Muscovy Duck

Muscovy Duck
Roosting on the gate

2011 - My second year of blogging in Brittany

I felt I would like to share some of the photographs I have taken so far this year and some from other years. I live in a beautiful part of Brittany and just love being here. It's a lovely place to photograph and enjoy being in through all the seasons and hopefully this blog will show you where I live my life.



Thursday, January 12, 2012

Veggie beds, Cow and Cockerels

Yesterday morning my worker cleared and composted the two long veggie beds outside the barn. There were still loads of carrots and beets in there which will now be stored in the garage until I cook them. 


The compost in the second bin in from the entrance to the field had lovely friable goodness in it and Andy forked that through the existing earth in the beds.  I then sowed onion seeds in two and a half rows.  They were old seed, so may not germinate, but fingers crossed.  He then finished putting stones on the entrance through to the field to make life easier coming and going when it's muddy.










The runner bean bed was due for sorting out too.  He had to dig out the earth and fork in the hen shed floor straw and hen manure into the trenches before filling the earth back on top.  The runner beans this year should have a very good time with all this goodness at their roots.

The polytunnel looks so good now it's cleared and absolutely ready for sowing and planting.  The animal feed sacks are being stored in there at the moment, but I can work round those.



I sowed seeds of lettuce and radish in the polytunnel, which worked according to the biodynamic cycle of planting with phases of the moon and stars, as today was a roots and shoots (leaves) day.  Today is fruits and shoots, so I've sown yellow tomato and sweet pepper seeds in half trays.   It's so lovely starting the new cycle of growing again.

When I drove down the lane later in the afternoon to the supermarket and doctor I saw this lovely cow in a neighbour's field - she looks just as if she has eye make up on!








I received some more seeds in the post today, so have to sit down and sort them all into he order that they will need sowing outside or in the polytunnel.   I have found quite a lot of out of date seeds in the back of the cupboard in the garage, so will plant those too, and it will be a bonus if they germinate and give me some produce. 

Lunch was homemade soup with home grown veggies - butternut squash, carrots, parsnips, onions, garlic and my own chicken stock.  I added some pili pili to give it a bit of a spiced up taste - lovely!

Three eggs yesterday from my four laying hens and two more this evening - good news for the midwinter months.  I am managing to eat eggs now, only when hard-boiled and with Hellman's mayo, but that's a start and should bring my protein levels up again.  This evening I had them with lettuce, three large, shelled prawns, celeriac remoulade and one boiled potato sliced very thinly and deep fried in a very small milk pan - and it tasted good.  It seems to be the only carbohydrate I can eat at the moment - can't get on with pasta, rice is not too bad, potatoes dauphinoise are out unless I take some lactase capsules before because of the lactose, although they are my favourite.  Fried or roast are best for me, I only eat a one at a time anyway so the fattening aspect of the cooking doesn't really matter much.  Things are definitely getting better though and my range of foods is increasing week by week.

Here are my two cockerels.  The bantam is on the machine and the real cockerel on the ground.  I hope they will be ok with a new cockerel coming this weekend.  He is part of a trio of Cream Legbars, so I am hoping for blue eggs again.

Andy should be here again tomorrow sorting out the electric motor for the garage door.  I am so short I can't push it up all the way manually so have invested in technology.  While he's around I'll clear the beds around the terrace and the driveway and he will be able to barrow the weeds and spent plants up to the compost heaps.

Three things I like:

1.   Getting nice surprises in my postbox.
2.   Hearing  that my blood pressure is now good enough to let me come off my medication.
3.   Getting a Skype call from my friends in Tobago this afternoon.

3 comments:

  1. `you've got a real talent for photographing all your animals. I've had pets or other animals around most of my life but somehow I was rarely able to get good photos of them.

    I'm so used to seeing Brittany photographed in Summer but am amazed that it looks so much like South East Scotland in Winter, that's where I am and the trees, greenery and quality of light are identical. Ha, I wish I could say the same in Summer, we could do with more sunshine!

    I was wondering if you might add your garden to Folia the online gardening website (it's free).

    It's a great resource for gardeners and has helped me keep on top of my 800+ plantings with photo's, notes, journals, milestones etc. They have an extensive plant wiki and a seed stash section where people can also list seeds for swapping. Here's the link to my Folia page so you can see how it works: www.myfolia.com/gardener/CDfolia/invite.

    People also add their animals as a 'garden' as a way of tracking what they have, how many, and where they might list the harvest for fruit or veg they list how much milk, wool or eggs they got so it's can be even more useful than you might imagine. It would be great to see you there with all your great photo's.

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  2. Thanks, Cally, for your comments. I have quickly registered on myfolia but have done nothing more at the moment. I'll have a good look later. I guess it's pretty cold with you at the moment? Sandra http://livingin22.blogspot.com

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