Ever since we planted the grass seed in the top field, it hasn’t stopped raining. It has only been light rain, but it has been going on and off for a day and half. This is ideal for the new grass seed, but not too great for local events.
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Well, we eventually got there yesterday and the top field has now been re-seeded. Just as well, since the weather has turned wet today. In fact, the wet weather was exactly what we did now that the seed is down.
We re-harrowed the field. This means raking it over with the tractor. Unfortunately, even more stones came to the surface, but these were quickly picked up and thrown to the side of the field. It also pulled up the weeds and wild grass that seemed to be taking hold. Next job was to used a seed drill on the back of a tractor to bury the seed just under the soil. This prevents the birds getting to it. We ran the seed drill across the field both horizontally and vertically to make sure that it was all covered. And just in case anyone is interested, we sowed the seed at 14Kgs per acre.
The last job of the day is then to roll the field flat with a heavy roller. Apparently, the more the ground is rolled, the faster the seed will germinate.
The end result looks fab and with any luck we should see some grass starting to germinate this time next week. Fingers crossed.
This is a seed drill used on the back of a tractor to place the grass seed under the surface of the soil. We made two runs across the field – one horizontally and one vertically. This makes sure we get the best spread.
Once the seed has been drilled into the soil, it is then rolled. Apparently, the more the soil is rolled the faster the germination. It will also keep deter the birds slightly.
Once the field is rolled, the finish is not too bad. Not bad for a field, not great for a bowling green. With any luck, the seed should germinate in about a week.
All of the rain that we have had recently means that it has been too wet to reseed the top field.
The wet weather did mean that it was easier to pick up all the stones, but now we are waiting for it to dry out before the farmer can return to reseed it. While it is too wet to sow, it is great grass growing weather.
All in all, we spent probably 3-4 days picking stones out of this field. Much longer than I thought, but now that we have restarted on the dry stone wall, much of this stone will be lost in the new wall.
We have had a lovely sunny day here in Yorkshire today, so hopefully, if it remains like this, we will be able to reseed the field next week.
We picked as many of the stones out of the top field as possible, but the rain has meant that it has been too wet to reseed. This is a shame since (ironically) it would be good growing weather for grass!
There is standing water in much of the top field. If nothing else, it means the dog brings most of it into the house once he has been out running around! He often doesn’t remember to wipe his paws on the mat.
We completed the dry stone wall in the orchard last year. Now that the builders have gone, it is time to start extending the wall (or rather re-building the wall) along the edge of the top field. Not only will this tidy things up a bit, but it will also help us get rid of some of the “spare” stone that we have in the top field. The “spare” stone made up part of the old toilet block and barn that we demolished to make way for the new extension.
The first job is to clear away all of the undergrowth in this part of the field. This is where a petrol strimmer comes in handy! Then it is a case of taking the old wall down to a level where we get on to something solid that we can build off. There are a number of large trees along this wall line and this makes life a little harder. There is no point in trying to dig the roots out – we would be there forever and we would probably end up damaging the tree. You have to work with what is there and this can mean that the line of the wall is not as straight as you might like. You have to work with the trees and their roots.
It has taken us about three days to clear and re-build a 20ft section of the wall. As always, it looks terrible until you are just about to put the topping stones on (and then it looks OK).
This section of wall bends around from the orchard to from the edge of the wall in the top field. You can’t use string to line up the wall here, so it is all done by eye. The roots from the trees also mean that digging the foundations can be difficult. In some places, we have had to follow the line of the old wall – even when it wasn’t straight!
Now this corner of field has been cleared, we can get on with rebuilding the dry stone wall along the edge of the top field.
The vegetable patch seems to becoming on in leaps and bounds. No doubt due to some of the (very) wet and (slightly) sunny weather we have had over the past few weeks.
The weeds and grass seem to be doing particularly well.
In terms of vegetables, we have potatoes, onions, cabbages (although the pigeons seem to have had these), cauliflower, broccoli (the pigeons like these too), sweet corn and some leeks. We haven’t attempted to grow anything in this soil before, so it will be interesting to see how the vegetables do this year.
We have also planted out some tomato plants in grow bags. While there are a couple of plants in the polytunnel, we have put the rest against the wall outside my study. This gets a fair amount of sun, particularly in the afternoon, and having tomato plants both inside and outside will hopefully spread the harvesting season. We will have to see.
We have only planted from the other side of the piece of wood down towards the end wall. We haven’t got around to clearing the last patch. I guess we will as we start to need the space.
All I can say, is that they must be desperate!
MMmm….without exception, the pigeons have managed to munch their way through all the cabbages that I planted. They are probably so fat they can barely fly!
With all the building work now complete, we can turn our attention to re-seeding the top field. We took up all the top soil and subsoil when installing the ground loops for the ground source heat pump. Although we kept the top soil and subsoil in separate piles, the field is a bit of a mess. It is about 1 acre in terms of area.
