Post Whacking and Starting 2023

Late autumn and the winter months are mostly about on infrastructure on this farm. I’m still at the beginning of my farming journey so there are a lot of things still to be built. It’s quickly become apparent, however, that as one project is finished, four more rear their pretty heads, and I suspect I’ll never be short of a job or ten. I also get bored easily which means I have multiple things on the go; nothing like finishing one thing before moving onto the next - NOT.

We’re three weeks away from the winter solstice which means the hours of daylight continue to shrink. This in itself adds even more pressure to get things done. And combined with the weather (it’s raining a lot but I’m not calling it bad as we had such a significant drought) it means there is less and less time in the day. With the possibility of winter freezes on the horizon, much of my current workload is fencing, gates, making pens and keeping animals where they’re supposed to be.

My new boar, Richard, has arrived and within two weeks he’s completed his job - both Margaret and Hyacinth have been covered. It spurred me into action to get the farrowing pen ready. I want this to be a permanent stock-fenced pen with an additional line of electric to stop the sows ruining the fence and initially train the piglets. One ark will go at each end allowing each girl their own space, and then the weaners can be grown on and Hyacinth and Margaret moved back to the rotational ground.

I’ve also managed to get the final driveway posts in, dig the first two holes for the gates and get the posts cemented in. There are another two to do, and now the ground is soft, it’s become much easier to dig. I’m excited to get this area fenced off to prevent animal antics into the driveway. But it’ll also become a useful area, with espalier fruit trees along the fence, the raised beds with bulbs and a number of small shrubs and trees for floristry; cotinus, eucalyptus, forsythia etc.

Lambing also starts in just over month. Though my ewes are not due until the end of February, I have a friend using my barn from January; more lambs! I’ve spent several enjoyable hours mucking the barn out. I find it quite therapeutic - the monotonous filling of a barrow, wheeling it out to next year’s pumpkin patch and returning to fill another. All accompanied by the wailing of Eve, who is still heavily pregnant, and the chuckle of the muscovies. There’s something wonderful about a freshly, newly cleaned barn. And when it’s dry and the straw it in, it’ll then have that joyous sound of happy sheep settling down to sleep and chewing the cud as they find respite from the weather outdoors.

Things on the market and flower farm are rather quieter. The first frost has been and gone, and it took the remaining zinnias, dahlias and cosmos with it. It managed to get its tendrils into the polytunnel too; the tomatoes have taken a hit but the peppers are still going strong. A good thing, as I’m going to try and keep them alive through the winter and get an early harvest next year. The remaining planting in the polytunnel is going well though; I lettuces, chard and kale all thriving. In addition, I’m trying to overwinter some larkspur, cornflower and marigolds, along with ranunculus and anemone, to get an early start on 2023. Outside, I’ve been clearing out and flipping beds ready for planting in spring. The pigs are particularly partial to this as they get all the leftovers. This was a rather lovely pile of radishes that they quickly devoured.

Pigs enjoying the radishes

Eve is STILL pregnant

It’s a very exciting time on the farm, and I never find this time of year boring. There’s lots to do, a multitude of projects to work on for the 2023 season and soon, we’ll be starting the farming year all over again.