I've come to the conclusion that rabbits are a pretty eco-friendly pet choice (as long as you don't let them breed lots). They love hoovering up leftover vegetables and relish the tough ends of cauliflower, broccoli etc. that we'd rather leave. They also don't need to be bought lots of expensive pet toys, as they're more than happy with an old plant pot, a stick or a toilet roll tube to chuck around instead.
Another bonus in terms of food is that, unlike those environmental nightmare 'pouches' for cats (the mixture of foil and plastic means they can never be recycled and take years and years to break down), they don't need to be bought anything with excessive packaging, just a mega bag of mix about once a month.
And best of all, when they've finished digesting all that food, you can just put the droppings, straw/hay, sawdust and newspaper straight in the compost bin, which heats it up very nicely and helps everything break down.
Pictured above is Lavender (we've since found out the doe was actually a buck but the name hasn't been changed!) and his new friend, Jack, who has the cutest baby blue eyes, but unfortunately you can't appreciate them in that photo as he's snoozing, so here's another one below so you can get the full effect.
Lavender is the Hop Garden's mascot, and he's often seen around the allotment, especially when there are children around willing to stroke and feed him. The new recruit will hopefully be a suitable stand-in for those days when Lavender's had enough of fame.
And on the allotment today Paul and Peter washed down the shed to prepare it for painting, and David and I cleared the hop vines and cut them down to ground level. It was sad to see them go, but they were looking forlorn and needed to be pulled down - hopefully they'll come up even better next year.
Paul covered one of the beds for overwintering with a layer of horse manure, while Peter and I prepared the cardboard to lay over the top.
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