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Elliot and the Sheep

Elliot and Selene

As you may have read in Training our rescue dog Elliot and introducing him to the sheep, Elliot has been with us a few weeks and is slowly being trained in the key commands of sit, down and recall. As a farm, we also have to introduce him to our livestock, our sheep and our hens. Our approach combines dog psychology with a hint of training.

One of the reasons we chose this breed, Anatolian Shepherd (aside from already having one), is that they are bred to guard livestock. This means their instincts should be in all the right places when it comes to sheep. Nevertheless, introductions need to be managed carefully for two reasons; first we need to check that Elliot’s attitude towards sheep is as it should be and second, we need to let the sheep know he’s not a threat.

Early indicators were that Elliot would be just fine. He was interested in the sheep, but not fixated. Also, we heard from his foster carer that he had protected a lamb that had strayed into their dog enclosure. All looked good on that side.

Ymogen stands guard
Ymogen stands guard

The sheep, however, needed some convincing. While they have accepted George, their first reaction to Elliot was a bit on the panicky side. One in particular, Ymogen, verged on the edge of hysteria. It only takes one to set the rest off.  As with humans, sheep have a fight or flight response. On seeing a predator, they will either gang up on it or run away. We needed to avoid both of these at all costs. The first could spook Elliot leading to an unpredictable reaction. The second could easily trigger his chase instinct. If either of these happened, the time for introductions would lengthen considerably.

Elliot in the relax position
Elliot in the relax position

The plan was simple. We walked Elliot by the sheep every day, stopping for a while with a fence in between. This gave the sheep time to assess Elliot and us a chance to assess Elliot. The breakthrough was Thursday last week. Elliot had gained my trust so I allowed him to sit at the fence and look at the sheep (hitherto he’d been put in a relax position). About 7 sheep lined up to examine him from a distance of around 3m.

After a few minutes, the flock matriarch, Selene, peeled off and came over. Without ceremony, she stuck her nose through the fence and sniffed him. He sniffed her back. They to’d a fro’d a while until she held position at which point Elliot licked her. At that point, I knew everything was going to be fine.

Elliot and Selene
Elliot and Selene

Later that day, I took Elliot to within 3m of the sheep but with no fence. All but two or three were lying down, chewing the cud. Ymogen was not impressed, but the rest looked at Elliot briefly and carried on. Yssi headed towards us with intent, but 2m away, turned round and flopped down, clearly unworried. Well pleased, I led the dogs away.

Next day, Nicole took Elliot to the fence and once again, Elliot and Selene exchanged a kiss. Later, she walked Elliot in the same field as the sheep but kept a few meters away.  As hoped, 5 or 6 sheep came over. Elliot started to groom Witchy and licked her face all over before moving on to lick Selene’s face. He even licked one of their bottoms, something we encourage (George does this) as clean bottoms reduce the threat of flystrike.

Today (Saturday), Nicole sheared Vera, the last of the sheep to be sheared while Elliot, George and I were in the field next door pulling out thistles. Well, I pulled out thistles while the dogs lolled about, Elliot on his long lead tied to a fence post. The energy was calm and relaxed, perfect (aside from the pesky flies).

Ymogen and Elliot
Ymogen and Elliot

After Vera had had her trim and all the thistles were gone, we took Elliot right up to the flock again. All was fine, the best part being that Ymogen was the first sheep to come and say hello.

Selene and Elliot
Selene and Elliot

There is still much work to be done. All of the above is done with Elliot on a lead. Like all Anatolians, his response to recall is very much dependent on what he’s doing at the time. We are working daily on improving that. There are plenty of exciting distractions here including various wildlife trails (deer and badger), pheasants everywhere, hares and small furry animals galore. Last thing we want is Elliot clearing a stone dyke in pursuit of a deer, our recall command relegated to his to do list.

Also, we’ve postponed his introduction to the chickens as we have a brood of chicks (see Chicks Abroad ). We have noticed Elliot is just ever so slightly more interested in birds than we’d like. It may be that, before being rescued, he hunted birds in order to survive. Who knows. Anyway, we’ll go through a similar process once the chicks are a little larger.

