drip irrigation

Getting the old drip lines out of the container: (Bruno supervising)

Three years ago when we moved, we picked up yards and yards of drip lines from the old strawberry beds, which were coiled round and packed into the container - now they are all working once again, connected up round the field and delivering water drip by drip to the newly planted trees. You just never know when something might come in useful! -again.
CT

civ civ civ civ !!

Four chicks!  Pinky has successfully produced four beautiful civ civs in four colours: white, off-white, pink & grey-ish black.  Today they are 6 days old and have been out of the flower pot for a walk.

And another hen (maybe) is sitting on some more eggs: Darky decided she wanted to sit on eggs last week and she is adamant - attacking & pecking anyone who dares to steal her clutch... So each day we duly removed the eggs she had claimed, and each day she obstinately refused to come out of the loft and just sat there in the heat, brooding.  So on Saturday we decided to allow her four eggs - but to keep her separate I made a nest for her and her eggs in a large flower pot.  She ate all the food, drank the water, then took a flying leap, jumped out and called for Cocky to come and rescue her - which he did; she ran off after the other hens and I took the eggs & put them in the fridge. (scrambled eggs for lunch that day).
Sunday we had the same procedure, and I ended up chasing a delinquent hen, so today she's securely shut up inside the flower pot with fresh hay, feed, water, and some eggs and a roof she can't escape through.
All this means that there's not an egg to be had in the house - this morning's muffins had to be made with yoghurt to stick them together, no eggs left!
Cost per egg (CPE) also remains high, no longer reducing by the day, and our eggs are (thus far) at least 3 times more expensive than buying eggs from the shop. But so-oo delicious.
CT

Planting a forest

We've been planting trees for the past month or so... planting into unresponsive solid ground is heavy, slow work, and dragging water to them every couple of days is also slow, heavy work.  But it's so exciting!! We're planting a mixed forest garden, creating a varied mix of species around the perimeter of the property: lots of prickly things to discourage browsing by grazing (Pyracantha, Hippophae, Berberis), nitrogen-fixing plants to nourish the soil, (Eleagnus, Acacia), fruit trees (Almond, Pomegranate, Plum), firewood trees, forest trees, and loads of natives (Native to Turkey).
As well as the trees, we're also planting bushes to fill in the spaces in between, and together we're expecting them to give the field a rich hedge-row enclosure: to encourage bees, birds and other wildlife, without compromising the spaciousness of the property: The area being planted is 450 metres long, and about 3 metres wide.  150 trees & 450 shrubs.
They're going to need watering for the rest of this year (next rains are 4 months away), but after that will be on their own.  The planting mix is designed so that taller growing trees provide shade to smaller plants, which in turn shelter the base of the taller trees and keep the ground cool.  Mulching our young forest trees will be next winter's task.
CT

Sera saga sequel

Sera being Turkish for polytunnel
A couple of weeks ago having decided that winter might at last be over and with a crew of willing hands, the time had come to take down our somewhat wrecked polytunnel.

This was easier said than done.  First the extremely heavy , wet soil holding the polythene cover down had to be shifted  (Note four footed supervisor).

Then the polythene had to be rolled up and removed

Next all the carefully fitted nylon reinforcing lines had to be removed and coiled up.

Finally the framework was removed

In some ways we were lucky.  Because of the way the tunnel collapsed in the centre, it actually left us the equivalent of a long, rather low U shaped tunnel, which left most of our planted beds unaffected.  I did take to wearing an old builders hard hat when venturing inside after clanging my head on the frames several times.

Our local Sera frame builder tells us that some people lost ten tunnels in the winter, which was apparently "The worse for forty years".   The local gurus of such things have now decided that the reinforcing lines are not a good idea as they stop the snow sliding off. (These sages include the man who sold us the line in the first place.)

Many thanks to Aishling, Juan, Allen and John for their hard work taking the tunnel down and belated thanks to Val, Helen and Bruce for helping us put it up in the first place.

AG

Tramping

Val introduced us to tramping : New Zealand-ish for going for a walk.
So today we went tramping: 16 km round trip to the next village for brunch and then home again.

setting off

en route

rustic bridge (to nowhere except a field)

A well earned Turkish breakfast

Return trip

On our way back home through the village someone noticed the dogs were looking a bit tired... the poor things.  We were a bit tired too.

CT

Chickens

In theory (we thought) there are two easy ways to be sure of getting some protein into our home-grown diet:

1. Fish
2. Chickens

Originally the shack had been a fish farm, so fish seemed to be the obvious choice to start with, but unfortunately ground subsidence has cracked the ponds and they no longer hold water - so fish production is on hold until the little issue of leaky ponds gets resolved.

On to Plan B: Chickens.  We tried the market (day old chicks for a lira apiece - no staying power! None of them had any will to live).

Then we tried the neighbours: full of promises but no delivery - the promised chickens failed to materialise

Then I tried the butcher's wife, generally a reliable source for nearly everything, but she too, got distracted and hasn't got round to it yet.

Finally I asked the feed man, who told me about a customer (I'm going to call her the chicken lady) who wanted to sell her chickens, and today I visited her house, and we are now the proud owners of 6 chickens.  The chicken lady and I are the same age, and we got along famously.  Her son and Moroccan (French-speaking) expectant daughter-in-law live at home with her, but she recently lost her husband, and wants to go and visit (possibly permanently) with her daughter who lives on the South Coast, but she can't leave the chickens, and the neighbours and daughter-in-law are not sufficiently diligent in taking care of them when she's away, so she's been looking for good homes for them.  So we had coffee together and I was vetted and scrutinised, and eventually I must have passed the test, because only then was I invited to go and see the chickens! We were introduced, and I wrote down their names.

They were gently collected up, the chosen ones gathered up and popped into a sack, I paid, we said goodbye and the chickens and I came home.

CT

Volunteering

We maintain a list for all the little and big tasks that there are to be done in, on, and around the property, all of which are deemed essential stepping stones towards reaching the goal of a low-maintenance & sustainable life (still some way off, I'm afraid - but we're working on it!).  
Last year the list was huge.  This year it's even more huge and daunting.  Enter the volunteers: through three websites, people who want to join us and take part in the work along the route can find us and we can find them - something like a dating agency without the romance factor!  So now we provide food and accommodation for a steady stream of people staying with us, in return for having many pairs of hands to work on the various projects that we've got going.  So far this year have been John & Allen from the US, Aishling & Joan from Ireland & Catalonia, & Callum & Cath from Australia.  Together we've dismantled the broken poly-tunnel, planted seed, built filled & planted a new raised bed, chopped & stacked wood, planted strawberries, sanded down and re-oiled the outdoor furniture, re-enamelled the gas hob, and eaten some wonderful meals together.

The internet has, of course, facilitated all this - it is what enables us to find one another and decide to spend time together - and everyone benefits.  Of the 3 websites we've joined, Workaway is, in my opinion, the best.  The website is user-friendly and it's easy to find out about one another (hosts & volunteers) and have sufficient information to make the right choices.  Helpx is similar, works equally well, and is an older website without the subtleties of Workaway website design.  Catching up with them both is TaTuTa, the Turkish representative of WWOOF (willing workers on organic farms).  If you are thinking of travelling, or learning how to do something, or if you have offspring setting off on the proverbial "gap-year" then these four websites provide a useful point of contact for hosts & volunteers - keep up the good work!
www.workaway.info
www.helpx.net
www.bugday.com/tatuta/
www.wwoof.org