The veg patch Lots happened on the homestead in June. Way back in May we spent weeks preparing the new veg patch, and in June the seedlings finally got hardened off and planted out. This year I only planted seeds I already had (plus some I was sent as part of a subscription to the Heritage Seed Library) so it's a fairly motley assortment. We've got cabbage, swede, kale, turnips, rainbow chard, spinach, peas, sweetcorn, cucumber, and courgette in the veg beds so far. Oh, and some new potatoes that were sprouting in the kitchen, so they got thrown in too. I've rescued some supermarket basil, and my friend gave me some red basil and some butternut squash seedlings, so they'll need to go out this weekend too, along with the last of the greenhouse stuff - mostly leeks and beetroot, and many teeny tiny cabbages that can replace some of the ones the chickens dug up (yes, I stupidly let them in the veg patch for a few hours, and yes, they're now shut out again). Cutting the grass Outside the tidiness of the veg patch, things have been getting rather untidy. There's a lot of grass round here, and I mainly manage it (a) with a scythe, (b) with a push along lawnmower, or (c) by ignoring it. The edible windbreak had got a little out of hand though and the bushes were being swamped. The push along mower doesn't really deal with waist high grass, and there are a few too many valuable things to be swinging a scythe (or even a strimmer, which we do have, but which I don't really like using), so I set about sorting out this mess with a pair of hand shears. I did eventually reveal the gooseberries, and the whole area looks far more manageable now. My July homestead post will be filled with harvest stories (unless the chickens get there first). Chickens! Speaking of chickens... June held much chicken excitement. Peter spent days dismantling this old pig housing and using various bits to build a roof on the chicken run and other renovations. Finally, on the 27th, we collected our three new ladies, who are settling in nicely after some initial squabbles. Six chickens feels like about five times as many as three, but at least the new ladies haven't found their way into our house yet. Visitors Some of the lockdown restrictions eased in June and we welcomed our first visitors, which after months of barely seeing anyone out here, was both very nice and a little odd. We were fortunate with our first visitors that the weather was nice, but in since then we've had to get rather inventive with our shelter-building (but that's for July's post...).
So there we are. June feels like ages ago now and I did wonder whether to combine my June and July homestead posts, but I do like having each month separate and seeing how the wheel of the year turns.
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Hello!Sit down and make yourself comfortable. I'm Jenni, and I write here about our new foray into country living, which includes growing food, knitting, baking, wandering around the fields, and seeing which local cafe serves the best cake. Categories
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