End Of April
A lot has happened over the past month, and it feels like the growing season is well under way now. We’re certainly planting more than we need, and if it all works out, we’ll have plenty of produce. Hopefully we’ll be able to store more of it this year as we’re now living back in Mill House, along with giving plenty away to family, friends, and neighbours.
The greenhouse is full of seed trays and seedlings and most days involve some degree of plant juggling, pricking out and potting on. We will document the full list of this years crops in a separate post.
We’ve also increased the amount and types of soft fruit we’re growing as the jam we made last year was a hit, and we’d wished we’d been able to make more of it. The raspberry jam was a clear winner for everyone and fortunately we were gifted approximately thirty raspberry canes from a friend all of which have taken and are growing well.
We spent some time trying to clear the large patch of stinging nettles and brambles. This is to make way for some laurel trees we want to plant at the back of the property. The main purpose of this is screening as it is the only past of the garden that backs onto a neighbours fence as opposed to fields or the lane.
The compost area is a in a bit of a mess, the 3 bins we have are overflowing, and there is a huge pile of natural material just sitting in a heap. This pile was started as we had nowhere to put the excess green waste and we haven’t managed to clear it yet. We planed to build another three bays last year, but then the weather turned very cold and it rained on and off for what felt likes months (yes, we’re making excuses)…
With a new season upon us and a burst of enthusiasm plus three extra helpers we’re making an effort to get the area cleared and the compost bays built. Unfortunately this was short lived as it poured with rain this afternoon so we only got the new bays half built. A job for tomorrow.
The main workshop and stables are all very rotten. Previously we had thought about taking them all down and rebuilding but now we’re thinking about turning the main workshop into an outdoor kitchen/eating area using the existing frame as a starting point. Wee won’t know if this is doable however until we strip back the structure and see what we’ve got to work with. We’ve not done anything like this before, but we’re willing to give it a go and put in the hard work and hopefully learn some new skills along the way.
We also invested in a Stihl RMA 765 v electric mower, this uses the same batteries as our other Stihl garden tools. It’s a great system and seems like it’s going to be a joy to use, best of all it’s not reliant on fossil fuels (oil and petrol). So far the electric tools have been hassle free. Fingers crossed this continues.
