March 2024
Curlew’s Calling
As the last month in GMT passed, the unmistakable sound of the Curlew started to be heard all across the ridge of the hillside we live on. Back from their winter travels in Scandinavia, the warbling calls confirmed the change of seasons and made us believe we would see the sun again in the not-too-distant future. Last heard in the Autumn, it’s a pleasure to know Europe’s largest wading birds are back in the area, no doubt very happy with the swampy conditions from a winter of heavy rain. Now on the Red list for birds of conservation concern, let’s hope they raise lots of chicks this summer and bring back future generations in years to come.
The small polytunnel with action dog
Out of broken greenhouses, small polytunnels grow
Inspired by a video from YouTube gardener Huw Richard about how to make a small-scale polytunnel, I decided the old greenhouse footings would make an ideal base. Made by securing PVC piping over a wooden frame, it’s provided a great replacement for the destroyed greenhouse. The plan is to grow leaves and other salad ingredients and the first shoots of Rocket, Raddish, Pak Choi and Lettuce have started to peek through. I’m impressed at how it’s handled the ongoing strong winds and it seems to be trapping in the heat to really help the plants thrive.
Not only was the polytunnel finished, but we also had another bit of YouTube inspiration for a second growing space. This couple in Wales are building tiny homes on an old caravan site and posted a video of a greenhouse, that we copied. The seed trays were starting to take over the caravan, so the corrugated clear plastic greenhouse came just in time to reclaim the much-needed space. It’s given all the seedlings a great boost of light with the Napa cabbages being the top performers so far, we’ll have Kimchi for days! My favourite bit is the door which was a freebie from Facebook marketplace, it was a pair so we might need another greenhouse to use the second one.
New greenhouse, a wooden frame with corrugated plastic
Making the beds
The first bed has been made in the sectioned-off growing space. As various internet sources have taught me, this is the correct way to start a “no dig” bed. The theory goes that by putting down layers of cardboard and then around 10 centimetres of compost, the grass underneath dies off without light by the time the cardboard is broken down. Then you are left with a vegetable bed that needs minimal maintenance, other than infrequent top-up of compost at the start of a growing season. The soil is healthier and allowed to maintain its microbial networks without disturbance. During our time here we’ve noticed that digging more than about 10/20 centimetres into the soil finds standing water. So it seems more sensible to not disturb the ground and try this approach. I am still a little sceptical and worried that a couple of hundred pounds of compost is going to be overrun with weeds in a matter of weeks. Watch this space for updates!
Laying the vegetable beds
The green shoots are pushing through on the trees, hedges and in the greenhouse and the spring lambs are in the fields. And hurrah for the lighter evenings!
Thanks for reading, love from Hillside Farm x
