Week three... the first crops are in :)

Heya... we have really settled into our new life here at Parakao Cottage Farm 😌 Loving every minute of our new journey.

This week saw the establishment of our first crops... garlic and shallots planted as per tradition on the shortest day of the year (the winter solstice or Yule for my witchy people). The weather this week has been rather dicey. Lots of rain has meant that the ground is rather sodden, but at least the main water tanks are full 😊. This week was also focused on planning the future crops and fruit trees, sourcing timber for the raised beds (lots of wild rabbits around so hopefully raised beds will deter them a little), and arranging our own custom soil blend to fill said beds with. While it is not entirely in fitting with the organic way of growing, bringing in soil to the property, it is more of a starting point... next on the agenda is the establishment of a compost system, the restart of the worm farm and the starting of our own liquid fertilisers using comfrey and seaweed, so that we can amend our soil as needed and feed our crops in a sustainable system. My plan is to create an organic system that supports itself for the most part. We will still need to bring in certain organic inputs such as copper and lime sulphur sprays to deal with fungal issues, organic spraying oils and pest insect control measures (at least until we can establish a good beneficial insect population to assist in control) and when we can animal manures for the compost. We also need to look at how to make the most of our tank water system which will mean a visit from a specialist soon to help us out.

This week also saw the start of us setting up the legal side of the business 🤗 Parakao Cottage Farm Limited is all official 😍

I am still fuming about the state of our old rose garden, but am taking solice in the fact that our new home will have a stunning rose garden once I get the beds sorted... lots of new roses to plant, many of our old favourites and a few new ones to cultivate 🌹🌹🌹🌹 The plan is to create various beds, including a rainbow gradient 🌈 bed, an old world/historic rose bed and a few others... I am also rejoining the rose society so that I can look into showing my roses in competition and to network with likeminded people... I am also going to get back into rose breeding as it is so much fun and could lead to another avenue of business if I get some nice new roses growing.

I thought I would share with you my process of regenerating a tired garden bed the organic way... this is my method after doing a lot of research and study (my MIT Diploma in horticultural management came in very handy here) but is by no means the only way to do things 🤗

This is what the bed looked like before I started... a weedy overgrown mess with wooden boards scattered through...

First job was to remove the weeds, boards and other bits and pieces from the bed...

I then applied lots of organic goodness to the soil... pelletised sheep manure, blood and bone, roksolid seaweed blend (a mix of natural fertilisers fortified with seaweed) and Natures own fertiliser (a blend of all the trace elements that plants need and would likely be lacking in the soil profile). I allowed this to settle for the night as we had a little rain come through which helped distribute the nutrients into the soil.

The next stage was plenty of compost (in this case 2 cubic metres or 17 wheelbarrow loads) dug into the bed...

Because the compost was well processed I was able to dig through and plant on the same day...thankfully the weather held off for me as it was the day of the winter solstice and I really wanted to get the first crops in on time...

Now to let nature do its thing so we have a wonderful harvest of garlic and shallots come the summer solstice 🤗😍

This week will see the start of the pruning of the existing fruit trees, finalising the fruit tree order, wood order, seed ordering, working out where the roses will go and if the wood arrives getting the beds built, soil ordering if time permits, and figuring out the grow tunnel set up, so another busy week in store... So, my friends, I hope you all have a wonderful week... until next time... peace and love xo