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Chicks Abroad

On Saturday, we spent some time watching our newly hatched chicks in their safe and secure run. It soon became clear that they already needed larger premises. Although they were safe where they were, the grass was showing signs of wear and tear plus, they needed to get out and about and get some natural food and exercise. Also, this means their mother, Mrs Mills Junior (MMJ), can teach them what they need to know. Over time, we have learned the best policy is to trust the animals – they know what they’re doing.

Our hens free range, but we do have fences to keep them away from danger, mainly the track (delivery vans) and neighbours’ cats. Though hens can fly, a 90cm high stock fence is enough to keep them contained.

In their secure facility

Having, some years back, had chicks happily charge through these fences and all over the place, we installed chicken wire around the perimeter. We also put in a few hedgehog tunnels so the hedgehogs could still roam freely. Tiny curtains were enough to stop the chicks. Over time, the odd gap had appeared. mostly around the gates. So, before we could let these chicks out, the main area needed to be checked and made chick proof.

We also decided to move the sheep out. They have been using the lambing shed to keep out of the sun and rain. This is situated in the orchard where the hens roam. Fortunately, we have a field shelter and a “silvo shelter” so we closed off access to the hen area. The other hens will find their roaming area reduced, but it’s still an acre or so.

Sunday, we set to work. I say ‘we’, but mean ‘me’, Nicole being busy with our new dog Elliot, I raised the ground level under three gates using some of the road scalpings we have for just such occasions. Ten barrow loads or so were duly wheeled in. I also attached chicken netting to the gates and made sure the gaps at either end were covered.

That done, we opened the door at the front of the run. MMJ was initially reluctant to set forth, but eventually wandered through. She was closely followed by four chicks. As she headed slightly further away, chick number five ran up and down inside the run, not quite able to work out how to follow her. Thankfully, she did find the exit and caught up.

MMJ and 5 chicks - meets the other hens
Saying hello to the others

Having sat on eggs and chicks for three to four weeks, the first thing MMJ did was have a dust bath. She found a shady corner and got to digging, all the while making contented clucking sounds. The chicks stood around waiting, bored, until having waited long enough, they started jumping all over her. Eventually, MMJ got the hint and took them for a walk. The other hens had seen them by now but, thankfully, seemed completely disinterested. In fact, MMJ took them over to say hello and announced their presence by jumping onto Clippy, the flock matriarch, and giving her a taste of what might happen should she get too close to her precious chicks.

tempted by strawberries
tempted by strawberries

We kept a close eye on them all, but MMJ seemed to know what she was doing so eventually we left her to it. After, of course, we’d tempted them into camera range with a few chopped up strawberries.

Chicks being little cutie pies, we took a few photos and these can be found in the chicks gallery. We may add some as they grow up. In the meantime, it’s loads of stress for us as we worry about cats, kites, buzzards, golden eagles (we have the occasional visit), sparrowhawks, crows, stoats, foxes and so on.

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Baby chicks hatch

About three weeks ago, we mentioned we had a broody hen (Broody Hens Conundrum); Mrs Mills Junior (MMJ) to be precise. After last year when two hens sat on eggs but none hatched, we decided to source fertilised eggs. It was made easy by the fact that MMJ was broody but not actually sitting on any eggs.

Chicken Run - Omlet
secure location

So, we moved her to a secure location, her own personal run safe and secure from the weather, predators and nosey hens. We settled eight eggs underneath her and sat back to wait. 24 days was the time to hatching according to reliable sources.

This week, they hatched, a little early we suspect. First we knew was Friday morning when a tiny ‘seep seep’ could be heard. Peering down the run into the hen house revealed MMJ peering back accompanied by a hatchling stretching its neck to look at us. We had chicks!

