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...