Welcome

Welcome to A Little Island, my blog which details my family's numerous exploits into living a more sustainable and self-sufficient, more in-touch-with-nature lifestyle. We aren't farmers, we aren't efficient and practical and all-knowing, we don't have a huge back garden. We just like doing what we can, making small changes that cumulatively would make a huge difference, and having fun!

Perhaps I should start with some introductions. My name is Flo. I live with my parents and younger sister in the south of England, where we keep chickens, ducks and bees, grow some of our own vegetables, and generally have lots of fun. We are a private family, and notoriously grumpy and not very sociable. Sometimes I wish we were a little island, away from grey guardians, beaurocrats, conservatives and boring city people whose only ideals are having the ugliest and most polluting car they can't afford. However, we all get along fine and enjoy frightening all our neat, respectable neighbours with casual threats of keeping pigs in our front garden. It is a very Conservative area around here, and playfully ruffling feathers comes naturally when you are the only hippies in a sea of materialistic toffs.

We aren't all that bad though. And our friends are very accepting, supportive and helpful, which makes life easier. They never complain.

We have a large house in a small country village (although it becomes more built up and full of city people every day) with two medium sized gardens, front and back. The back garden is my paradise, our very own little island where we can lead the lifestyle we want away from the rest of the world. Most of the time you can hardly hear the motorway.

We have three Partridge Wyandotte hens (yes, we named them: Noddy, Cleopatra and Hilda) who are getting on a bit now but still provide hours of entertainment. They aren't particularly reliable layers, especially as Cleopatra and Hilda are always going broody, and they're a bit old now to be very nice eating (also we are too attached to them to eat them) but they are loyal company and very funny to watch.

We also have two Cherry Valley ducks, purchased from the Warawee Duck Farm (home of Stumpy) for my sister's birthday, called Bindhi and Buttons (named after browsing a book on vegetables). They are pets, and we raised them from day olds. They really did become members of the family, as we had to keep them company, make sure they were warm, feed them, give them baths to splash in...it was like living with too fast growing babies! One of the benefits of pampering them like this is that now they are adults they are very tame; they won't fall asleep on our shoulders like they used to, but they always come and nibble our fingers etc. The chickens bully them a little bit but recently they have been becoming braver. Once Bindhi even jumped on top of a chicken. So it is no longer war in our garden.

We also keep two pet rabbits, Ebony and Willow. Despite having been chopped, Willow is still a hormonal pain in the neck, and is my mother's nemesis, as she digs up everything within site. I still have not forgiven her from trampling all over my peas, grrr (although luckily she hadn't realised at that point that they were good to eat - a narrow escape!).

Our garden is also full of wildlife. We have a sparrow family that nests in our house and inhabits our hawthorn hedge, as well as jackdaws and wood pigeons who are always trying to steal some chicken feed....the ducks always chase them away though!

My Dad went on a beekeeping course last year and since May Day 2007 we have been a beekeeping family. Last year was an appalling year for bees but we still got our first, though very small, honey crop. This year is looking much better though (touch wood) as one of our 3 hives has already filled a super, and is now onto its second. Our angry hive (and I mean ANGRY) are in the process of requeening themselves. Her majesty, who was an inch long and a right nasty piece of work) appears to have died, so now we are waiting for one of her charming angry offspring to fill her place. But fear not, a lovely new Hawaiian cross queen will be arruiving to replace her in June. Our third hive is only recently created and is still finding its feet at the moment.

We are lucky to have a small house in Brittany, bought with my Grandad's inheritance, which has a much bigger garden than we have here. We visit it often and grow our potatoes, onions etc there, where there is more room. It isn't enough stuff to feed us for a year or anything (we get through a LOT of potatoes!) but it is all about making small differences and having fun with us. We have also planted a fruit orchard, which we enjoy in the summer and autumn. My favourite thing we grow there are the quinces, although for the last two years they haven't produced anything...

And here at home we have seven raised beds and a greenhouse (inhabited by a tortoise and a toad), where we grow the rest of our stuff. We are constantly on the look out for stray chickens, etc. but mostly the garden is a peaceful place. This is the second year we have had the raised beds and already our success rate has quadrupled. Our front garden is ornamental but still productive, with espalier apple trees, runner beans, tomatoes, herbs, etc. We have a pond which is currently full of wriggling tadpoles and hungry fish.

Our other thing is trying to be eco friendly. On some counts we fail miserably (2 cars, 2nd homes, computers, leaving the telly on stand by etc.) but on others we score very highly (we use only low engery light bulbs, make our own compost, buy local produce from local shops, etc.) but we are making changes all the time. I am planning on buying my father a grey water diverter for his birthday this year, which I know he will appreciate.

Our other fun thing is a shoebox in Wales that my Grandma helped us buy. It isn't very eco, driving up the motorway once a month, but my family comes from Wales and so the hiraeth calls...and any good cymres never ignores the hiraeth. I am attempting to learn Welsh by myself (had my first conversation last year - v. nervwracking but fantastic!) and so far I am doing quite well.

To tell you a little more about myself, I not only love gardening etc, but I also love studying archaeology. I dropped out of college after I had a nervous breakdown, but now that I am myself again I am continuing my studies in archaeology by online learning with the College on the Net. I'm loving it so far and it's so nice to be learning again. I also love everything to do with textiles...so I may have to post some stuff on that on here as well.

So, there is a (rather long) introduction for you. On this blog I will be posting updates on what's happening in the garden, etc, writing what's been going on with the bees, and everything else that's been happening on our very own little island. Perhaps people will find it of interest, perhaps not, but it is just nice to detail our way of life and what we have been doing recently.