant shouldn’t mind the transition at all. Another benefit of
the containers’ versatility is the fact that you can adapt it to simulate
any environment depending on the type of soil you fill it with and where
you place it.
If you are trying to make an aesthetically pleasing arrangement of
containers and plants, you can adjust the containers to be at different
heights by hanging them from the ceiling or placing them on supports.
Hanging them will allow you to make the most of the space you have. This
is called “vertical gardening”. If you pull it off right, you can make a
very pleasing arrangement of plants while conserving your valuable space.
If you live in an apartment, you know how important it is to conserve
space! One method of vertical gardening is the use of a wooden step
ladder. If painted correctly, you can arrange all the plants on it in a
beautiful, stylish cascade of color.
The maintenance of container plants takes slightly more time, since you
have to water more often and go around to each individual container.
However, the square footage for container plants is much less than that of
an actual garden, so the time spent on maintenance and watering is more
balanced. It is important that you don’t over-water your container plants,
as this can be just as fatal to their health as under-watering.
When choosing containers for your plants, you’ll want to buy them all at
once along with some extras in case they break or you add more plants
later. You don’t want them to be all the same shape and size, but
definitely the same style so that the compliment each other. Plastic
containers are the best and require the least amount of watering, but if
you want to stick with clay or earthen pots then you should line the
inside with plastic. This helps it retain water more, as the clay will
soak up water.
Another thing to remember when buying pots is the fact that the size of
the pot will ultimately constrict the size of the plant. Make a careful
choice of pots according to what you wish to grow in each one. If you
search for the plant you chose on the internet, you should be able to find
specifications as to how much root space it should be given. This can even
be an advantage for you if you choose a plant that can grow very large. If
you only have a limited amount of space for it, you can constrict it by
choosing a pot that isn’t large enough to support huge amounts of growth.
If the benefits of container gardening sound appealing to you, then you
should start planning out your container garden today. If you write a list
of all the plants you desire to have, you can do the necessary research to
find out what size and shape of pots you should get. After that, it’s just
a matter of arranging them in a way that makes your home look the nicest.
One of my great pastimes here on the smallholding is Container Gardening.
I love to grow both flowers, fruit & vegetables in containers so heres some
information for those that might want to give it a go.
Sometimes, the urge to garden might be stomped out by other circumstances,
such as living arrangements or space constrictions. If you live in an
apartment, you can’t really operate a full garden, just because you don’t
really have a yard! I think that one of the best solutions for this
problem is to grow plants in containers. You can hang these, or just
arrange them on your patio, window sill or balcony. Just a few baskets or
pots, and your whole living area will look much classier and nicer.
A benefit of growing in small containers is the fact that you can move
them around to suit your needs. If you rearrange your furniture and you
think that it would look nicer if it was in the other area, it’s no
trouble at all to scoot it over. As long as the lighting is about the
same, your plant shouldn’t mind the transition at all. Another benefit of
the containers’ versatility is the fact that you can adapt it to simulate
any environment depending on the type of soil you fill it with and where
you place it.
If you are trying to make an aesthetically pleasing arrangement of
containers and plants, you can adjust the containers to be at different
heights by hanging them from the ceiling or placing them on supports.
Hanging them will allow you to make the most of the space you have. This
is called “vertical gardening”. If you pull it off right, you can make a
very pleasing arrangement of plants while conserving your valuable space.
If you live in an apartment, you know how important it is to conserve
space! One method of vertical gardening is the use of a wooden step
ladder. If painted correctly, you can arrange all the plants on it in a
beautiful, stylish cascade of color.
The maintenance of container plants takes slightly more time, since you
have to water more often and go around to each individual container.
However, the square footage for container plants is much less than that of
an actual garden, so the time spent on maintenance and watering is more
balanced. It is important that you don’t over-water your container plants,
as this can be just as fatal to their health as under-watering.
When choosing containers for your plants, you’ll want to buy them all at
once along with some extras in case they break or you add more plants
later. You don’t want them to be all the same shape and size, but
definitely the same style so that the compliment each other. Plastic
containers are the best and require the least amount of watering, but if
you want to stick with clay or earthen pots then you should line the
inside with plastic. This helps it retain water more, as the clay will
soak up water.
