tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-69005843829993482552009-04-22T21:46:28.663+01:00We are not Tom and Barbara from 'The Goodlife' but we could be!Billie-Jeanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14629536065882777247noreply@blogger.comBlogger59125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6900584382999348255.post-56774524855065633902008-02-17T22:30:00.008+01:002008-02-21T14:27:44.162+01:00

This year I have decided to grow 4 different kinds of Tomatoes they are:1.Neve's Azorean Red (from Plants of Distinction)2.The Dutchman (from Plants of Distinction)3.Moneymaker4.AlicanteLast year wasn't very succesful on the Tomato front as I didn't have a Greenhouse but this year my Greenhouse is all ready to go,I dug the Greenhouse floor out to about 3ft deep,filled this with compost,soil

Billie-Jeanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14629536065882777247noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6900584382999348255.post-88441967879813061712008-02-13T22:14:00.004+01:002008-02-20T00:12:32.526+01:00

Sowing Seeds.... We have had 3 lovely warm days so far this week so,I repaired my Green house door glazing,the wind had blown it clean off,it landed on the ground and smashed three panes of glass,so I bought some Silver tape and stuck some clear thick polythene over it and its done the job great (got really hot in there today). I potted some Broadbeans up a few weeks ago (Red Epicure) into

Billie-Jeanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14629536065882777247noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6900584382999348255.post-14886089038332133462008-02-02T23:55:00.000+01:002008-02-03T00:55:16.676+01:00

I went up to the allotment early today,couldn't wait to see what the Chickens would do when they saw SNOW for the first time! I opened the hatch doors and they sort of rushed to the door to all fly out like they normally do every morning,and then all came to a halt as if to say "oh my god whats this on the floor"?, some stood on the duck boards and others came out slowly but flying from one

Billie-Jeanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14629536065882777247noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6900584382999348255.post-4992778714731054722008-01-30T15:49:00.000+01:002008-01-30T16:09:34.373+01:00

Home to Let in the Lancashire countryside,one bedroom with comfy nesting area,newly painted,easy access,would suite a small couple for their first home,great views accross the valley,surrounding area includes:a pond,lots of food available locally,very quiet area....no deposit required,available to move into right away,first to see will be let.Please see Pictures below... :-)Click on the

Billie-Jeanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14629536065882777247noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6900584382999348255.post-69073227012446034032008-01-21T11:42:00.000+01:002008-01-22T00:35:34.346+01:00

Havn't updated for a while due to not being able to do much around the allotment because my ankle is still sore, 'still?' I hear you say,It's been ages now since I broke my ankle on the allotment but it just wont go right,now its really swollen and cant find any shoes to fit me,apart from my old manky,muddy allotment boots. Anyway I have decided to go through my recent photos and post some on

Billie-Jeanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14629536065882777247noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6900584382999348255.post-11030379037758635712008-01-07T13:01:00.000+01:002008-01-24T12:15:56.334+01:00

Do you know about the life your fresh supermarket chickens led before they reached the table? Few people know about the conditions suffered by most broiler chickens - those reared for meat. For most UK broiler chickens, rearing conditions are unacceptably intensive, as farmers are put under pressure to produce poultry as quickly and cheaply as possible. These birds live short lives, in cramped

Billie-Jeanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14629536065882777247noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6900584382999348255.post-2533862674119294992007-11-13T10:39:00.000+01:002007-11-15T10:19:28.644+01:00

I have bought lots of different Bulbs over the last weeks from here and there,Tulips,Daffs,Narcissi(mini),Aliums etc, and after watching Monty on Gardeners World last Friday I thought it best to set about getting them in the ground,(well, me supervising whilst balancing on the crutches that is).Infact I have gone a bit mad with the Bulbs actually because in Spring I want to be able to collect

Billie-Jeanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14629536065882777247noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6900584382999348255.post-33756207582690712052007-10-22T16:26:00.000+01:002007-10-31T10:33:35.380+01:00

Me and Tanya finally picked the Pumpkins today,I was watching Jamie at Home programme the other night and he was making roasted Pumpkin with Salt,Black pepper,and olive oil,roasted in the oven for approx 45 mins,the Pumpkin wedges are now in the oven roasting for tea and Tanya has just informed me that they smell delicious! (I have no sense of smell ya see). The other 3 Pumpkins arnt quite ripe

Billie-Jeanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14629536065882777247noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6900584382999348255.post-20641964774270932862007-10-19T10:05:00.000+01:002007-11-13T11:12:13.202+01:00

The Hens have been laying really well this week and we collected an egg yesterday weighing in.. at are you ready?... 80g It's a huge egg the biggest so far, When we first got the Hens they were laying 55g and 62g eggs I thought they were big. So I am going to have the Egg for my dinner on toast today,Thankyou to whoever laid that one. UPDATE: The HUGE egg was a double yolker! and very

