We started to remove the barriers between the Allotmenteers and the Garden Girls a few days ago. We left most of the netting up, but opened up a little bit more to make mixing easier.
The Allotmenteers had no trouble in investigating the Garden Girls area, and this has been the cause of much of the conseternation and kerfuffles. Mostly, the groups keep separate, but they do cross occasionally.
Yesterday I witnessed Astrid, leader of the younger Garden Girls flock, having a stand off with Bot. It developed into a kung fu style fight, with Bot the victor. Later I saw Summer, one of the two lowest ranking younger Garden Girls, rush at Bot in fury.
Yesterday I put out bowls of spent barley from the brewing process. I started with 3 bowls, but not everyone was able to get to one and I ended up with 5. I was interested to observe who was happy to share with whom.
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| Poppy and 3 Allotmenteers round the bowl |
Today I put out 5 more bowls. I was interested to see that Poppy was once again earting from th same bowl as some of the Allotmenteers (Phyllis, Violet and Elizabeth I think). Annie was also eating from the bol but moved before I took the photo. Bot had a bowl to herself. The others moved round betwen the remaining 3 bowls, and at one point I saw that Gloria was sharing with the leghorns.
They really love this stuff. It sprouts really quickly though and I'm not sure it's a good idea to give it to them once it gets going, so no more after today.
We've now removed the dividing netting completely. We've left the area in front of hte summer house netted off as (a) it's a relief to have some part of hte garden that isn't covered in chicken poo, and (b) we might need to use it to give another part of the garden a rest. We've no idea how long this lockdown is really going to carry on.