We kept our distance, despite much temptation to peek more closely. Today, we were rewarded by the sight of MMJ taking her brood out for a walk in the sunshine. I say walk, what I really meant was nap. MMJ was sitting there happily and one tiny head was poking out from under one of her wings. We both stood and watched, our breath held in anticipation. A few minutes later (long minutes let me tell you), a second head popped out from under her front. Two chicks. Moments later, two more heads. Four chicks.

Eventually, all four squeezed out and started mooching around in the grass under MMJ’s watchful eyes.

At this point, Nicole sneaked round and checked the hen house. Of the eight eggs, five had hatched. We waited and watched, but number 5 never appeared. With things to do, including sheep to shear (Shearing 2022 – hand clipping the woolly Ryelands), we left them to it.

Later on, I made a cuppa for Nicole and took it to her at the shearing pen. On the way back, I checked in on MMJ. She was up and about scratching away happily and was surrounded by five chicks.

This is excellent news. Not only will we have chicks brought up and accepted into the flock, MMJ only had to sit for 3 weeks. Last year, sitting on eggs that turned out not to be fertilised, Clippy and Pepper sat for 9 or 10 weeks, maybe longer, and their condition suffered as a result. MMJ’s comb is bright red, as it should be, and she looks to be in excellent condition. All in all, we are well pleased we decided to give her her own enclosed space.

Next job, check the wider perimeter so the chicks can’t get through the fence onto the track.

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Elliot Arrives In Style

Just over a year ago, we lost Haribo, our collie, to diabetes. This left George as the only canine in the house. While it was tempting to rush out and find him a new friend, we held back. It sounds like a good idea but is, in reality, a double whammy. Dogs are affected by change more than death. Becoming a solo dog was a significant change for George given he’s always had other dogs around. But introducing a second dog  would be further change and would likely cause even more stress.

On top of that, we have come to really like the Anatolian Shepherd breed. They have gentle natures, are good with sheep, good with hens and make excellent guard dogs. They like nothing better than sitting on a hill keeping watch in all directions. The problem is, they are rare in the UK. You can source pure bred puppies, but we are not big fans of pure bred dogs as many come with underlying health issues. Ideally, we’d find another George, a mix of (predominantly) Anatolian and other breeds.

In November, we found Animal Friends of Turkey (AFOT). They are a charity rescuing dogs that face uncertain, or should I say dire futures. We scrolled through the dogs looking for new homes and found a number of Anatolian Shepherds. We wanted to take them all, but realism prevailed and we decided to try and adopt Elliot.

We contacted AFOT and they proved very helpful and approachable. We went through the usual checks and Elliot was reserved for us. It took a while, paperwork and all that, but finally, Elliot set forth for the UK accompanied by 10 other dogs on 24th May this year. That was on the Tuesday. He arrived here on Sunday morning after an astonishing drive from southern Turkey. His first act, after a short walk to introduce him to George was to lay a large poo in George’s bed.

with Adrian
with Adrian

As you might expect, he was a little stressed from all the change, but in true doggie style, he hid it well. George was quite keen to make friends, but Elliot barely gave him a glance. He did, however, show much wariness towards me. This is not unusual, most dogs that have experienced abuse have experienced it from men. It did not take me long to win him over, helped by my giving him his breakfast.

catching up on some sleep
catching up on some sleep

Over the day, Elliot visibly relaxed. He had the odd moment, howling like a wolf to try and rally his now distant pack. But all in all, he settled in very quickly. He is also very intelligent, picking up some of our guidance with only one or two prompts. We took him out for a longer walk in the afternoon and made a start on recall training, a treat given for taking a single step towards us.

At one point, we passed near the sheep. They were somewhat nonplussed at seeing an unknown predator and gathered into a tight bunch before heading over to investigate. We calmly walked Elliot away. He turned to look at the onrushing stampede, tucked into a nearby blade of grass before continuing unperturbed. Formal sheep introductions have yet to take place (best not to do too much at once), but we are confident they will go well.

