The secret world of sheds

The shed we 'rescued' from down the street many months back has been sitting, neglected once again, in the corner of the allotment waiting to be transformed into a chicken shed. There are always so many other more pressing things to do (like planting and weeding) that it has been put on the back burner. But with the chicks getting bigger by the day, they'll soon need a bigger night-time hideaway than the hutch, so sorting out the shed has become a more urgent job.

I'm not bad with a saw, and getting more proficient with a power drill, so I gave Alan a hand laying the floor this afternoon. Being a former builder, he was far more measured in his approach than I would have been, so it took us an hour just to get it level. I think the chickens would have been fine on the slope a little (they could all snuggle up in a heap at one end) but apparently that's not the way it's done.

So, many hours and a few bribery home-brew beers later, we now have a chicken shed with a good floor (the top bits courtesy of Alan's old hallway) and a door, all for the cost of a few hinges. Not bad for a day's work.

The chicks also had an interesting morning, as Alan showed me how to cut their wing feathers to stop them flying off (they were getting a little too good at reaching the top of the hutch) and naturally Ethel (the mother hen) went mad, having a good peck and squawk at both of us. She's only just forgiven me, and it's taken a lot of caterpillars, snails and worms to get to that point.


In between all things chicken, I managed to plant out the broccoli into the raised beds and replace the brassicas that had been munched by snails and slugs. Listening to the rain outside now, I think I've probably just given them another night's supper as they'll be sliming all over the place.

The plant sale on Monday went well, and there were a few new visitors to the allotment, so hopefully some may even think about volunteering! The living salad packs (above) went down really well, so I'll definitely do them again.

Hop to it

Some visitors to the site have asked for a bit more information about how to grow hops, and although I'm by no means an expert, I'll attempt to share what I've learned so far.

To begin with, a strong structure which they can climb up is essential. It doesn't have to be huge pole and wire systems as seen in Kent's fields: I've got poles about 12ft high, (mine are dwarf hops which will rarely go over 15ft so they'll be ok at this height) with a simple hook and eye wire system. You need to be able to safely reach as many of the hops as possible, which is another reason for keeping it within a sensible height.


Two wires for each plant start from the ground, fanning out in a 'V' formation, which allows more air to get to the hops and encourages them to grow in opposite directions. I've also got wires running horizontally, so the hop bines can also run across when they get to a certain height.


I planted the rhizomes (dormant root piece of the hop plant) in early spring last year, a few feet apart on a small mound of earth/compost/manure, giving the hole a good sprinkle of blood, fish and bone. As we get frosts pretty late here (we had two last week!) I keep an eye on the young shoots, covering them with fleece if the temperature dips.

In the autumn, I cut all the old plants down, added alpaca manure, and covered them with fleece for the winter. I let them go a bit wild last year to get established, but this year I've just chosen two of the healthiest shoots for each wire.

Hops like a lot of water and they will soon wilt to show they're not happy in a drought. We didn't have too much trouble with that last year as it was so wet, but I've buried a soaker hose just under the surface so I can give them a slow, steady water this summer if they need it. I've also mulched them with the over-wintering sheep fleece to keep the moisture in.


Elsewhere on the allotment, things are speeding up, and the chicks (above, now three weeks old) are out on one of the beds with strict instructions to eat all the weeds within a fortnight.

Peter and I planted some turnips, chard, spinach, onions and spring onions in one of the high raised beds and the 'living salads' I've grown for the plant sale look great; I hope they fly off the staging later this afternoon at our plant sale as I desperately need the space!

Hippy chicks

I never really understood why the term 'chicken brain' was a derogatory one until now: these new additions to the allotment are really not the brightest light bulbs in the box, it must be said. I turn my back for a moment and find that the foster mum hen has managed to bury both the food bowl (and then looks around frantically trying to work out what just happened) and tip the water container over at the same time.

Brains - or lack of - aside, they are really cute (that's the chicks, not the hen, who I'm sure would have a nice nature if she wasn't busy taking her foster role so seriously that any hand near the hutch is a major threat which needs to be pecked - hard). They really do chirp and cheep...The little ones are also always climbing on the hen's back, and sliding down the side, and I think the record is four out of six of them on at once.