Another thing to remember when buying pots is the fact that the size of
the pot will ultimately constrict the size of the plant. Make a careful
choice of pots according to what you wish to grow in each one. If you
search for the plant you chose on the internet, you should be able to find
specifications as to how much root space it should be given. This can even
be an advantage for you if you choose a plant that can grow very large. If
you only have a limited amount of space for it, you can constrict it by
choosing a pot that isn’t large enough to support huge amounts of growth.
If the benefits of container gardening sound appealing to you, then you
should start planning out your container garden today. If you write a list
of all the plants you desire to have, you can do the necessary research to
find out what size and shape of pots you should get. After that, it’s just
a matter of arranging them in a way that makes your home look the nicest.
Tuesday 30 October 2012
My Mico Pigs
Marks Micro Pigs
This is a short video i did earlier this year of my 2 pet micro pigs, actually we still have them but they are not so micro anymore they are now about the size of a Kune Kune Pig.
Hope you enjoy the video I will try and do another one at the weekend so you can see what they are like now.
This is a short video i did earlier this year of my 2 pet micro pigs, actually we still have them but they are not so micro anymore they are now about the size of a Kune Kune Pig.
Hope you enjoy the video I will try and do another one at the weekend so you can see what they are like now.
Monday 29 October 2012
Why Would Chickens Make Good Pets This Christmas
Why Chickens Would Make good Pets This Christmas
Looking to give your kids something fun but educational for
Christmas? Mark Burrow’s aka the ‘Chicken King’ discusses how chickens would
make a great unusual and family pet.
Although not always an obvious choice, chickens make great
pets – they are friendly, fun and educational and are a great idea for an unusual
Christmas gift this year. Keeping chickens as pets has become very popular over
the last couple of years and more and more people are taking to having a few chickens
in their back garden – here at our farm where we run Chickens For Sale we have already
had several orders for chickens as Christmas presents. .
When considering a choice of pet for Christmas Mums and Dads
are beginning to realise what great pets chickens make. They are inexpensive to
keep and one of the few pets that give you something in return – a good supply
of fresh eggs. In addition to giving
children an understanding where their food comes from (not from just a
supermarket shelf!) you can be safe in the knowledge that eggs from your garden
will be good healthy and nutritious as you have controlled what your chickens
are fed on and know exactly what goes into each egg. Their poo is also great
for the compost heap – a bonus if you are growing vegetables at home too!
Chickens by nature are very affectionate creatures and become
a real part of the family it is often great to sit and watch them and their
antics as they scratch around looking for grubs and worms. Each chicken has its
own personality and will come to greet you when you enter their pen so a
relationship can be formed but are less time consuming – they don’t need taking
for a walk twice a day.
In a recent survey it has been shown that they can be of
great benefit to people with disabilities and also children with behaviour
problems – as they give children a great sense of responsibility.
Here at the farm it’s great to watch children’s’ faces when
they arrive with their mum and dad to buy some chickens. Getting a chicken
causes a great sense of excitement and it becomes a great experience to watch
them choose which ones they want – many children have already picked out the names
of the chickens beforehand.
Giving your child chickens for pets this Christmas will add
to the magic. However, as with keeping any pet you need to be sure that you
have done your homework first and you are fully prepared with what equipment is
required and you or the person or child that they are for has some
understanding of what is entailed to look after them properly. As the old
saying goes “chickens are for life not just for Christmas”.
For more information on how to keep chickens Mark
Burrows Amazon No1 best selling book
called So
You Want to Start keeping Chickens/ gives you all the information you need in a
simple, no-nonsense way and makes a great gift if considering chickens as pets
this Christmas. It is also available for instant download straight to your Amazon Kindle .
Sunday 28 October 2012
Our New Barnevelder Hens
Barnevelder hens lay lovely dark brown eggs and are also on the register of The Rare Breeds Survival Trust, so when we got the chance to buy these 3 hens we jumped at it.
They are still in quarentine at the moment but are doing very nicely and are in lovely condition.
She Who Must is going to start breeding Barnevelders next year and when we go to the national poultry show in a few weeks time we will be picking up a cockeral from the secretary of The Barnevelder Club so hopefully we should get some good hens next year.
They are still in quarentine at the moment but are doing very nicely and are in lovely condition.
