Lots of winter jobs on the go on the farm this week – clearing much of the site so it’s ready for the soil to be turned is one. Another is work to lay woodchip paths so that the farm has more clearly marked ways – which will save us from a bit of accidental trampling as well as making the site more welcoming to visitors. Thanks to the learners from Orchard Hill for their hard work on this project.
I know some of you have been closely following the saga of our storm-damaged polytunnel – well, all the metal supports are now taken down, and we’ve been starting to level the ground where it stood. The plan is for its replacement to be oriented in a different (and perhaps less gust-vulnerable) direction.
Most exciting, we’ve been adding new ponds to the farm site – the idea is to increase biodiversity, which in turn will increase the number of natural predators who will help to take care of the pests that like to decimate some of our crops. We don’t use pesticides here, of course, so we want to get all the help from nature that we can. Now we’re waiting for nature to fill the ponds with rainwater so we can watch these new habits start to teem with life.