My sheep just love a new paddock of fresh lush grass. Their delight motivates me to keep on providing one for them - well that and the fact that it is also really important for soil health and regeneration. They eat down the choicest species first and leave the more undesirable species until last. In a rotational grazing system they won’t return to this patch of paddock until the best grasses have regrown. Balance of plants in the paddock is achieved as the quality grass plants grow stronger and are not wiped out by overgrazing. It takes varying amounts of time every day or two but does connect me with my animals which I really enjoy!
Having made my sheep happy I can get on with the rest of my day.
Summertime means food processing. Transforming raw, homegrown vegetables, fruits and flowers into a preserved form that can be grabbed from the store cupboard when the weather turns cooler. It does take some time but you have to remind yourself that this is what it is all about. As my garden has yet to provide abundance year round, dehydrating, canning and freezing means I capture that goodness for quick, nourishing winter meals. This is when you reap the rewards! Today I decided that another batch of fermented carrots and ginger was required - so good I’ll dedicate a whole post to it!
An hour of log splitting and moving got me a little closer to a full woodshed. My dream of clearing my driveway of wood piles was however shattered as a neighbour dropped off a load of their tree trimmings. Not wanting to see it all just in a big burn pile I had them leave it, you guessed it, in my driveway! I’ll shred the leaves and small stuff to provide a mulch source and I’ll chop up the logs and leave to dry for firewood. But that can be fun for another day!
Something I’m just learning to do is getting a winter veggie garden going. Last year I failed to get my plants to a size that could get through winter in a harvestable form. My little seedlings barely grew and mostly fell victim to slug and snail attack. This year they’ll be bigger before the growth slows with cooler temperatures and shorter daylight hours making them less vulnerable to pests. So I’ve started to plants seeds in trays to plant out when the summer crops allow. Every two weeks I plan on getting a tray of seedlings going to hopefully give me a constant supply of fresh winter veg - we’ll see how that works out!!