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Keeping Geese Part 1: A Rickety Lawnmower, a Buttercup Meadow and a Shoebox of Goslings

19/04/2017 By The Seasonal Table 1 Comment

Keeping Geese Part 1: A Rickety Lawnmower, a Buttercup Meadow and a Shoebox of Goslings -- Fluffy goslings | https://theseasonaltable.co.uk/smallholding/keeping-geese-part-1-rickety-lawnmower-buttercup-meadow-shoebox-goslings/We inherited an old, ride-on lawnmower with our cottage to help us manage the grass in the orchard and paddock. A temperamental, somewhat rickety machine, it regularly conked out mid-mow and refused to restart without a lengthy rest period and some careful engine tinkering. Keeping the grass in check soon became a full time job that we just didn’t have time for. By the end of our first summer here, half our land had turned to scraggly, buttercup-filled meadow. Quite pretty, but not very practical. Unable to afford another sit-on mower, and keen to try a greener option, we began to look at some animal-powered alternatives for a replacement.

Underneath the orchard are a few water springs, that rise to its undulating surface and puddle the grass in wet weather. We therefore needed animals that wouldn’t mind the occasional damp spot, would make use of the windfall fruit, keep on top of the grass, and be economical. We extensively researched every form of livestock that we thought might be suitable (cows, sheep, goats, alpacas etc.) and eventually settled on geese.

Keeping Geese Part 1: A Rickety Lawnmower, a Buttercup Meadow and a Shoebox of Goslings -- Geese - our natural lawnmowers | https://theseasonaltable.co.uk/smallholding/keeping-geese-part-1-rickety-lawnmower-buttercup-meadow-shoebox-goslings/Geese primarily eat grass, so we felt a small flock would be able to graze and manage our orchard area comfortably, leaving just the little paddock for us to mow (we thought a self-propelled push mower would be sufficient for this). As a result of their grass diet, feed costs for the geese would be minimal. They would just need a few handfuls of wheat to keep them going over winter when the grass has stopped growing. Plus we would get rich goose meat and eggs to boot. Overall, we thought it was an interesting, sustainable and cost effective alternative to relying solely on a petrol-guzzling machine.

The plan was to buy a few goslings in the spring and raise them on the verdant summer grasses, surplus fruit from the orchard, and garden vegetables. Then, come winter, keep hold of a pair or trio for breeding the following year, and dispatch the others in time for Christmas dinner. We could then repeat the process from our own stock year after year.

Keeping Geese Part 1: A Rickety Lawnmower, a Buttercup Meadow and a Shoebox of Goslings -- Fluffy gosling on first outdoors adventure | https://theseasonaltable.co.uk/smallholding/keeping-geese-part-1-rickety-lawnmower-buttercup-meadow-shoebox-goslings/Early that spring, we went ahead and ordered some traditional, commercial white geese (with Embden heritage) from a certified organic breeder. We decided to buy them at just a few days old, so that they would imprint on us and therefore be tame and easy to handle.

We collected them from the farm on a grey, drizzly April evening. The six, tiny goslings, fluffy-feathered and mottled in soft shades of grey and yellow, were nestled snugly in an old shoebox filled with golden straw. They were adorable. For the whole car journey home they chatted to each other in hushed tones and cheeped loudly if we spoke to them. We arrived back at the cottage, opened up the box and introduced them to their new home. The very first animals on our smallholding.

Keeping Geese Part 1: A Rickety Lawnmower, a Buttercup Meadow and a Shoebox of Goslings -- Gosling playing hide and seek | https://theseasonaltable.co.uk/smallholding/keeping-geese-part-1-rickety-lawnmower-buttercup-meadow-shoebox-goslings/The decision to keep geese was definitely a good choice. They are very easy to look after, do a great job of mowing and fertilising the orchard, and have grown up to be friendly and extremely characterful birds that are a pleasure to keep. Our original master plan didn’t pan out quite as we expected though. Our feathery gaggle completely stole our hearts and, in the end, we couldn’t bear to dispatch any of them. Their multi-purpose roles as lawn mowers, egg-layers and guards allowed us to justify this decision somewhat. We found it gives us far more happiness to see them waddling amongst the apple trees every day, than to have them on our dinner plate.

We’ll continue to share some of our experiences and tips about goose keeping on the blog over the coming months. In the meantime, in case it is of interest, Keeping Geese: Breeds and Management
was our go-to book on all things goose. We found it to be an invaluable resource.