We asked the local farm if he could help us re-seed it and his advice was to harrow the land first to bring all the large stones to the surface. Then to walk up and down removing all of the larger stones. Well, the field was harrowed last week, so we spent quite a bit of time on Sunday removing the stones. We are using the pickup as a wheel barrow – moving it forward as we pick up the stones. By the end of Sunday, we have covered about half of the field and filled two pickups full of stone. We are just piling up the stone at the edge of the field as this will be used when we re-build the dry stone walls.
We picked up the grass seed from the local agricultural supplier in Honley (Keith Drake). A single sack of seed should apparently be sufficient for an area of this size.
But first the rest of the stones need to be removed.
By the time we had filled up the truck for the second time, we had got about half way through the job of removing the stones. While Jo is back off down to London on Monday, it is one of my tasks for the week to get this finished off so we can get the seed down.
It was hot over the weekend and there isn’t much shade in the top field. Hats and suntan lotion required.
Yesterday (Easter Monday) we managed (with help from Gordon and Liam) to get all of the toppings on the remaining end wall. With all of the toppings in position, we have the opportunity to have a bit of tidy up. The remaining toppings are put to one side and the left over pallets are stacked in the back field. We do have some left over walling stone and this woo will be stacked in the backfield.
After the great weather over Easter, it has started raining today and it is due to rain for most of the rest of the week. Ah well, at least we made the best of the good weather.
Placing these large topping stones is definitely a two man job. They vary in weight, but are probably in the 50-75Kgs each. These is me and Liam carrying one into position.
These stones are heavy and often it is difficult to get two sets of hands on them at a time. This is my and Liam placing one of the topping stones – the sawn side is put to the back of the wall so that it cannot be seen from the sunken garden.
The back of the stones are chocked to ensure that the top of the stones are level (or nearly level). Occasionally, we chock the stones from the front, but we have to be careful as these can often be seen. You can see one further down the wall on the right. The chocks at the front usually run the entire width of the stone or even two stones.
When it comes to nudging the stones into their final position there is no substitute for brunt force. Gordon is pushing this one into it’s final position.
The stones are placed in position (they are not cemented into place). They are chocked to ensure that the tops are (more or less) level. Steel toe cap boots are a bit of a must. Liam is nudging this one.
Although it is wet today, we managed to get all of the toppings on the end wall yesterday. With enough time for a few drinks in the pub.
We have not built up part of the wall in the back garden. This is to allow access to get the flagstones into the garden. It is going to be a couple of months before we get around to laying the flags.
All ready for the topping stones tomorrow.
The walls now in the sunken garden are now at the correct level and are all ready for the toppings to go on – just as with the other wall in the garden. The weather has been kind again to us today, so we managed to get it finished by lunchtime!
You can see the large topping stones in the background. Once the sand and cement has set, we will have a go at getting this into position. Rain is forecast overnight, hence the plastic bag over the cement mixer.
We had some sand and cement left over, so this went into the top of the wall to help keep it together. Although this will be hidden underneath the topping stones, we left our mark!
We had another good day, so it was time to get the end walls up to the same height as the rest of the walls in the garden. Then there are only the topping stones to go on!
Courtesy of Jo……
Yes, I did say the weather was good on this day. By mid afternoon, the sun had come out. I even took my hat and coat off and got a sun tan!
Me and Gordon trying to work out the best way of placing the toppings. They aren’t all the same shape, so some of them have to be chocked at the back to make the tops level (hence the yellow spirit level and the bit of string).
The boss. Under a blanket. Zep has selected these stones personally and they are now under guard. Soon long as he doesn’t fall asleep!
We have made the best of the good weather over the Easter Bank holiday and have been finishing off (or attempting to) the walls in the sunken garden.
We now have the large topping stones on the upper wall. This is a two man job as many of the stones are too heavy to be lifted by one person. Many thanks to Gordon for his help in getting this is place. And no flatten fingers or toes in the process!
We are going to use reclaimed flagstones to pave this area, but this is going to have to wait for a little while. We looked at new Ashlar flags (they would look too new) and Indian sandstone (really, what in Yorkshire!), but we are going to hang on until we have the money to put down reclaimed local stone. At £50-60 a square meter it isn’t cheap and with around 100sqm in the sunken garden, it all adds up.
And while we are on the subject of money, we decide to invest in our own cement mixer. We bought a second hand one on eBay for £150. If we sell it in 4-6 months time for £100, it will have cost us £50. In contrast to the £40/week it would have cost to hire. It was a bit of a no-brainer.
We now have the topping stones on the upper wall in the sunken garden. The smaller ones are just about manageable by one person, the larger ones require two to lift. The end stone is a monster and two of us struggled, but we got there in the end.
The upper wall complete with toppings. These topping stones are 30cms high x 20cms wide x 40cms deep. There are cut from old stones in one of the local quarries. Many of them are old steps, window heads or door cills.
You can see the topping stones on the upper wall in the background, we are still working on the remaining walls. Hopefully, these will be finished in the next couple of days.
We still need to get the end wall up to the same level before we can put the topping stones on. We decided to invest in a second-hand cement mixer.