07 Jul - Pondering Poultry

I've been having a bit of a think over the past few weeks about having some chickens on the plot. I've been hankering for a few hens for years but have never had the space nor the courage to move on with the idea. As I've doubled the size of my plot and my allotment neighbour is an experienced poultry keeper; it seemed a good time to have a few hens. Like my old plot, my new plot has room for four 32 foot long by 6 foot wide beds though the end bed has a plum tree which shortens the length though this is mitigated by incorporating a side strip which makes it around 9 foot wide rather than six foot. (I use this narrow side strip on my old plot for a cold frame, rhubarb, some flowers and, this season, two pumpkin plants).

I originally thought that this shortened bed would be used for more fruit but this would be a bit of a waste as I already have one bed laid to fruit and it produces more than enough for us. So, I've decided to fence off this bed to keep a few hens on. I've put up a coop and some netting to keep the hens where I want them, it's just a matter of waiting for the hens. While I can go out and buy some (there are number of suppliers in my area), I've decided to take on some ex-battery hens in an attempt to give them a bit of a better life than their tiny cages. I've contacted the British Hen Welfare Trust (www.bhwt.org.uk) and have registered for four hens - it's just a matter of waiting now for a re-homing day near me - this could be a few weeks or up to a few months. I'll let you know how this progresses.

I was a little concerned about the brassicas a few weeks a go as they didn't seem to be developing as expected. However, despite the odd Brussels sprout plant being stunted by white fly (I've had to spray for this) the brassicas are now coming on well. Seven of the nine sprout plants are growing on and the majority of the cabbages are heartening up; I've ensured that they have had plenty of water and have given them a feed - this little boost has certainly helped. (Below - Primo II [aka Golden Acre] cabbage).

I've been hand pollinating the squashes at every opportunity. While squashes will do OK on their own I do tend to hand pollinate as well just to help the squashes set. I just pick an open male flower (on a long stalk), peel off the petals and rub the male anther with pollen onto the female stigma (the female has a tiny squash behind the flower and is on a shorter stalk). While hand pollination isn't always necessary, it does ensure that squashes develop well. If the tiny squash isn't pollinated it turns yellow and drops from the plant so as not to waste the plant's energy. (Below - female squash flower with immature fruit).

My old plastic bottle funnel system (see monthly video for June) used to target watering and feed to the squashes is really coming into its own now. It's surprising how quickly the squash plants develop and it can be very difficult to see where the plants are anchored into the ground. The funnel end is buried when the plant is put in so, all water and liquid feed goes straight to the roots.

The new plot is still half covered with plastic, a bed at one end is being used, the bed at the other end is now fenced off for the arrival of chickens but the two central beds are covered. I'll start work on these in the autumn when the grass has largely been killed - it's so much easier to deal with grass free ground rather than stripping turf off. All seems to be ticking along - I picked over 3lb of gooseberries yesterday afternoon and nearly the same weight of blackcurrants. The Sturon onions are swelling nicely and both the carrots and parsnips have put on loads of top growth. The runner beans and climbing french beans have raced up the canes - the runner beans have really began to fill out and I've even had a handful of runner beans - first week of July, that's early for me. That's it - see you soon.