It's time for my weekly catch-up of going's on around this little urban homestead! The good news is - the worst month of the year is over. Hooray. I HATE November. It's full of grey, short, wet days. Autumn leaves have mostly fallen and Christmas is still too far away. Eurgh. But, it's over and that means December is here and the prospect of the holidays and then the next growing, chick-rearing season is ahead!
Coming up on this week's Smallholding Diaries I've got an update on the lovely budgie babies, I'm making leaf mulch for the garden, I'm hanging out with the chickens and I even managed to have a short getaway to wonderful, magical, inspiring Scotland.
To enjoy Smallholding Diaries - Leaves, Trees and Babies simply watch the video below or keep on scrolling for more information.
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Leaves
Normally I stick all the excess leaves on the compost heap but this year, as that heap is almost toppling over, I decided to use them to make leaf mulch. Now, I'll honest with you here, I've not had much luck with leaf mulch in the past.
Why?
Because I simply collected dry leaves, stuffed them in a bag and then wondered why, after a year, they were still dry leaves.
The thing is; you need moisture for bacteria and fungi to thrive. So bagging up completely dry leaves was never going to work. This time as I had an empty bin handy, I shoved all the leaves into that and added a few fallen, rotting apples for good measure - they've got a lot of wetness in them. Leaf mulch does take A LOT of time to create compared with compost which, when you've got a good, hot heap, is ready in just a few months. But it's totally worth it, so I'm hoping I've done it correctly this time.
Trees
In my homesteading income post the other day, a comment from 
I've already begun growing a few trees as I want to extend the woodland that borders my land into 1/2 an acre of field. So now I'm going to start seed collecting in large numbers and then establish this little nursery in some forgotten corner of the farm. Several of my gardening clients have little trees growing in their gardens that they're keeping for me, so I can lift those and take them to the farm as well as the ones I already have.
Holidays
Earlier this week (though it already feels a lifetime ago) my husband and I managed to get away for a few days. With so many animals, it's HARD to take a holiday. My neighbour feeds the cat. The dogs come with us. And the aviary birds and chickens can be left for a couple of days. Though my husband has had several holidays back to Canada to see his family, I haven't actually had a long break since our honeymoon three years ago. BUT...I don't mind short escapes; they're enough to recharge the battery.
So, on Sunday morning at 4.30am we set off on the 600mile drive to Inverness. Monday was spent trekking through Glenmore Forest and up to the Bothy, and then an evening with friends. Tuesday we explored the Highlands and found a lovely RSPB reserve on Loch Ruthven. And then Wednesday we took a 13 hour drive home with a diversion to take in great sights like Loch Ness, Ben Nevis, Loch Lomand and Glencoe.
It was worth the drive!
Babies
Finally, when I checked in on the budgies on Thursday morning, I was AMAZED to hear peeping. I had totally got the incubation and hatching dates wrong for the birds, and lo and behold, there were two babies. On Friday, there were three. And then today, the fourth and final egg hatched!
It's thrilling because they're my first budgie babies in year, and the first babies for this pair - Io, a green pied cock bird and Sunni, a lutino hen.
Some might not think bald, blind, wriggling babies are cute. But I think they are!
So that's my week in review! It's been pretty great - I mean, holidays AND babies?! What more could I ask for! I'm looking forward to seeing these little ones grow and I'm already thinking of the post-Christmas period when I can begin thinking about next year's growing season.
Thanks for reading,
Geoff
Budgie Babies - Ugly OR Lovely?
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