Hen Party

The hens are having a fabby time in the absence of Roly, today they discovered the delights of eating on the well!

I have ringed the two newest babies, Fondoo and DooDooRonRon and was surprised to see that Fondoo also has two black tail feathers, I think his dad has been about a bit as VooDoo also had similar markings so guess they are siblings.

Yesterday when the dove sitting on the plastic eggs was out for the changeover I removed the eggs as she had been on them for a month. today I have covered all the nesting holes with paper in an attempt to encourage them into the new upgraded doocottery arrangement. So far they are just sitting on the 'balconies' of the old doocote looking vaguely puzzled. How can I tell puzzlement in a doo, no idea, I just can!

Sadly we only have one plum left on the Victoria tree but on a positive note today Herb and I had a large ripe fig each, that makes about half a dozen this year with more on the way. They are every bit as good as any I have tasted in countries far warmer than this. I think leaving it in the greenhouse has been the secret of my success this time. The Family Beechgrove BBC Tree has produced its first fruits this year, all looking very healthy. All the other veg in the garden are looking good yet again this year. We have loads of courgettes of all shapes and colours and are once more getting into broccoli overload. If only I had realized that the farmer was also growing broccoli in a field very close then I never would have. The 'volunteer' Jerusalem Artichokes have come up brilliantly, I think I will have them for evermore. I should have been more careful harvesting them last year if I did not want any more but they are quirky and a fun vegetable, if non stop parping is your idea of fun.

Off to feed the tomatoes, not a fabulous crop, more leaves than fruit but from my other gardening friends this seems to be a trend, maybe it is something to do with the 'barbecue summer.' Actually when a barbecue summer was forecast they were actually dead accurate, as we all know in UK, arrange a barbecue and it is bound to rain!