Hugelkultur, aka Hill culture, basically a raised garden beds filled with rotten wood. I have been rethinking my growing spaces. The top terrace will soon house ducks, and is surrounded by a native hedge. In hindsight planting this hedge, where I wanted to grow veg was a bit of a mistake. Yes, it provides shelter from the wind, but those bushes also feed from the soil, the blackthorn suckers and getting tangled in the dog rose is a pain, so…
It’s been a while since I last posted on here. Since my last post; Seeds have been sown; Cuttings are sprouting; Green manures are shooting up; Trees are sprouting; Fruit trees are blossoming; Goldfinches are feasting on dandelion seeds and a cuckoo has been heard! Today has been a big day – a digger arrived ready to start pond construction. The site has been marked out, so it won’t be long now. It is all very exciting. The pond will…
One snowy Saturday in December Andy, I and Peggy the dog took a trip to the amazing new site of the Incredible Farm up at Lumbutts to purchase some lovely hardy fruit trees for the space at the back of our house. If you have never heard of Incredible Farm, go and seek them out – they do good things! I am hoping to get back to volunteering there again, but I need to concentrate on our farm at the…
We have been long awaiting the installation of our log/wood pellet boiler – fingers crossed this should be happening next week. In the meantime Will, our fabulous plumber and boiler expert has had to extend the flue to meet regulations. It has to be done, but boy is it a whopper. The question is how do I soften the impact of this large shiny pipe? One friend has suggested clipping pot holders to it; another suggestion id to grow climbers…
As the seasons change, and I realise summer has most definitely ended, I have taken time, while sitting inside watching trees bend in the wind to think about what I have achieved so far. I grew fruit and veg! Not all of it successfully, but that was the point! I grew little bits of lots of things to see what grew. 4 types of pea may have seemed excessive to some, but only 2 types were productive. I learned that…
You know when in your head (and on paper) you have a grand plan. What you are going to do; When you are going to do them; what results you should expect etc. etc. Then along comes a big spanner and it drops itself into the proverbial works. Well, in February, the spanner clanged. I suffered a fracture to my Tibial Plateau (i.e. broke a bone inside my knee joint). 7 weeks full leg cast, no weight bearing and then…