Valkyrie Posted August 24, 2019 Share Posted August 24, 2019 Well this year has flown so fast, since the solstice the days have just escaped us. Today was as sunny as the day we arrived, although extremely hot. Spent the morning watering the veg patch and the afternoon mowing everywhere! OH still has his frozen shoulder but this week he had another injection at the cottage hospital by a specialist this time. He's hopeful, me too as I have been doing the heavy stuff. My upper body gets a workout but the lower bit doesn't! So as I look back we've done an awful lot - made apple juice, added a greenhouse, had a veg plot fenced, added more chickens, had a fox attack, seen loads of wild animals and insects, seen super sunsets, seen the sky at night as it should be! Harvesting all sorts and freezing, cooking, baking and storing. It's a bit hands-on at the moment! Mainly mine, while OH does the preserving. The weather has been extreme at times and we've had a battering but things are still standing - except for the washing line which was pulled out and bent beyond repair when it hooked onto the back of the mower and I didn't notice - ping, doing, snap! Oopsie! I've applied for my smallholding number - and now I wait. We have found an architect and builder and agreed to the plans that she's drawn up - to start next year but need to have planning permission first. We will be getting a barn with inside stables too. So a bumper crop of spuds, garlic, enormous onions, whopping great tomatoes, huge broccoli and it's not finished yet! The squashes are going crazy and winding down the plot! Some beans are doing better than others - I still think there is something in the compost, although only the beans have been affected. But since the last deluge, I think a lot has been washed away - the runner bean frame was blown over but the last lot of runners I put in seem to be faring better on the same patch although most had either perished or pulled up by the winds. The sacrificial beans seem to be OK, and some birds have been pulling up the plants - including the leeks, but now I've netted the leeks and no more damage. I've had a bank vole in the rear of the pickup and took it for a ride around the field - it dropped out when I stopped. I've had it checked and it's all hunky dory - apparently there would have been awful damage if it was a rat. Phew! I've towed another pickup out of mud, I've towed a trailer and piled it high with hay and driven it round to our new friends who helped us. I've made friends with one of the cats next door - but while the school holidays are here, he has been cosseted by his children pets, so squiffles are few and far between at the moment. I've bottle fed lambs and cuddled them, fed alpacas and had a jolly good time. I feel at home - it still amazes me that we made it. But the dream is definitely a reality now. Loving it - so is OH. All our visitors, both relations and friends (even the plumber!) love coming here - it is special indeed. These were the onions I sowed seeds - they are just as good, if not better than the sets! The sets have already been pulled and drying, some were done earlier. I'll be better organised next time - and I shall be adding soft fruit next year. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daphne Posted August 25, 2019 Share Posted August 25, 2019 My goodness, you really are living the dream aren't you😀 I'm so glad its working out so fantastically for you, I can only glimpse the hard work which is necessary with 4 acres, its bad enough coping with 1/3 and immense heat! However, people changing their life is always instructive, and for me, its always a positive. I can't bear the thought of 'same old, same old' forever, and I take my hat off to you and OH for putting in the hard yards and getting on with it. I think your new home is in an idyllic place, it makes such a difference, and lets hope for many more happy and productive years! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted August 25, 2019 Share Posted August 25, 2019 The size of that tomato!!!! I am so glad that your dream has come true K xx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valkyrie Posted August 25, 2019 Author Share Posted August 25, 2019 Daphne I think you hit the nail on the head - it is idyllic! This morning I woke up to find OH in the kitchen with 8lbs of plums! He's already made jam and this time it's for crumbles or just on it's own with some ice cream. All in the freezer now! It was a monster tomato DM! An old fashioned variety called Berkeley Tie Dye and beefsteak sort. They are so heavy that I had to support the toms! Although quite watery when cooked, but no matter, just cooked a little longer to thicken up. Just fancy it with some basil and slices of buffalo mozzarella and drizzled with olive oil, or a nice flavoured rapeseed oil and a dash of balsamic . . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted August 25, 2019 Share Posted August 25, 2019 Yummy - on my way!!!! Have you read Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver? I recommend it to all self-sufficiency folks. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soapdragon Posted August 25, 2019 Share Posted August 25, 2019 All kudos to you for following your dream and working soooooo hard to make it a reality. Sheer hard graft and resilience. I would take my hat off to you and you OH if I were wearing one. Wishing you both many, many more happy and productive years on your acreage! