Mostly well rotted sheep poo mixed with straw. We also add some organic chicken manure pellets and blood, fish and bone as well as any composts we have.
During the season we find we have little need to feed but sometimes add some comfrey or hot bin leachate
The polytunnel has been prepped with a new layer of woodchip and mulch for the new season.
In this space we will be taking a break from tomatoes, cucumbers etc this season, instead planting a break crop of onions, spinach and lettuce.
Our newest willow coppice is showing signs of growth.
We have over 200 rods of 8 varieties planted at close 30cm spacing. This will encourage tall, whippy growth, ideal material for baskets and similar projects.
We’re nearly ready to cut back our fertility building cover crop. In September we planted a mix of vetch and annual rye, we can’t believe how well it’s done.
Well strim it to ground and cover to terminate before planting our tomatoes etc into it in early May.
Yea it was very different beast in terms of what and how they grew (the poison cupboard is a story to another time).
I do like the idea of cherry picking some of the old varieties and do a historical growing section in one of the corners.
Our understanding is they sold cut flowers, tomatoes and lettuce.
They were cut and sent to the wholesale markets in Covent Garden and Birmingham.
Apparently they did a nice late season yellow carnation.
We’ve not got much information to work off!
Trying to decipher what went before.
We took on a site that had been derelict for over 20 years. We know little about how the place was run, bar snatched conversations with neighbours and objects we find.
These plant tags give us a glimpse of what was grown in the farms heyday.
Trip down to Sussex today to collect chestnut poles and douglas fir boards, all harvested to order from local coppice and woodland.
We’ll be using this over the coming months for fencing, structures, furniture and work surfaces.
Lots to be getting on with!
Today we’re making a dead hedge using wood from pruned fruit trees and a downed elder.
Dead wood habitats are extremely important for a whole host of species. We never burn wood or brash or take it off site; it gets turned into dead hedges or log piles.
This probably deserves a longer thread, but a few days ago we spooked two red-legged partridge, which then flew into the new panes of our glasshouse. It was a quick death.
We took the opportunity to harvest the meat for dinner, showing our kids the process. They were fascinated.
Oops! Willows such a staple here I forgot to even mention it! To be fair we never start cuttings in trays we just shove them straight in the ground. We’ve done 250 this winter, most close spaced for basketry but also some to pollard for fencing material
Elder cuttings in our tree nursery seem to be establishing well.
If we’re in luck we’ll have 40 of these to plant into our boundary and hedgerows later in the year.
These are the only trees we’ve attempted from cuttings; other species we’ve sown from seed.
You won’t regret those loppers, makes short work of things if you’re doing large volumes. Just watch your fingers, these things are merciless!
Great! You’ll never regret having home grown willow!
The vertical are actually hazel. Pointed and driven in about 300mm. You could use thicker willow rods but you’d want to season first so it doesn’t root.
If protected against browsers coppice works well, otherwise pollard. Our plan is 1.8m high
A woven fence from start to finish in a day.
Not too shabby!
Started weaving our first section of woven willow hedge.
It’s been a few years since we last did it, but we seem to be remembering ok so far!
We were very kindly gifted some staging and seedling trays from a local farm who have been clearing out an old glasshouse.
In a blink we’ve trebled the amount of propagation space.
Roll on the sowing season!
Sounds like a good mix. This year we’ve trimmed it down. Old faithfuls Biqhuinho, jalapeno, padron, lemon drop and trialing a new rocoto variety
I was informed so but haven’t tasted them. Beautiful big clusters of them on the vine.
The almond tree in our garden is putting on quite the show!
Lots of signs of spring here; blossom, bumbles, bulbs and brimstones!
A shout out for Apios americana, or hopniss.
It’s a climbing vine that produces edible tubers. Starchier than a potato and with a higher dry mass, they fry up really well.
The yield isn’t as high as potato but they’re perfect for scrambling up a high boundary fence.
We’ve started constructing a new woven fence. We’ll be using willow rods from our coppice to weave between hazel uprights.
It’s been a while; pinning our hopes on remembering how we do this as we go!
Chilli, pepper and aubergine seedlings getting pampered under the grow lights.
Next up we’ll be sowing the tomatoes.
Trip down to Sussex today to collect timber harvested from woodland coppice.
Chestnut posts, hazel stakes and Douglas fir boards.
Thanks!
Before and after the digger. Feels bare but a necessary job to remove large volumes of accumulated farm junk
On this section of yard we removed two skips of waste (mostly glass, metal, treated wood and plastic)
This area will be planted up with fruit and nut trees & wildflowers
There’s old down pipes coming off the eaves. Some we’ll direct into tanks, but we’re hoping there’s some sort of water store under ground so we’re going to follow some pipes and see what we find
I’ve worked out they’re too nice, they keep getting nicked!
Yep established in early autumn. A mix of annuals rye and hairy vetch. Well strim to ground level and add mulch in a few weeks
We’ve been finalising planting plans for our new glasshouse beds.
This season we’ll be growing tomato, aubergine, pepper, chilli, tomatillo, cucumber and melon with an understory of herbs and flowers.
This is the first time a crop has been grown in this space for over 20 years!
