Another week has gone by and the weather has been wild and wicked down here in Cornwall.
The last few days have been dogged by heavy winds buffeting the Cornish coasts and we did not escape up in Clay Country here.
The remnants of the storm have passed us by and there was very little in the way of damage. In between the bouts of rain we have managed to get a few things done in the fields and garden in preparation for Spring fast approaching.
The Stable Block is being put to good use and will be a hive of activity soon although the concrete floor of the shed in the sand ring will have to wait a few months until paul has his operation penciled in for this week. He will be out of action for a while so many of the building works will have to be put on hold until summer.
The shed has been finished on the outside complete with guttering, water butts, and protective coatings for the exposed wood.
View of the Sand-ring shed finished now bar the internal concrete floor.
After reviewing the space on the sand-ring we have decided to place the chicken coop there as once the 40 x 20-foot polytunnel is erected, there will still be 63 x 41 feet to allow for the chicken enclosure and they should be nice and cozy behind the polytunnel with wind protection all round.
Space for the chicken run at the back of the sand-ring.
We also managed to get the Asparagus beds ready for the plants which should arrive in April and Loraine can pop those in by herself as everything has been readied for this purpose.
Asparagus beds are ready for the plants, 30 in total with long cropping.
We planted the rest of our fruit trees so the orchard is in and just waiting for spring to initiate growth. After visiting Bodmin Nursery we picked up another 11 Hazel trees to form a Hazelnut hedge in the middle field. This will not only give us lots of hazelnuts but also provide us with hazel coppicing for making rods, sticks, woven panels, etc.
After dodging the showers this week we managed to get the rest of the compost up to the vegetable field and finished the growing beds for this year. It is not up to the amount of room we need as yet but we shall expand each year until it is all done.
Vegetable growing beds with onions, garlic, peas, and beans already growing.
On top of all this, we also cut back a lot of the brambles by the side of the sand-ring, repaired the hedging at the back of the fields, and Paul has nearly finished a raised bed from concrete blocks which we shall grow potatoes in this year to save on space in the vegetable field.
The rear of the sand-ring shed with the raised bed for growing plants and flowers.
Things are beginning to take shape but the main building works will not be complete until later this year. The polytunnel has to be put up, The walls around the vegetable field will be built and the large hut by the vegetable field will also be erected this year. After that, the chicken run can be built with our chickens arriving next year, maybe ducks too?
That’s all for now and there will be further updates later on.