Its the end of a busy period on our Smallholding.
Over the last few weeks I disassembled, moved and re-erected a 12x12' field shelter that some local friends no longer needed. Thank goodness for local farming friends and friends generally. I hadn't looked too closely at this one and the sides were 12 feet long single sections so I had no chance of getting this into our trailer. Our neighbouring farmer came out on short notice with tractor and flatbed and between 3 of us we got it loaded and back to our place. It took another day to put it back up.
The original idea was that this shelter would replace our old shelter which had blown down twice in the last 3 years. However as I started to rip into the busted up old one I thought I would give it one more go and so with my best mate Pete we spent several days salvaging, redesigning on the fly, mending and rebuilding the shelter with a new roof. This took a lot of new timber framing and much of my pile of "set aside" timber. I'm a bit disappointed that I've not got the rainwater collection quite right yet but otherwise it's sound.
Not the sort of shelter building I most enjoy but with that I've learned from this I think I could comfortably make some kind of cabin now.
It's a tricky planning area but I have decided this year to stake down the shelters to anchor them firmly. It's just too expensive to effectively have to buy a new shelter every 2 years in mending costs. I will argue the toss if it ever comes up. After an initial big fuss on the planning front when we parked a little touring caravan on site to use as a loo and feed store and put in for planning for a barn and stables things have settled down. Over the last 5 years people in the nearby hamlet have settled to the idea of our little hobby farm and a number have bought hay and chickens from us or bring grandchildren down to see the animals.
With all the dangers of a broken up building half up a tree this area of our Smallholding has been off limits for most of this year. It was good to tidy up and our breeding ewes (Wiltshire Horn) have now been separated from their young and are back into this fields tidying up the grass and fattening up before we put them to the Tupp.
Because 2 sharing arrangements with our Ram have failed he went off to market last Spring and so we are me totally I the hands of another friend to bring us in a ram lamb to service our Ewes. If only we had another acre or two! Hopefully we should have him in to be introduced to the girls in the next week or so for April lambs.
We had a bumper crop of lambs this year and while 8 have gone off to slaughter that's not far short of half we had born. Last autumns good grass had the Ewes ovulating like mad. We lost one lamb to a fox, 3 died in birth unfortunately rupturing a ewe too that had to be put down. Two of triplets were rejected by their mother and we had to find them a home in a hurry. It was a horrible time and taking the dead to the Hunt Kennels is like the ultimate walk of shame.
Anyway we have a good number of lambs coming back soon and the slightly scary task of trying to sell a larger than normal amount this close to Christmas.
We were late moving our flock to the 10 acres next door we have an arrangement on and so we failed to make our own hay and had to buy it in this year. So also in the last week we took delivery of our first batch of "Big bale" hay. We usually make small bale hay which we can move by hand and make enough from selling our excess to pony people to cover our making costs. Big bales are about 12 small bale equivalents and have to be moved by tractor. We have settled on a deal where we take 5 at a time. Each one should last us nearly 2 weeks. Fingers crossed. We won't start feeding until the first frost and in our part of the world that hasn't happened yet.
Great big bonfire of all the rubbish and off cuts of timber rounded out the job. I still need to mend some fences, fix a broken window in the barn and sort out the rainwater collection on that first shelter but we are now fairly set for winter.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Over the last few weeks I disassembled, moved and re-erected a 12x12' field shelter that some local friends no longer needed. Thank goodness for local farming friends and friends generally. I hadn't looked too closely at this one and the sides were 12 feet long single sections so I had no chance of getting this into our trailer. Our neighbouring farmer came out on short notice with tractor and flatbed and between 3 of us we got it loaded and back to our place. It took another day to put it back up.
The original idea was that this shelter would replace our old shelter which had blown down twice in the last 3 years. However as I started to rip into the busted up old one I thought I would give it one more go and so with my best mate Pete we spent several days salvaging, redesigning on the fly, mending and rebuilding the shelter with a new roof. This took a lot of new timber framing and much of my pile of "set aside" timber. I'm a bit disappointed that I've not got the rainwater collection quite right yet but otherwise it's sound.
Not the sort of shelter building I most enjoy but with that I've learned from this I think I could comfortably make some kind of cabin now.
It's a tricky planning area but I have decided this year to stake down the shelters to anchor them firmly. It's just too expensive to effectively have to buy a new shelter every 2 years in mending costs. I will argue the toss if it ever comes up. After an initial big fuss on the planning front when we parked a little touring caravan on site to use as a loo and feed store and put in for planning for a barn and stables things have settled down. Over the last 5 years people in the nearby hamlet have settled to the idea of our little hobby farm and a number have bought hay and chickens from us or bring grandchildren down to see the animals.
With all the dangers of a broken up building half up a tree this area of our Smallholding has been off limits for most of this year. It was good to tidy up and our breeding ewes (Wiltshire Horn) have now been separated from their young and are back into this fields tidying up the grass and fattening up before we put them to the Tupp.
Because 2 sharing arrangements with our Ram have failed he went off to market last Spring and so we are me totally I the hands of another friend to bring us in a ram lamb to service our Ewes. If only we had another acre or two! Hopefully we should have him in to be introduced to the girls in the next week or so for April lambs.
We had a bumper crop of lambs this year and while 8 have gone off to slaughter that's not far short of half we had born. Last autumns good grass had the Ewes ovulating like mad. We lost one lamb to a fox, 3 died in birth unfortunately rupturing a ewe too that had to be put down. Two of triplets were rejected by their mother and we had to find them a home in a hurry. It was a horrible time and taking the dead to the Hunt Kennels is like the ultimate walk of shame.
Anyway we have a good number of lambs coming back soon and the slightly scary task of trying to sell a larger than normal amount this close to Christmas.
We were late moving our flock to the 10 acres next door we have an arrangement on and so we failed to make our own hay and had to buy it in this year. So also in the last week we took delivery of our first batch of "Big bale" hay. We usually make small bale hay which we can move by hand and make enough from selling our excess to pony people to cover our making costs. Big bales are about 12 small bale equivalents and have to be moved by tractor. We have settled on a deal where we take 5 at a time. Each one should last us nearly 2 weeks. Fingers crossed. We won't start feeding until the first frost and in our part of the world that hasn't happened yet.
Great big bonfire of all the rubbish and off cuts of timber rounded out the job. I still need to mend some fences, fix a broken window in the barn and sort out the rainwater collection on that first shelter but we are now fairly set for winter.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Last edited:
