Gift from 'The Sky Pixies'?

OK; maybe not; but it sure does help the 'Mental 'elf; all the same....

The 'stead...

Taken almost exactly a year ago...Yes I am very tall....

Attendees at Landworkers Alliance meeting this weekend were mostly young, clearsighted, intelligent, well educated sorts; all of whom have experienced the joys of endlessly weeding leeks in the rain; and other associated bucolic blissfullness....

Yet they are still keen to get on with realising their ambitions of, making a sustainabiy scaled,  environmentally benign living, from producing decent, affordable food, for folk in their locality.

But the barriers to them achieving those aims; in this age of the ever increasing commodification of land and food production; are possibly even more insurmountable now; than when the pictured plot  was purchased; with the same intentions.

  Back then, nearly ten years ago  it was a featureless pasture field; most likely destined for 'horseyculture' not food growing..

After an amount of work; and some investment of energy, time, and money, it is starting to shape up as a viable small farm...

So it might be time for me to step up; as someone who could be regarded as an 'old hand' (eeek) to join the ranks of those campaigning on behalf of the new generation. 

Those keen; energetic (and crazy) enough to take on the task of feeding the country properly, need encouragement.

Multiple studies have shown that smaller farms are more productive overall per acre. And employ more people...

But policy documents? (gulp) Position papers?(arrghh) European consultations, and lobbying? Well maybe......

Those girls and boys certainly do furnish a decent nosh; and knees up.......And not a knitted knicker; or whittled spoon; in sight...

Sending Oneself to Coventry...

On Being Quiet...

Today

Today I'm flying low, and I'm
not saying a word.

I'm letting all of the voodoos of ambition
sleep.



The world goes on as it must,
the bees in the garden rumbling a little,

the fish leaping, the gnats getting eaten
And so forth.



But I'm taking the day off.
Quiet as a feather

I hardly move though really I'm travelling
a terrific distance



Stillness. One of the doors
into the temple

Mary Oliver

again...

Once you've got a fire going..

"It isn't really work any more"

Words of wisdom from 'Man Friday'

New to some of you..

When he's not gadding about the globe; or off sailing other peoples boats.

He turns up at the end of most weeks through the darker months to keep me on top of the job list...Endlessly enthusiastic; energetic; and relentlessly cheery...

Must be all the veg' and yoga of which he partakes...

Exhausting sometimes; no slacking allowed; except for cake breaks.....
But I did get to cross four things off the to do list...Usually three feels like an epic 'win'.

And no; I didn't do that sneaky; but satisfying cheat of writing down an 'already done' just in order to strike it through.

So a Friday eve' beer to accompany the waste consuming blaze seems like a trifling thing to offer.

Especially as he will be off marketing the vegetables tomorrow morning in town, while chief custard wrangler and I go off for a 'works jolly'...

Broad View; still some work to do...

The view from the hill helpfully hides at least two thirds of the workload behind the windbreak of Italian Alders...Nitrogen fixers plus potential firewood..

But it's starting to feel like a few things are getting under control...

Ha; what a statement to make...

Control is a hopeless word; for a situation where it's far more about keeping the plates spinning; and trusting that natural processes will continue to do their thing.

All we can do, is to encourage natural flows to go towards where we would like them.

"Working with nature" is an much over used; nebulous; means nothing; and yet means everything term...

At least in the world of organics; and general 'Greenery'.

It presupposes that we even know, how nature really does work....Mysterious ways muchly....

Good solid science can tell us a lot. 

But there's still an awful amount of research yet to be done around understanding how something as seemingly mundane; yet complex and life sustaining, as soil, actually fuctions.

In a healthy loam there are a myriad microscopic organisms; plus associated buglets; endlessly interacting; and producing and consuming micronutrients, and minerals.

Then there are multiple soil types; climatic conditions; crops that can be grown..

How do you set up empirical tests for all that? In each and every situation? 

And who is going to fund all that research?

When at the end of it all there is no actual marketable product; or magic bullet to sell to us organic growers...?

And even if a sustainable one were to be found; could we afford to use it?

For now; and I suspect in the longer term;, we just have to trust our instincts; whilst making best use of that experience and knowledge we, and others may have garnered over the years...

And of course keep on larding on the love; and compost....

It Can't beThursday Again...?

But we have to believe the evidence before our eyes...

Luxuriating 'pon a bed of frilly brassica nonsense; the luscious dish of  nutmeggy wondrousness nourishes and delights in equal measure..

Fewer daylight hours makes it feel as if someone has stolen a couple of days out of the week.

