Midsummer in Barbara’s Back Yard

Midsummer in Barbara’s Back Yard

It’s June and I have finally managed to replant the hanging baskets with petunias and fuchsias – bought this year – geranium cuttings overwintered in the conservatory – and Busy Lizzies (Impatiens) bought online as plug plants and planted out into pots when they arrived.  Couldn’t get any lobelia so used Mexican Fleabane (Erigeron Karvinskianus) instead – it’s a mass of tiny white daisies and grows anywhere.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Last year I split up the Oriental Poppies and planted some on the rockery.  They have been absolutely stunning in the recent sunshine – poppies always make me think of Enid Blyton’s story of Greencaps the Goblin who made caps for the poppies to protect their buds – and Cicely Mary Barker’s poem describing the seedheads ‘poppies with their pepperpots…’

A few years ago, an adjoining field was left wild.  People complained because it was full of thistles and ragwort – but there were also some really lovely wild flowers – pink campion, wild roses, white dead nettle – all of which relocated over the hedge and now grow in our field.  They do of course go a bit wild so you have to cut a lot of them down before they seed but I love the variety of wild flowers.

 

Last year I bought a packet of wild flower seed – not a lot of them germinated but the knapweed, ox-eye daisies and bedstraw have regrown this year and have been really beautiful.  Ox-eye daisies make excellent cut flowers – fresh, simple, and they last for ages.

There’s a Broom bush (Cytisus) which has seeded itself in the big field and has been truly magnificent this year.  I love Broom and my Dad bought me an orange version from a garden centre which I planted by the hen house.

Unfortunately it got blown over one winter and died but I found a seedling in the polytunnel – absolutely no idea how it got there – so I replanted it by the hedge and, to my amazement – it has turned out to be a beautiful variegated version.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The foxgloves are just coming out.  My aunt told me the story of how the fairies hide their dancing shoes in the foxgloves but – according to Enid Blyton – they hide them in the white dead-nettle flowers so the mice can’t steal them!

The fields have had a haircut – they look so different shaved of grass.  Good job they don’t need to go to a hairdresser, we’ve all had home hair-cuts this summer – and all the men have grown beards!  Farming is something that will not wait for anything – life goes on and haymaking is only restricted by the weather.   The little wild field has not been cut – it’s left to its own devices most of the time and provides a wonderful habitat for voles and mice – it’s full of butterflies in the summer – they love the bird’s foot trefoil and ragwort – as well as the not-so-wild buddleia.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The herb garden has excelled this year – and the bees love it – all the purple flowers – chives, hyssop, rosemary, marjoram, sage, thyme.  And I keep finding different uses for them – lovage soup was not very successful – but adding some angelica when stewing rhubarb makes it sweeter – so you don’t need as much sugar.

Today I finally finished weeding the herb garden – planned for last week but then the heavens opened! Started early because it’s so warm – and had a lovely time. Took me two hours but during the morning, apart from bees and butterflies, I saw ladybirds, damselflies, a big dragonfly, a green shield bug, a beautiful red and black cinnabar moth – and then a toad crawled out of the chives and disappeared into the angelica. I don’t mind toads, they crawl, frogs hop and make me jump.  The herb garden is near the wild pond, full of yellow flag irises at the moment and surrounded by wild roses and honeysuckle.

A lovely morning topped off with some home-made elderflower champagne!

Barbara’s Back Yard in May

Barbara’s Back Yard in May

I had not anticipated growing many vegetables this year – because we planned to put our house on the market on 1st April.  Maybe we should not have chosen April Fool’s Day!  So, as Corona virus scuppered our plans, we decided to stay here another year, and I have replanted the vegetable patch – and, with all the extra time, the garden looks better than it ever has done!

I finally managed to replant the hanging baskets with petunias and fuchsias – bought this year – geranium cuttings overwintered in the conservatory – and Busy Lizzies (Impatiens) bought online as plug plants and planted out into pots when they arrived.  Couldn’t get any lobelia so used Mexican Fleabane (Erigeron Karvinskianus) instead – it’s a mass of tiny white daisies and grows anywhere.

Last year I split up the Oriental Poppies and planted some on the rockery.  They have been absolutely stunning in the recent sunshine – poppies always make me think of Enid Blyton’s story of Greencaps the Goblin who made caps for the poppies to protect their buds – and Cicely Mary Barker’s poem describing the seedheads ‘poppies with their pepperpots…’

A few years ago, an adjoining field was left wild.  People complained because it was full of thistles and ragwort – but there were also some really lovely wild flowers – ox-eye daisies, pink campion, wild roses, white dead nettle – all of which relocated over the hedge and now grow in our field.  They do of course go a bit wild so you have to cut a lot of them down before they seed but I love the variety of wild flowers.

