Oct. 25, 2024

Since my last update I've been able to do quite a few visits and making a lot of progress. I built the trolley, which I can move stuff around in, hoping that it'll come in useful. Pretty easy to build, and I take off one wheel and put it into the locked storage bin when I'm gone so no one steals the trolley.

I then created fabric flags to put onto the bamboo sticks that I've put in the ground to mark out the oil pipe, sewage pipe, and incumbent fruit trees. Now it's easier to see them from a distance and to distinguish between the markers. Great idea on my part.

Next, I started predigging some holes on the fruit tree markers, 60cm wide and 30cm deep. I thought this might be difficult because of all the rocks in the ground, but actually wasn't too bad. I think the further down the field I go, the fewer rocks there are. I could dig a hole of decent size in about 10 minutes. My twister tool is working out great. It's excellent in pulling up that first layer of grass roots and weeds. My neighbour said that he has lots of clay in his soil, which I think I have too after 30-40cm of depth. I haven't dug that far yet since I don't need to, but I do think it's there. The top soil is nice a soft still.

NEXT, I had a run-in with my field neighbour who told me off for parking on his land (see first picture of car - technically not parking on my land). He is right and I should be parking on my section, but without a 4x4 and no woodchips laid, I'm worried I would get stuck. He recommend I ask a nearby farmer for woodchips, which was a great recommendation. I called them up and they delivered a load within two days. 

I had been looking for a woodchip source for a while, and wasn't able to find something, so this was a great connection. The local farmer came with a small tractor and delivered one bucket full of fresh woodchips. I had one half spread on the entrance, to make myself a parking space, and the other half near the sewage pipe path.

It took about three hours for me to spread around the woodchips in the right place. I was pretty tired by the end of it. For the path, I made it just under a metre wide, ideally its maybe twice as wide, but I was trying to stretch it out as much as I could. I will need at least one more bucket full to extend the sewage path to the bottom of the field, and do the oil path which goes accross. 

The wood chips are still pretty green, I'm hoping they will settle in and supress the grass underneath it. Very happy with the progress though.

Last bit of news is I ordered a BIG shipment of hedge plants to start making a border around the field. I ordered about 300 2 year old saplings of hawthorn, seabuckthorn, hazel and dogwood. I think they are all hardy shrubs that will grow nicely into a solid hedge. The seabuckthorn has some interesting berries that potentially have useful properties, and the dogwood is often used for basket making.

I expect delivery won't be until well into November. But when it does arrive, it'll be a whole lot of planting. I should probably start predigging that too.

Checklist

- Trolley built
- Flags put on stick markers (oil, sewage, fruit trees)
- Predug 8 fruit tree holes
- One shipment of woodchips for parking area and partial path layout
- Ordered large delivery of hedge plants

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