She Who Must is going to start breeding Barnevelders next year and when we go to the national poultry show in a few weeks time we will be picking up a cockeral from the secretary of The Barnevelder Club so hopefully we should get some good hens next year.
Saturday 11 August 2012
Hen Boarding Hen Hotel
Here are some pics of our first chicken guests that we are looking after for one of our customers who is going abroad for a fortnight.
We wernt going to start our "Hen Hotel" till next year so I suppose this is a trial run so to speak, hen boarding is becoming very popular here in the UK.
They will stay in their run for a few days before being let out into the enclosure. Hen paradise or what.
Garlic Spray
For those of you that are into growing vegetables and dont like using pesticides then our Garlic Spray acts very well against greenfly, whitefly etc.
Simply get a spray bottle fill with water and put half a dozen peeled garlic cloves in the bottle and leave for about a week shaking occasionally, then its ready to go just spray affected plants.
The longer you leave the garlic spray the better it is.
If you have any remidies of your own it would be great to hear about them.
Diary
Running a smallholding is not always fun, after a mammoth 11 hour drive yesterday I got home last night completely knackered only to find our feed order had been delivered and was left outside on a pallet.
So calling on great will power I dragged myself down the sheds to put 1 ton of feed away, lovely just what I needed.
So calling on great will power I dragged myself down the sheds to put 1 ton of feed away, lovely just what I needed.
Tuesday 31 July 2012
Fuel Efficient Vehicles
I may be going slightly off
track here but I am going to do a series of posts all to do with Fuel Efficient
Vehicles the object of which is to make you aware of the possibilities and to save
you money, now that cant be bad.
The cost of fuel is more
now than it has every been. In many locations people are paying twice as much
per gallon as they were two years ago. There is information circulating in the
news and online that the prices are just going to continue to get higher so it
has never been so important to know a bit more about about fuel efficient vehicles
This has many consumers
very concerned as they don’t know what they should do. Certainly they can’t
afford to continue just paying the posted price at the pumps. Yet they can’t
stop going to work or about their daily routine that requires them to use a vehicle.
A good strategy that many
people are leaning towards more and more is more fuel efficient vehicles. These
can get you where you need to go with less fuel being used. Of course you want
to be able to do so comfortably and safely as well as saving money.
You have several options
when it comes to fuel efficient vehicles so take your time to evaluate them and
make a good choice. You may find a combination of them is the way to go. For
example a motorcycle to get to work and then a fuel efficient hybrid car for
the family to get around in.
There are plenty of
benefits to each of the various fuel efficiency vehicles as well as some
disadvantages. In the next set of posts I will go over each of these areas for
them so you can make a well informed decision that works for you.
The goal is to be safe,
save money, and to be comfortable. You should be able to find at least one fuel
efficient vehicle that can do this. Once you are done reading this you should
have all the information you need to make a decision that is right for you.
So stay tuned next post in the series coming soon.
Regards
Mark
Friday 20 July 2012
Summers Here (Oh No It Isn't)
Hi Everyone
Mark here with some more driffleings for you.
All the weather forcasts that I watched yesterday said summer was going to start today so after counting the sheep and a good nights sleep I went downstairs and was dismayed to see lots of cloud in the sky and it generally looked pretty miserable.
I thought that it would probably brighten up as the day went on and in the afternoon we would have glorious sunshine, but here in Lincolnshire the weather gods seemed set on dragging out this miserable weather for at least another day.
By lunchtime the rain had got heavier and She who Must Be Obeyed left me to it and said she was off to town to pick up some sewing thingamebob
3 hours later she returned and beckoned me out to help with the shopping. "Shopping" I said I thought you were only going to get a sewing thingy, she said she thought she would just get a few bits while she was there and have a look in her favorite kitchen accessory shop.
So after getting another soaking with the shopping it was time to get wet again as it was time to see to the chickens and animals. After they were all seen to it was back to the house for a nice cup of tea, "she who must" said go on then I'll have one then just as I'm about to drink it the big lorry turns up with our feed order.
Time for another soaking and by this time the rain was hammering down, we managed to get the feed in the shed without it getting to wet, the only thing that was really wet was ME.
So back to the house to get dried off and drink my cup of tea which I have to say wasd delightful.
