The Land #1 - The Permanent Pasture

The permanent pasture at Tymawr Farm in June 2012 is composed of several species:

Nettles

Thistles

Docks (Giant Variety!)

Buttercups

We also have a cracking crop of ferns in one field!
I'm sure I've seen grass in places, and also some red clover, so maybe all is not lost. Having said that, I'm afraid that turning this into the perfect pasture I dream about is going to be a life's work!

Another feature which needs to be addressed is drainage I think - this photo was taken towards the end of a dry day after a wet night - not good!  I've read about 'mole drainers' and 'sub-soilers' but think I need some professional advice and a holistic plan that we can work on in a phased way over several years.

The drainage!

Firewood # 3 - Stream-bed Attrition

The very heavy rain we've been having over the last few weeks has brought with it some great opportunities for character building, including feeding pigs by torchlight in the pouring rain and trying to clean mud off my trousers in the loos at work after rushing in one day, but it has also had some positives too!

The brook is full of water, which looks great, and is sadly a fairly rare occurrence, although I have big plans for trying to clear it out, and one day creating a dam and a pond, filled with delicious crayfish!

One good opportunity it has provided is a great addition to the Tymawr log pile in the form of this Hawthorn tree.  There are lots and lots of trees right on the edge of the brook, each year having more of the soil around their roots washed away.  The recent heavy rain finally did for the last particle of Monmouthshire clay anchoring the roots of this particular tree, and it fell yesterday.  It has made me wonder how long the rest of the trees are likely to remain upright - a little Hawthorn is one thing, but a hundred year old Welsh Oak might cause some more serious problems!  I'll have to warn the sheep and alpacas to be on their guard, to keep their wits about them and to practice sprinting!

Incidentally, I haven't come across many Hawthorns which could be classed as 'Trees' and had thought of them really as a bush used for hedging.  It may be that at some point in history this tree was part of a hedge, but today it is easily twenty five feet tall (actually more correctly 'long' now!), with the largest trunk being about four inches in diameter!  Tymawr farm is certainly a great place for tree growing!  It gives me confidence that the Cider Orchard will be a success!