22 Dec 2017
I'd awoken early. And then got up not much later. Watching the sun rise at 5:34 over the arc of the top orchard, coffee in hand and porridge on my lap, it was going to be a glorious day. Again.
Yesterday it topped 38 degrees Celsius in the cottage, so a block of time is now always put aside after lunch - to swim. Then a scuttle of little feet on the porch and a naughty clutch of five little chooks ran past. After Rexs' stray biscuits I suppose. They are a cute little bunch, and had found their way into the cottage yesterday, most intrigued by my giant "human coop", but very quickly exited with me on their tail feathers. Now at about one month old , they are quickly growing, having learnt fast who provides the seed every morning. But mother nature is a canny thing, and they are slowly getting more brave, straying away from mother hen and exploring the lower trees of the orchard, loving the freshly mown grass with all its goodies.
Lets just say life here has taken a fairly dramatic turn for the....best?? If that's the way it can be described then I will say life just got very good indeed, (if not very scary). The farm owner has decided to sell. And yes we have struck a deal. So now all the hard work I have put in over the last 9 months will not be in vain, nor go the waste. And each morning I can now wake that little bit earlier with that little bit more energy - to turn this place into an totally organic orchard teaming with microbes and fertility.
And talking about that fertility, some very interesting laboratory results have come back. Two weeks ago a large sample of soil, leaf and WCA was sent off to be analysed. Results for WCA are good - at least now I know how much Calcium I am truly extracting (1.25% in 200ml) and can be scaled up to give orchard the luxury of organic liquid Calcium every fortnight. All essential elements are now visible too, and the steady task of applying organic compost (teaming with microbes) to the trees has begun, but its absolutely back breaking work. They say digging is good for the soul....but am not too sure about that one.
So where to now? Well after the year that I have had, with leaving the Army, going through the ptsd course (yes note lower case still), divorcing and emerging the other side, I truly feel ready to take this place on fulltime in every sense of the word. The absolute peace that this farm gives me is palpable. Every morning that sun comes up, in just the right place, giving me that snug cosy warmth to read my book and drink my coffee by; the constant reassurance that no matter what ptsd has done to me in the past, it will not do anything more to me in the future. And every night, no matter what I finish the day with, the cottage will be a welcoming haven, with Rex curled up at my feet, snoring protection.
And of course with all the wilder animal antics that occur, I will surely be kept very busy.
Merry Xmas to you all.
I'd awoken early. And then got up not much later. Watching the sun rise at 5:34 over the arc of the top orchard, coffee in hand and porridge on my lap, it was going to be a glorious day. Again.
Yesterday it topped 38 degrees Celsius in the cottage, so a block of time is now always put aside after lunch - to swim. Then a scuttle of little feet on the porch and a naughty clutch of five little chooks ran past. After Rexs' stray biscuits I suppose. They are a cute little bunch, and had found their way into the cottage yesterday, most intrigued by my giant "human coop", but very quickly exited with me on their tail feathers. Now at about one month old , they are quickly growing, having learnt fast who provides the seed every morning. But mother nature is a canny thing, and they are slowly getting more brave, straying away from mother hen and exploring the lower trees of the orchard, loving the freshly mown grass with all its goodies.
Lets just say life here has taken a fairly dramatic turn for the....best?? If that's the way it can be described then I will say life just got very good indeed, (if not very scary). The farm owner has decided to sell. And yes we have struck a deal. So now all the hard work I have put in over the last 9 months will not be in vain, nor go the waste. And each morning I can now wake that little bit earlier with that little bit more energy - to turn this place into an totally organic orchard teaming with microbes and fertility.
And talking about that fertility, some very interesting laboratory results have come back. Two weeks ago a large sample of soil, leaf and WCA was sent off to be analysed. Results for WCA are good - at least now I know how much Calcium I am truly extracting (1.25% in 200ml) and can be scaled up to give orchard the luxury of organic liquid Calcium every fortnight. All essential elements are now visible too, and the steady task of applying organic compost (teaming with microbes) to the trees has begun, but its absolutely back breaking work. They say digging is good for the soul....but am not too sure about that one.
So where to now? Well after the year that I have had, with leaving the Army, going through the ptsd course (yes note lower case still), divorcing and emerging the other side, I truly feel ready to take this place on fulltime in every sense of the word. The absolute peace that this farm gives me is palpable. Every morning that sun comes up, in just the right place, giving me that snug cosy warmth to read my book and drink my coffee by; the constant reassurance that no matter what ptsd has done to me in the past, it will not do anything more to me in the future. And every night, no matter what I finish the day with, the cottage will be a welcoming haven, with Rex curled up at my feet, snoring protection.
And of course with all the wilder animal antics that occur, I will surely be kept very busy.
Merry Xmas to you all.
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