I said to She Who Must I'm off for a bath, she said you'll be lucky theres not enough hot water (we get ours via our solid fuel cooker) so out to the wood shed to saw some wood and light the Stanley for a bath.
Who said life on a Smallholding was easy.
Right I think the water is hot enough now so I'm off for my bath.
Did you know summer is starting tomorrow again Huh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Speak Soon
Marky Boy
Mark here with some more driffleings for you.
All the weather forcasts that I watched yesterday said summer was going to start today so after counting the sheep and a good nights sleep I went downstairs and was dismayed to see lots of cloud in the sky and it generally looked pretty miserable.
I thought that it would probably brighten up as the day went on and in the afternoon we would have glorious sunshine, but here in Lincolnshire the weather gods seemed set on dragging out this miserable weather for at least another day.
By lunchtime the rain had got heavier and She who Must Be Obeyed left me to it and said she was off to town to pick up some sewing thingamebob
3 hours later she returned and beckoned me out to help with the shopping. "Shopping" I said I thought you were only going to get a sewing thingy, she said she thought she would just get a few bits while she was there and have a look in her favorite kitchen accessory shop.
So after getting another soaking with the shopping it was time to get wet again as it was time to see to the chickens and animals. After they were all seen to it was back to the house for a nice cup of tea, "she who must" said go on then I'll have one then just as I'm about to drink it the big lorry turns up with our feed order.
Time for another soaking and by this time the rain was hammering down, we managed to get the feed in the shed without it getting to wet, the only thing that was really wet was ME.
So back to the house to get dried off and drink my cup of tea which I have to say wasd delightful.
I said to She Who Must I'm off for a bath, she said you'll be lucky theres not enough hot water (we get ours via our solid fuel cooker) so out to the wood shed to saw some wood and light the Stanley for a bath.
Who said life on a Smallholding was easy.
Right I think the water is hot enough now so I'm off for my bath.
Did you know summer is starting tomorrow again Huh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Speak Soon
Marky Boy
Health Benifits Of Eating Eggs
Benefits
Of Eating Eggs
It is well known that eating eggs is very good for you, but
have you ever thought about the reasons why???
Here are a few of the benefits of eating eggs.
1. Eggs contain a source of very high quality protein.
2. Eggs contain essential amino acids.
3. In recent medical research they found that by eating just 6 eggs per
week reduced the risk of breast cancer by over 40%.
4. Eating eggs is known to promote healthy hair & nails.
5. Eggs are relatively inexpensive (in your case FREE, yippee!).
6. Eggs are known to be good for your eyes; this is because they
contain 2 antioxidants, lutein and zeaxanthin.
7. Eating eggs for breakfast can help with weight loss as they will
keep you feeling full for longer.
8. Eggs are a good source of B vitamins.
9. They are easily digestible therefore great for the elderly or those
suffering from illness.
10. As you will have the freshest eggs available they will be much
better for making cakes as the egg white will be firmer and hold more air.
11. Eggs are a fantastic source of choline, a substance which is needed
by the body for good health. An egg contains approximately 26% of choline.
12. Eating eggs may reduce the
risk of blood clots, reducing the risk of getting a heart attack or stroke.
Speak Soon
Marky Boy
Thursday 19 July 2012
So You Want To Start Keeping Chickens
I am super super excited my book that I've been writing "So You Want To Start Keeping Chickens? A Real Beginners Guide" is completely finished, edited, formatted etc & the proof copy from the printers is on its way to me. Its taken a bit longer than I had hoped but I am very pleased with the outcome.
Thanks to my good friend Colette Mason for all the wonderful help she gave me along the way and to Ayisha Hassan for her editing skills and to all my friends here on Facebook who encouraged me along the way.
Its been a true labour of love
Ordering details will be available after I check the proof copy
Speak Soon
Marky Boy
Thanks to my good friend Colette Mason for all the wonderful help she gave me along the way and to Ayisha Hassan for her editing skills and to all my friends here on Facebook who encouraged me along the way.
Its been a true labour of love
Ordering details will be available after I check the proof copy
Speak Soon
Marky Boy
How To Install A Drip Irrigation System
Installing a Drip Irrigation System
Now as according to "She Who Must Be Obeyed" I am the eternal optimist so I write this post with the view to summer just being round the corner.
