2022-08 Rotavating and Making Raised Beds

In the first year, the fields were full of flocks of birds including geese, swans and other types. It was exciting when some of the birds came back this month. They stay in the field as a big group and look at you suspiciously if you walk past. It was a pretty quiet month otherwise. I ordered materials I needed for later projects but otherwise concentrated on extended raised plant beds.

Rotavator Clearing

We wanted to extend the “outer” raised bed around the field edge, but to do this we needed to dig and move a lot of soil. The electric rotavator was really helpful for this but there was a lot of digging and levelling.

I was trying to finish painting the back of the garage. It is a real pain. It is high up. The woodwork is wrinkled and split. You keep having to go up and down the ladder and move it. I can see why the pre-painted metal siding on the house had been chosen. I did wonder if some kind of access via the roof might be easier for painting the roof facade.

I was starting to think about the possibility of vertical solar panels on this wall when funds allowed. The fan unit is the air source heat pump which can keep the garage above freezing in winter.

From the cut line in the roof facade, I think there was probably an extension here once. Perhaps for something like a firewood store.

Crops

The plants were doing great, although it was a race to see if the sunflowers and sweetcorn would be ready in time before winter. We tried putting grass cuttings around the base of the plants to see if it helped keep the moisture in the soil and make it harder for weeds to get sunlight.