I was stood in the field this afternoon with the chickens while they had thier daily run around and all I could hear was birdsong. It was fantastic. All around the field the birds seemed to be getting warmed up for spring, horray! Its been such a miserable wet winter that we’ve had so few chances to actually do anything in the garden or the field, but little things like birdsong make me feel optimistic that warmer (hopefully drier) days are on thier way.
Despite the almost constant rain over the last couple of months which has turned much of the field into a quagmire (lovely heavy welsh clay!), we have managed to do a few projects in the field – the main one being building a large enclosure for the chickens so they can free-range (under supervision) without getting on the veg patch or into the polytunnel. Unfortunately, they can’t be completely free range as we are on high fox alert at the moment, a massive dog fox having been seen snooping around the field several times. A couple of smaller foxes were also in the adjacent field earlier in the week, so we are having to be vigilant about when we let the ladies out. We considered building a completely fox proof run (for all of about 2 minutes) but even a 6-foot high fence, or electric netting wont stop a really determined fox. Whereas, hopefully the very strong wire and huge weight (two of us have trouble lifting it) of the ark will stop them being able to get at the chickens easily. Fingers crossed. So, we let them out whenever we are in the field, and they have a good hour’s run around a day, or more on the weekends.
Elsewhere in the field the main task of the last couple of weeks has been the great muck-spread. Our local handyman/builder/generally nice chap took the tractor up to the big dung heap and filled a trailor for us, so I’ve been wheelbarrowing it around the field, spreading it liberally in the hope of giving the soil a bit more oomph this year. The no dig area is getting some proper attention, with a thick layer of dung being spread over last years straw, and a fresh layer of straw to cover it, hopefully it will be a haven for squashes, kales and sweetcorn.
In the polytunnel things are looking up after a rather disappointing crop of raddichio and winter salad – its just done nothing; a result, I think, of lack of manure. So, out they come and in goes loads of manure! And the early potato crop (away from the manure), some early cauliflowers and rocket.
In the veg patch the last of the leeks are still standing, the kale is just about hanging on and the spinach is starting to recover from the bashing it took at the beak of the chickens. The garlic I planted in november is coming along well, and I think we will have enough garlic to sink a ship – its a good thing I use garlic in pretty much everything I cook! I bought a ‘garlic lovers pack’ from the Garlic Farm, which contained 6 different kinds of garlic, including elephant garlic, which produces massive bulbs for roasting. I’ve put a couple of rows of early peas and broad beans in, in the hope that they don’t rot before they germinate, but I am on hand to try again in a couple of weeks if nothing happens.
Generally, I’m feeling pretty optimistic about this year. Particularly the fact that I am currently only working 3 days a week and so will have enough time to devote to the field to do it properly this year. We’ll see how things pan out this year, and maybe next year I’ll be allowed some pigs……hehehe!!
