Winter Feed

The hay bales are ready to fill a hungry gap if the grass stop growing in the paddocks and the sheep need a supplementary feedstuff. Grown locally they’re a grassy meadow mix that is softer than the hard dry grass which was cut in the last month. If kept dry the bales will last for five years and still be good to eat. Sitting on top is a bunch of apple tree shoots that were cut today, they’ll be hung in the roof of the workshop and, if still edible, fed to the donkeys as a treat when the paddocks are too wet to be used and they can’t browse the hedgerow. A breezy day with warm sunshine and no rain, watered the beans which are still flowering. Picked tomatoes and a water melon.

Water Melon

This is the first time I’ve grown these in the greenhouse, they can never have enough water to drink and it does look like they’re doing well. Not sure how to tell they’re ready, a smaller fruit did fall off the plant and it was sweet and juicy so maybe all of them are good to eat regardless of size. One of the tomato plants grew out of the side window and now has blight which is spreading to the other plants inside which is a pity as the tomatoes will have to be picked before they’re all ruined. The donkeys are enjoying eating the hedge, it’s reasonably wide so they can’t reach the other side. A cool start to the day, warm and sunny later, picked a courgette that’s more like a marrow.