Thursday, April 15, 2010

Thursday 15th April 2010

Quail Diary

Nothing, nada, zilch! Not a sausage, or an egg. I don't think my girls like me very much. I am spending a lot of time in the greenhouse and hope that will make them less timid. I wonder if they are all boys? Everyone keeps reassuring me that they will get around to it, but when I check out the quail forum, everyone seems to be getting at least 2 per day from their birds and have been for weeks. Patience girl, patience.

Their saving grace is that they are beautiful and I adore the sound of their chatterings and the way they tap at the glass hoping to break free into the outside world. One big girl has made a new home seperate from the others in a big clay flowerpot. The others all still huddle together under the greenhouse staging in the straw.

I have brought some dried mealworms for them, as a little treat, and yesterday, when potting on my kale, I ended up with half a seed tray spare. Now I could have potted them up, but who needs 100 kale plants? So I put the tray down on the ground, and by this morning, most of them had been picked and scratched up, so they obviously enjoyed that treat.

Now come on gals, get laying!

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

How old were they when you got thme and how long have you had them? It must take them a good few weeks to settle in before they'll lay? I am still waiting to pick mine up - can't wait to get them!

Emma Jane said...

They were roughly 9 weeks when we got them, and we have had them nearly a month. During that month though, we did have a large weeping willow pollarded in the garden, which I'm sure set them back a week. Maybe they are hiding them somewhere...stockpiling!

Anonymous said...

Ha!
A month or two sounds reasonable to me but I speak from inexperience. I will be equally impatient if mine are every ready to pick up (see? impatient!)
Loved seeing pictures of your cardoons and gobe arts. - just starting off my first ones under cover - any tips?

Emma Jane said...

I grew my globes from seed and they produced a couple of little flowers the first year but masses ever since, and the doon was a slice from a chums, and it is a triffid! I give chunks away regularly. To be honest, the doon seems tougher than the globes - they don't like the cold and the wet. When you come to plant, make sure there are no perennial weeds, give them plenty of well rotted manure or compost, and then let them get on with it. I think you are supposed to remove the flowers in the first year to encourage stronger plants, but I never did that. Good luck! :)

Anonymous said...

Thanks - I have my doubts about globe artichokes in Scotland, but I'll give it a go!