Today (Thursday 10th April 2008) I spotted the first butterfly of the season. It was a peacock butterfly. I spotted it this morning about 10am in my vegetable garden.
Have you spotted any butterflies this year yet? - Let me know which butterfly you saw, where you saw it and when you saw it.
Butterflies Insects Peacock ButterflyCagney the Saddleback sow has had her second litter and this morning when I went out to the farrowing pen at 6.30am there were 10 piglets. Nine of the piglets were feeding but one of the piglets was lying near Cagney’s face. He was still alive but panting. When I managed to pick him up, the piglet was cold. I placed him under the lamp and went to make up some milk and get my husband Steve. We tried to get the piglet to suckle from the sow but he wasn’t strong enough, so we decided to bring the piglet into the house. We gave him some powdered milk and then placed him in a tray with a towel in the warming oven of the aga.
I am thrilled to say that after an hour the piglet was able to sit up and when I tried to feed him again he was wriggling about so much that I decided to take him back outside to the others. This was exactly the right thing to do as he was moving about with the others as soon as I returned him and it quickly became difficult to see which one he was.
I am keeping my eye on the piglets to make sure that they all suckle from Cagney, so I’ll let you know how they get on. I have taken some photos and will post them up later.
British Saddlebacks Farrowing Pig Management Piglets Pigs SaddlebacksI have harvested my first radish this week and I have to say that it was delicious. Thanks to the excellent growing advice from Topveg I have now been growing radish for the last two years successfully.
Farming Friends & TopVeg have collaborated to create a How To Grow Summer Radish growing card.
Click on the image to enlarge and if you wish to print off this growing card, right click on the enlarged image and then click print picture to print out a copy.
If you would like this document as a pdf, just contact farmingfriends and I will email you the document.
I find that radish tastes better when it is harvested young and has not had time to get woody and have a bitter taste.
If you have any recipes using radish then I would like to hear them, so please leave a comment - thanks.
Food Growing Cards Homegrown vegetables Radish TopVeg VegetablesThe incubation period for grouse eggs is 25 days.
The temperature in the incubator for grouse eggs is 99.5 degrees fahrenheit.
The humidity level (wet bulb thermometer) for grouse eggs is 82-86 degrees fahrenheit.
The final day of egg rotation for grouse eggs is day 22.
Please note that all of this information is only a guide and that this information may differ according to the incubator manufacturer’s guide.
Always consult the manufacturer’s guide when using an incubator and automatic egg turner.
Egg Rotation eggs Grouse grouse eggs Hatching Humidity Incubation Incubator TemperatureParsnips are a Winter vegetable but parsnips are generally planted in March and April.
Farming Friends & TopVeg have now collaborated to create a How To Grow Parsnips growing card.
Click on the image to enlarge and if you wish to print off this growing card, right click on the enlarged image and then click print picture to print out a copy.
If you would like this document as a pdf, just contact farmingfriends and I will email you the document.
I intend to print off copies and then laminate the sheet so that I can use the growing card with my school gardening club in the future.
Teachers, children, vegetable growers and anyone interested in growing parsnips are welcome to print off this growing card for their own use.
Other growing cards we have already created;
If you have any other growing cards that you would like Farming Friends & TopVeg to create then please leave a comment and we will be happy to create it for you.
Food Growing Cards Homegrown vegetables parsnips TopVeg VegetablesThe incubation period for Egyptian Goose eggs is 35 days.
The temperature in the incubator for Egyptian Goose eggs is 99.5 degrees fahrenheit.
The humidity level (wet bulb thermometer) for Egyptian Goose eggs is 86-88 degrees fahrenheit.
The final day of egg rotation for Egyptian Goose eggs is day 32.
Please note that all of this information is only a guide and that this information may differ according to the incubator manufacturer’s guide.
Always consult the manufacturer’s guide when using an incubator and automatic egg turner.
Click on the image below to visit Amazon.co.uk to find out more about this book or visit one of the Farming Friends Bookshops.
Egg Rotation eggs Egyptian Geese Egyptian Goose Goose Goose eggs Hatching Humidity Incubation Temperature
The incubation period for mallard duck eggs is 26 and a half -27 days.
The temperature in the incubator for mallard duck eggs is 99.5 degrees fahrenheit.
The humidity level (wet bulb thermometer) for mallard duck eggs is 84-88 degrees fahrenheit.
The final day of egg rotation for mallard duck eggs is day 23 - 24.
Please note that all of this information is only a guide and that this information may differ according to the incubator manufacturer’s guide.
Always consult the manufacturer’s guide when using an incubator and automatic egg turner.
Click on the image below to visit Amazon.co.uk to find out more about this book or visit one of the Farming Friends Bookshops.
Duck eggs Ducks Egg Rotation eggs Hatching Humidity Incubation Incubator Mallard Temperature
Chicken Penpal Scheme only £12
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MF 35 (23C) Engine Rebuild DVD only £15.99 +P&P
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