This week has been about tidying the farm and making the best of what we have.
The polytunnel is slowly being emptied of the compost in the raised beds ready for our move, so the outside beds have benefited from all the freshly dug compost which has neatened them up nicely. We want this place to look good for prospective renters when it gets advertised as soon as we definitely have our new home, (we are looking at a very likely candidate tomorrow, we're very excited!!). It's been lots of hard work but I've had some very good help to do it. The cats of course think all these nice clear beds are just huge cat litter trays solely for there use.
The bed and a half at the back still have lots of lovely 'chicken food' growing in them (weeds), I harvest a good bowlful every couple of days, the chickens needs freshly growing things to keep their eggs nice and tasty and their little bodies healthy, so until the frosts come and kill off the weeds they are ideal.
I've also been busy in my little workroom, making up Christmas gift bags and other items to sell at my final few Farmers Markets. We have decided that we will stop doing them from the end of December, so I have four more Farmers Markets and two more Craft Fairs to sell off all my remaining stock. I want all my regular customers to get lots of bargains in time for Christmas so they can give them as gifts, or just treat themselves.
It's been lovely to spend a bit of time playing with pretty things and seeing what I can make out of what I have left. This time last year I was already wallowing through fields of mud trying to look after lots of big pigs ..... what a difference.
Sue xx
Hi,
ReplyDeleteThose lavender things look great, I can almost smell them from here.
What gorgeous gifts. Are you giving up the farming life then or just living on a farm? I've only just started following you so please excuse this if it is an obvious question.
ReplyDeleteAre you leaving your raised beds & making new ones ? What do you leave & what will you take ? Can you do a post on thos please ? ! Moving is such a mammoth task anyway but to move a farm !!!
ReplyDeleteLinda - my workroom does smell gorgeous at the moment :-)
ReplyDeletedatacreata - we are moving from this farm as our lease is up in the new year. It was a 3 year lease so we could see if we liked the lifestyle - we do, so we need to move to somewhere smaller and cheaper so we can save to buy our own place as soon as possible.
Sue xx
Penny - we are leaving the outdoor raised beds for the next tenants, but are dismantling the ones in the polytunnel to use at the new place. The logistics of moving are slightly better now we don't have the pigs but it's still going to be a HUGE job - I'm not looking forward to it, although we will most likely overlap the properties by 1 or 2 months to make it easier.
ReplyDeleteSue xx
What gorgeous stock you have Sue! Do you have the packaging printed for you or is it ordered as-is from a supplier? I'm super interested in the metal tubing for the lavender lotion(?).
ReplyDeleteGood luck with the move...I'll bet you'll have some major biceps by the end of it!
We've been saving for a place of our own for some time but we want to stay in the same area so we can watch our grandchildren grow up and the prices are sky high here.
ReplyDeleteIt must be painful for you to leave somewhere you have put almost three years of hard work and love into.
Jo
ps your lavender things look great too.
Litter trays...hmm yes! The other week we had just cleared and mulched a bed for next year's veg and over the fence came our male cat. Oh, the look on his face!!! Oh Mum and Dad! For me!!!? WOW!
ReplyDeleteTanya - the toiletries shown here are my 'bought in ones' they compliment the lavender we grow on the farm. I could not afford to get the assessments done to make any more than the soap I already do, so I spent along time searching for bath oils and sherberts to go with my soaps. These were the best...they are Dr Dulcamaras, gorgeous products.
ReplyDeleteJo - We know the feeling, we live in Oxfordshire.....and it's not cheap for property or land!!
I would prefer to live in another area of the country but Lovely Hubbys day job is based in Reading and we need to be close to where he can earn the most money.
Sue xx
Just catching up! Hope your visiting to the new place went well Sue!
ReplyDeleteSft x