New Zealand White Rabbits 3 weeks old

Eny’s latest litter are just 3 weeks old

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They will be ready for new homes by the end of October – there are 9 babies. They all survived which isn’t always the case with NZ Whites. They can be very sensitive to their surroundings, they don’t like changes, different people, strange noises – some breeders have a radio on all day so the rabbits get used to different sounds. I leave the shed door open all the while so the rabbits can see what’s going on outside and get used to different noises – so my rabbits are used to different things and the babies are too.

I’ve had problems with new does, sometimes it’s because they are new mums with their first litters and they really don’t seem to know what to do!  I have had stillborn and abandoned litters, and often the babies manage to get out of the nest box somehow so every morning and night I check properly that there are none getting cold away from the nest.

Many people have solved the problem with crossing NZ Whites with Californian rabbits.  They are also white but with black tips to their ears – they are a large breed but generally not quite as big as NZ Whites.  They are however far less sensitive and traumatised, they seem altogether a much hardier breed and if you are breeding meat rabbits would be an ideal solution.

Sunflowers

Sunflowers

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I always grow some sunflowers as the birds love the seeds.  I tried to get some ordinary size sunflower seeds but must have ended up with giant ones – either that or the rabbit manure has worked wonders as these sunflowers are over a foot across – and one of the plants is over 12 feet tall!  It’s a wonder it’s still standing – my time spent staking the plants in the spring has paid off.

I used to spend ages collecting the sunflower seeds but it takes ages scraping them all out and the earwigs seem to like hiding in them too – so now I just dry the whole heads in the barn then put them out for the birds in the winter – they don’t mind the earwigs!

The Height of Laziness – waiting for dinner – Lunar the Cat!

The height of laziness – waiting for dinner – Lunar the Cat!

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Reading this website, a friend in Birmingham, who adores cats, emailed me this morning:

“Yesterday was such a lovely day, our queen cat was basking in the sun and I noticed her watching the skies, I looked up to see seagulls high above, riding the thermals. It’s still strange to me that they have made the cities their home – but the city is a survivor’s success story for them.”

It’s buzzards that wheel in our Shropshire skies, keening and calling and being chased by crows.

She also asked for some pictures of our  cat – so here he is – he’s a Russian Blue and belongs to Dane, our eldest son.  Very good at catching mice, but usually doesn’t kill them, Betsy the dog does that – if Dane doesn’t get there first and rescues them by tip of the tail!

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Poppy Seed is it safe to eat?

Poppy Seed – is it safe to eat?

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The opium poppy, papaver somniferum, family Papaveracae, is the species of plant from which opium and poppy seeds are derived. The Latin botanical name somniferum means the “sleep-bringing poppy”, referring to its sedative properties.

I have always wondered if it’s safe to eat poppy seeds from the garden so I did some research. Evidently the seeds contain very low levels of opiates and the oil extracted from them contains even less. Poppyseed oil has many uses and poppy seeds are used as a food in many cultures. Poppy seeds are rich in oil, carbohydrates, calcium and protein.

The opiate drugs are extracted from opium. The latex oozes from incisions made on the green seed pods and is collected once dry. Tincture of opium or laudanum consisting of opium dissolved in alcohol or a mixture of alcohol and water, is one of many unapproved drugs. Laudanum was historically used to treat a variety of ailments but its principal use was as an analgesic and cough suppressant until the early 20th century.

Poppy seed is mentioned in ancient medical texts from many civilizations. The Minoans a Bronze Age civilization (around 2700 BC) on the island of Crete, cultivated poppies for their seed, and used a milk, opium and honey mixture to calm crying babies. Poppy seeds have long been used as a folk remedy to aid sleeping, promote fertility and wealth, and were even once believed to have magical powers of invisibility.

Morphine is the predominant alkaloid found in the cultivated varieties of opium poppy. In some countries it is illegal to grow poppies although generally poppy seeds as a food are allowed. In the UK there are no restrictions on growing poppies, only for extracting opium for medicinal products.

Ripe seed from both the opium poppy and corn poppy (papaver rhoeas) does not contain harmful substances and can be used as a spice in curries and sprinkled on bread and cakes.

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So now I feel reassured that I can safely collect poppy seed and sprinkle it on my home-made bread, sausage rolls and mince pies.

A Frosty February morning

A Frosty February morning

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Yesterday the frogs were gathering in the pond and Spring was in the air, today we wake to a winter frost.  I’ve had to thaw the water out in the bird bath this morning for the robin and the nuthatch has been patiently waiting for me to get up and put some more peanuts out.  It is a really beautiful morning though.

Better than all the rain we’ve had, although there is an old saying:

“If in February there be no rain, ’tis neither good for hay nor grain.”

which I found in a Country Wisdom & Folklore Diary www.talkingtreesbooks.co.uk

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Ducks are a-dabbling

Ducks are a-dabbling

The ducks have found the pond at the bottom of the field and now the stream is all flooded they can’t wait to rush off every morning to see what’s new.  When there was just Desmond (drake) and the geese, they would stay around the hen house but since the two ducks have joined them (Izzy and Oli) they have been more adventurous.

This picture reminds me of a poem from Kenneth Grahame’s ‘Wind in the Willows’:

DUCKS’ DITTY.’
All along the backwater,
Through the rushes tall,
Ducks are a-dabbling,
Up tails all!

