Out to play in the woods: on a Sunday...

Look look! there are waterfalls round here too.

Nicely swollen after all that rain.

This stream cuts through the deep sandstone goyle in the woods nearby.

 I had plenty of childish fun testing my wellies in the water...

Then some adults came past; and made me feel a bit self conscious... 

Why do they have to do that?

A drainage tunnel under the old railway embankment, displaying some nifty brickwork of the time...

Sadly, this branchline is now closed; but the track on top levels the route to the sea for cyclists, part way at least.

 Crunching down here, after fresh snowfall, betwixt the trees, you'd not be surprised to come across Mr Tumnus..

But no snow this year, not this low down at any rate.. 

Ferns taking advantage of the lime pointing.

Who doesn't love a mossy log?
This tree felled by the Autumn storms might have reached the end of its growing time; but it won't take long for all the wee beasties to take up residence and give it a new lease of life.

Perhaps due to the steep terrain; these woods aren't overly tidied.

The plantation parts are harvested when they mature; but older specimens are generally left to do their thing; and give a home to the workforce of the woodland floor.

Wall Pennywort almost obliterating these South facing stones. The growth on the wall opposite gives almost the same coverage; but individual leaves are smaller... Reflecting the lower light levels they receive.

This little navel-like bit of herbage is edible, even if it's not the tastiest thing on the planet.
 Its fine to browse the leaves, just be careful not to dislodge the roots.

Do you like my new hat? (see shadow)
 Sadly the proprietor guy in the outdoor shop wasn't on hand yesterday; to give me my usual; very thorough; patronising.
Everso slightly dissappointed; the stand in Saturday Girl allowed me to buy what I wanted without question....Where's the challenge in that?

Jacobs Ladder, steps down to the beach from the cliff top gardens...

See the colour of the sea? That's where all that lovely East Devon topsoil ends up....Plus of course a contribution from the natural cliff face erosion....

Stat's for all lovers; of things numerical....10 miles (ish)

Paperwork...

This is the kind of 'filing' I like..
It has a persuasive air of finality about it.
A satisfying rainy day barn clear out, and a successful run to the tip with 'Man Friday' It's a particular (perculiar?) treat for him.

And it's not as if he 'doesn't get out much'.

By the way MF, I don't remember receiving the 'leave of absence form'... But apparently it's India for four weeks now....Hopefully incorporating some intensive yoga practice?
Hmmmmmmm?

Still as this wise sage would point out..."Once you've got a fire going it isn't really work any more :) "

Solar panel here???

We could learn a lot from cats...
If only we"d listen...

Trailer Trash Kitty, soaking up some rays, whilst showing her best side..

Magnificent stripes darling :)

With Views of Mt Cloudy....

Good to see some blue skies, and fluffy clouds today after days of rain.

The earlier pictures posted a couple of days ago were cheating; plucked from the summer skies; but just occasionally 'cheering up' has to come before authenticity...

The recent deluge has meant its been tricky enough to get traction on the good earth; let alone the truth. 

And narrowly avoided an hilarious 'trollley full of beetroot / slippery mud' incident earlier today. 

The farm is blessed with a free draining sandy loam. An unusual soil for Devon; which, when combined with the south facing aspect of the slope gives for 'early ' land.

It means that the cultivation, planting, and growing seasons, can be stretched a little longer than elsewhere. 

So greater productivity per acre, just add proper amounts of compost, some seeds, and lots of love (for love read labour)

Here on the tilled area pictured we can just make out the green fuzz of ryecorn that was sown late last Autumn, its not showing a lot of bulky growth yet but a few more warm days like this (mmm please, sky pixies) and it will start to get going.

http://broadviewfromasmallfarm.blogspot.co.uk/2015/11/timely-reminder.html

The lightness of the soil does mean that come the summer (oh yes, very much please) conditions can get a bit droughty.. But having sunk a 20 m borehole  soon after buying the land does means that there is an almost unlimited source of free water for ever. Free that is but for the cost of the electricity to pump it. 

And in addition; an ingenious irrigation system encircling the veg plot; facilitates the application of water when, and where, it's needed.

So I'd far rather have things a bit on the dry side. Working on the principle that you can add water; but you can't take it away...   

The grass is fairly verdant on both sides of the fence right now, it'll be back to mowing before long,,,

July here, last year...

One of my top ten fave tools..... 'The Rain Train'

(I don't think the Ford in the background is feeling threatened by my display of affection)

Hard to imagine right now, but there are times when the ground needs to be made wetter. Most irrigation on the veg plot is done by dripper tape laid out alongside the crops. 

But this cute little device is good for watering larger areas. Here preparing the ground to receive the leeks in July.The soil needs to be moist, to create effective planting holes for leek transplants.

So another ingenious invention from our friends across the pond. A sprinkler; modeled on a darling little yellow tractor; for practical purposes not just to appeal to soft in the head types like myself.

