So what happened on our little farm this month?
Not as much as we would have hoped but we still seemed to get the essentials done.
The cold weather held up the rabbit fencing (above), herb bed preparation and the erection of our new poly tunnel AND the truck delivering 20 tons of organic s**t. In fact, our neighbour told us that the truck driver’s determined manoeuvres got so intimately close that he nearly ruffled up her thatch…roof.
We have stalled our delivery of amazing biodynamic and organic shrubs, herbs and trees from Poyntzfield and Walcots due to the snow. They all arrive this week; so the poly tunnel going up tomorrow is now essential as the glasshouse is chock full with our amazing salad crop. Plus its going to be chilly over Easter so we can’t risk leaving them out.
The urgency we felt around our inability to deliver the poo was due to timing. We had the fantastic Rob Sargeant erecting our rabbit fencing at this time and he had the digger and the dumper, which we desperately needed to shift the pile onto the beds.
Meanwhile, Rob had also done an amazing job of stripping the first bed for the veg and herbs ready for this compost whist, in the mean time, casually erecting hundreds of metres of rabbit fencing and relocating gates to the front of the property. He was the only one who was keeping his cool.
So, in our infinite wisdom, we decided that we should waste no more time and collect the muck ourselves. Steven cancelled his work in London and hired the tip truck to collect the manure...easy.
After seven runs to Ipswich (one hour+ round trip) he was shattered but we had a huge pile of amazing certified organic compost on our driveway and Rob was there to shift and spread. I never gave a thought to the fact that it may smell and the pile was right next to our neighbours' gorgeous cottages – so, as the aroma wafted over the whole village, and I realised that most locals were still at work, I decided it was time for me to return to London to see patients and check on the shop. I left Steven and Rob to face the comments.
The fact that in transit Steven managed to destroy the wing mirrors of the hire truck on the narrow lanes and return it to them smelling and coated in poo (which he assured them would not be the case) was but a minor consequence – we had to pay the hire company a hefty repair bill and think we may need to find a different hire company if there is ever a next time.
Our amateur abilities here cannot be concealed but – I now have organic compost that has cost me the same as scattering gold nuggets on the beds and a husband that seems to have retained the aroma of compost around him for eternity. I also regret having neighbours closer than about a one mile radius.
Rob Sergeant is back tomorrow to finish our amazing poly tunnel and all our plants arrive on Thursday.
What could possibly go wrong? Keep watching this space…