Trees, Bees and Permission Please!

Well its been some time but here we go again. This blog will now concentrate on what we have been up to on our land and I will endeavour to update it roughly once a month. It is inevitable that the politics of sustainablity will crop up as everything has a context!
Its been a long winter but we still attend everyday to look after the animals. It was fun walking through virgin snow when we were unable to drive and Susan had another opportunity to have a 'retreat' in the barn for a few days. Another memorable evening was New Years Eve, when Gary and Fi popped over for music and sloe vodka earlier and we were treated to Bovey Castle's firework display at midnight. We had gone to bed and and as it was so hot in the barn, what with the Thermafleece Sheepswool insulation, thanks to Christine and the woodburner, thanks to David Brampton-Greene, we we ended up standing outside watching the fireworks, virtually naked!
One of the jobs we have done, is to fell some ash trees in our hedgerow near the caravan. Farmers traditionally would plant ash in the hedge for firewood, which I expect you know, burns green. They are usually cut when they are a managble size but these were now full size trees. So armed with a bow saw, over a few days, we managed to cut them down but not without a few scares and near misses with ourselves and the caravan. We wanted to cut them down ourselves because of a a sense of self-responsiblity and satisfaction. However, we shall not be doing that again mainly because we will harvest them sooner. My midriff still aches two weeks on but that could also be something to do with the naturopathic gym we attend on a Friday.
The other picture you can see is Elle with the cuttings from our shelter belt for the vegetables/biomass for firewood, of willow which we have begun to pollard. Much easier to cut with loppers which hopefully we can manage into old age! We havent been too tidy with the willow as the cuttings of the pussy willow is one of the first pollen crops, for our other new addition, the bees. The rabbits which are multiplying at the stereotypical rate have begun to eat the young willow. We noticed that they were also eating the cuttings from the pruned fruit trees before I picked them up so we have sprinkled bits of willow between the hedge and the new willow shoots and they are working successfully as a decoy. The apple tree cuttings are really appreciated by the sheep when there is not much else. We have never seen the grass so bereft and white. The cold winds have now gone so I expect within weeks we will have more grass than we need and the sheep will return to their over fed selves.
I mentioned the bees. Its been a difficult few years for beekeeping but with Eric's advice Susan has succesfully installed a hive which has, unlike many, survived the winter. We are hoping that this will make a real difference to the pollination of the fruit trees this year. We had a situation this year where one of our previously prolific apples, Sunset, fruited well with lots of small apples then they all fell off! Growing fruit at our land is marginal so as the shelter belts grow and the climate warms plus the addition of bees, we may just get away with it. We have planted a Bramley apple and a gage, as well as four cherries in memory of my mother and we have included her ashes so the lime loving plants should appreciate her input. Whilst we had to be away for the funeral etc, Rachael and Helen looked after our animals for us, so thank you and if anyone else would like to help, please let us know.
The ducks have been in the vegetable area for the last few weeks where they will find every slug and snail as well as their eggs so we can ensure that the only barrier to successful growing will be temperature and soil quality. After the addition of a herbicide a few years back, that remains in the plants after they are composted, we have been less inclined to import compost/manure. Our neigbours at Batworthy Mill had problems with their vegetables after importing an unknown source of affected hay or straw. This means we have to make all our own so we are now using grass and bracken as well as the animal wastes. We also use the bracken as a mulch and for chicken hut bedding. We miss the abundance of pony manure, as our ponies are now living across the valley looked after by our other neigbours. Our two year old humanure has been applied to the comfrey outside the growing area, and we will harvest that this year for more compost.
Last year we sold our surplus vegetables and fruit, to our regular customers, as well as in the window box outside our house and to The Courtyard. We have had some positive comments from older customers some of which told us that years ago vegetables were sold from outside houses in New Street so unbeknowingly we are are carrying on a tradition.
We are still hoping to build on our land. We understand that sustainablity is now a criteria in achieving permission. When we applied a few years back we were assessed as an agricultural business even though we asked to be assessed as a sustainablity project so we continue to champion policy change. In the 8 years of driving to the land with a round trip of 9 miles we have driven over 26,000 miles, the circumference of the earth. If we lived there, of course, we would make much fewer journeys. We would also love to get a 2.5KW PV array, as now supported by the government from April, to power perhaps the whole hamlet and an electric car. You do, of course, need a house to put it on!
It may be time for us to try for permission again!
Thanks to all those who have donated trees for our ongoing expansion of Wormhill Ley woodland.