Nicole decided to stay downstairs overnight and set up the futon in the living room. It turned out to be excellent forethought as Elliot had a panic attack in the middle of the night. He’d probably woken up and wondered where he was, everything being unfamiliar. Nicole was on hand and her calming influence meant it soon passed.

dinner time
dinner time

Today, Elliot has been a revelation. We have set aside a paddock for him to run in and we took him there first thing this morning. The sheep were in the paddock next door and they gathered to inspect him through the gate. They were a little nervous, but as before, Elliot showed no threat and, after a short exchange of glances. I led him away.

By now, Elliot had acknowledged George, but George was playing hard to get. We took them to the paddock to see if they would play. It would be Elliot’s first time off the lead since he got here.

play bow
play bow

First off, Elliot, when called would coming loping over to us, something George has not mastered in his nine years with us. It was a heart-warming experience. However, surrounded by new smells and experiences, Elliot showed little inclination to play despite our best efforts to mimic play bowing. But all of a sudden, he was off, charging round the paddock like a greyhound. He has incredibly long legs. In a flash, George joined in and they bounded around together. They also took turns to lie on their backs in play mode, legs moving as if they were riding an upside down bike, a real sign of mutual trust.

Elliot is going to be a great addition to our household.

play rolly polly
play rolly polly
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Spring in the Veggie Patch

veggie patch planted

As all gardeners, keen or otherwise know, spring is the time for new planting and growth. This is particularly true in the vegetable patch where the salad and vegetables for the coming year are grown. Over the years, we have improved our veggie area and slimmed down our ambitions, basically we grow what works. Less is more and all that. In practice it means none of the tricky little veggies that have 5 minute harvesting windows, like peas for example.

Due to problems with slugs eating everything, in previous years we have grown everything in pots and planted out strong healthy plants. It’s a lot of work and a lot of watering. Two years ago we installed a custom made carrot box that is slug and carrot fly unfriendly. This year, I decided to bite the bullet and plant all the root crops and onions direct. What could go wrong?

spot the onion
spot the onion

The answer in two words is blackbirds and slugs. Now we love blackbirds. We even put out special feed for them; every day. However, 5 years of regular mulching has turned a damp desert into a thriving soil packed with worms. With young to feed, it was the perfect hunting ground for at least one blackbird family. With regular soil disturbance, nothing grew. Well, not strictly true, a couple of turnips poked their heads up, but they didn’t last long. But that could also be down to the slugs. Despite the nematodes, they have been spotted in late evening amongst the fragile vegetables.

Finally, I put the nets up. Nets are great, but they too have their downside, mainly that no matter how carefully you install them, the birds always find a gap. So they need constant checking so the intruders can be released. Occasionally, they have to be cut free. That said, they butterfly nets are essential. Unless, of course, you find picking caterpillars off for hours on end to be a fun activity. Plus, it makes life harder for poor old Mr and Mrs Blackird, cue guilt trip.

Anyway, luckily, I did plant a few ‘reserves’ and they are now planted out so all is not lost. That said, I had to dig up the turnips as they were fast disappearing and a cabbage and kale have also succombed to slug’s munching. On top of all that,  there are zero onions, unlike last year, and only about six beetroots. After writing this, I’ll be off to plant seeds to make up for what’s missing. In pots. In the greenhouse.

polytunnel salad crops
polytunnel salad crops

The polytunnel is planted up and is looking good. However, I made the mistake of turning the automated watering system off during the winter months. Result, soil that makes the Gobi desert resemble a water meadow. Cue lots of watering. I turned on the automated watering system to find it wasn’t working. The timer was working fine but only a trickle of water emerged at the alloted times. Baffled, I took it to pieces. Amazed at the engineering ingenuity but finding no obvious fault, I put it back together again. To my surprise, it now works perfectly.

Despite all of this, we are hoping for another good crop leading to a winter packed with fresh soups

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Broody Hens Conundrum

hens in hen run

With spring fully underway, though the weather doesn’t feel like it, we are on the lookout for broody hens. Each year, one or two of our hens decides it’s time to sit on eggs. Each has their own particular approach.