Ox-eye daisies make excellent cut flowers – fresh, simple, and they last for ages.

A Broom bush (Cytisus) seeded itself in the big field and has been truly magnificent this year.  I love Broom and my Dad bought me an orange version which grew by the hen house.

Unfortunately it got blown over and died but I found a seedling in the polytunnel – absolutely no idea how it got there – but I replanted it by the hedge and, to my amazement – it has turned out to be a coloured version.

The foxgloves are just coming out.  My aunt told me the story of how the fairies hide their dancing shoes in the foxgloves but – according to Enid Blyton – they hide them in the white dead-nettle flowers so the mice can’t steal them!

The fields have had a haircut – they look so different shaved of grass.  Good job they don’t need to go to a hairdressers, we’ve all had home hair-cuts this summer – and all the men have grown beards!  Farming is something that will not wait for anything – life goes on and haymaking is restricted only by the weather.   The little wild field has not been cut – it’s left to its own devices most of the time and provides a wonderful habitat for voles and mice – and is full of butterflies in the summer – they love the bird’s foot trefoil and ragwort – as well as the not-so-wild buddleia. 

The herb garden has excelled this year – and the bees love it – all the purple flowers – chives, hyssop, rosemary, marjoram, sage, thyme.  And I keep finding different uses for them – lovage soup was not very successful – but adding some angelica when stewing rhubarb makes it sweeter – so you don’t need as much sugar.

Looking forward to June – sunshine, strawberries and elderflower champagne!

For Sale – The Good Life

Strawberry Fields – Smallholding For Sale

When we first found our dream home, the sun was shining on golden chains of laburnum and frothy pink cherry blossom.  The wooden farm gate was open and as we walked down the drive wild birds fluttered away – and – I remember quite clearly – a jay flew across into the field – the first jay I had ever seen.

The house was totally empty – not even a light bulb was left – but it still felt warm and welcoming and we fell in love with it.  The garden was neglected – no flowers – but the grass had been cut and there were lots of trees.  The traditional Rowan tree by the back door to ward off evil – and a beautiful spruce tree – which we later found out is a Brewer’s Spruce.

We moved in on 3rd August, 1992 with two-year old Dane and Kirt on the way (born the following January), one border collie, two cats and 3 ducks – and lots of ideas for homesteading.

One of the first things I did was visit the local library to borrow books on sheep, pigs and donkeys (google wasn’t around then).  After talking to local farmers, I soon realised that it is much easier to have someone else’s livestock in your fields – all the pleasure of sheep bleating in the morning without the problems of dipping, shearing and all the form filling – so that’s what we did.

But we bought some hens and geese to keep our ducks company – and later on I started breeding New Zealand White rabbits again.

With 4 acres, the possibilities were endless.

There was a massive shed for the poultry – which they all shared quite happily.

The conservatory on the side of the house was perfect for growing seedlings – I started out with growing flowers – and had soon filled the patio with tubs and hanging baskets – and some vegetables – potatoes and broad beans – and runner beans.  Initially I dug a small vegetable patch which has gradually been extended year after year until it’s now big enough to grow everything – courgettes, pumpkins, onions, strawberries, purple sprouting – all sorts of vegetables – and a rhubarb bed.

I also grew my own herbs from seed.  I had brought spearmint and applemint with me – cuttings originally from my aunt – whose green fingers I inherited.  When Kirt started home-schooling one of the first things we did was to make a proper herb garden – we marked out squares with bricks and gradually filled them – then extended them.  The herb garden now contains Rosemary, Bay, Sage, Thyme, Hyssop, Fennel, Lovage, Parsley, Feverfew, Lemon Mint, Oregano, Marjoram, Tarragon – and the latest addition – Angelica – which is a magnificent plant.

https://barbararainford.co.uk/todays-treasures-the-herb-garden/

I used to dry herbs and hang them up in the conservatory – and freeze some (like mint) in ice cube trays.  Now I dry some herbs in the warming oven, chop them in the blender and store in jars – but I also freeze some in small plastic bags which are perfect for soups and mint sauce – and retain the flavour better.

Mint and horseradish have their own separate spaces as they do tend to be rather rampant.  And basil and coriander were grown in the conservatory as they like to be a bit warmer – and also the slugs love them!  They were later relocated in the polytunnel.