If you’re looking for ways to keep your garden and vegetables watered without wasting too
much time and money, you’ve probably gone through a lot of options in your
mind. Maybe you’ve considered a sprinkler, a hose, or a good old-fashioned
watering can. All of these methods might be convenient, but most of the
time you will end up wasting water on plants that don’t need any more. If
you live in a drought stricken area like I do, you know that every bit of
water counts. I ended up getting a drip irrigation system in my polytunnel. I haven’t
regretted this decision at all.
When you install a drip irrigation system, you can choose one of two
varieties: above ground and below ground. The above ground version drips
small amounts of water continuously onto the ground, and allows it to soak
in. It is all regulated from a pressure controller, which ensures that the
water just comes out at a drip instead of a spray or a stream. These
pressure regulators are very inexpensive. The whole drip system can be set
up with a pressure regulator and a garden hose with holes poked in it
(although it is ideal for you to get a pipe designed for this type of use,
I’ve found that the hose method works acceptably).
The underground system is a bit more of a pain to install and maintain.
But if you’re really into the aesthetic aspect of your garden and don’t
want any visible watering system, then you might consider it worth it.
It’s essentially the same as the above ground version, only a small trench
is dug for the hose or pipe prior to any planting. This allows the water
direct access to the roots for the most watering efficiency. Plus, you can
impress your neighbors by having a beautiful garden without ever going
outside to water it! They’ll be baffled.
To choose between the two systems, you need to take several things into
account. Do you have the same plant layout year round? If it is always
changing, you probably won’t want to bury your hose. It can be a pain to
dig it up and re-align it with all your new plants every year or so. Even
if your plant layout never changes, you need to consider how much you
really mind seeing a hose in your garden. If it really bothers you to the
extent that you’re willing to work for a few hours to get rid of it, then
by all means bury it. But otherwise I would suggest staying above ground
if for nothing else than the convenience of repairing and rearranging.
One of the main advantages of the drip irrigation system is its
efficiency. Instead of spraying large amounts of water willy-nilly like a
hose does, it makes the most of your precious water by putting it exactly
where it is needed. It can also provide your garden with constant
watering, instead of just having to go thirsty whenever you’re not around
to water it.
So if you’re looking for an easy, cheap, convenient, and efficient
alternative watering method, you should go out to the gardening store
today and purchase the necessary items to install a drip irrigation
system. I think you’ll be surprised at how much easier it is to maintain a
garden after you have it.
Speak Soon
Marky Boy
Now as according to "She Who Must Be Obeyed" I am the eternal optimist so I write this post with the view to summer just being round the corner.
If you’re looking for ways to keep your garden and vegetables watered without wasting too
much time and money, you’ve probably gone through a lot of options in your
mind. Maybe you’ve considered a sprinkler, a hose, or a good old-fashioned
watering can. All of these methods might be convenient, but most of the
time you will end up wasting water on plants that don’t need any more. If
you live in a drought stricken area like I do, you know that every bit of
water counts. I ended up getting a drip irrigation system in my polytunnel. I haven’t
regretted this decision at all.
When you install a drip irrigation system, you can choose one of two
varieties: above ground and below ground. The above ground version drips
small amounts of water continuously onto the ground, and allows it to soak
in. It is all regulated from a pressure controller, which ensures that the
water just comes out at a drip instead of a spray or a stream. These
pressure regulators are very inexpensive. The whole drip system can be set
up with a pressure regulator and a garden hose with holes poked in it
(although it is ideal for you to get a pipe designed for this type of use,
I’ve found that the hose method works acceptably).
The underground system is a bit more of a pain to install and maintain.
But if you’re really into the aesthetic aspect of your garden and don’t
want any visible watering system, then you might consider it worth it.
It’s essentially the same as the above ground version, only a small trench
is dug for the hose or pipe prior to any planting. This allows the water
direct access to the roots for the most watering efficiency. Plus, you can
impress your neighbors by having a beautiful garden without ever going
outside to water it! They’ll be baffled.
