The Accidental Smallholder

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ISSUE 6, January 2014 Breeding sheep part 2 With January nearly over many smallholders' minds turn to lambing, that time of interrupted sleep, cuteness personified and the realisation of last year's carefull planning. We've just published part 2 of our guide to Breeding Sheep, covering the period after tupping, from pre-lambing care to post-natal care. It includes a peek inside our lambing box, specially cleaned and tidied for the occasion! » Read the Breeding Sheep series Growing potatoes For the first in our new series of growing guides for popular vegetables, we've chosen the magnificent potato. If you've never grown spuds before, this is the year to start. They aren't difficult to grow, and you can get a reliable crop from containers, so space isn't an issue. Read on, and you needn't be embarrased next time someone asks you how your chitting is going! » Growing potatoes Real men do eat quiche Although we sell a lot of eggs at our farm gate, there always comes a time of year when supply outstrips demand. We like pickled eggs, but there's a limit to how many we can eat! So last year we started experimenting with freezing eggs. Last week we defrosted some eggs frozen in May and used them to make a couple of quiches - smoked salmon, and cheese and onion. The results were excellent, so we've put a wee bit on the TAS website about freezing eggs, and put the quiche recipe in the Recipes area. If you try it please let us know how you get on. :-) » Read the recipe What we've been up to Apart from developing webbed feet, as most of you probably have too, we've been busy in January with: Routine animal care, including administering a fluke drench to our sheep, and a pour-on to our cattle, sheep and cattle hoof trimming, and worming poultry. Pruning gooseberries and raspberries Preparing the polytunnel for early planting Mulching rhubarb and fruit trees with well-rotted manure Starting to clear one of those massive piles of stone, rubble and soil that every smallholding seems to have! In February we'll be turning our attention to the orchard, pruning our apple trees and preparing to plant another 50 trees. As ever you can see photos of most of what we do on our Facebook page and our diary. What about you? We'd love to hear what you've been up to this winter, and what you have planned for the spring. Come tell us on our forums, via Facebook or plain old email. January supplies for smallholders It's still dark, it's still wet, and it's still cold, but spring is on the horizon! Here are a few things from the TAS Shop that we've bought this month, that you might need too. As ever if there's anything we don't stock that you'd like please get in touch and we'll do our best to get it for you and save you money. All things lambing While putting together the content for our sheep breeding articles we had a good check over our lambing box and lambing supplies and topped up on a few things. There's a full range of lambing supplies available at the TAS Shop at competitive prices - everything from obstetric gel to colostrum. Rutland electric fence energisers We've used a number of brands of energisers over the years, and have settled on Rutland as our brand of choice. Last year we bought the excellent ESB 225, although if you follow suit make sure you also have a battery to fit it (unlike us)! We've got a full range of Rutland energisers and accessories in the TAS Shop at very competitive prices - if you find them at a lower price at a reputable retailer please let us know. Clulite Clu-Briter handheld torch After recommending this as a Christmas gift we ended up getting one for ourselves. It's a pistol-style rechargeable LED torch with a powerful spot beam shining over 250m and is a great everyday torch. Did we mention it's rechargable? On the forums A few selected highlights from the forums in recent days: Poultry & Waterfowl Help chicken run has 3 inches of mud, ID my duck, Eggs from hens running with a cockerel. Sheep Vasectomised ram vs sponging, Sheep costs, Finishing lambs, Correct way to open feed bags, Do all sheep need Heptavac?. Pigs Feeding rolled barley, Age limit for slaughter, Do weaners need tags?, Home killing / butchery Vegetables, Herbs and Fruit Seed composts, Garden-scale wheat growing, Herb gardens, Nut pruning, Fruit bushes as a windbreak Elsewhere Weed control fabric, Gardening with pallets, Pruning willow,  Marketplace - buy and sell for free Special offers Subscribe to Country Smallholding Magazine for £28 for 13 issues Subscribe to Your Chickens Magazine for £21 for 12 issues Free p&p at Thomson & Morgan