I also found that dried herbs make wonderful firelighters – when cutting them down in the Autumn, tie them into bundles and hang up to dry.  They are much better than – and greener – than traditional firelighters – ad because of the oils they contain – they work exceedingly well.

https://barbararainford.co.uk/october-in-barbaras-back-yard/

Dad bought us some apple trees and a greengage and we bought some blackcurrants, redcurrants, gooseberries and a loganberry.  A friend gave us a cutting of a thornless blackberry – and some raspberry plants.  Loganberries, blackberries and raspberries all need lots of space – and need cutting back vigorously every year.

Fruits are wonderful for homesteading – when you have made enough jams you can use the rest for making country wines.  Home-made jams taste divine.  Wines are a bit more hit and miss – but they are always good for cooking – and elderberry wine makes excellent mulled wine mixed with sugar and spices.

When I lived in Birmingham, I used to breed New Zealand White rabbits – and I had brought all the equipment with me – so we found some breeding stock and started again.  Baby rabbits are born blind, deaf and without any fur – but, by the time they are 3 weeks old, they are little white furry balls hopping around and they are absolutely gorgeous.  Rabbit manure is excellent for the garden so makes a wonderful addition to my natural recycling programme.  Rabbits like lots of wild plants like comfrey, clover and wild garlic – as well as dandelion leaves – and carrot leaves are their absolute favourite.

https://barbararainford.co.uk/new-zealand-white-rabbits/

So we don’t have a green bin to put out for the refuse collectors.  We have a compost bin, the rabbits eat a lot of the weeds, the hens eat scraps from the kitchen (their favourite is bacon rinds but you are not really supposed to give them meat!), the dog has meat scraps and the cats demolish most of the chicken bones.  And the ducks eat the slugs and snails.  I have also seen the hens eat mice and frogs on occasions.

When digging over the vegetable garden in winter, pause for thought and watch the hens scratching about for worms – stop for a cup of tea and return to find the robin sitting on the spade handle waiting for titbits.

The trees are amazing, here is the beech tree through the seasons

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There’s a beautiful silver birch and a really old willow tree – which the boys loved to climb when they were little.

This is the oak tree in the field – with broom growing beneath it.

Some of the hedges are ancient hedgerows with blackthorn, hawthorn, ash, alder, beech, hazel and oak, interwoven with brambles and honeysuckle.

We kept part of the field as a wildflower meadow with ox-eye daisies, bird’s foot trefoil, knapweed, restharrow, pink campion and lots of different grasses.  The butterflies love it and I have spent wonderful sunny summer afternoons counting holly blues, commas and painted ladies – and peacocks, red admirals and small tortoiseshells on the buddleia – and joining in the Big Butterfly Count.

https://barbararainford.co.uk/todays-treasures-butterflies/

We also took part in the Big Garden Birdwatch.

THE SMALLHOLDING YEAR

JANUARY is the time when all the garden catalogues arrive and you can spend hours deciding what you would like to plant – the only problem with having enough room to grow everything is restricting yourself to what you can physically manage.

I soon learned what grew well on our sandy soil – and what our family would eat – which were not always the same things!  Peas are definitely better from Bird’s Eye.  By the time you have grown them from seed, planted them, protected them from pigeons, fed them, picked them and podded them – it’s blindingly obvious that frozen peas are a much more sensible alternative.

The first winter I was absolutely delighted to discover at least 3 different varieties of snowdrops growing in the garden, closely followed by celandines and coltsfoot.

 

https://barbararainford.co.uk/todays-treasures-snowdrops-tiny-pearls-of-springtime/

Coltsfoot flowers appear before the leaves, little stars sparkling in the sunshine. Catkins and pussy willows decorate the hedgerows, sheltering snowdrops and celandines nestling amongst the roots.

https://barbararainford.co.uk/march-in-barbaras-back-yard-spring-is-just-around-the-corner/

FEBRUARY

There’s an Enid Blyton story about Candlemas Day – when Brock the Badger pokes his nose out to sniff the air – if it’s fine, he goes back to sleep for a bit:

If Candlemas Day be fair and bright,

Winter will have another flight;

If Candlemas Day be clouds and rain,

Winter has gone and will not come again.

 

https://barbararainford.co.uk/2nd-february-candlemas-day/

There’s a badger sett in the big field – our neighbour says it’s been there as long as he can remember.  Badgers make scuffs in the ground looking for worms and truffles so you can see when they have reappeared from hibernation.  There’s also rabbits and moles – so our field is a sort of combination of Wind in the Willows, Watership Down and Duncton Wood.  There’s an ancient beech tree – Queen Fagus – and an oak tree – King Quercus – and on our morning walks we often hug a tree – we can only just reach around the beech tree – finger-tips touching!