Ducks’ tails, drakes’ tails,
Yellow feet a-quiver,
Yellow bills all out of sight
Busy in the river!

Slushy green undergrowth
Where the roach swim–
Here we keep our larder,
Cool and full and dim.

Everyone for what he likes!
WE like to be
Heads down, tails up,
Dabbling free!

High in the blue above
Swifts whirl and call–
WE are down a-dabbling
Up tails all!

Liquid Gold Sunset

Liquid Gold

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Sunset over Shropshire as the last rays of the setting sun shine on the flood waters spreading across the fields

Managed to spend sometime in the garden last weekend, tidying up, muck spreading in the polytunnel – digging in rabbit manure and some lime. Rabbit droppings are quite acid and tomatoes suffer from blight (yellowing and wilting of the leaves and the tomatoes rot) if the soil is too acid.

Just finishing off and I was leaning on the fence in my favourite spot, the sun was setting and a flock of starlings were making patterns in the sky. This isn’t a lake it’s a waterlogged field, we’ve had so much rain this winter; I’ve had to move the hens from the front lawn as they were paddling in mud. Now there’s Spring in the air and we wake to frosty mornings.  The Candlemas Day rhyme was right – it was fair and bright and winter is having another flight although this year it’s more like it’s first fling, this morning’s frost felt like the coldest so far this winter!

 

 

 

Cologne 1st January 2016

Cologne 1st January 2016 – what price freedom?

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I was appalled by the events in Cologne on New Year’s Eve – and in Finland, Sweden and Switzerland – and London.  That women were specifically targeted, that the Police did nothing, that they tried to cover it up (although with social media they must have realised that was impossible) and then that women were told ‘to go out with chaperones and carry rape alarms’.  I therefore decided to do a social media campaign on International Women’s Day this year to highlight these issues.  I am no feminist, but I feel very strongly that if we had more women in positions of power the world would be a better and safer place.

All children deserve access to education and this education needs to include the teaching of respect.  Anyone choosing to live in Europe must demonstrate that they respect our culture – and that includes respect for women.  Emmeline Pankhurst would be turning in her grave if she was watching Cologne on New Years Eve.

At a recent co-operative Ways Forward 4 Conference ‪#‎WF4 www.cbc.coop Alan Semo was one of the final speakers.  He spoke about the  Middle East Crisis, and the people of Rojava in Northern Syria, a community with a mix of ethnic and religious people – Kurds, Christians, Jews – living together, supporting gender equality, and setting up co-operative projects.  Cath Muller from www.radicalroutes.org.uk summed this up at the end:

“We are inspired by you, the people of Kobane and Rojava – by your determination, by your sense of solidarity and by your commitment to fairness, to ecological sustainability and to freedom for all.  We have much to learn from you and to share with you. We look forward to developing mutually beneficial links between our co-operatives and your co-operatives and contributing together to the development of truly co-operative economies.”

All women deserve the right to education, the freedom to choose who they marry,what they wear, where they work, where they live, what they say and where they go. We sometimes forget how lucky we are living in this Western world where these things are taken for granted.

Please join me in a social media campaign on International Women’s Day, 8th March by sharing my posts on

https://www.facebook.com/barbara.rainford

www.twitter.com  @strawfields

Snowdrops

Snowdrops

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The very first flowers of Spring.  Our very first visit to the cottage each year was to pick some snowdrops and I remember those journeys looking out of the car window searching the fields wanting to be the first to see the new lambs.  That feeling of looking forward to Spring returns with the snowdrops.  Mum used to say:  “If you have good health, you can change everything else in your life.”  As I am getting older, I have good days and bad days and I really make an effort to make the most of the good days – those days when you get up in the morning and feel like changing the world.  But however you feel, whatever your health, you can always enjoy the little things in life, using your senses to the full, listening to a robin sing, watching blue tits on the bird table – and the scent of flowers – did you know that snowdrops have a very delicate, fresh, green smell?

Squash, Apple and Sage Soup

Squash, Apple and Sage Soup

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Ingredients:
50 g (2 oz) butter
1 kg (2 lb) squash (or pumpkin) peeled and diced
2 medium onions, chopped
1 large potato diced
1 tin chopped tomatoes or 4 large tomatoes, skinned* and chopped
2 large apples, peeled, cored and chopped
2 level teaspoons of sage (fresh sage** is best)
1 level teaspoon of thyme
2 pints stock (vegetable or beef – stock cubes are fine)
Salt and black pepper to taste

*to skin tomatoes easily simply put in a bowl, pour over boiling water, leave to stand for about a minute, plunge into cold water, and the skin just rubs off.

**Sage is a perennial so it grows all year but is better picked during the summer. For ease of use I pick lots in the summer and freeze in small quanities in plastic bags, or chop it and freeze in ice cube trays. Then it’s all ready to use for sage and onion stuffing in the middle of winter.

Method:
Fry the onion in the butter gently until soft,
Add the squash and stir for a few minutes,
Add the potato
Add the tomatoes
Add the stock
Stir in the sage and thyme
Add salt and pepper
Bring to the boil, cover and simmer for 20 minutes
Add the apple and cook for another 10 minutes
Cool slightly, puree in a liquidiser or food processor.
Add a sprinkling of black pepper and serve.