Realisation....

That just as some people might suggest that the label 'feminist'  should no longer be required...

i. e. That believing all genders, should have equal rights and responsibilities,  might just be a normal way of thinking. 

And that believing the obverse,  should attract an 'oddball explanatory label'

In the same way,  I'm getting fed up with the 'Environ mentalist'  label...

Which implies that attempting to live as if it really matters that we quite obviously inhabit a resource finite,  ecologically fragile, and infinitely precious planet... 

Is a rather niche, or 'crackpot' position to have..

When in reality,  to suggest otherwise. Or to operate as if this inalienable fact were not  true ; is to my way of thinking, really quite the difficult position to grasp..

Especially when so many of us would claim to appreciate the beauty,  diversity,  and landscape, of this globe,   and life that it supports. 

But; it it is of course, a desperately inconvenient truth.

That requires that we might actually have to consider our behaviours and even face up to the consequences of our own 'freely made'  decisions,  and actions. 

Particularly when it seems nearly always,  to cost more,  and be more complicated,  to 'do the right thing'... However we might judge that  ' right thing' to be.. . 

Even more so especially when it might mean that we might even have to forgo,  that next ''instant gratification'. 

I want it now, I have the money to pay, I am therefore entitled. 

Oh OK, go ahead, why not,  everyone else is. 

 

  So, never mind,  look the other way,  distract, dissemble, even put up some straw men.

And whilst about it, we can have a jolly good time lampooning the woolly hatted,  woolly thinking, tree hugging,  yoghurt weaving fruit loops.  

Who might, however ineptly, inconsistently, and hilariously,  be trying to make some tiny difference...

And who will persist in grinding on about all those tedious ecological realities, that might require us to stop and consider where we're headed. 

The broad path, is after all,  the far easier route to walk, for sure. 

And you can be assured of plenty of company.

Back to the land....

The end of a classic autumnal day on this small farm.  All the squash are safely gathered in, tucked up in their winter quarters in the barn.

Hidden from the frosts, that would otherwise turn them quickly to a mush...

Many golden nuggets, of stored sunshine to keep lots of folk,  well fed with their Sweetness.

Then an amble up the hill to stretch the legs in a more linear fashion.
No shortage of bending and lifting in the days labour. Man Friday resuming 'normal service'

Now Devon starts to don her multicoloured finery,  the weather we've had up to now,  would presage some classic colours, in the weeks forthcoming.

Received a thorough telling off, up here on top, from a cross squirrel who wasn't expecting company...

She executed some fine acrobatics within the white stemmed copse of birches, whilst chirruping away like an angry jay.

Followed by a retreat, with almost a harrumph to the higher sanctuary of the mature oak.
Could almost imagine her chucking acorns at me if I entered any closer...
Quite right too,  my girl, stand your ground,  establish your boundaries.

The landscape,  of hedgerows and heath,  is in vivid 3d, as the uniformity of summer green gives way to the supersaturated hues of autumn.

It's not too beautiful, but it's certainly glorious enough.

Will have to address the tedious tech issues that are preventing me posting pictures this way... Because there is,  as ever,  much to share,  with those who care.

Mulling, on Mull.

There is something about Islands,  that appeals to certain deep parts of the human psyche. 

Remote,  yet knowable. 

Self contained, with clearly defined boundaries.

'This is this,  and that is that'

Graspable sizewise by the human brain that would prefer to see the 'whole picture'.

Mull is one of the larger Isles. And would, most likely, take many weeks to get to know in any great detail.

In such fine October weather as this, the temptation might be, to invest more time in such investigations.

But time is the scarcest human commodity,  when there is so much to see and do.

So getting the pace right, is the thing.

Slow down enough to 'be here now'.

But not so much dawdling, and prevarication, that time is wasted.

So with that in mind,  tent down,  panniers packed,  and head out further west.

To see whats over the next horizon...

The friendliest Robin to share my breakfast,  and an understanding landlady at the local hostelry, having furnished me with some 'spare greenery'  from her kitchen, for the next couple of days meals...

So far,  so very good.

New Tech,

Old tech... There really is nothing new under the sun..  But with an open mind,  some collaboration,  and a 'can do' approach. Workable solutions, to age old problems, will emerge.

Farm hack,  Tombreck, on the banks of Loch Tay, Scotland.

What is a farm hack?

Well really hard to sum up.  But could be described as a gathering of interested, practically minded, parties. 

Who are looking at taking forward, sustainable food production. Growing, and farming, as if people and ecology mattered.

How can we combine the best of the old...? Sometimes it is quicker (and quieter) to reach for a well honed scythe rather than a noisy petrol strimmer.

With the best, of more, up to date tech, recognising that a diesel powered tractor,  well maintained, can do a huge amount of work in a very short space of time.

Such a diversity of people,  cross fertilising ideas...

No small number of high tech, science workers. Plus a couple of escapees from the oil and gas industries,  who have concluded,  that there must be a better way of powering ourselves into the future.

Crafts people,  forgers,  farmers, film makers,  activists,  all sorts,  many in emerging fields.

