2008 plans

Working tonight (we are quiet on ITU so what's the guess I will be farmed out to another ward), but have got loads done this morning and afternoon.
Bartering and little swaps of eggs and veg have been so useful to me over the past year! I have gotten quite good at it. Today the lady at the veg shop came up trumps and I collected a ton of slightly over ripe tomatoes and lettuce for the girls (a few stories about the chickens coupled with a few eggs have worked wonders with her) People love feeling that they contribute to the well being of a few animals in some small way, and getting people on board has been rather fun.
2008 plans have bee on my mind today!
I have the promise of a cockerel from one of the very Welsh country nurses I work with, so next year I do hope to rear a few of my own hybrids as well as a whole flock of ducklings. The runner ducks will be the cash crop of the year whereas new layers will take over from the likes of Robina, who have stopped laying.The whole of the field has now been effectively cropped close by the poultry, leaving me a blank canvass on which the new vegetable patches will be laid this spring.
I think I shall write to the owners of the orchard which is located behind our cottage yet again and see if they would consider a rental? The ducks would benefit form a move beneath the apple trees and would clear the overgrown untidy look of the place. (I could preserve apples and pears without feeling I am scrumping all the time).
The picture is of suddenly friendly new hen Beatrice, who has taken over from Mildred Pierce in the matey stakes.