Keeping Geese Part 1: A Rickety Lawnmower, a Buttercup Meadow and a Shoebox of Goslings -- Hand feeding very friendly geese | https://theseasonaltable.co.uk/smallholding/keeping-geese-part-1-rickety-lawnmower-buttercup-meadow-shoebox-goslings/

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Filed Under: Smallholding Tagged With: geese, goslings, grassmanagement, livestock

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Comments

  1. Sarah says

    23/09/2018 at 10:35 am

    I‘ve loved reading part 1 on your gaggle of geese. So happy you decided to keep them and not eat them! You are right though, geese are wonderfuland full of character. I used to have one as a pet when I was younger. She loved a cuddle and was a great guard. She didn‘t like my sister, though and used to chase her up the garden.
    Off to read part 2
    Best wishes,
    Sarah

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Hello everyone and happy weekend! We’re just pop Hello everyone and happy weekend! We’re just popping on to share a few pics from today’s newsletter, which has just landed in inboxes. It’s a late spring issue filled with vegetable growing, cow parsley, and bean tops!

Just in case you haven’t heard us waffling on about it already, our newsletter is called The Seasonal Supplement. It comes out once a month and is free to subscribe to. In it we share lots of writing and photos about life on the smallholding, growing our own food, seasonal living, recipes, and self-sufficiency - much like we do here, but in way more detail and at a far gentler pace. 

If you fancy a look you can sign up for free through the link in our bio or our story and have a read through today’s issue as well as all the past issues from the last eight months. We’d love to see you there!
It’s peak laying season and the mismatch of wood It’s peak laying season and the mismatch of wood and wire racks in the kitchen are full to the brim with eggs. Together their shells form a rainbow of colour. Everything from darkest brown, brick red and terracotta, to pastel blue, sugared almond pink, olive, and powdered lilac. There are various shades of beige too, plus a pure chalk white. We’ve had to bring out reinforcements in the form of cardboard egg trays to manage the overspill. 

We’ve been busy writing about some of the ways we use the egg glut, from making a super speedy mayo with the freshest eggs, to homemade pasta in bulk, and squirrelling eggs away in the freezer for winter. If you’d like to read all about it, we’d love to invite you to subscribe by clicking the link in our bio and story.
The biggest apple tree in the orchard towers over The biggest apple tree in the orchard towers over the logstores and is home to a multitude of wildlife. It is quite something at this time of year, when blossom season is in full swing. This pic was taken a couple of springs ago before the tree lost two of its enormous branches during some windy, winter weather. This year it still looks beautiful but perhaps a little worse for wear. Fingers crossed it will still be here next spring.
Bees! We started keeping bees in the back garden o Bees! We started keeping bees in the back garden of our flat in London over a decade ago (the hives were set up right next to our kitchen window so we could watch them coming and going from the comfort of the kitchen table). 

They came with us when we moved to our smallholding here in Somerset and continue to be some of the most joyful and rewarding livestock that we keep.

We’ve written all about them in our latest post (link in story and bio). We cover everything from the story of how we got started with beekeeping to our ten top tips for budding beekeepers (from books to equipment to avoiding stings). It’s a long and detailed read that took us many hours (and many years of beekeeping experience) to put together, so it’s for our paid subscribers only, but there’s a free preview of the article that is open for everyone to read. If it piques your interest, we’d love to invite you to sign-up so that you can read the whole thing in full plus all our future weekly posts. The link is in our story and bio.
Making rustic plant labels from garden twigs. The Making rustic plant labels from garden twigs. The super simple instructions are in this month’s newsletter, along with lots of other snippets of seasonal jobs, some seed sowing, and some cooking from the smallholding. You can read it all for free via the link in our bio or story.

If you do have a read of the newsletter, you’ll also see that we’ve just launched an exciting new paid subscription option. If you enjoy our writing and photos, would like to read more about smallholding and seasonal living than we have ever been able to share on these tiny insta squares over the last 6 years, and are keen to support our work so we can continue creating content in these spaces, we’d be  delighted if you'd consider signing up.
A few joyful spring moments from the smallholding: A few joyful spring moments from the smallholding: foraging hens | pear trees in blossom | lambs in the next door field | and apple blossom (because you can never have enough blossom).

And a quick note to let you know that the next issue of our newsletter, The Seasonal Supplement, is coming out tomorrow. It’s an extra long read for the bank holiday weekend packed with yet more blossom, a simple asparagus recipe (and a tip for using the woody ends), homemade rustic plant labels, our seasonal task list, and an announcement of something brand new (that we are really excited about). If you’d like a (free) copy sent straight to your inbox, just click the link in our story or bio and pop in your email address.
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