Winter already?!

Can you believe we are officially in winter already?

 

I guess firstly I should apologise for our absence, but we have been away for a few weeks. Enjoying a short trip back to Wales, to celebrate (as promised) my grandparent’s 60^th wedding anniversary.

So as wonderful as it was to see our friends and family (sorry to those we didn’t manage to catch up with), even managing to pick up a few more souvenirs we home and getting back into the swing of things.

Now you may wonder what did we do with our place? (farm, smallholding… whatever you want to call it) Well we were very fortunate to know a couple who are ‘farm sitters’ who generally mind properties far larger than ours. So our place couldn’t have been in better hands! Thank you so much Dick & Lynne it was a real relief not to have to worry about our animals or furry babies.

On that subject, Matt & I are expecting another new arrival, only this one (shouldn’t) won’t have trotters, hooves, fur, or even feathers. As we are (or I am) now 27 weeks pregnant with our first child. We're expecting a girl in early Septemeber (and no pink please!). So I guess for many their thoughts would be on decorating the nursery or winding down. At the moment we are trying to fit as much in as possible as we have a few things on the ‘to do list’, due to being away. As well as a few more before I find things too difficult or tiring. I aim to continue as much as possible, but I am holding no expectations.

 

So this weekend being a long weekend I had hoped it would be the ideal time to ‘catch up’ a little. We made a productive start separating the pig pen. This is to allow part of their pen to recover, producing their own fodder. Then we’ll rotate the divided area to another section… and so on.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To do this we just star pickets and electric fencing as our pigs respond well to this fencing method (although it is important to check your fencing regularly- as pigs are intelligent and will realise if it is not functioning properly).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It is also worth noting that their natural vandalistic nature you may have to watch whilst installing your fencing. I’m afraid there are not too many pictures during our installation as I spent most of it chasing the pigs away from the area to stop them breaking or eating the caps/ connectors!

Another job started over the weekend, but the unseasonal rain put a dampener on me getting any further (at this stage) to clear the veg patch ready for some new seedlings. That I did pot on Saturday too.

It still seems strange sewing seeds or planting in winter. But in the tropics its actually (usually) a great time to plant- as the wethers cooler, but sunny days. I guess its not as if we have to worry about frost. But I was surprised to find I didn’t have any tomato or zucchini seeds. So I’ll have to source some or perhaps a few seedlings to get a jump start.

I also used a few bio-pots with peat starter; I was given these by a friend some time ago, but haven’t used them yet. These can be transferred directly into the ground, hopefully reducing plant shock. So I’ll let you know how these go too.

 

So as the rest of the long weekend was rained off it was a weekend for indoors. But I have blogged about these separately, as this post is starting to get on a little.  

 

-Lime Cordial

-Marmalade & Jam

-Wormfarming