From scratch in this case means not buying the expensive sweet potato plants (slips) from the garden center. They easily sell for £3 -£4 per plant. And you need a lot to get a good crop of sweet potatoes. Last year Matt and I tried growing 2 plants. We got maybe 6 sweet potatoes from those two plants that varied in size. This year we decided we wanted more but didn’t want to spend the money buying plants. So we googled it. The whole process took about 10 months, from potato to potato!
The Vyne
After a long weekend with Emi and a lot of driving! I dropped her off at the station in Basingstoke and decided to visit The Vyne on my way home. The Vyne is a National Trust Tudor palace. I was a bit disappointed in the palace itself because they had just completed a roof restoration and don’t fully reopen until later this week. I wandered through a couple of rooms, but most of it was still closed to the public. So I guess it means I will be back again to see the house itself.
The grounds were spectacular though, and they had a vegetable garden which I loved seeing. Also the gardener must love dahlias as much as I do because I’ve never seen so many varieties in the same place! They were amazing. These are just a few:
What do “happy hens” actually sound like?
I think the hens are happy, but it’s hard to tell, they’re chickens. And I haven’t quite figured out what all their bok bok boks actually mean. Is their crooning a good thing? Is it like when a cat purrs?
They grow up so fast.
Poppet has laid her first egg! A beautiful brown egg. Now it’s just Heihei we’re waiting on. She’s probably the most stubborn, she likes to peck at Poppet’s feathers and has yet to let me pick her up…. but her day is coming.
The star of the show
She-who-shall-not-be-named has done it again. I now have two lovely blue eggs. Is it weird that none have actually laid an egg in the nesting box yet? She’s quite the exhibitionist and likes to do it in plain site of her sisters, right in the middle of the run, but who’s judging! I think she’s showing them why she’s leader of the pack, head pecker (you know, in the pecking order of things), and why she gets to eat first… she’s small but fierce!
Now what can I make with two eggs and a courgette?
An hour later….
I went with the Omelet! It wasn’t pretty (my omelets never are), but it was delicious. Now for the season finale of The Handmaid’s Tale. Oh Joseph…why are you the bad guy?
Chicken overlord overload.
Sorry (not sorry), I don’t mean to inundate you all with Chicken stuff, but OMG I have an egg!!!!! I went to check on my hens at lunch and one had popped out an egg!!!!!! They were all standing around staring at it like it was from outer space.
Meet Poppet, Heihei, and yet-to-be-named white lady chicken…
So the trip to Oxford Poultry was productive. I thought maybe I would wait a bit longer since the run wasn’t built yet, and I hadn’t sorted out food or bedding…. but I walked into the large chicken pen at Oxford Poultry and the little brown one came right up to me and crouched down just asking for me to pick her!! So I did! Along with 2 others.
Cluck cluck cluck… almost!
Tomorrow’s the big day. I have an appointment to see some chickens in Oxford! I could be coming home with some new additions to my little family…
I finished putting up the coop tonight. Check out this fuschia beauty:
I still want to build a bigger enclosed chicken run to give them some more room to roam around in. But this will be their starter home.
Damn that’s one fine peach.
Rainbow beets!
and radishes…. that’s it for tonight. I’m off to pickle radishes. And as for the beets, they are for lunch tomorrow!!
