Spring Bulbs, Pretty eggs and Free chickens

I have been collecting spring bulbs since September, in the end, I had around 600.

The plan for the garden is to get rid of the raised beds that were here when we moved in, extend the border that we made last year, to all along the outside of the garden, and turn it into a cottage garden. 

Re-turf the grass, to get it looking lush again and add a few more seating areas, as well as a little play area for Bea.

Bea is forever my little helper and was very keen to get her hands dirty.

I dug the holes and she popped in the blubs.

Some of the Bulbs that we planted;

• an array of different types of tulips
• Alliums,
• Daffodils,
• Iris,
• Hyacinth,
• Spanish bluebells,

I still have a few more to plant but I'm very hopeful that the new borders are going to look amazing in spring.

Once winter is over we will get onto the turfing and other bits in the garden.

This year my advent calendar is a seed advent from the Rose press garden.

 24 packets of seeds that I can add to my spring and summer borders.

I cannot wait to get sowing them in the greenhouse.

The chickens are nearly all out of their autumn molt and some are back laying.

Ivy my olive egger hasn't laid in months and she is back giving me the most gorgeous olive eggs.

Lilith my dark brown egger has even started to lay again, she had a really hard molt and I wasn't expecting to see her eggs till spring.

This time last year they were all locked up due to bird flu, so it is lovely to still have them out and about in the garden, they are all looking really good and I'm keeping my fingers crossed we won't have to deal with another flock down.

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Hens and Flowers

Dahlia season is in full swing and the garden is just popping with these beautiful blooms.

At the end of last season, I dug up all my tubers and stored them over winter, I wasn't sure how they'd hold up so I went a little crazy and bought a few more (when I say few it was a fair few.) just incase they all went rotten.

Thankfully they didn't, I think about two rotted away but the rest stayed in good condition, so I have ended up with 21 Dahlia tubers in total.

One didn't make the bloom.

It just didn't end up doing anything and doesn't look like it rotted so I'm not sure what happened with that one.

The main ones that have opened up so far are ones from last year, the new ones are taking a little bit longer to open, but I can see that there on their way.

Café au lait is definitely one of my all-time favourites. I have some other dinner plate varieties this year, so I cannot wait to see what they look like.

Eveline is one of the new tubers for this year and she is just beautiful!

Copper Boy has come back even stronger this year and I've had loads of flower heads already.

The hens are happy to be back out and about, they are still suffering from feather loss and a meanie in the flock but slowly their feathers are re-growing and with the extra vitamin boosts and high protein treats they are getting I am hoping by the end of the summer their full fluffy bottoms will be back!

Another bloom that is doing better this year is my sweet peas!

Last year I think I got one flower head and just a load of leaves. I sowed a fair few back in the autumn and they have done ok, but the ones that have been really successful are the ones I sowed by seed directly into the ground in the spring! They are beautiful and full of sweet scents, every time I pass under the arch I get a great sniff of perfume.

Even though the girls are busy growing back their feathers, we are still getting around 3-4 eggs a day.

Lovely orange yolks and healthy shells, so I know they are feeding well and are happy.

Last year I fell in love with cosmos so I made sure to overdo it with the seeds this year, and get a few varieties and they haven't disappointed.

I have them planted up by my greenhouse and in one of my main Dahlia beds.

I'll be sharing more of the garden flowers, once they are in full bloom.

I'll also be sharing what's growing in the greenhouse in a week or two.

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