East Essex Smallholders Chitchat Headline Animator

CONTACT EESG

To Contact EESG
Please Email:
Danielle.Perkins@yahoo.co.uk
or 07854595640

Monday 31 January 2011

Recipe of the Month - January 2011

January 2011 Newsletter


ITEMS FOR SALE

ITEMS FOR SALE

LATCHINGDON

 Please Contact direct:   Heidi 01621 743906

  • Ixworths (excellent table birds) 18 months old laying hens x 2 £10.00 each or £15.00 the pair
POL pullets x 2 £15.00 each or £30.00 the pair

  • 1 x 30 litre water dispensers £12.00 each (cost £26.00 new)

  • 1 x 24k Solway rat proof spring feeders £7.00 each (cost £17.00 new)



  • Galvanised wire brooder cage with external troughs £40.00 (cost £75.00 new)
wire brooder cage
  • 8 x corrugated metal sheet (8’) £50.00
  • Chicken pen wire, posts and timber £ neg
  • Fence posts suitable for path edging, pens etc £1.00
  • Timber – 2’’ x 2’’, 2’’ x 1’’, 2’’ x 6’’, 6’ gravel boards, 2’’ x 6’’ in 3 & 4 mtre lengths £1.00 each
  • Scaffold netting – 2m wide 50mtrs & 3m wide 50mtrs in lengths
  • Roll of netting for fruit frames new £5.00
  • 6 x 6 Apex roof overlap shed 1 yr old, immaculate, bearers & slabs inc. £175.00
  •  Roban Excel rat bait blocks 3.5 kilos £15.00
  • Rat bait box £5.00
  •  Egg Boxes New x 64 £5.00
  •  Tatty wooden wall frame from (OK for allotment) £5.00
  • Equally tatty rabbit hutch (used as broody coop) £5.00
  • Chicken run/fruit frame 6’ x 3’ £15.00
  • Corrugated plastic sheets 6’ x 2 £5.00 pair
  •  Makings for runner bean support 4.20 metre – timbers, metal poles and wires £10.00
  • Wooden raised beds – fold flat for storage. 4’ x 2’6’’ (can convert to cold frame – 1 sheet of glass available) x 5 £5.00 each
  •  Camping gas ring and kettle £5.00
  •  Extra large black plastic compost bin (stores flat) £10.00 similar to picture below (cost £70.00 new)
  •  Small extra strong green plastic compost bins (excellent for forcing rhubarb) £5.00 each
  • Galvanised wire 40m unused – supporting fruit trees/fencing etc £5.00
  • 25 metre hose on reel £5.00
  • Concrete slabs 50p each
  • Corrugated compact concrete sheets - free
  • Black currant bush £5.00
  • Red and white currants x 5 £1.00 each
  • 3 or 4 year old peach trees x 2 £8.00 each
  • 4 year old fig £8.00
  • Strawberries 50p each
  • Rhubarb clump £3.00                                             
   Heidi 01621 743906

Tuesday 25 January 2011

I thought a chicken was a chicken!

When is a chicken not a chicken?
Answer:  When it's a Cream Legbar!

Visit Pipineggs.co.uk and you will see that there is no such things as “just” a chicken!

Large chickens include:
 Bantams include:


Jason and Lisa have provided a great, yet simple, encyclopaedia of chicken breeds with useful link for fertile eggs and general information on breeding. 

A website worth a browse!

Monday 24 January 2011

Beekeeper - Glenn Mayes from Ulting - checking the hives summer 20010






checking the hive for disease, brood, honey

two hives - one on left is called Buckingham Palace,
the one on the right is called Wonderland.
we had loads of problems last year with Buckingham Palace - there's a surprise!
honey - dark "bits" are pollen

Lovely honey on a good laden frame

Honey Extracting

putting frames into the honey extractor

frame of honey - the dark "bits" are pollen

two hives made by Thomas Bickerdike
there is also a homemade nuc which is housing a small swarm following intruders knocking over one of the hives
and splitting it.


the homemade nuc - we use a glass chicken water feeder to provide fresh water for the bees
all through the season.  so that the bees can take water easily, stones are put into the lip so that
they don't drown.  dead bees don't produce honey!