To choose between the two systems, you need to take several things into
account. Do you have the same plant layout year round? If it is always
changing, you probably won’t want to bury your hose. It can be a pain to
dig it up and re-align it with all your new plants every year or so. Even
if your plant layout never changes, you need to consider how much you
really mind seeing a hose in your garden. If it really bothers you to the
extent that you’re willing to work for a few hours to get rid of it, then
by all means bury it. But otherwise I would suggest staying above ground
if for nothing else than the convenience of repairing and rearranging.
One of the main advantages of the drip irrigation system is its
efficiency. Instead of spraying large amounts of water willy-nilly like a
hose does, it makes the most of your precious water by putting it exactly
where it is needed. It can also provide your garden with constant
watering, instead of just having to go thirsty whenever you’re not around
to water it.
So if you’re looking for an easy, cheap, convenient, and efficient
alternative watering method, you should go out to the gardening store
today and purchase the necessary items to install a drip irrigation
system. I think you’ll be surprised at how much easier it is to maintain a
garden after you have it.
Speak Soon
Marky Boy
Monday 16 July 2012
Growing Vegetables In A Polytunnel
Hi Everyone
Growing vegetables in a polytunnel is great for us as we can grow fruit and vegetables in it all the year round, so I thought it would be a good idea to give you a guided tour round our polytunnel so you can see whats going on.
I hope you enjoy the tour and please feel free to post your comments below.
Speak Soon
Mark
Growing vegetables in a polytunnel is great for us as we can grow fruit and vegetables in it all the year round, so I thought it would be a good idea to give you a guided tour round our polytunnel so you can see whats going on.
I hope you enjoy the tour and please feel free to post your comments below.
Speak Soon
Mark
Blackcurrants
Hi All
she who must be obeyed has been busy picking the blackcurrants. This year has been a very prolific year for them.
Sharon picked 21 kilo's of them on friday and over the weekend she sold 15 kilo's at £2.50 per kg. all the money raised from the fruit and veg go into our winter coal fund.
We have a Stanley solid fuel cooker which also does our hot water generally I try to use wood where possible but coal is handy for the winter as it can be shut down and just left to burn slowly providing a steady heat through the day and night.
Next up will be the gooseberries and the cherry plums, victoria plums, pears and apples and some rhubarb.
Also some of the surplus veg from the polytunnel.
This is the blackcurrants she who must picked last night to replace the ones that sold.
Speak Soon
Mark :)
she who must be obeyed has been busy picking the blackcurrants. This year has been a very prolific year for them.
Sharon picked 21 kilo's of them on friday and over the weekend she sold 15 kilo's at £2.50 per kg. all the money raised from the fruit and veg go into our winter coal fund.
We have a Stanley solid fuel cooker which also does our hot water generally I try to use wood where possible but coal is handy for the winter as it can be shut down and just left to burn slowly providing a steady heat through the day and night.
Next up will be the gooseberries and the cherry plums, victoria plums, pears and apples and some rhubarb.
Also some of the surplus veg from the polytunnel.
This is the blackcurrants she who must picked last night to replace the ones that sold.
Speak Soon
Mark :)
Monday 2 July 2012
Grow Your Own Clothes
Heres something a little different we all think of growing things like vegetables to eat or flowers to look at but what about growing your own clothes.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-18301669
Please let me know what you think.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-18301669
Please let me know what you think.
How To Teach Chickens To Use Perches
Hi Everyone
I recently got asked a question on my facebook page which seems to be a common question i get asked so i thought i would share it with you today, it about how to teach your chickens to use perches in the coop.
I recently got asked a question on my facebook page which seems to be a common question i get asked so i thought i would share it with you today, it about how to teach your chickens to use perches in the coop.
This question comes from Lee Haunch from the UK who recently (June 2012) bought some
17 week old hens from us but found they were sleeping in the nest box instead
of the perches. This is actually a very common question.
Thank you very much for yor help today. Maddie and Oscar are
delighted with the new additions to our family. Mabel, Delilah and Camilla are
cosy in their new home, just got to convince them to sleep on their perches and
not in the nesting box.
Answer
Young hens sometimes need teaching to use the perches.
You need to do this once it is dark by placing them on the perch one by one.
Once it is dark they will not move. If you do this for a few nights they will
eventually do it themselves.
It is never a good idea to let hens sleep in the nestbox
as they still poo while they are asleep.
