Pumpkin update

Finally we have a pumpkin growing on one of the vines,I never thought I would see one it was taking ages to grow,but here it is. The vines are really long now and reaching right accross the other bed,hopefully there will be a Pumpkin growing on the other vines soon,I feed them 9 litres of water each a day (thats how big my can is) with Tomorite every 3 days,this seems to be working ok at the moment as the Pumpkin swells a bit more I will water a little more.



11th July



22nd July



30th August


Is it going to be huge?




more soon...

An even bigger egg and holiday

Tanya found an egg this morning in the bigger hutch,its very big weighing in at 2.20oz (62g) this is alot bigger compaired to the egg we got a couple of weeks ago 1.90 oz (55g). The chickens are now on vitamins with their food to give them a boost after some of them have molted and they have been unwell.
The Thoery is young hens lay more smaller ones in the first laying season and fewer bigger ones in the seconed season. Eggcelent (sorry couldn't resist)

Back from Greece now,it was very hot,very expensive,very busy,although Mykonos is a lovely island with breath taking sunsets and views to die for BUT it just wasnt the kind of place for us really,maybe when I was 17-20 I would have not wanted to come home from there but when ya get old like me lol ya just want peace and quiet away from the hussle and bussle of a hectic life. Everything and everyone had one speed FAST! Here a few pics of the holiday (dont want to bore you too much).

more on the allotment soon ....B-J x

Me and Tanya at a Church on the way to Mykonos town


One of the 4 Pelicans in Mykonos town


A Boat in the Harbour where the film Shirley Valentine was filmed


Just before we got on the Jet Skis




Me and Paul before the sunset in Mykonos Harbour with Little Venice in the background


Click on the pictures to see a big version (if you want to :-) )

Oooo I do like a bargain!

On Sunday me Paul and Tanya went to West Bradford for a run out and came accross a car boot sale and a Village show,we wandered around a while and I picked up a nice egg basket and some pickling jars,after getting bored of the showers we went into the village hall to get a cup of tea and noticed there were some judges in the hall and a notice on the door saying "Do not enter judging in progress" what could they be judging? and me being very nosey wanted to know what this was all about,so we sat and had some tea and some lovely home made cakes, you know the ones you can only buy from a village fair? so I asked a lady serving us "whats going on in there then"? she replied "oh it's the annual village show judging,they are judging the best Vegetables and flowers,cakes and paintings",the judging went on until 1:15 and it was only about 12:00 that meant over an hour to wait to see these prize Vegetables that I really wanted to see,oh and did I mention I am impatient too? well we went to have another look around the car boot sale (ya never know when you might have missed something right?) we went back into the hall, by this time the all important 1st,2nd and 3rd prizes and been given out to the best on show,I was in there like a shot,let me see this Veg! as we wandered around we went past the best Dalias then the Fusias yes yes let me see the Veg!,we finally got to the veg and in my opinion what a let down that was,I thought to myself my Beetroot looks better than this and my Beans look better than that,I quickly asked "can anyone enter this show"? NO you have to be part of the Parish and live in the Village" a lady told me,WELL if I had 2 to 3 hundred ground for one of these lovely chocolate box looking Cottages I would live here! Nevermind maybe there will be a show near me soon who knows. so off we all went outside for one final look at the stalls on the way back to the car and I spotted some planks of wood taped up,I said "whats this please?" to a very wet looking lady on the stall and she said "oh that,its a wooden sandpit with a lid" I thought Mmm sand pit maybe that will be good for the Chickens to have a dustbath in,then I thought no, I know exactly what I can use this for,I needed to know how much it was really quickly so I asked her in a (I'm not too bothered about it way),"ok how much is this then"? she said ...and wait for it "Oh give us a pound for it"! WHAT! A pound, one whole pound,I sooo could not believe it,so I gave her a quid for it and carted it off to the Landrover,(Paul carrying arm fulls of it,still looking bewildered as to what I wanted it for),Paul put it together when we got back to the Allotment and there ya have it, one raised bed for my Onions to be planted in! now thats what I call a bargain...

One whole pound...



PS: I wont be updating the Blog for a week now because I am off to the beautiful Greek Island of Mykonos on Friday morning to do some snorkeling,visit the Acropolis in Athens and lazing around on the beach,oh and drink the odd bottle of beer and
taste some of the best Greek food ever!

Bye for now...B-J x

Beans and Spring Onions

Today, me and Tanya cut down some Broadbean plants and shelled them sat in the sun on the allotment,I have left loads more Broadbean plants still growing for a while as the pods are still a bit small,the Spring Onions are lovely too and Tanya added them to her scrambled egg on toast,made with our own fresh eggs of course,

Huge Egg...

I collected this egg (on the left) yesterday weighing in at 1.90 oz (55g) flippin eck!


the egg on the right is from one of the black and white chickens weighing in at just 1.25 oz this is her first egg,these will get bigger in time.


and not a sound from the coop either,we will have to find some big slices of bread to go with these eggs!

http://www.hormel.com/templates/knowledge/knowledge.asp?catitemid=2&id=182#Nutrients

This link will take you to a site all about eggs,nutrition,recipes,correct storage and more...

As I was updating the blog just now, I got a BBC news alert about 250 Battery Hens being rescued,they have gone to a place in Haslingden Lancashire right near me,this is the link if you want to read about it http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/lancashire/6940180.stm, the hens are now available for re-homing via the Battery Hen Welfare Trust.

Note to self: B-J you can't have anymore Chickens,you have enough now! :-)

Golden Delicious Apple Tree

I planted this tree in early Spring this year in the nature garden at the bottom of the allotment, it flowered soon after and as you can see we have Apples! They are starting to turn green underneath now,can't wait to eat one of these.

Pumpkin update!

My First Pumpkin flower appeared yesterday and opened today,all say awwww...

This Flower has a Pumpkin behined it,so this is the Female flower...I can't help with polination yet as there are no more flowers on the other two plants yet.

any tips? Leave a comment..