So the clock ticks and the seasons spin round and once again it is the new year and the longest day of the winter is firmly behind us.
Not that that means that much as most of the hard weather of the winter is still in front of us but the recent mild weather has meant that work could start once again in earnest on the vegetable garden.
It has to be said that the vegetable garden has not really been a full all round year project as pressures of work during the late summer make it very difficult to prepare the garden for a reasonable winter crop.
Maybe, just maybe with the grip of the financial crisis gradually tightening in this area ( news this morning of more possible layoffs in the foundry at the bottom of the valley) a bit more time should be set aside for planning and thinking about an all year round production coming off the land.
Watch this space.
Already a decision has been made to trim one of the trees that spans over part of the land cutting out a good deal of sunlight but that can be done later in the season.
For the moment it’s more to do with clearing up and preparing the land for some decent manure.
This week all the posts and wire for the electric fence were removed and stored ready for use later on in the spring. The two 1000 litre water tanks were both emptied and some renovation work will have to be done before they can be used again.
Both tanks arrived on wooden pallets which have now started to deteriorate and unfortunately the weight of 1000 L of water pressing down on them means they are gradually being destroyed.
That itself should not really be much of a problem but there is a good chance that some of the nails used in the construction of the pallets could then pierce the tanks.
It shouldn’t be a long or difficult job to replace the two ageing wooden pallets before that happens – a stitch in time etc. etc. or maybe that should be, don’t spoil the ship for a ha’p’orth of tar – whatever, the concept is clear.
[dw-post-more level=”1″]
[wunderslider_nggallery id=”2660″]
On the subject of manure – maybe this year shouldn’t be too much of a problem as there have been a couple of horses stabled just two fields away for the last 12 months.
The only question remaining: is one-year-old horse dung too young to spread on the land ?
Cow dung can be used because their multiple stomachs destroy the seeds in the plants that they chomp, horses unfortunately do not have the same apparatus and the seeds can go through the digestive system unharmed.
Again, watch this space.
[/dw-post-more]