Sorted!!

First step was to explore and find treasure.

Then after a little food Ari started sorting her rock collection. Once this was done she found our rock books and started trying to work out what she had.

Exploring

New places are always fun to explore with cousins.

We plan our holidays together. A trip to the beach was one idea.

Yams

We dig them up as needed after the first frosts. Carefully putting the biggest tubers from the best producing plants in a basket hanging from the ceiling for next years crop.

Fencing

It feels realy good to have time to clear out the old barb wire fences and put up new ones that will hold the sheep. Next job -hedgerows.

Broad beans

Our early broad beans are flowering and the bees are loving them. With this mild weather we may have beans sooner than I thought.

As well as making mulch and capturing nitrogen for our summer lettuce crop, they are acting as a catch crop at the moment -I have spotted the odd aphid and stink bug warming in the winter sun.

I am feeding the stinkbugs to the chickens. The aphid population will hopefully balance out when I encourage more waxeyes and earwigs into the garden.

Preparation

Getting ready for another workshop.

It is always exciting thinking about all of the new people you are going to meet and knowledge that will be shared.

This workshop will look at edible playscapes. We will be focusing on gardening with and for children and encouraging natures many gardeners.

Grass hoppers

As the days cool down so do our insects. They find warm places to get moving in the mornings. This grasshopper is on the top of one of out Tagasaste in the Peach orchard.

Compost

What a heap. Everyone from our Organic horticulture course brought compost materials and by lunch time we had a giant compost heap. Now it is steaming. Hopefully by spring it will be ready for planting.

Willow knot

What a wet workshop.

We;

- went for a hikoi and found out about the different types of willow.

- looked at willow working techniques.

- designed our own projects.

- harvested our willow.

- built our own living hut.

And it rained!!!

Pruning

Time to prune. Unwanted branches should be cut back to the wrinkly 'healing tissue' on the main branch so the tree can heal itself easily.