You plug the hose into its rear end; its front wheels then sit either side of the pipe, the bigger lugged wheels at the back get a grip; and once turned on; the water pressure drives the gadget back along the pipe. It stops when a push up button underneath meets a little ramp you've fixed astride the pipe where you want it to finish.

It can malfunction if it hits a soft spot and gets bogged down by watering itself into the ground... But at least I don't have to swallow my pride, and go and fetch a local farmer to pull me out of that particular hole....

Good start girls...

Showing one full size for scale.

Soon; as all these young pullets come in to production, there'll be double yolkers, and various sorts of eggceptionally interesting contributions, some even looking like deflated party balloons....

Lovingly laid all the same...

Just because...

Clouds are gorgeous...

Lets go fly a kite....

Or we could put the flags out...

"Do grow up"

"I see she's sown the first spring carrots then?"

A Return to form

Glory be...

Absolutely no arguing with this one: Luscious, eggy, and liberally topped with blueberries and nutmeg. 

The custard creator turned out a real crowd (four women) pleaser this week.

If one were to offer criticism (smacks of churlishness, I know) the only slight, and I have to state very slight disappointment; is the lack of 'jiggle'.

I have it on good authority (can't quite remember if it was Mrs Beeton or Nigella from whom this nutmeggy, nugget of wisdom emanated) that the centre of an egg custard "Should wobble; not unlike the inner thigh of a pre Raphelite maiden"... I may be paraphrasing here, but pretty sure it was something like that.

Sorry there's absolutely none left; even if you're quick..

But there is still some curly kale, upon which this dish nestles...

Which is not; I repeat not a 'Super Food'. 

Kale is just a fine and versatile, all year round, but particularly welcome in the winter, vegetable,

 Low in Saturated Fat, and very low in Cholesterol. It is also a good source of Dietary Fiber, Protein, Thiamin, Riboflavin, Folate, Iron, Magnesiumand Phosphorus, and a very good source of Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Vitamin K, Vitamin B6, Calcium, Potassium, Copper and Manganese.

All that definitely, and if cooked properly... 

(Just how hard is it to steam something for 20 mins and then chuck loads of butter and pepper on it?)

Very tasty too....

But not a nonsense, made up, marketing speak, 'Super * Food'.....GRrrrrr!

(I'm told, that was the noise I made when approaching this confection...Like a dog guarding its bone?)

*That kind of accolade should be reserved for the sublime contents of this dish....Just Imagine....

Who's going first?

Contemplating the great outdoors;

A new flock of 30 layers, not quite 20 weeks old.

Their juveniles' paler and smaller combs will enlarge and redden, as they come into egg production in the next few weeks.

These ladies have just arrived from the breeder in mid Devon, they are bred specifically to perform well in an outdoor organic system, which they will enjoy, once they've steeled their nerve to go outside, well you never know, just who might be lurking?

There was a lot of noisy "No no; after you" going on here; but in the end the verdant herbage just visible, combined with a bit of chivvying on the part of their new owner resulted in a mass egress to pastures fresh and vistas wider.

The hens here do a brilliant job of clearing all the grass, and weed, and old crop cover, from the area upon which they're enclosed.

The older flock have just about finished clearing the patch where this years beans and peas will be planted; so are due to be moved with their house onto a new area very soon. The netting fences are effective at containment, until, the grass really is soo much irresistably greener on the other side.

Then a number of them will organise a 'Chicken Run' style; escape committee. One particularly plucky bird will climb part way up, over one of the flexible fencing stakes that holds up the mesh, she will then be followed closely by a huddle of the the others who will have been waiting clustered nearby. Eventually their combined weight serves to bend the post low enough, to allow a mass trampling down of the fence.
 And freedom... Until, that is, the greater pull of the rattled corn bucket lures them back.

It really does look as if they've thought it through...

Fascinating chicken factoid #27...The colour of a chickens ears denotes the colour of the eggs that it will lay.

Finally plucked up courage to emerge and found the forage to their liking; in fact one of these precocious girls went so far as to endorse her new home by laying an egg under the coop. 

They are supposed to do that in the nest boxes...I guess I'll have to draw a diagram.

No shortage of custard ingredients now....High hopes for tomorrow, what with it being Thursday ;)

Ooo, wiggles....

Just in case, you thought I'd lost interest...
In wiggly tin.

Far from it; but not everyone gets such a thrill from this particular niche.

It's always hard to judge how far to take indulging ones own proclivities, without impinging upon others interests.

However the owner and creator of this Shepherds Hut is not immune to its charms, and was quite understanding of my enthusiasm.

These once humble examples of agricultural workers, mobile vernacular accommodation are also the source of no little gentle leg pulling in these parts.

Because, despite these tin sheds on wheels being generally far less luxuriously appointed than your average touring caravan, you can, if you have a Dingly Dell enough type venue, park them up and charge some folks three time the price of staying in their more modern cousins...

How those horn handed labourers would have shaken their heads at such impractical indulgence in rural fantasy.

but then they'd doubtless also have thought my thing about wiggles pretty bonkers too. So perhaps we'll leave it as a case of each to their own...