This post really would go on for ever; if I attempted to detail all the fascinating angles and approaches I've encountered via this friendly,  open minded bunch of people.

But a couple of sessions particularly stood out for me.

Initially from some folks from Edinburgh.  Using high tech solutions such as 3d printing, and unfathomabley accurate laser cutting,  to craft bespoke one offs.
Could be to repair a broken widget.

Perhaps to make something new,  to fit a customer's very personal spec.  But they are about more than just cutting edge technology..

They also recognise that the old ways can be just as, if not more, relevant for certain applications...

Sometimes tying things up with a length of hairy string, really is, the most utile resolution.

More investigation needed into what could be achieved. But it feels as if imagination; might be the most limiting factor...

And then, returning to more familiar ground. Making, and using, the soil amendment of 'bio char'.

This method of building soil humus,  providing 'niches'  for the all important soil microfauna, and hopefully sequestering carbon, is not a novel one.

Not new at least to anyone who has hung out on the fringes of organic growing for a number of years.

And it is posited that the Amazonians were using something like this method centuries ago.... Not 'slash and burn' - far more sophisticated than that.

But again,  the science,  the methodology, and practical application, do seem to have been refined..

The (left in more than capable hands) 'steading,  now has fine stands of Italian Alder wind breaks.

The intention always was to coppice them in rotation.
Bio char is, simply put, a method of making charcoal from this biomass.

Done in pits, using a 'top lit' fire, carefully tended,  then quenched with water at just the right moment.

A little like the traditional charcoal making method,  but not looking to exclude oxygen in the same way.

The fire quenching,  also makes a lot of steam (and drama! ).

This blasts apart the charred wood,  maximising surface area. Then inoculate or feed your char with nutrient...

There is just the thing, in the form of lots of  'home made cider'  sitting in many barrels behind the urine separating compost toilet at home..

The char is then added to the soil, to work its wonders. It doesn't get depleted in the same way that conventional 'organic matter'  composts do.

Still,  again, much more investigation needed before this becomes a done reality at the farm.

Though I'm fairly certain "Once you've got a fire going, it isn't really work any more" Man Friday, wouldn't need a lot of encouragement to get involved..

And of course these events are social too.

Beer, kindly bought in at my behest by the lovely Mags... Didn't fancy cycling over here with that much incriminating clinking going on.

And the 'Willow' ,  was well and truly 'stripped'.

As oft seems to be the case at these, hairy (and not so hairy) farmer moots.

It has been a pleasure, to meet, and be welcomed by the Fair Scottish contingent.

Not to have to explain,  what, or why you do what you do.

To have it valued,  and understood. After all,  most of us do realise we look like idiots to much of the outside world. 
With our crazy utopian ideas about decent tasty food, being produced in as benign a way as possible,  whilst still making something approaching a living.

Weather right now, almost suspiciously friendly ... Really cannot expect it to hold forever,  so aiming for an early start to head out west by bike.

To see,  up to a point, which way the wind blows me..

New Departures

Terrifying prospect of writing blog posts without pictures; has to be faced square on .

For tech reasons unfathomable (at least to me) I am unable to upload pictures from my phone camera to this blog.

What a feeble excuse for not posting...

But you haven't really missed much visuals wise.

The last few weeks have mostly been filled with not so photogenic vegetable growing tasks,. Autumn tidying, weeding, and so on.

With luck all will be re established by my return. Hopefully in time for the golden globes, the just reward of the squash harvest.

But in the meantime.

Another excursion looms.

By bike (well train first)
Scotland again.

What larks! Initially a fact finding business trip. to discuss , show and tell, with fellow 'Hairy Farmers' the triumphs and trevails of medium scale farm tech, adapted and even fabricated to suit the needs of an individual operation.

I am keen to procure, or at least commission, a couple of "Foot-wide Ho's"

And yes, for sure there's a song in there somewhere...

Just the thing for taming the earthen paths between the vegetable beds..

http://www.commongoodfood.org/whats-on/farm-hack-scotland-sold-out


You might find some pictures there..

Then afterwards, well the open road beckons.

At liberty for over ten days with a tent, a vague plan, and some vital local knowledge procured from those many and various kind souls willing to share it.

Going West; if the wind and weather allow. Some new places, and perhaps revisiting some familiar.

So the challenge is to relay all this without the use of pictures.

I will of course take a phone camera, and will find it hard to resist posting up on instagram, with damn fool #hashtags to amuse my progeny..

So if you want a random selection, and have the necessary channels.. *

I can be found.... @vegetable_dalliance

if you're lucky you'll get some snaps of other peoples vegetables

*If in doubt ask a patient younger person... It's really not difficult; believe me; if I can do it... Anyone can :)

Coming home...

Almost a week has passed.  Barely time to draw breath, between alighting from the past midnight train and getting back to farm work, and yoga teaching.

Alongside dealing with all the somewhat odiferous hiking kit. 
Washing stuff,  and oneself,  in rivers, and cattle troughs doesn't have quite the same squeaky clean effect as hot baths and domestic appliances. 
Makes one appreciate them all the more when they are there..

