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Valkyrie

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Yup.  Definitely diddy blue tit - such a cute photo.😍  Just like the one I rescued from the greenhouse then walked all round for it to find it's mummy.  Chiffchaffs are little brown birds.  I've not seen one down low - they like the upper tree canopy.  I wonder if anyone has ever had them on a feeder?  First time for everything - we have had long tailed tits on the feeders for years - apparently it's a recent thing for them to do, so maybe . . . 

 

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So annoyed - I was reading Country Smallholding and it referred to some weedkiller that is being passed on to gardeners and growers without them knowing - even Charles Dowding has had an upset due to it.  Called aminopyralid residue which is passed on via contaminated hay and horse manure.  Seeing as I had spent mushroom compost I'm guessing it was in there.  Watching his video about it I realised that was my broad beans all over.  So I asked him should I eat the few beans on them - and not compost the haulms - and he said no.  So upsetting and I understand entirely how upset he must be - it's his livelihood!  So now I wait and see what happens to the French and runner beans that I've just put in.  The spuds seem fine so it maybe just an isolated bed.  It affects legumes and solaniums (so that includes spuds and toms) among a few other things while others are immune.

A plus is that I've pulled up some of the garlic and it is looking great.  The onions and brassicas are looking good too, so I've more kale and calabrese to go in where the broad beans were - and here I was thinking it was the weather or just being late to plant.

Meanwhile in the pond we have diddy little frogs!  Soooo blinking cute!

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Very sorry about your broad beans Valkyrie - I've had exactly the same problem with ours and I'm extremely cross.  Like you I'm waiting to see what will happen with the other beans I have in.  On a more positive note - we went to see some lambs today - they should be moving into our field in a couple of weeks.  

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M&M it's so frustrating.  I hope the rest of your beans are OK - I am hoping that by the time we reached where the current beans are, we were using another batch.  Initially we only had one truck of both sorts - we've since had 4 trucks - one is normal compost (and that's still hot when we get it) and the mushroom compost in separate loads.  We still have 2 piles that will eventually get used, but this last lot was at the bottom of the pile and hopefully the contaminated batch was near the top.  I don't blame the compost man and I don't blame the mushroom growers - it's the people who use the weedkiller and then sell off the "quality hay" to unsuspecting parties.  I doubt they even care - I guess that if the weedkiller is in the cupboard and they've got a lot, then they'll use it rather than waste it or dispose of it in possibly unscrupulous ways so if it's in the system, then they've passed it on illegally.  I think the first batch was used entirely for the garlic and onions, next was the potatoes and then the beans.

Up really early today - the magpie babies fledged yesterday evening and this morning they are hungry - squawk squawk squawk!  Kind of cute later in the day!  I had to get up at one stage to see if one had been caught by a crow or something, but no - feed me NOW!  Although the rusty hinge noises do wear the ear drums, I love them at that gawky wobbly stage, then they get to playful stage, then hunter and then off they go.  The little feathery orcas.  Then we add the pheasant.  I was calling him Phileas Fogg but I have changed it to Phineas - because it rolls off the tongue easier when I go Phin phin.:lol:

Girls were kicking off early today as well.  As only Dusty (and Curly) laid yesterday the evil twins are wanting the nestbox without onlookers!

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Behind the scenes - front row audience!:lol:

Mainly sheep, cattle and horses here - because the ground is so shallow.  So saying that on the opposite side they have deep clay and natural springs popping up all over the place!

20190630_155025.jpg

I'm a glass half full kind of gal!:lol:

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22 hours ago, Minnie&Moose said:

Very sorry about your broad beans Valkyrie - I've had exactly the same problem with ours and I'm extremely cross.  Like you I'm waiting to see what will happen with the other beans I have in.  On a more positive note - we went to see some lambs today - they should be moving into our field in a couple of weeks.  

I have seen fields of blighted and black broad beans around here - is this what you're seeing?

I was watching the hay being baled on a walk just this afternoon; quite a lot of it on my regular routes - the rest is either oats or rapeseed this year.

M&M, do tell me when the lambs arrive - I owuld love to see them.

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DM if you look on the posting with the link it has Charles Dowding's beans in amongst other healthy broad beans - mine are identical - the leaves curl inwards and just look weedy.  I did think it was the weather conditions being new here and not seeing anything like it before.  The flowers were pretty poorly but those that I planted out had just started to flower and the pods formed, a few, but the rest weren't really growing.  I gather it took a while for the weedkiller to work - which was why the sown direct looked fine for a short while and then they too curled up with few to zero flowers and no beans setting whatsoever.  The black means there has been some damage to the plant, possibly aphids?  At least it wasn't pesticide!  Was working out where the compost went, and it was indeed on that first patch.  Quietly confident that the bottom of the mushroom compost is better, but I'm still watching.  Otherwise it'll have to be fill the spot with every other veg instead.

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On 6/30/2019 at 10:11 PM, Valkyrie said:

If we get planning permission you can stay indoors.  Or the stable.  There has been more talking about alpacas today!

They are the funniest animals and so easy to look after.  We got 4 this time last year for our couple of acres.

Stan.jpg

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😍 I do love alpacas.  The soft squidgy fleece of the huacayas and the lovely dreadlocks of the suris.  I've been looking online and they can be litter trained and clicker trained.  Now having trimmed toes with a lot of whingeing furballs, I think if only I could get them to present each foot without wrestling . . . I do dream a lot!

Baling today - we kept about 32 for us, some went to our friends who were helping to do all this work and some went to another lady who's goats are eating her out of house and home!  

In addition to driving the tractor around the field the other day (yayyyy bucket list item ticked) today I towed a trailer, reversed it and then drove round the field while bales were thrown on.  First lot we kept and then more was thrown on and I drove round the lanes.  I lost 2 bales on our friends land just before we got to the barn!  I could see them bulging over the side and was convinced I lost it on the last turn in the lane to the barn and sure enough there they were in front one of their field gates, so they'd stayed on all down the long driveway!  Phew!  It was fun though.  Felt a true rebel - no indicators (electrical link to the tow bar wasn't working - our friend thinks that the garage hasn't fitted properly - that doesn't surprise me because they hadn't linked it correctly with regard the reversing camera) and there was no way I was going to make hand signals.  I need a bit more practice with reversing, but I was well chuffed with myself!  Yeah, I know - ole big 'ed!🤣

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