Winter is the best time to watch the bird table.

 

https://barbararainford.co.uk/todays-treasures-the-bird-table-in-winter/

The variety of birds is simply amazing – the first time the Great-Spotted Woodpecker graced us with his presence I was simply dumbfounded.  He is so beautiful – he loves peanuts but also sunflower seeds.

I have also seen a kestrel perched on the fence – and a sparrowhawk on the table outside the kitchen window.  Buzzards are often seen being chased by crows – and the finches and tits love the pine trees.

We’ve put bird boxes up and the great tits and blue tits use them – but the blackbirds, robins and wrens prefer to make their own nests in various places in the barn – especially in the holly wreaths that I hang up ready for renewing the following Christmas.

https://barbararainford.co.uk/new-year-in-barbaras-back-yard/

Early February you can sow broad beans in pots ready to plant out as soon as the weather allows.

https://barbararainford.co.uk/broad-beans-tips-for-growing/

The frogs return to the pond and you can hear them burbling late into the evening, then frogspawn appears and gradually morphs into tadpoles.

Best of all, the birds start singing in the mornings and we open the bedroom window to listen to the liquid notes of the blackbird floating in on the breeze.

MARCH

The daffodils are out – at one time there must have been a hedge in the big field but all that remains now are three clumps of daffodils.

“I wandered lonely as a cloud, that floats on high o’er vales and hills, when all at once I saw a crowd – a host of golden daffodils” – which I believe was written about Stourhead – but daffodils always remind me of this poem.

https://barbararainford.co.uk/daffodils/

Seed sowing starts in earnest.  My Dad bought me a small propagator which is marvellous for starting off difficult things that like the warmth – courgettes, tomatoes and pumpkins – and sweet peas – I used to have real trouble getting sweet peas to germinate until last year I bought some Eckford Sweet peas – an old fashioned variety – which grew really well

https://barbararainford.co.uk/todays-treasures-the-eckford-sweet-pea-festival-wem/

Time also to plant early potatoes – and the first rhubarb appears – lovely and sweet and tender at this time of year – perfect for rhubarb crumble.

APRIL – the swallows return, swirling and swooping over the fields.

Oh, to be in England
Now that April’s there …
While the chaffinch sings on the orchard bough
In England—now …
Hark, where my blossomed pear-tree in the hedge
Leans to the field and scatters on the clover
Blossoms and dewdrops—

The apple blossom appears – the crab apple tree first almost luminescent in the twilight of lengthening evenings.  The blue tits and great tits are busily feeding chicks, popping in and out of nest boxes.

The yellow flag irises are out in the wild pond

 

MAY

Beltane 1st May – the first day of summer in the ancient Celtic calendar – and the Druid celebration of fertility when the Lady of the Land takes the hand of the Horned God.  We celebrate with lots of flowers in the house, music – and lighting candles.

Time to plant runner beans and French beans in pots – ready for planting out once the last frosts have gone.  Dig a bean trench and fill it with compost from the compost bin – and put the bean sticks up.  Plenty of hazel trees in the field hedgerows to cut bean sticks from.

Clear out pots and hanging baskets ready for geraniums, lobelia, impatiens and petunias – lots of colour for the summer patio.

The elderflowers are in full bloom – ready to make elderflower cordial and elderflower champagne.

https://barbararainford.co.uk/elderflower-champagne/

JUNE

The cushions are put out on the chairs around the patio table ready for breakfasts in the early morning sunshine – and summer barbecues.  We always celebrate Midsummer Eve – like the Moomin family – it’s a special day – with music and dancing outside under the stars.  In the past we had to rig up a speaker with wires connected to a stereo – now we just have a Bluetooth speaker and a mobile phone!

New potatoes, broad beans and strawberries are all ready to pick.  There’s nothing like broad beans fresh from the garden – and I love podding them – sitting on the bench in the sunshine.  Small sweet broad beans only take 5 minutes to cook.  New potatoes, freshly dug, cooked with mint and melting with butter are divine!

JULY
Hot summer days, the patio is a riot of colour.  The great tits are busy feeding their brood on the bird table.  Last year Daisy, our Dorking hen, hatched 4 chicks and Jemima, one of the Indian Runner ducks hatched 4 ducklings.  Amazing to watch the chicks crowding around mum, as she pecks corn into tiny pieces for them to eat.  When the ducklings are a few days old we give them a bigger bowl of shallow water so they can have their first swim – they get so excited and whiz around the bowl quacking ecstatically.

