Fencing - The Big Job...

So, you may be aware that we have a big ol' field out the back of the farm, extending to about 13 or so acres. The plan in the short term is to let this field out (probably to the local dairy farm) but we wanted a bit of space for ourselves for various possible projects, a favourite idea is a small orchard in at least part of it. So what was needed was a fence, right across the top of the field. And So Farm Guy and Farm Guy Dad (who is actually a Farm Guy too!) set out to put up a nice stock fence... I supplied the food...

First thing was to put the fence posts in all the way across the field, in a nice straight line, and bang the posts in with a variety of tools. They had a mel (large hammer) and "a metal thing with handles" (yes, that's the technical name) which you slot over the top of the post and kind of thump it down. The mel was needed as some of the posts proved just to wide to fit in the handled thingy!

About half way across we wanted a gate, this will line up with the gate that currently leads to the Farm and will allow us to get any machinery/animals/Santa's sleigh through into the main part of the field. As a result some nice 'stays' were needed to help support the gate posts, although we are not hanging the gate yet - we need something even sturdier to hang it but this will do for now.

And here is our completed fence with gate (tied) in situ. All the grass on this side is ours to play with and everything beyond is up for rental grabs! Hopefully this will have some nice calves on it soon and we can get all 'bovine'.

Wordless Wednesday - With a Little Help From My Friends...

Got Rabbits?...

This is a bit past due but better late than never. We have Bunnies! Not through choice, through location. For bunny lovers close your eyes while you read the next bit... ?.. Our cat Rocco, of Cat In Flowers fame, has started doing his bit and can often be seen bringing home a bunny shaped dinner, but his little efforts (an adult rabbit is about the same size as him!) are unfortunately not enough. (Bunny lovers can open their eyes now!) The veggie patch was being very much bunny munch city. Our garlic plants were getting a daily hair cut and the raspberry canes proving too enticing! (I cannot just blame the bunnies, there is a sheep problem.. but that's another story and one that will be solved by the bunny fix!) So bunny proofing was needed, so last weekend Farm Guy and Farm Dad set to work. Unfortunately bunny proofing requires digging the wire into the ground so it was a long tiring couple of days.

What has this photo to do with bunny proof fencing? Nothing. But it shows what happens in old houses when you pull on that light cord in the bathroom just one too many times! It didn't just snap it came completely out of the holder, so the whole fitting had to come off. That put back the "Bunny Barricaders" behind by about an hour before they even started!

One of the main jobs for the Bunny Busters was pulling out the old, completely useless older fence and putting in a new one. Problem with this fence is it runs along the bottom of a slope that has, over the years, slowly collapsed, so this needed to be built up and secured before fencing began.

But once it was done the fence looked great, now just the rest of the veggie patch to go! The red thing in the picture is Farm Dad's jacket on a 'bench' they constructed out of some old bricks they had found and stone which must have once formed the front step to one of the farm buildings. Even together they couldn't lift it. It was a case of two to lift up one end then two to lift up the other! It is not very sturdy at the moment, but I really like the placement of the bench so we are hoping to make it a more permanent feature. A throne from where we can view our veggie kingdom!

Here is the finished product, well almost finished all that was left at this point was to sort out the gate at the far side. The black blob in the middle there is an old tractor tyre. We have filled it with soil, stuck in some sticks, planted the peas and wrapped it all in netting. Ahhh.... a Pea Pyramid..

Over towards the gate things are getting fencey. The old gate post got to stay but everything else had to be replaced.


All that was left was some kind of gate so we can get in and out! Time was short by then, Farm Dad has quite a drive to get home, so a 'lift 'n' place' frame was fashioned from some wood lying around and some of the left over chicken wire... I think it looks pretty alright!!

Yes, that is a big farm gate on the right, but it is also not hung so you don't open it, you just haul it out of the way, we decided a smaller version was needed! And even once the biggun' is hung a smaller gate is much nicer to deal with on a day to day basis!


PS. Not sure what I did to make the photos so small this time, apologies.

Down on the Farm..

So, another busy weekend, many things being done in the house but there is plenty time in the week for all that hustle and bustle. Lest just spend some quiet time down in the garden. I finally got around to planting out the strawberries which had become somewhat feral in their 'Moving Day Pot', so they don't half look straggly!

Although it is several weeks past when I should have been putting them out, they seem a lot happier with some room to move and they have produced a nice lot of little runners which have joined them in the plot. Now it is down to some serious growing guys....

And what is this that has joined them? Oh yes, it is garlic. Now normally I wouldn't put garlic and Strawberries together but there is only one prepared bed and this is where they will have to go.

The Garlic that I planted in the container is already raring to go and has plenty of healthy looking green shoots so I am hoping that this lot can catch up. Probably about 30 plants in total planted, many another 10 in the container, so a very garlicky year 2010!

I went for a nice soft stemmed, I hope, garlic cos I want to try my hand at a bit of plaiting next year, watch this space for the, no doubt, comic attempts later in the year!!

The Latest on the Farm

Hi,

Unfortunately I am still without proper Internet access at the moment so I am afraid that photos will be thin on the ground, although I think that I may have come up with a sneaky solution to that, watch this space.

What has been happening on the farm? Well, we are still living in essentially three rooms out of the 6 available and even these rooms are pretty sparse! Farm Guy keeps walking into our living room and saying, 'this is depressing, we must decorate it', which is a different tune from way-back-when when he was saying that the living room looked alright and we should leave it.

The plasterers are now finished, except for the bathroom, which they will return to do next Thursday. We are hoping to get some of the decorating done this weekend, I have challenged myself with finishing the decorating in the bedroom - mainly because we don't have any furniture, beyond the bed, and it will be easier to decorate with a nice open space!

Farm Guy is hoping to make a start on the secondary living room, which will be an office, we are going to sand the floors, and in his usual attempt to save a few pounds wants to try doing it with a belt sander first (I know, I know, you don't need to tell me!). I will DEFINITELY be giving updates on that attempt! Also, taking bets on how long it takes before he decides hiring a floor sander is the best idea - there is a reason they are called FLOOR sanders!

There is also the question of the kitchen and what we can get done in there too! There is still lining paper to hang, a hole to fill and some painting to do! It is looking good though, probably the best in the house. Once I get photos up I shall do a post on the woodwork that dad has been undertaking around the place too!

We may have some fun news after this weekend.... but then again we may not.... guess you'll just have to wait and see!!

Harvest Time Down on the Farm

While we were away on holiday we had the field cut and sold. We didn't do to badly price-wise even though we were late for the harvest. Dad managed to catch a few snaps of the field just after it had been cut. We are thinking that next year we may rent the field out to a local farmer to put calves on. He has shown interest in this prospect but we have yet to really talk it through with him.

There has certainly been a lot of work going on outside at the farm with large areas being cleared in readiness and the gardens prepared for the work to be done. We are considering that the pond may have to be moved from where we had originally planned to the otherside of the path.

It does feel a bit, one step forward two steps back at times but we are slowly moving forward, even if that path is sometimes getting longer!