Clippy likes to disappear, much like her mother did. All of a sudden, she’ll just go off the radar and we’ll be wondering where she is. We’re never quite sure and worry that some predator has taken her. Then a few days later, we’ll catch a glimpse of her sneaking towards the food dispensers, often giving the other hens a wide berth. Putting our private detective hats on, we try to follow her back without being seen. Not easy in an open field with the tiny apple trees providing the only cover. Last year, she built a nest in a newly planted woodland area, under a bramble and right up against the fence to one of the neighbouring properties. We managed to locate it and had a quick look while she was off on one of her excursions and saw thirteen eggs (again, just like her mother).

The weeks went by. Nothing. Now hens’ eggs should hatch in around 24 days, so something was wrong. In fact, not a single egg hatched but it was months before Clippy gave up. It took her a long time to rebuild her condition.

Chicken Coop - Green Frog
Chicken Coop – Green Frog

Pepper, on the other hand, decided to go broody in the Green Frog henhouse. We have three henhouses, Green Frog, Solway and Omlet so our hens have plenty of choice. Normal night time spot is Green Frog (or the bushes behind it). The favourite laying spot is one of the two nest boxes in Green Frog. That said, sometimes they switch and lately the eggs have been laid in Solway (4 available boxes). Omlet (just the one nest box) has been out of favour for a while.

So, back to Pepper. Last year she decided to go broody and make her nest in Green Frog. On the plus side, we could easily monitor her. On the down side, constant interruption. Hens do like a bit of peace and quiet when they’re sitting on eggs. However, the other hens took umbrage at being locked out of their favourite nest box and made quite a racket at laying time. Well, more than usual. In fact, they managed to dislodge Pepper more than once as we found her in the left box one, day the right box the next day, then back to the left one, and so on.

Chicken Coop - Solway
Chicken Coop – Solway

We moved her and her eggs to Solway thinking that would give her some security. But as soon as Solway opened the following dawn, she was back into Green Frog. We moved her eggs back but the nest box hopping continued. As with Clippy, none hatched. The whole experience took such a toll on Pepper that she lost a lot of weight and feathers. She was in a very poor state and we started giving her extra feed to help her recover. Predators are all always on the lookout for weak or distressed animals and a local stoat took his opportunity and snatched her. Luckily, it was witnessed by Nicole who was out in flash, in her slippers, and rescued Pepper. She made a full recovery, Pepper that is.

Cherokee the cockerel
Cherokee the cockerel

So, the question arose; why so many eggs and no hatchlings? Our attention turned to Cherokee. Now, Cherokee has blossomed since he moved in with us a few years back. He came from a house nearby where he’d survived a dog attack in which all his hens had died. He had subsequently been left to his own devices. We offered to take him and, over time, he’s gone from shy and tetchy to become Mr Cool as Mince. The problem is, he’s so cool he can’t really be bothered to catch the hens. He gets a sudden urge and lopes across the grass to the nearest hen, full of intent. She hears him coming, takes one look and makes herself scarce. Cherokee arrives where said hen was moments before, stops and looks around in a puzzled demeanour. Sometimes he catches them, but more often than not he gives up and goes off to find something to eat. His predecessor was far more persistent. Or, perhaps, Cherokee is just firing blanks.

We scratched our heads and came up with a possible solution.

Saturday past, Mrs Mills Junior (MMJ) went broody and settled down in Green Frog. We gave her a couple of days to make sure it wasn’t a false alarm and then moved her to Omlet. We had set Omlet up with its own private run which is predator proof. MMJ, surprisingly, had not laid any eggs, so we got the latest one, laid earlier in Solway, and put it in her new nest. Of course, MMJ was not too impressed and scurried around her new run squawking irritably, perhaps trying to find her way back to Green Frog. We gave her time to settle and next day, she was sitting on her single egg. Broodiness had trumped indignance.