The raspberries are ripe – and the ducklings love them.  Raspberry jam – and jelly – and raspberry wine.  Blackcurrants also make delicious jam and wine – and redcurrants for redcurrant jelly to eat with chicken – and turkey at Christmas.

The poppies are out

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

AUGUST – shooting stars – lying on the trampoline on quilts and blankets looking at the stars – and spotting wishing stars – and planes and satellites – and watching the bats across the darkening sky.

 

The sunflowers are out

The butterflies are at their best and I can spend ages watching them on the buddleia – and on the ragwort with the bees and the stripy cinnabar moth caterpillars

“What is this life if, full of care, we have no time to stand and stare …”

https://barbararainford.co.uk/barbaras-back-yard-bees-butterflies-and-the-cinnabar-moth/

1st August is Lughnasadh or Lammas and marks the first day of harvest – when corn dollies were made from the first straw and bread from the first wheat.

Time to lift onions and set them out to dry before tying into ropes.

Courgettes tend to be rather prolific at this time of year and I’ve been quite inventive in using them up before they turn into marrows.  Curries, soups, salads, all benefit from the addition of grated courgettes.  They are of course best fried in a little butter!

https://barbararainford.co.uk/courgettes-recipe-ideas-to-make-the-best-use-of-courgettes/

The greengages are ripe – I found the best time to pick them is when it’s raining – as there aren’t many wasps about.  They are the sweetest plums and best eaten fresh – although they are also good bottled for winter use.

SEPTEMBER – the harvest – I am usually picking runner beans and freezing them – and picking tomatoes – and skinning them, chopping them and freezing them in tubs to use in Bolognese, curries and soups.

Blackberries are ripe for blackberry jam and blackberry wine – along with loganberries and elderberries.  One year I made a ‘many berry wine’ from a mixture of fruits left in the freezer – and elderberries.

OCTOBER

Rose hips are ripe – they contain lots of vitamin C (twenty times more than oranges) – ideal for keeping winter coughs and colds away.  During the war – when there were no oranges – children were given rose hip syrup from the Ministry of Health.  Rose hip syrup is quite easy to make – it makes a lovely summer drink with ice cubes – and a warming winter toddy diluted with hot water.

https://barbararainford.co.uk/rose-hip-syrup/

Time to pick apples and store them for winter use – the rabbits love them and so do geese.  One of the pleasures of keeping livestock is enjoying watching them eat titbits – during the summer the rabbits have lots of plants from the garden – in winter it’s mainly apples and carrot tops.

 

Make Wittenham Cider ready for Hallowe’en

https://barbararainford.co.uk/wittenham-cider/

Hallowe’en is always special – The Samhain festival marks the end of the harvest season and the beginning of winter and we have a sort of combined Guy Fawkes and Hallowee’en around the weekend of 31st October – with a bonfire and sparklers – and ‘Jack’o’Lanterns.  There’s a lovely story about ‘Stingy Jack’ and how is destined to roam the earth with his Jack’O’Lantern. https://barbararainford.co.uk/halloween-in-barbaras-back-yard/

 

NOVEMBER

The last few years we have had an Indian Summer and the days have been really sunny although the nights are drawing in.  Runner beans have carried on cropping into November – when the first frosts finally finish them off – and the nasturtiums are ‘gone willy-nilly, umbrella and all’.

https://barbararainford.co.uk/the-nasturtium-fairy/

For the last few years I have made an autumn wreath with berries and crab apples and hung it on the bird table, the birds don’t seem to be very interested, but it looks very pretty.

 

Time to clear the garden, remove the rest of the weeds, take down the bean sticks and tidy up the herb garden.  Cutting down or pruning the herbs I found a really good use for the cuttings – I dry them on top of one of the wire hen pens and then tie them into bundles, hang them up to dry in the barn, and they make really good firelighters – and much better than those smelly paraffin alternatives!

Time also to pick holly – before the birds pinch all the berries – and store ready to make holly wreaths.

DECEMBER

1st December is Yule – make a Yule Log with holly and pine cones and candles for the table – and holly wreaths with moss and holly and ivy, laurel and spruce and hang them on the old front door – and the barn door.  I always think about all the other people in times gone by who have hung a holly wreath on the very same doors hundreds of years ago.  Although the house has five bedrooms it has been extended at least 3 times and must have been originally a traditional cottage with two rooms downstairs, 2 bedrooms and a thatched roof.  The study still has the original oak beams and thick sandstone walls – and a fireplace which must once have been an old range.

