Thursday, May 26, 2011

No news!

There isn't a lot happening here at the old miners cottage, but I thought I'd share an everyday event with you.



The chooks love being let out to free range. The Dorking rooster even shows off his crowing skills for the camera!

We have done a little more plastering since last time, too.



We've done one coat around the whole bottom of the loungeroom now. We have a little more digging and pointing/fixing to do around the window in the bedroom, then we really have no more excuses - it'll be time to start buying stumps and things!

There hasn't been a shortage of pumpkin either. :) We've been eating a little of the blue hubbard. They're HUGE. This one was 7.6kg (16.75 pounds). It tastes best roasted.



There is far more here than we can possibly eat in one sitting!



There are also lots of butternut pumpkins to choose from. We harvested most of them (although there are still at least a few more on the vine), and they're being stored in the trailer outside. :)



So, no eggs, but lots of pumpkin! I planted a few beetroot and broccoli for the winter just recently, so hopefully they'll grow big and strong. The compost is very rich with chook manure, so hopefully I didn't over-do it.

Otherwise, we've been trying to reduce the local mouse population lately. There's been quite a lot of them around (so much so, we see them during the day, crossing the roads, and making holes in the chook food bag - grrr), so we're trying every trick we can besides using chemicals and baits. The chooks even catch and dispatch them with skill now!

Until next time!

3 comments:

  1. I loved the video of the chooks. They are very pretty. Also, your butternut pumpkin looks like our butternut squash. I think they are probably the same thing. I would love to be there feeding chooks and eating squash with you and Marty.

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  2. Purchase a plastic drum with lid to store your chook food. Can be found at a recycle shop, well here in SA they can.
    I've never seen blue hubbard before...I think I'll try to source some seeds and try them out next season.

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  3. Hi Mom, yes, I think the butternuts are the same as winter squash there. We're thinking of you all the time!

    Olive, yes, I made the mistake of buying two bags of chook food at once, so the plastic drums were full already. Actually, even the produce store has troubles - the last time we picked up a bag of grower from there, it spilled all over the floor thanks to a large mouse-hole! We went home with a new bag without a hole, and they were left with the mess. :)

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