But a few days taken for family visit too,  and to walk a while in Wales with my two now all - grown up boys.
I had a lovely green leafy picture to post here; but it would appear the tech won't play nicely right now.

Unlike first and second born who seem to enjoy each other 's company most fulsome out and about.

They used to moan sometimes when ' 'made' to go for walks.  But now they return to it voluntarily,  and can see the point....  Especially as they like taking pretty pictures too.

Hoping that the picture posting glitch is but a temporary annoyance.
There's a small mountain of hot Pyrenean
images to sift and sort..
And an account of sorts, to write. Might have to wait for shorter days.. Winter fireside being the traditional time for storytelling.

And what news from the farm?

  I hear you cry.

Well,  all was well, and lovingly cared for.

Some things have grown hugely in the time spent away...

The sweetcorn is ready! ... What a homecoming treat.

Should keep me close to the valley; for a couple of weeks at any rate.

Trains of thought...

Leaving the farm can be hard to do... Not just the prep for being away (hasty packing as per, but at least the leggings were found)

But more pertinent perhaps; leaving the 'stead in reasonable shape...
But so long as fabulous farmsitter; isn't fretting: then all is well..

But the nomad; has to be balanced against the settler. (and the warrior; and all the other roles)...

And most of us need some new views from time to time..

Eurostar; and SNCF are a very civilised way to get to the Pyrenees... From UK  Lourdes first ( probably best us heathens don't linger too long) Then up and up; and down and down; and repeat for a couple of weeks...

Hoping for long views; a broader perspective; longish luncheons; a modicum lakeside yoga; high camps; and a smattering of inversions; along the GRs 10: 11 and a goodly portion of the HRP.
No fixed route in mind; save roughly (perhaps literally) eastwards from last years endpoint ... *

Will try (and probs fail spectacularly) not to indulge in too much tomfoolery...

Our Hero; can only be expected to take so much nonsense... Quite right too; this is serious stuff   ;)

*see  Nov 2015 for last year's fun (!?) in the sun, trip report...

http://broadviewfromasmallfarm.blogspot.co.uk/2015/11/navigation-pyrenees.html

It's a kind of magic...

These innocuous looking clusters of yellow eggs can transform themselves into very hungry caterpillars.
And they in turn can transmogrify a verdant grove of kale, into a fluttering cloud of white butterflies.

Back in the late spring, there was a dearth of cabbage whites. As a brassica grower this was a relief, but as someone who enjoys seeing the swallows swooping to catch this usually generous bounty of foodstuff; I was a tad concerned.

The butterflies usually turn up just before the swallows. Just in time for; (or to be) dinner...

Turns out I needn't have worried. The caterpillars and their parents, have been abundant for the past few weeks.
Leaving just enough toothsome greenery, for those humans keen on it too.

The swallows are particularly busy right now. Fattening themselves up for their own remarkable journeys, back down South; mainly to subsaharan Africa for the winter.

Doubtless I'll find some other wildlife related problem to fret about afore long...

Such as fencing the badgers off the fattening cobs of corn...

Outstanding in their fields...

Until someone comes to visit.
There is something about the smell of horses, and they way they will rest their heavy heads on your shoulder..
Irresistible.
The equines at this farm on Dartmoor hang out together in herds. It's the most natural; stress free way for horses to live. 

It almost seems tortuous to see one hoss alone in a paddock.
They are social animals, who look out for each other.
There may be a touch of hierarchical 'argy bargy' that goes on when establishing a pecking order. But once that's sorted,  then everyone is far more relaxed in their lives.

On visiting the home of these fragrant ladies, I heard some gladdening accounts.

For it was here that we held the first 'yoga and the horse rider' session back in the spring.

Apparently, the attendees were still practicing a lot of the ideas, and techniques they'd picked up on the day.

And they were finding much of it helped them feel more comfortable about themselves generally; both on and off their mounts..

A thought occurred today..
In conflab with another friend; after todays mid holiday all day yoga session closer to home... (Lovely new studio, almost on the doorstep)

Yoga ; done properly with heart; for body and mind. 

Is a bit like the butter; of the 'body work' world....

It goes with; and enhances deliciously,  just about anything you might choose to partner it with.

So long as you don't over do it, and turn it into a sacred cow.

All the big stuff...

Is made up of little things.

And simple satisfying pleasures; are often to be found in small matters.

I love the ancient occupation of hand broadcasting seed.

Here a mix of ryegrass; red clover; and crimson clover. To keep the goodness sealed in a half acre patch over winter.

Make one pass; casting back and forth with half the alloted seed from North to South.
Then repeat with the second batch in the other orientation.

Having first stormed through with the duckfoot cultivator to lift and crumble the clods.

Then fire up the modern tech again...
Yes; a 46 year old tractor is still very young, by some standards... And at any rate she's a willing workhorse; who is reasonably low maintenance.

So hitch up the Springtines and tickle in the seed before the birds find em.
Would have been ideal to roll it all in with a ring (or Cambridge) roller, to firm and consolidate.

Further excuses for implement shopping..... 

Although you can still find the odd one lurking unloved in hedgerows..