There must be lots of secrets that have never been uncovered – there’s a wall safe that’s never been opened; when we extended to connect the studio to the main house, the roof beams were exposed and you could see the remains of the burnt timbers where we assume the thatch caught fire.  There are still some old wide floorboards on the landing.

We’ve installed a wood burner and it’s wonderful to curl up in front of a real fire on a Sunday afternoon with a good book – sometimes watching snowflakes swirl outside or with a glass of mulled wine on a winter evening.

December we usually visit Croft Ambrey to see the mistletoe on the hawthorn trees – and bring a small piece home.  There’s nowhere to hang it because the ceilings are so low so it hangs over the Yule log on the dresser.

Our Christmas tree always comes from Holly Farm Nursery just up the road – all their trees are grown locally at Fauls Christmas Tree Farm so are very carbon friendly.

Maynards Farm, two doors down, provide local geese, turkeys and hams for Christmas dinner and we save the last of the parsnips, potatoes and carrots to go with them. We have home-made apple sauce and redcurrant jelly. One year I even managed to grow some sprouts and cauliflower that survived the pigeons and slugs – which were delicious!

And so to New Year and the circle of life begins again.

 

 

 

 

Today’s Treasures – the Bird Table in Winter

Today’s Treasures – The Bird Table in Winter

One of the wonderful things about wintry mornings is the increased activity on the bird table.  The birds really seem to appreciate my efforts to fill up bird feeders and thaw out the bird bath.

The robin, resplendent in his bright red winter waistcoat sedately pecks at the sunflower seeds.  A rival arrives – as often happens on cold frosty mornings – and is crossly chased away.

A blue tit perches on the edge of the birdbath and takes dainty sips of fresh water.  Belinda and Bertie raised a family of blue tits this summer – it was fascinating to watch them feeding their tiny babies on the bird table.

The nutchatches – Nigel and Nolly – creep around the tree trunks then take turns taking peanuts from the feeder.

Then the Twits – a flock of long-tailed tits that always arrive in a flurry of chirps and fluttering wings – take over all the bird feeders, scrapping for perching space.

The great tits Colonel Twist (due to his having a wonky tail) and Lady P (Penelope) wait patiently for the Twits to fly off before resuming their feeding.

A blackbird scurries along to the bird seed sprinkled on the ground and busily tucks into a grain feast before the hens arrive and clear up.

Woody the woodpecker loves peanuts and can often be spotted in the garden with his undulating flight and unusual cry – and peck, peck, pecking on the dead pine tree looking for insects.

There’s a selection of finches – goldfinches with their little red and yellow heads and chaffinches, and, when it’s been really cold, we are sometimes honoured with the presence of a bullfinch or the odd visit from a siskin, or brambling.

Unwelcome visitors that thankfully are seen very infrequently are kestrels and sparrowhawks.  In the summer the little birds are safe in the leafy green cover of the roses and honeysuckle; in the winter the branches are bare – except for the ivy which offers welcome cover as well as berries to eat.

There’s no knowing what the cat will do next – but I believe he is actually watching the little mouse that lives in the rockery and uses the bottom of the bird stand as a tunnel, popping in and out collecting seeds.

Published in the February edition of the Whitchurch Gossip

Today’s Treasures – Winter Treasures

Today’s Treasures – Winter Treasures

“When winter winds blow cold and chill, it cannot be denied, the nicest place of all my friends, is by our own fireside.”

Autumn has been so wet and miserable, I am really looking forward to some frosty mornings this winter – but when the frost does arrive, my freezing fingers feeding the hens will no doubt wish it was warm and wet again!

We need things to cheer us up during the dull January days.  Although the nights are slowly getting shorter, we don’t really notice the difference until we reach Candlemas Day – 2nd February.  And while we wait for the snowdrops to appear, poking their tiny white heads through the frozen ground to herald spring, it’s good to have some ideas to brighten up the winter days.

So what’s good about winter – a blazing log fire – and a good book – firelight, watching the flames flickering shadows across the room.  Lighting candles – there’s some beautiful scented candles now – vanilla is one of my favourites but there’s some lovely winter scents of mulberry and spice to warm up winter nights too.  Mulled wine and warm sausage rolls are also good for cheering up dismal wintry evenings.

Houseplants always brighten up winter gloom – as Cyclamen fade, amaryllis flower and hyacinths fill rooms with the fresh scents of spring.