Chicken Run - Omlet
Chicken Run – Omlet

Knowing this one egg may not be fertile, not wanting her to sit there all summer and wanting some new chicks, we sourced some fertile eggs from Backyard Chickens near Dalbeattie. Today, we zipped down there and collected them. We drove back with Nicole clutching the carefully packed eggs to protect them from the myriad of potholes that are a feature of roads in Dumfries and Galloway.

Chicken Run - Omlet
Omlet kitted out for restful brooding

Getting back, we carefully opened Omlet and reached in to pick up MMJ so we could put the eggs in place. MMJ was having none of it and shot off into her run squawking as if a giant fox was right behind her. Quietly, we placed the eight eggs in her nest and retreated. Minutes later, she was back on her nest making contented noises.

Hopefully in 24 day’s time, we’ll be reporting on squeaks and baby chickens.

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The Perils of a Damp Fleece

fluffy fleece

If there’s one thing sheep are good at, aside from scoffing copious amounts of grass, it’s getting into pickles. These include activities such as getting your head stuck in a fence (more common in the younger members of the flock), going into panic when you realise the rest of the flock have wandered off and left you behind, getting wrapped up in brambles, getting over walls and fences into neighbouring fields, and so on. Also, the tups are quite adept at removing gates from hinges in order to meet the ladies.

Yndia and Pinkie
Yndia and Pinkie

Some pickles are related to the time of year and, right now, wet fleeces are problem number one. This is not because a wet fleece is, in itself,  cause for concern. If it were, then sheep would never survive the winter. The problem is that at this time of year, pre shearing, the fleeces are big, fluffy and crammed with wool. When they get wet, they get heavy. Again, this is all fine until… …the sheep decides it’s time to do a rolly polly.

Rolly pollies usually occur when a sheep is lying down, cudding or just generally relaxing, and decides to get up. Instead of just standing, it executes a clever roll straight onto its feet. This works well and is quite impressive –  until the weight of a heavy fleece stops the roll in its tracks. Once on its back and weighed down by said wet fleece, a sheep can become trapped. The proper term is ‘cast’. This is not a good position for any of us, but it’s particularly uncomfortable for a sheep as now, all its insides are pressing in the wrong places. Not to put too fine a point on it, if they are not found within a few hours, they can die.

Yarr woolly sheep
Yarr and his woolly fleece

Our rolly polly commander in chief is Yarr (pictured left). He has a particularly woolly fleece and a penchant for rolly pollies. He much prefers to roll out of a lying position as standing up would not be showy enough. Normally, he gets away with it as he’s pretty strong. But a quick downpour and a wet fleece and he can be in trouble.

So far, this year, he’s only got himself trapped the once and was found pretty quickly. We know this because he showed no signs of distress on being righted, other than a need to blow his nose. In previous years, on being rescued, he has been sometimes been quite shaky. He also displays a remarkable aptitude for looking for the rest of the flock in all the wrong places. In fact, it took me an hour to reunite him and, at one point, involved me running up a hill (to the gate) with a bucket of nuts just in front of his nose. We both had to stop to catch our breath at the top, panting for all we were worth.

For us, this means regular checks throughout the day, usually no more than two hours apart. This is paying off as, so far this year, aside from Yarr only Ynca has managed to get herself cast and she too was found in good time.

We’ll be shearing them soon and that will make the problem go away for another year. But the checks will continue as we move into flystrike and midgie season.

 

 

 

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Drystane Dyke Restored

Earlier this year, I wrote about a drystane dyke that had a small gap of fallen stones but was to be a major repair (Major Stone Dyke Repairs After Walker Damage). It has taken a while, but repairs are finally complete. All in all, I had to take down 17 metres of dyke to find two relatively stable upright sections at either end. Indeed, such is the poor state of the wall, I could easily have taken a further 10-15m down. But there’s only one of me and I try not to bite off more than I can chew.

drystane dyke repairsThe problem is that the wall is old and there has been settlement along its length. The settlement is uneven and this causes the wall to lean, much like the Leaning Tower of Pisa. However, a drystane dyke leans in both directions and ends up looking like a drunken snake. The top stones, originally held in place by gravity, end up held in place by friction with gravity trying to pull them down. The merest touch can send them tumbling with a cascade effect. Indeed, you have to be careful of mini rock ‘avalanches’ when taking it down.

drystane dyke repairsI also had the joy of manipulating some rather large stones, ones that I knew if I put on the ground I’d never get back up again. So I had to repair the bottom half in stages, shuffling these monsters along. Once I had the bottom half complete, I spaced them out and they looked like giant’s teeth.

