It’s been a while since I updated this, the truth is we’ve been spending every free moment out in our new veg patch and greenhouse. Between that and finishing the harvesting and grading of this years willow, it’s been a bit of a crazy time.
Starting a new business can be a bit challenging, so being able to produce some of our own veg should help in part, along with being an exciting adventure for the small people in our lives. But it’s a lot of work, albeit lovely work. Yesterday we had our first lettuce on burgers that grew on our little plot, which was a tiny bit special. Assuming we haven’t made any massive mistakes (and as novice veg gardeners, it’s entirely possible we have) we should have berries, peppers, peas, beans, carrots and cauliflower over the next few months, along with some flowers for the pollinators and potentially an idea for a weaving project I’m considering. All in all, we’re lucky to have the opportunity to work like this after our ‘real jobs’ finish for the day.
We have this years willow fully harvested, a new bed planted and most of it graded. Grading is a satisfying, but time-consuming job. We take each bundle and separate the rods into 2/3/4/5/6+ foot bundles. This makes it easier to see what you can make when you go to pull the dry willow for soaking (you might need 6 foots for making an obelisk but 2 foots for making a basket base, so having them sorted helps to plan)
Usually, we do it as we harvest, but we had some friends come to help us this year so we just cut and stored a lot of it while they were here. So we have a lot of it done, but there is still a good bit to go yet. While I love having a job ticked off the list, I don’t mind drawing this one out a bit, willow farming is very seasonal; certain things happen at certain times of year, so sometimes it’s nice to do a Spring job in Summertime.
Oh! And we got new chickens!
