Tag: watering

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Afternoon Tea

Sunny afternoon spent in the garden eating savouries, scones and cake, liked the arrangement of animals in the kitchen. The hot weather continues with the promise of rain tonight, so no watering! Donkeys and sheep choosing sun and shade in equal quantities. First of the runner beans with a fried egg on top for supper. Modified the netting over the centre of the pond to give the plants more room, hope the heron doesn’t take advantage. A blue sky with fluffy white clouds to end the day, doesn’t look like rain….

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Balloon

At sunset, the first of the year to travel along the vale, climbing and then descending over the hill towards Shaftesbury, would have been cold as the temperature drops quickly at the end of the day. Bianca has stopped limping and is still shedding her fleece, the shearer isn’t due to arrive until June so there are a few weeks to go before she loses the lot! Six water butts are empty and the ground is starting to crack, need rain to invigorate the new leaves, having to water the greenhouse and the new plants in the border. A warm sunny day with light winds.

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Brunch

Too late for breakfast and too early for lunch, William and Toby pushed right to the bottom of their feeder, the fresh straw is the same all the way down so not sure why, they raised their heads in turn, snuffling and snorting. Cleaned the rest of the greenhouse, watched the kestrel hunting over the field. Watered the hedge and the raised beds, two of the waterbutts are empty. Grubbed up a bucketful of dandelions, left the thistles to grow on for the donkeys. A cold start to the day with snow showers on a strong wind followed by warm sunshine and a mellow orange sunset, half the day was winter and half spring.

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Donkey Worms

Two bags of poo ready to be double bagged, packed in a leakproof container and posted to the Donkey Sanctuary for a worm count. William and Toby look healthy and generally have a low worm burden but a test is recommended every six months, some donkeys are ‘high shedders’ so 20% of them carry 80% of the worm burden. Our vet will let us know the results and recommend treatment in a week or two. Worming mixtures lose their effectiveness if used too often so we need to be cautious. A misty start to the day with only the tree tops visible in the valley, the sun was warm when it broke through with light rain at dusk. More watering, rain is forecast for tomorrow.

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Apple Harvest

There’s a good crop of Bramleys that will need picking soon, the windfalls are more than sufficient to keep us supplied with flavoursome stewed apple. The eating apple Beauty of Bath was the first to ripen, then there was a smaller crop of Ellison’s Orange. Ribston Pippen is still being picked and Darcy Spice will ripen last and keep longest. The Conference pears can be eaten off the tree or poached and the majority are given away. A lovely sunny and warm day with light winds; picked and watered the runner beans which are producing even more blossom. Picked tomatoes and a small water melon.

Bramley Apple