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minnie&Moose Posted August 25, 2019 Share Posted August 25, 2019 Amazing what you've got done in a year. What are you planning to keep in your barn & stables? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valkyrie Posted August 25, 2019 Author Share Posted August 25, 2019 I will have to look into that DM, not come across it before. Cheers Soapy - OH has already complained that my cunning plan didn't work and he's still alive today! We were putting up the electric fencing, started early but carried on a bit after lunch. It's pretty much sorted now and just needs the battery attached, but not necessary yet. I have some animal shelter feed stations coming from Flyte So Fancy on Friday and will utilise the cube runs and attach it to the duck house temporarily until the birds get used to their surroundings. Muscovies arriving soon. In the barn and stables will be used as a junk room to put all our stuff in the garage and workshop while the building work is being done. Then the stables will be set up for chickyducky rearing and the rest will be hay storage and . . . alpacas. Just some wethers to be fox guards. OH wanted L-shaped stables, but I insisted on the barn - mainly because it will provide a covered and sheltered area for shearing. Then will see how it goes. You can have 4 to 5 alpacas per acre - some books say 3 to 4, but I'm intending to have only 3 so that I can see how it goes. I intend to use the fibre myself, so would like some pretty fellows - the alpacas up the road are really tatty with guard hairs sticking out all over - that's not good enough for me. I'm becoming a snob! OH is going on a bee keeping course, but that will have to be next year - the local beekeepers course starts in September - and he'd be missing some as he'll be in Florida. Best to start at the beginning! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daphne Posted August 26, 2019 Share Posted August 26, 2019 I hope he takes to it, with all your land you can really make a difference, not only to bees but to all pollinators! I noticed you said you had seen loads of insects in your first post, for me here in Portugal, the insects (and birds) have been a revelation, and possibly the thing I have enjoyed most, along with just being close to the land. There are so many different sorts, and you can see so much, just by being quiet and sitting patiently - although judging by your activity rates, thats probably not something you get much chance to do! I am going to look into that book, DM, thanks for the heads up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soapdragon Posted August 26, 2019 Share Posted August 26, 2019 (edited) What will you do with the alpaca wool? Will you use it yourself? If not then I'm sure there will be local spinning groups who would love it! My MIL (sadly died 22 years ago now) had alpacas on her field and we used to process the wool; it's quite a journey from fleece to yarn but lovely to work with. Edited August 26, 2019 by soapdragon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valkyrie Posted August 26, 2019 Author Share Posted August 26, 2019 Well on Saturday I was nagged by a treecreeper, but it went to pull the lichen and moss off the apple tree a bit further over! That's when I sit and supervise free ranging under the walnut tree - which is a dangerous exercise with falling nuts so moved over to the apple trees. Yesterday we had a buzzard and a honey buzzard - which I thought it was on a walk along the lane a couple of months ago, but had the chance to watch and listen so successfully identified it. I knew it wasn't a normal buzzard and to see the two in close proximity helped. Sometimes I sit by the pond watching out for newts, but we are now getting larger dragonflies as opposed to little turquoise and red ones. Last year there was an emerald dragonfly laying eggs on the side, so hoping to see more this year. We have had the march of the elephant hawkmoth caterpillars, so they've been picked up and transferred to a fuchsia that has plenty of leaves! So funny - they puff up their necks and pull their heads in to show off the eyes and twitch, while the little legs stick firm. Sometimes they relax enough to walk around my hands. I've had to put out a Twenty Plume moth, which was so tiny - only identified by zooming in on my photo. It had been in our fly zapper, but it was alive, popped it on the thyme outside. I gather they like honeysuckle. At the moment the buddleia is my favourite spot - plenty of butterflies to see and the painted ladies are hanging around for quite some time. Today I spotted a tufty black caterpillar on the path which greeted us last year - a fox moth. Not seen the moth though! In addition to the crows, rooks and jackdaws we have ravens. I can't tell the difference between those and the crows but the sounds are different. Ravens gargle and the crows make pirate sounds arrrrrrrrrrrrrrr! I think we have had the same birds as our last house, but this year we added field fares, redwings and linnets. The coal tits are numerous as opposed to the odd one or two before, but at last I have the chiffchaff! Bumblebees