Bit by bit, I rebuilt it until, this week, encouraged by milder weather and the appearance of what was beginning to feel like spring sunshine, I got to the point where I had just the top to do. This can take a while as you can spend a lot of time pondering which stone to use next (not to mention trying to find the tape measure you had in your hand moments ago) – the goal is a straight line at the top, not easy with stones of various shapes and sizes.

As ever, with just a few meters to go, I had to keep going and yesterday, around tea time, I was able to step back and sigh gratefully. My back complained but the pain was trumped by the joy of finally seeing the drystane dyke restored. And, I have to say, I am mucho pleased with how it looks.

The next repair is already beckoning (these dykes have been somewhat neglected), but I have a few other jobs to get on with, not least writing my second novel and getting this year’s veggies planted.

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New Apple Trees Planted

new apple trees

Last year, we extended our paddock area with the addition of what we creatively call the ‘new paddock‘. While it’s great for the sheep (more grass and space), we thought it would be good to add in something for ourselves. We already have a few apple trees but not enough to make cider vinegar, cider and keep a few bye for those winter pot roasts. So we decided to add some apple trees.

This turned out not to be as easy as it sounds.

new apple tree protectedFirst, there must have been a run on apple trees last year because we couldn’t find any at our usual suppliers. ‘Out of stock’ loomed large and often across every web site we visited. Eventually we found some at the aptly named ‘Adam’s Apples‘. We bought a pack of ten and sat back to await their delivery. Bare rooted trees need to be planted in the winter months so even when ordered in the summer, they are not shipped till the planting season.

We received our email of impending delivery in January. We smiled in anticipation.

Now, these trees were going in a paddock to which our sheep have access, so they needed protection. Having planned ahead, I had already bashed in the 40 stobs and screwed on the rails. Thinking ahead, I had not added the stock fencing which would have made it hard to dig any holes.

Of course, first the trees had to get here. The courier was one we had not heard of before and that got us to worry level one. New couriers have a track record of going missing in action round here. Sure enough, the courier never showed but the tracking showed our trees as delivered. Worry Level 5. It was a Friday evening with harsh frost forecasted. Worry level 8. If these trees had been left out, they were in peril. I rang the courier company (who shall remain nameless) and was told to contact the shipper. No help there then. I contacted Adam’s Apples only for them to find the courier had downed tools for the weekend. We were now at worry level 10, but there was nothing we could do.

Monday morning and I was up the hill repairing a stone dyke from where I saw a large green van (clue) arrive, execute a fast turn and disappear. When I came down for a tea break, I found the trees leaning against the front door and ‘neatly’ carved up grass verges.

new apple treesWell, at least the trees had arrived.

I unpacked them and they looked OK so I quickly heeled them in. A couple of days later, Nicole and I set off to plant them. I dig the holes and she does the planting, we make a good team. Digging the holes took a fair amount of effort due to the rather large number of stones I had to dig out. But, with good sized holes, a dash of leaf mould (rich in mycorrhizal fungi), home made compost and feed, the roots will have the best possible start.

After digging the ten holes, I then ran round adding the fencing before the sheep cottoned on to what we were up to. They’d have stripped the bark in seconds.

We are delighted with the results and look forward to a bumper crop. In an amazing fit of organisation, I even made a map of which trees are planted where – they are all different varieties.