The bird table is always busy in winter – and the colder it is – the more birds seem to arrive looking for food and water.  Thawing out the bird bath on frosty mornings is always worth the effort to see the birds glad of a drink of fresh water.  Goldfinches come for niger seeds, nuthatches and woodpeckers love peanuts, and the robin loves showing off his red winter waistcoat.  A little mouse also found our bird table!

And, if all else fails, and you still feel miserable looking out at our dreary English winter, remember Spring is just around the corner and it won’t be long before we’re walking in the sunshine down to the beach again.

Published in the January edition of the Whitchurch Gossip

Today’s Treasures – Toadstools

Today’s Treasures – Toadstools

Every cloud has a silver lining – and the exceedingly wet weather we have had this Autumn has been wonderful for fungi – toadstools have literally popped up all over the place.  They are fascinating because they change shape every day, expanding, then wilting, then popping up somewhere else.

Fungi are not plants or animals; they have their own kingdom which includes microscopic yeasts and the largest living organisms.  Fungi are essential in forest eco-systems – their recycling capabilities are vital as they efficiently break down wood, preventing dead wood and leaves building up – and they recycle nutrients back into the soil.

The mushroom that we see is only part of the organism – the mushroom produces spores – like a flower produces seeds, allowing it to reproduce.  The main body of the fungus is formed of the fine threads called the mycelium that stretch out beneath the mushroom and often grow with the roots of plants, The fungus provides the plant with water and nutrients that it can’t get easily from the soil – and the plant provides the fungus with sugars, produced during photosynthesis.

Toadstools have always featured in folklore – they are mysterious – appearing overnight – like magic.  In the Middle Ages fairy rings were believed to be fairy dancing circles – and stepping into a ring was not recommended – you might fall asleep for a hundred years – or be whisked away to the faery world – never to return. Welsh legends were more positive – believing that fairy rings signified fertility and fortune.  We now know that a ring of toadstools simply marks the edge of a fungus colony.

Mushrooms have long been used by ancient cultures., Hippocrates records their anti-inflammatory properties, the North American Indians recognised their wound-healing capabilities. The Druids used the hallucinogenic properties of toadstools in some of their rituals.  Mushrooms are rich in bioactive compounds including disease-fighting antioxidants, but modern science has only recently rediscovered what the ancients knew long ago – that mushrooms can be deep reservoirs of powerful medicine.

Amazingly, 90% of plants rely on fungi to live – and there will be many species of fungi that we have not discovered yet.  Fungi already provide us with many things including medicines – and – as they include yeast – we make wine, beer and bread with them – but, in the future, they could well provide the solutions to many of the problems facing humanity – such as unlocking sustainable sources of food.  Fungi can feed us, heal us, kill us – or send us on a spiritual journey – they might also save us!

Published in the December edition of the Whitchurch Gossip

Barbara’s Back Yard – Bees Butterflies and the Cinnabar Moth

Bees, Butterflies and the Cinnabar Moth

I finally found a farmer to cut the grass in our fields – and make hay – 164 bales!  I had to pull all the ragwort out first – fortunately a cinnabar moth fluttered past – which reminded me that they lay their black and yellow caterpillars on ragwort – so I left some plants at the edge of the field.

Cinnabar moth – photo courtesy of butterfly conservation

I check on the caterpillars every day when I take Duke for his morning walk – and of course the bees, hoverflies and butterflies also love ragwort so there’s quite a visual orchestra to watch every morning.

The caterpillars absorb the toxins from the ragwort which makes them taste bitter and they are unpalatable to most birds – an exception being the cuckoo – and most other predators – except ants.  If there is not enough food they will also eat each other!

This is a small copper

And here is a speckled wood

I will of course have to remove the ragwort before its seeds blow everywhere but hopefully the caterpillars will have finished eating by then and turned into pupae!

A New Puppy

A New Puppy

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There were 7 puppies in the trailer – all clamouring for attention.  They were different colours as their mother was a blue merle border collie – both parents were working dogs.  I instinctively chose the one that looked most like my old Duke.  I picked him up in my arms and was speechless.  It had been so long since I had held a dog in my arms, it was a wonderful feeling, a dog of my own again.  And this time, he would be living with me all the time.  A permanent companion, sharing my life outside – but such a lot to learn first!

I asked what food he had been having – standard dried dog food mixed with milk (dairy farm dogs nearly always get milk with their food).  I took a small amount of the dried food home with me.  And we also had the paperwork for his microchip.  Since April 2016 every puppy has to be microchipped and registered by 8 weeks of age.