When they then start laying (especially if its early in
the morning) they will lay the eggs into the poo which is not good as the egg
shell is pourous and can absorb the bacteria.
t is never good to let birds sleep in the nest boxes as
they still poo whilst asleep. When they start laying ( especially if it's very
early in the morning) the eggs are then laid into the poo!!. Not good as egg
shells are porous and will absorb the bacteria.
Saturday 30 June 2012
I am going to do a series of articles on Chicken Ailments And Diseases this time I am going to cover Sour Crop.
Chicken Sour Crop Prevention and Treatment
A chicken's crop is just below its neck and at the center of its chest. This is the chicken's food storage and also where the first stage of digestion takes place. Often, a chicken eats more than it could digest, when that happens the chicken develops a ...sour crop.
Detection and Symptoms
You would know if the chicken has sour crop if there is a bulge at the center of the chest of the chicken (often bigger than a gulf ball) making the chicken very uncomfortable and moving the head in a funny sort of way. When you open the beak, there is often a sour, foul smell. When you touch the chickens crop and there is that hard yet squishy feeling, sour crop is setting in if it is not yet impacted.
You would know if the chicken has sour crop if there is a bulge at the center of the chest of the chicken (often bigger than a gulf ball) making the chicken very uncomfortable and moving the head in a funny sort of way. When you open the beak, there is often a sour, foul smell. When you touch the chickens crop and there is that hard yet squishy feeling, sour crop is setting in if it is not yet impacted.
What complicates this is that even when the chicken appears to be lethargic; it will still try to eat even when the crop is full, then the chicken suffers more.
Prevention of Sour Crop
The crop is a vital organ in chickens that you have to keep a close watch on. As chickens are likely to eat just about anything, sour crop usually occurs when chickens feed, the crop will normally bulge.
But then a healthy chicken with a crop that is working well will have emptied the crop overnight. If the crop has not, there is something wrong with digestion. To aid digestion, the chicken feeds on grits. Grits are bought in any farm and poultry supply store, the grit is then mixed with the chicken feed that aids digestion.
Normally, healthy foraging chickens will swallow small pebbles. They know what to select and what is good for them. However if the chicken is not let out of the coop for long periods, they miss this digestion aids. Another thing that is common to most animals is to eat a particular grass for a particular illness. When the chicken has sour crop, the chicken feels the illness and will forage for grass. This often complicates the sour crop, as long strands of grass are harder to digest.
To prevent the onset of sour crop, check the chickens once in a while as the crops are likely to be empty every morning before they feed. Observe also the kind of grass that the chicken feeds on when they have a sour crop so you can chop the grass into smaller sizes and feed this to the chicken to treat the sour crop or when a similar problem occurs in the future. Once a month, mix one teaspoon of apple cider vinegar to every liter of water in the chicken's water supply. When you do, buy the vinegar from poultry shops or your local chicken accessory supplier and not those sold in the supermarkets as this is distilled and so some of the vitamins and minerals are removed during the process.
THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN TAKEN FROM MY SOON TO BE PUBLISHED BOOK. I hope to finish it on sunday then it will need formatting, editing and proof read.
Smallholding Blog Apology
Hi Everyone
As you can tell I have somewhat negleted my Blog and have not posted anything about our smallholding for some time which is a shame.
However I wish to take up the mantle again and start posting more regularly about life here on the smallholding and in particular Help articles about all different aspects of keeping chickens.
Life over the past year has had its ups and downs as with most things in life but generally things are good and i cant complain, smallholding is hard work and sometimes I ask myself why i do it, but wondering around the place on a nice evening looking at everything we have and how lucky I really am.
So I look forward to keeping up the posts so please feel free to comment on them.
Regards
Mark
As you can tell I have somewhat negleted my Blog and have not posted anything about our smallholding for some time which is a shame.
However I wish to take up the mantle again and start posting more regularly about life here on the smallholding and in particular Help articles about all different aspects of keeping chickens.
Life over the past year has had its ups and downs as with most things in life but generally things are good and i cant complain, smallholding is hard work and sometimes I ask myself why i do it, but wondering around the place on a nice evening looking at everything we have and how lucky I really am.
So I look forward to keeping up the posts so please feel free to comment on them.
Regards
Mark
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