June Eve
May 31, 2026
a small purple crocus, the first of the crocuses I planted last year
I feel like I waited all February to be able to plant something, and all of a sudden it’s the end of May and I am behind, frantically hoping my tomatoes will grow given I started them late.
Work has been a little crazy and I’m working hard to catch up on my university work. I am in my final modules and the effort/knowledge jump from second to third year has been hard.
We had no late frosts and a very early Spring, which feels so different to last year, and I planted a number of things out that I perhaps should have waited on in case of frost, but the risk has paid off and it looks like we will have early peas and flowers!
After wanting to start for a long time, but postponed due to the weather, we have finally built our new chicken run. Our plan is now to try and keep the chickens in their run, mostly for their safety. Due to allowing much of our land to remain wild, and that we live quite rurally, we have some predator pressure, and while our chickens are allowed to range, they are at risk. Moving the girls over was hilarious, we had to go out the first three nights and lift them from where they were perching in a tree by the old pen, and put them very lovingly to bed. To my surprise, Mathilda has been laying eggs! And seems to be getting on grand. She sleeps in with the ducks rather than the chickens, but who am I to judge. Dolly has been laying blue eggs and loves a cuddle, and Shania, who was sold as a blue egg layer, lays pale brown eggs ahaha. They’re all getting on well.
Last week we went to collect two ‘goslings’ - and were informed that they were 4 weeks old. There’s a whole story there, but to make a long and hilarious story quite short, we arrived and were informed that they had ‘never seen growth like it’ and out of social pressure, took home two geese who are, at my best estimate, 11 or 12 weeks old. We have heard a number of hilarious names for them, including cobra chickens, but my personal favourite has to be domesticated velociraptors. Despite being older than we had hoped, they do seem quite friendly and calm, but I’m sure we’ll find out their true temperament next spring! I go out in the evenings and write journal entries or read stories to them. Their favourite treats are, of all things, dandelion leaves, and they will let me give them soft strokes on their necks and back, in exchange for some nibbles of my shoes, sleeves and hands. We have named them Asparagus, and Joni Mac. I think they are wonderful. We had planned to use the old chicken pen as greenhouse by attaching some plastic sheeting around the outside, but since the geese were not in fact goslings, we had to make them a little home in there until we have found them a long term solution. They have a little house, a pond, a few buckets of water and some feed. We also deliver them ripped up grass, clover and dandelion - what more could a goose need?
Later in the evening on goose day, we went to collect two Muscovy ducklings! These are Dean’s absolute favourite duck, and are taxonomically closer to a goose. These ducklings actually were about 4 or 5 weeks old, and extremely sweet. We have named them Kiki (Ghibli reference) and Chuck, and their little chirps are wonderful. They are growing quickly and I can’t wait to see how they integrate with the flock. The lady from whom we bought them was absolutely fantastic and to be really honest I’d love to sit and have a cup of tea with her some day because she seems wonderful.
Wee Cow (one of our cats) got hurt from what appears to be an altercation with another cat, and had a few trips to the vet including an overnight stay, but is now thankfully on the mend. Cow and Chicken are like our little familiars. Most of our day is spent together, either beside them, or with one or both of them curled up on us. I love our cats with all my heart and seeing Cow so injured, was easily one of the worst days of my life. I cannot imagine how it feels to be a parent. We are quite a bit underslept these days, but at least it’s spring and the weather is nice.
The verbena is coming to life, gooseberries are plumping well, and a handful of potatoes are almost ready to eat! The jerusalem artichokes I planted on a whim this year are thriving. Celery and parsley overwintered well but I expect them to go to seed soon, so should really replace them.
Our Goldfinches are back, though I honestly feel it gets later year, and I’m sure we have some baby birds getting ready to leave the nest.
Thanks to the better weather, we’ve had quite a bit of solar, allowing us to run our fridge every day, and we got a mini top filled dishwasher in order to free up a bit more time in our day to spend in the garden, with the animals, or in my case doing university work.