 I guess in days gone by we would have naturally slept more at this time of year; not sat up late writing fatuous nonsense about custard.

But I've personally no nostalgia for the so called 'good old days'. 

Hopelessly over romanticised; and pretty certain it was often colder; harder work; and could be dull and narrow viewed . Modern life may have it's downsides but on the whole I wouldn't swap.

Looking forward to a 'girls on the road' trip with the creator of this confection at the weekend.

Pictured here peeping from 'mongst the Flower Sprouts.

I'm voluntarily 'sending myself to Coventry'.

For The Land Workers Alliance AGM, 

Should be a good bit more fun than might first present.... Proper Shindig; excellent food; bit of a knees up; and the chance (hope?) to be reinvigorated by some like minded folk...

Looking for some portion of camaraderie; inspiration; and encouragement; to help with the oft muddy slog of 'getting through' murky winter days, whilst making a go of earning a smallish living from the land... 

Just need to remember to keep my counsel with the outer fringes of yoghurt weavers; and knicker knitters; who may be present ... They'll grow out of it...Perhaps?

And anyway we have a pitchfork on our logo...So who could resist...??

http://broadviewfromasmallfarm.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/well-why-wouldn-you.html 

Still; to my mind at least; all of this farming m'larkey beats going to and from an office in the twilight; and only seeing the sky for a few precious hours at the weekend; if you're lucky..

We may well get a good few crispy, shiny days before long; even snow?

 Will then be able to keep toasty shoveling it all off the veg, pre' harvest... Larks aplenty. 

Hmm; lets see;  just how much genuine chirpiness that extra labour produces; when the time comes...

Wide enough skies here too...

Got back just before dusk..
It sneaks up quickly; this time of year...
Was viewing a potential bit of tractor kit..
Which wasn't wide enough...The search continues.

But cycling unloaded feels like flying; even on Devon Hills.

A watery sky and skeletal trees; after recent November gusts, suggests that a bit of hatch battening is called for.

Wild weather can be fun; if you don't have to spend most of the day chasing crop covers all over the field...

Sunnier Times...

Snapped here (no; not in half) By girl Monday #1......I have two of them on occasion; how blessed?

These brassica were just babies when we employed some 'practical yoga -   uttanasana to keep out their weedy competitors.

The hinge is at the hips; thus avoiding bending the back...It does take a bit of consistent; persistent; lifting fronts and backs of legs; to safely get your hamstrings lengthened this much...

But being able to reach the earth; without it hurting your back; is useful for all kinds of tasks...Especially given that most work here does tend to be at ground level.

Sadly; the season for wearing pink socks is over....But these babies have grown up into harvestable cabbages...Crunchy Savoy; with leaves like bright green tripe.

So I'd better go and cut some now for those folks eagerly awaiting this week's delivery..

Waterproof trousers on; yuk; but proper coffee on too...Right-hand Wednesday Girls on their way.

Blessed again.

Still hanging on...

Temporary fix; last featured here 7th August...

Update...A few months have gone by now; and still really no closer to being put right.

 It continues to makes me smile though.... Every time I see it. But how long will it hold....?

Someone will get to it; at some point.

 All in good time...

Devon Time.

And as predicted; some of the red has turned to pink.

Second born son informs me that he used to slide between these railings at his old village primary school; so their child containment function is obviously limited.

He is a good deal taller now; but certain that his expansion widthways has not kept up...Was this damage caused by someones' unsuccessfully reliving their boyhood?

Slow work day at the field?

Quite the contrary; but if it's pictures of girls giving cabbages a darn good weeding that you're after; I'll have to have a rummage; in the archive....

Because it was back to 'wearing mud' not just dressed in muddy colours today; I need to get a lens cover for my phone camera...

Navigation Pyrenees

Pyrenees.... Can be hard on your knees....

So to make navigation easier...

 (Don't totally trust a spanish map - they're having a laugh at our expense)

And besides life is much too short to be scrolling; when you could strolling...

Here are individual links to other Pyrenean postings...In order.

http://broadviewfromasmallfarm.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/pyrenean-perigrination-part-one.html

http://broadviewfromasmallfarm.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/pyrenean-perigrination-part-two.html

http://broadviewfromasmallfarm.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/a-pyrenean-perigrination-part-three.html

http://broadviewfromasmallfarm.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/a-pyrenean-perigrination-part-four.html

http://broadviewfromasmallfarm.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/pyrenean-perigrination-part-five.html

http://broadviewfromasmallfarm.blogspot.co.uk/2015/11/perineum-perigrination-part-six.html