People buy a scythe for lots of reasons – for managing everything from a smallholding to the edges of a heritage railway line. Looking at our site at this time of year it can appear that our scythe use is restricted to the hay meadow, but this is far from the truth. One of the delights of the scythe is that it can be used … Continue reading The Austrian Scythe – a versatile tool
Another spring time job is setting up the electric fencing on the spring / early summer grazing. Over the years I have worked with it a lot and come to appreciate its flexibility and usefulness and learnt some useful tricks to counteract some of its disadvantages. So why do we use it? Subdividing fields into small parcels means we can move grazers frequently. The sheep … Continue reading Electric Fencing to Manage Grassland
There is a particular spot on one of the Trust paths that often smells rather, well, unpleasant. I walk by frequently when we have stock in the far field and the source has been puzzling me since the summer. At first I thought it was a dead fox or similar, but the smell didn’t seem to disappear over time as I would have expected. Then … Continue reading Tracing the Scent
Today was one of the Dyfed Permaculture Farm Trust’s regular workdays. One of the tasks on the agenda was trimming the hedge banks of the access track. The middle section of the track, already rather narrow, was beginning to worry car drivers with it’s luxorious growth of bracken, bramble, fern and saplings. Cue some rather unusual scything techniques. Standing with the hedge to our right, … Continue reading Hedge trimming with a scythe
We have a grass track running through the Trust. We maintain parts of it with a scythe, usually using the clippings to mulch the vegetable gardens. The edges to the tracks are left to grow longer and bramble tries to creep out from the hedges. Periodically the edges need managing too. Edges ready to be mown The balance of grazing land to hay fields on … Continue reading Mowing at Midday
When it is cold, frosty or even snowy winter tree work is a great way to keep warm. We have been working on restoring and laying the hedge that runs behind our house, all done with hand tools of course. Amazing pink interior of a felled Willow limb Phil began by tackling a large willow that has been threatening to collapse onto the Trust car … Continue reading Winter Wood Work
The last of Cae Mari Jones has been cut. Some of the patches that had a lot of Knapweed in have been used to mulch various areas of perennial plants. We have also made a couple more racks, managing to wilt the hay sufficiently between the showers. The patch of grass to the right has now been cut and this rack is in the barn … Continue reading Hay Making 2014 – nearing the end and welcoming new residents