The Big and the Little

It is only the middle of February, and we already have most of our volunteer spaces filled from the middle of March until the end of July. Whilst we have a lull in help on the farm, Magnus and I have developed a working system. He goes through with a chainsaw, cutting down all the big stuff, frequently falling down the mountain and hurting himself in the process. After a few hours have past, he will come down to the house with a great big smile on his face, exclaiming that 'I almost died so many times'. I'm glad I know he generally knows what he's doing, and is just expressing how much of a mess he made. That's where I come in: I go around doing all the little, detailed work, to make areas he has cleared serve a purpose. Below shows one of the areas we are particularly excited about in Zone 2.

A greenhouse will be placed where the black plastic is showing, and the logs will be stacked around the greenhouse as a makeshift wind-block. The soil in this area goes from being beautiful after many years of work, to being weird and extra fluffy, to being just plain awful. The 'awful' is subsoil, which was brought up after a large tree fell, and so will be a home for chicks and keets who will make quick work of regenerating the soil. Further up, in an area that joins up with 'kitty cat mountain', we will plant butternut squash, which will sprawl down the mountain and over the rocks. In this area, there are also hyacinth and daffodils that are beginning to wake up. There are many Black Locust trees in this area also, which fix nitrogen in the soil. We just have to be careful around them: Magnus, sitting next to one below, lent against the tree and got one of the large spikes in his ear - ouch!

Here are some photos showing the chaos that ensues when the big stuff gets cleared:

In this area, which is completely covered with debris, we aim to build a chicken house within the next year. We just need to drop those pesky Eucalyptus trees, to make sure a permanent build doesn't become temporary.

There used to be a stone wall surrounding this flat area, but only parts of it are left (one day it will be rebuilt). This year we will plant bananas and fruit trees to increase the amount of food available to the guinea fowl and chickens.