are many and next year I'll try to catch them on my camera. We also have grasshoppers, loads of them. Or we did do before Dusty found them to her liking! We have palmate and common newts in the pond. There are also yukky leeches! Shrimpy things too - allsorts! I do the no dig method which has helped immensely with weeding. I started doing that a couple of years ago and it tamed my unruly garden in the first year! I do need to weed a little but it doesn't take long. There is couch grass popping up, but not overpowering, and the odd dandelion and sorrel. Friends helped us make hay and bale it, so some went to them and we kept some aside for our own use too. There was plenty enough for 3 of us smallholders! But they have 4 legged animals, I don't . . . yet! At the moment OH is making roast tomato ketchup - which is yummy! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valkyrie Posted August 26, 2019 Author Share Posted August 26, 2019 Soapy - I thought I'd make some sort of batting for quilting. Obviously I'd need loads, but perhaps light felting on muslin to hold it together for baby quilts. There are plenty of ladies (and possibly gents) that do spinning. It might be fun to learn how one day. I have done felting and I've carded raw wool before now and used it in the centre/base bit that gets hidden - terms of which I cannot remember! But since the move it was put away. I still have the suri fibre from when I "helped" or rather hindered on shearing day about 3 years ago! There is no possibility of renting a field here should I go into the breeding side of it (oh I hear the honey buzzard out there again) as all land is used mainly for sheep or cattle. But if we had the chance to buy the field below ours then that would be fantastic! Then at our age would we really want to take on more. Reality check!!! Don't push it over the edge! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beantree Posted August 27, 2019 Share Posted August 27, 2019 Very impressed with that tomato Valkyrie. We have some around the 0.5Kg mark but they aren't that big. I think it was you who suggested taking the shoots off the tomato plants and potting them? We tried last year but were too late, so this year we took shoots very early. They took about a month to get started but are now in full swing with some of them having more fruit than the originals. We've been here 2 years now and have struggled to get on top of the place. As Daphne says, the heat is the problem and often work outside is impossible after 10.00am. Our land was in a terrible state having had hay taken off it for 20 years or more with nothing put back. That means the weeds, particularly brambles, have been allowed to take over and the place is unfit for grazing. Already taken out 3000 brambles, 300 ragwort and lots of wild spiked bushes. Realistically the brambles will always be a problem and the best we can do is take out the really strong plants and make sure they don't flower or spread. Our veg plot was a joke; solid clay with no nutrient content, but thanks to chicken poo compost we are turning it around and did get a good crop of onions and potatoes this year. Perhaps next year our tomatoes will be bigger? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valkyrie Posted August 27, 2019 Author Share Posted August 27, 2019 It's surprising how quickly the ground reverts. But you can't do it all at once. Have you thought about goats? Or borrowing some to nibble away at the thorny stuff? Can't remember which breed is used, but have a feeling Boer goats are the ones. Watched a programme once that had a herd heading right for the brambles and the ground was cleared - even the dry grass - ready for gaining control of the area. Also their fertilizing the ground helped. We have about a foot of topsoil which is clay, but not too bad. Drainage is good because of the shillet underneath - can just imagine the earth's crust moving and shoving it up like a mini vertical strata mountain. So with the no dig and pile the good stuff on top, it is perfect for the land. I haven't seen ragwort - it's never flowered so that always helps in a big field - at least you can go ahaaaaaa there you are! Glad you had great onions and spuddies. Also pleased that your sideshoots have been very productive too! My problem was all that land and all the crops I can grow - forgetting that they need planting, sowing, replanting and harvesting! So management of what we can keep up with and control for successional sowing and I fail. But I must sort things out. The heat hasn't helped - it is one extreme to another - last week was wet and windy and awful followed by baking! It would be nice to have just plain old pleasant - with or without cloud, no humidity and easy to work outside type of weather! Dream on! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beantree Posted August 27, 2019 Share Posted August 27, 2019 Seems like we planted well, as the lunchtime news says that due to the heatwaves and drought the price of tomatoes has risen 30% on last year and the price of potatoes is up 50%!!! Makes all that watering worth it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valkyrie Posted August 27, 2019 Author Share Posted August 27, 2019 Brilliant! Very satisfying when that happens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