Billie-Jeanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14629536065882777247noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6900584382999348255.post-38178712412372232882007-10-18T08:39:00.001+01:002007-10-18T08:39:14.026+01:00

Funny snippets of people,ducks,geese,pelicans and other birds

Billie-Jeanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14629536065882777247noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6900584382999348255.post-64385812610155215692007-10-17T08:53:00.000+01:002007-10-17T09:05:25.401+01:00

The Pumkins are turning Orange now,very slowly albeit but they should be ready for Halloween. I don't think we did too bad for our first attempt. I watched the Programme Jamie at home last night and he was cooking Pumpkins and Squash so I picked up a couple of good recipes i will be trying them out when the Pumpkins are ready. Next year I am going to grow some unusual Squash see how I go with

Billie-Jeanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14629536065882777247noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6900584382999348255.post-85814192453762985382007-10-13T20:48:00.001+01:002007-10-13T20:48:36.412+01:00

Billie-Jeanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14629536065882777247noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6900584382999348255.post-64978996497668251982007-10-13T00:35:00.000+01:002007-10-13T01:02:26.581+01:00

Sign up for the chicken Out! Campaign ....Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall (River Cottage) is fronting the chicken out! Campaign to change the way Broiler chickens are housed and treated prior to being slaughtered for cheap supermarket chicken.Do you know about the life your fresh supermarket chickens lead before they reach your table? Rearing conditions for most chickens in the UK are unacceptably

Billie-Jeanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14629536065882777247noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6900584382999348255.post-26067836902271650002007-10-07T20:02:00.000+01:002007-10-10T09:02:06.977+01:00

We went to pick 4, 8 weeks old ducks up from Southport yesterday,kindly given to us by my brothers friends relatives,lovely people who love chickens and ducks just like us,when we arrived at the house I thought the ducks would be tiny only being 8 weeks old but no they are huge,and gorgeous,they had a good car journey home and we got the food and water ready for them,we let them out of the boxes

Billie-Jeanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14629536065882777247noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6900584382999348255.post-46836876766978694032007-10-01T08:10:00.000+01:002007-10-01T09:19:22.934+01:00

First of all I must appolagise for the absence of my updates,there is a very good reason for it,no,there is honest.Last Sunday I was pottering around the allotment it was about 3:30pm not a drop of rain insite,lovely day so I thought I would make scrambled egg on toast (the hens are laying really well now and we had quite a few that day). So I set everything up in my little shed,got the kettle on

Billie-Jeanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14629536065882777247noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6900584382999348255.post-9188504437426024892007-09-16T20:32:00.000+01:002007-09-16T23:57:30.102+01:00

Today me Tanya and Adam went to pick wild Blackberries,me and Tanya collected well over a pound and I decided to make Blackberry Pie! (I know,me cooking) this has to be a first,never made this in my life,the only pie I have ever made is Cheese and Onion pie (without the onions) and a meat pie years ago so here goes with the Blackberry Pie. I got a recipe off a website for a plain simple Pie 3

Billie-Jeanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14629536065882777247noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6900584382999348255.post-914152803285707512007-09-09T22:37:00.000+01:002007-09-09T23:09:10.844+01:00

The Pumpkin is 20" in diameter now,growing everyday,feeding every other day now...More soonB-J

Billie-Jeanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14629536065882777247noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6900584382999348255.post-11899049790316555612007-08-31T01:04:00.000+01:002007-09-09T22:37:27.476+01:00

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

Billie-Jeanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14629536065882777247noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6900584382999348255.post-19240086745820716472007-08-27T09:09:00.000+01:002007-08-27T09:54:55.805+01:00

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

Billie-Jeanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14629536065882777247noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6900584382999348255.post-52695031342592233812007-08-15T01:39:00.000+01:002007-08-15T02:36:43.064+01:00

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"

Billie-Jeanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14629536065882777247noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6900584382999348255.post-14998920154792598652007-08-10T22:06:00.000+01:002007-08-10T23:20:54.522+01:00

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,

Billie-Jeanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14629536065882777247noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6900584382999348255.post-55649452383498972652007-08-10T11:41:00.000+01:002007-08-10T12:17:05.406+01:00

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?

Billie-Jeanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14629536065882777247noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6900584382999348255.post-30908646169817652822007-08-09T10:36:00.000+01:002007-08-09T10:41:32.398+01:00

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.

Billie-Jeanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14629536065882777247noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6900584382999348255.post-80313611706393948352007-08-04T10:14:00.000+01:002007-08-06T09:43:19.057+01:00

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..

Billie-Jeanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14629536065882777247noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6900584382999348255.post-91738528853324615402007-07-31T13:36:00.000+01:002007-08-03T16:59:42.682+01:00

http://www.rivercottage.net/SeasonalityTables/Default.aspx?fid=1This is a great Seasonality table of whats good at the moment in July and August,fruit,Veg, Meat etc...

Billie-Jeanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14629536065882777247noreply@blogger.com0