Next job, find somewhere to install the apple press. Hmm…

 

 

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Major Stone Dyke Repairs After Walker Damage

Regular visitors to this blog will know I spend a fair amount of time repairing the dry stone dykes we have here. We inherited some fallen down sections from the previous owners and a couple of storms did some damage as well. However, the latest repair is down to what can best be described as inconsiderate behaviour by walkers who clambered over one of the most fragile sections of wall, loosening and dislodging a few stones in the process.

dry stone dyke damage to topAt first glance, it seems like nothing. You can see the small gap in the photo to the right. You might ask why I didn’t just replace the fallen stones. The answer is that it’s not that simple. What the photo doesn’t capture is that the wall is leaning quite markedly away as you look at the photo. So, the seating for the stones is not level and in any attempt to replace them, gravity would simply pull them back to the ground. Even if you could get them to stay there, it would only be a matter of time before they fell off again.

The wall is important to us as it keeps the sheep from wandering off into the forest next door. So, the first thing we did was put an emergency sheep fence up.

stone dyke repairs - large stones
large stones sitting on wall

The problem with old dry stone dykes is, in a word, settlement. A dry stone dyke comprises essentially of two walls built in parallel. Between the walls are placed what we call filling stones and these keep the walls upright. Half way up, large stones are laid across the two walls to hold them together. These are called through stones and they give the wall its strength. Then two more walls are built on top of the through stones and these are capped with a neat line of coping stones. Sometimes, if the stones are large, the top half is a single wall. This is called a Galloway March style and is common here.

In fact, some of the upper stones were so large I did not want to put them on the ground as I worried I’d never get them back up again. This meant I had to repair the wall in stages, building it up to the half way point, then rolling the large stones along – you can see this in the photo to the left.

Over time, some of the filling stones settle causing the stones in the lower walls to collapse inwards. Also, the two walls settle differently meaning that one ends up higher than the other. The through stones are pulled away from being level. Now, the top wall is sitting on a slope and leaning. Instead of gravity holding the wall together, it’s now pulling it down. The wall is now in a fragile state.

dry stone dyke repairs leftLooking at these photos, you might be wondering why so much wall is missing for such a small repair. The problem is that this wall is old and is leaning in both directions for much of its length. If you look down it, it weaves back and forth like a drunken snake. To make a neat repair, you need to find two upright and stable sections and repair the entire portion inbetween. For this particular damaged section, the nearest stable section to the left of the damaged section was about 1m away. However, to the right at weaved back and forth for around 16m before it had a short upright section. These walkers probably had no idea how much work they were creating for me.

first part repairedThe photo to the right does not even show the whole picture. The original area of damage is to the left end of the string, where the brown bit of bush can be seen.

I took down around 8m and repaired the first 4m (where the string is), leaving a further 2-3m of stable half built wal on which I could store the large stones from the right hand side. Soon after this photo was taken, I took down another 8m, pretty much all the wall shown in the picture.

To the left, you can see the repaired bit (it has less moss and lichen) along with a burgeoning collection of large stones sitting on the half built section.

stone dyke repairsA few weeks and much work later, I have finally got past the half way stage. I have now completed the first lift, the lower two walls capped with through stones. I now have a stable lower section of wall. I just have to fill in some gaps between the the through stones and I can maneouvre the large stones into place. After that, I can build it up to its full height.

dry stone dyke repairs - snow Progress has been interrupted by the arrival of some apple trees that need planting along with some snow. It’s not the cold that stops me working on the wall, more the danger of heavy snow covered stones slipping out of my hands onto my feet. There’s a limit to the protection offered by steel toecaps. Also, little patches of snow can get wedged inbetween the rocks making them feel stable, however, when the snow melts the rocks will suddenly be loose.

There’s still a fair amount of work to be done plus a few heavy stones to lift back into place (some of them did fall to the ground). But the end is in sight. That said, there are a few further sections crying out for my attention, so 2022 could be the year of dry stone dyke repairs. It’s a good job I quite enjoy repairing dry stone dyke, it’s hard work, but also very creative.