I got the towels ready for the journey home – nearly two hours – he slept most of the way – but was sick three times.  We finally got home and I found a old collar for him (he wasn’t terribly happy about having it round his neck – but he soon got used to it).

I expected him to wake in the night so I slept on the settee downstairs, surrounded by newspaper.  He slept in the old cat basket which was just the right size.  Surprisingly, he slept through the night.  I took him out for a wee first thing in the morning – then he got back into bed with me.

The next night we made a bed for him on the floor in our bedroom and he slept on that.  But subsequent nights he kept waking up – and waking us up – so he now sleeps on our bed – between us – and with his head on the pillow if he can possibly manage it!

I fed him on the dry food mixed with a bit of tinned food but he was sick every time he ate.  He usually ate it all again, and second time around it stayed down.  I asked advice from our local animal food supplier and Belinda said to feed him dried food soaked in water in small amounts at regular intervals.  This generally worked and it was only if he ate something different – or too much at once – that he was sick.

His name was pre-ordained – as he looked like my old Duke – he became Duke II – and learned his name quite quickly, along with sit and stay.

Our garden is fairly secure but, from previous experience, if a border collie wants to get out – he will get through anything – so we had to watch him all the while.   He had been brought up with hens in a farmyard so didn’t chase them – but Dillon the cockerel wasn’t terribly happy with this new addition to his domain.

Duke sniffed inquisitively at the rabbits – Lunar, mother rabbit with babies in the hutch – got quite cross at puppy sniffing at her and turned her back on him.  Offended, he barked at her – she was not impressed!

Duke was used to hens – ducks were a different matter – and Duke was fascinated with these strange things – he wanted to investigate further – but of course they ran away when he went near.  So this is going to take a bit of time.  The ducks learned to keep out of his way – but Jasmine duck has just hatched 3 tiny ducklings so we’ve had to provide a secure pen – and Duke will have to have some lessons in looking after the ducks – my old Duke used to round up my ducks at night and put them to bed.

So, to our first walk in the field.  The grass is quite high in places and Duke couldn’t see where he was going, so he followed ‘doggedly’ in my footsteps – until we reached the badger set – where the grass is shorter – and he started sniffing around.  Then we had a dig in the sand by the rabbit holes – and he got sand all over his nose.

He’s now learned to fetch a ball – he will bring it back if he gets a treat. He still curls up in the cat basket – but he’s really too big for it now and ends up half in and half out of it.

Potty training is not going terribly well – he hasn’t got the hang of going to the toilet on newspaper so we’ve given that up – instead we take him outside every time he wakes up and after he’s eaten – but he still doesn’t seem to know the difference between inside and outside – and if it’s raining he really doesn’t want to go out – for a farm dog he’s certainly over-fond of his home comforts.

He loves serrano ham treats – and melon rind – and he’ll play for ages with a broad ben pod.  He’s nearly wrecked the conservatory – I’ve had to move everything off the worksurfaces as he’s managed to climb up – somehow.

He’s had all his injections and we’ve been patiently waiting for the day we could go a proper walk – which was Thursday – but it hasn’t stopped raining since then!  Made a mental note to remember the poo bags!  Wonder how he’ll get on with other dogs?

Today’s Treasures – Spring is Just Around the Corner

Today’s Treasures – Winter is over and Spring has just begun

The celandines are sunning their golden faces, coltsfoot flowers are lifting their heads and opening their petals to the wintry sunshine and the frogs have finally woken up in the pond.  The dawn chorus is back – the liquid notes of the blackbird serenading the sunrise, soon joined by all the other birds waking up and flexing their wings – they feast on the seeds on the bird table then they are off making nests, flying to and fro with beaks full of moss.

The robin has inspected the bird boxes – and investigated the apple tree – and now seems to have settled on building his nest in the Pampas grass – whilst the blackbird has made a big song and dance about building in the hedge – and finally decided on the ivy climbing over the weigela.

If we didn’t have so many cold, wet, windy, dismal, days in winter – we wouldn’t look forward quite so much to spring.  It’s such a relief when the first snowdrops poke their heads through the frozen ground – then the primroses and hyacinths brighten up the winter borders, closely followed by the daffodils – crowds of them, fluttering and dancing in the breeze – as Wordsworth so aptly described them.

The cherry blossom is out in candyfloss clouds of pink and the first tiny crimson buds are showing on the apple blossom.  Bees have woken up from their winter sleep and are busily investigating the spring flowers.

The scent of the first new mown grass is full of the promise of hot sunny lazy summer days full of sunshine.

Winter is over and spring has just begun …

 

 

Published in the April edition of the Whitchurch Gossip