Tag: compost heap

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Compost Heaps

Finished moving the compost to the right hand side ready for planting with courgettes and pumpkins next month, and once they’ve finished it’ll be used to top up the raised beds. The left hand pile of donkey poo and grass cuttings will stay as it is for the next year and the centre strip is all ready for filling. The compost is full of worms, they like the cardboard but not the parcel tape. More runner beans have appeared, and the first of the peas, had all the ventilators open in the greenhouse. A warm, sunny, day with a moderate breeze.

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Cycle

Sixteen miles, starting at the walled garden at Moreton, up and down a few hills and along the ridge with far reaching views of the coast on a clear day. Comfortable conditions for cycling – not too hot and a light breeze, the paths often protected by fields of tall sweetcorn, half way round there was a welcome coffee stop at The Red Lion at Winfrith Newburgh. The donkeys and sheep spent the day in the paddocks, the muck/grass cuttings heap is filling up so have started taking out the oldest compost to top up the raised beds. A lovely sunset to end the day.

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Ouessants

The snow lingered in places, very frosty overnight with ice outside the stable which needed salt, the concrete doesn’t get any sun at this time of year. The Ouessants munched their hay happily and poo picking yielded a lot less as it was hidden in the snow. The donkeys had a couple of hours in the square paddock which is still squelchy, the spring in the ditch has stopped running. Emptied more barrow loads of compost onto the hedge, a dry cube of grass cuttings in the centre of the heap has given way to more worm laden compost. A sunny day with light winds, gave the donkeys their mix in daylight.

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Scratching Post

Smudge always walks to this dead tree whenever he goes outside, he likes to keep his claws nice and sharp, it’s main purpose is to keep the front gate open so I’m not sure how long it’ll be before it needs replacing. Checked the ditch, spring not flowing, ferried a few more barrowloads of compost from the heap to the hedgerow. Watched the rooks swooping around as the shoot scared the wildlife in the field on the other side of the lane. A frosty start to the day, early sunshine and light winds replaced with increasing cloud and falling temperatures with a promise of snow overnight.

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Head Cuddle

William does love a head cuddle although it is a little back breaking bending down and lifting a donkeys head onto your shoulder and then standing up, they’re surprisingly heavy. Fieldfares in the paddock today and a song thrush in the garden eating the berries. Did more work on the driveway and a few barrowloads from the compost heap, moved the sheep arcs to a fresh piece of grass. The donkeys went onto the small paddock for an hour or so but came back to their stable when the wind increased and it started raining.

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Daffodil

The first to brighten the garden, this Narcissus has it’s back to the south facing wall and is in the shelter of the hedge, it survives the attention of nibbling animals when food is short because it contains poisonous alkaloids. Removed another rail so that compost can be removed from the front of the big heap, it looks really good, crumbly, and smells fresh, with a layer of leaf litter on top. A brilliant orange sky started the day and the sunshine was really warm for a couple of hours before the cloud increased, started to rain at dusk.

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Wet William

It rained a lot last night, a couple of inches in the wheelbarrow. William must have been standing outside as he’s very wet, the raindrops run down and fall off his eyelashes, and he’s rolled over in the stable to have so much straw on his coat. Toby is not as wet, and neither is very impressed with having to stay out of the puddly paddock. Started work on the compost heap, removing a couple of rails and part of the liner to make an opening for the wheelbarrow. The compost is about eighteen months olds at this end and will be good for mulching and topping up the raised beds. A wet morning, drier in the afternoon, milder.

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Sheep

This card made me smile! Nice bike ride from Pamphill today, stayed off the muddiest tracks as my mountain bike had a flat tyre, used the hybrid with the rubbish brakes instead, which was fine. Raked the maple and ash leaves in oak paddock, they were beginning to smother the grass, put them on the compost heap which is lower already. Sawed up a few pallets for the woodburner, helps to have some fast burning wood to go with the oak and silver birch. Pulled the last of the carrots, a warm sunny day with light winds.

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Mower Trailer

The most flexible accessory in the garden, used for carting things around, and up and down the paddocks. This was the last load of the day, a tarpaulin with grass cuttings from mowing oak paddock, poo collected from the donkeys in laneside, a few beech hedge cuttings for them to eat later, a green hurdle, and a now empty cardboard box of crunchie ice creams destined for the compost heap. Moved the fresh cuttings along the top of the heap which is sinking nicely. Another warm day with light winds and late cloud to hide the sunset.

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Roe Deer

Still sitting under one of its favourite bushes at nine o’clock this morning, would have stayed there all day if it hadn’t been disturbed when I fed the fish in the pond, I think the windfall apples are the real attraction. Too windy to assemble the animal arc, mowed the rest of the laneside paddock instead and added the buttercup and grass cuttings to the compost heap which is warming up nicely, turned a few feet of steaming straw. The sheep poo is slightly less sloppy today and there are no mucky bottoms so the drier grass must have helped. Picked runner beans and tomatoes, a dry windy sunny, sometimes cloudy, day.

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Carrot Lolly

William and Toby are getting the hang of these now, especially as there’s more carrot and less ice. Toby especially likes to crunch the ice to get to the carrot, William is happy to wait for the ice to melt. The fish in the pond want feeding every time I walk past and there was a very young newt sitting on top of a lily leaf. Picked beans and almost have a ripe tomato, cucumbers doing really well. Tried to sort out the compost heap so that I can plant something on the top, need more raised beds….. A hot day with the promise of rain later, watered everything.