I'm spending a little time each day digging up bugs and worms to give to the hen, although I think the chicks are also having a go at them, dashing around passing worms between each other while the hen goes bonkers trying to get hold of it. They also love a bunch of chickweed, which luckily we've got plenty of on the brassica bed.

As they're only now a week old, it will be about a fortnight before they're out and about, which gives me not very long at all to get the trench dug, posts in, chicken wire up and hen house fixed.

It remains to see how many cockerels I've got among the chicks, which are a mixture of Aracuna (that's the mum) which is also known as the 'Easter Egg' chicken as it lays a mixture of blue, green and pink eggs; Black Rock; and I believe the rest are a mixture of Light Sussex and Rhode Island Red.

There has been some work done on the garden this week despite the new distractions, with me digging over and weeding the brassica bed this morning before it got too warm, ready to sow green manure to fix nitrogen into the soil beforehand (alfalfa and lupins). I also made up a few more salad trays, transplanted the cabbages, and Peter sowed some courgettes, squashes and pumpkins.


I also had a donation of some lovely autumn fruiting raspberry bushes and strawberry plants and the onion sets are finally in (see above) planted through six layers of newspaper this year in an attempt to keep on top of the weeds. It doesn't look very pretty, but hopefully it will do the job. I may put a bit of sterile compost over the top if I get bored of old news...

Politics comes to the plot

Just a quick update today to say about the BBC Politics Show descending on the allotment, which, as is the way with the small screen, involved a lot of preparation for about four minutes' worth of viewing!

The BBC team were really friendly and no trouble at all, and the big satellite truck with its huge terrestrial mast soon got the neighbours talking. Hopefully, the volunteers will be flocking in now we're 'as featured on tv'...


The link below will take you to the website for the regional opt-out. The allotment feature is 10 minutes in, and the garden comes on at 13:50, if your attention wanders (I'm the one who pops up from under the rhubarb ;)

BBC Politics Show - North East

Time to 'cast a clout'

With a distinctly warmer feel to the air, it's tempting to 'cast a clout' as the old English saying goes, but I think it may be a little premature, as the 'May' in this phrase refers to the blossom on the hawthorn, which isn't in evidence yet. Clout, I've just discovered, is an old term for clothes, but even so I have always known it means to not throw your winter woolies to the back of the cupboard too hastily...

With the sun shining, Peter and I managed to weed part of the soon-to-be brassica bed (the plan is to put green manure on part of it as ground cover, before we plant out the winter brassicas later in the summer) and also transplant some of the cauliflowers, broccoli and brussels sprout in the polytunnel.


The school's little flower bed is looking fantastic, with the tulip bulbs I got for about £1 putting on a really good show. One of the children at yesterday's Greenfingers club (who planted them last autumn) asked how they'd got there. He really didn't quite believe me that something so fantastic could come out of a boring looking bulb all those months later.

It was an afternoon of mulches yesterday with the children - seaweed on the asparagus (much holding of noses and squealing), sawdust around the raspberries, newspaper on the potato bed (soon to be weighted down with grass cuttings), and a good dose of manure on the leek trench.


Yesterday morning I stopped by Whickham Community Garden (unfortunately they don't seem to have a website at the moment, but when they do I'll post up a link) which was a real inspiration. It's been going for about seven years now, and the man behind it all, Dave, has all the passion and utter madness I see in myself. We hope to link up and do some activities together in the future, which is something to look forward to as we're very different types of garden but with the same purpose: to get people out there enjoying gardening.

The rest of this afternoon I roped Alan into shifting some slabs around the allotment, so he'll probably never 'drop by' again. We've now got a good, recycled path up the side of the Greenfingers bed, where we're planning on planting some creeping thyme or similar inbetween the slabs and bricks.

I also cleared out the polytunnel, made edging for the border soil, planted out some of the lettuces, and had a general sweep around the allotment making sure it looked at least almost presentable for the BBC's visit on Sunday.

Naturally, they couldn't have picked a worse time for visiting an allotment in the North East as the over-wintering stuff has all gone and it's too soon to see much happening for the new season (especially as it's been so wet) but I hope it will look ok all the same. The programme is about the problem of waiting lists for allotments, and if I don't make a complete fool of myself, I'll post a link to the programme at the weekend.