Part 1 of 3

 

It's been two years since we moved into our fixy-up. That's another two years of scrimping and saving, trying to get an eco-renovation done on a very tight budget and trying to create a semblance of normality in the wilderness that was the garden before the property lay empty for a couple of years. I'm pleased to say that we do now have water running from the taps rather than all over the house and through the roof, mains electricity reinstated, a phone line with broadband, a flushing toilet, an electric shower and a stand along multi-fuel stove (although this still needs some work done to complete the installation properly). We have some floors, even managing to uncover and salvage the original stone tiles that make up the hallway, but everything else is taking far more time and money than anticipated. But we can see the path we're taking, so that has to be good.

 

Garden progress is even slower! Weeds grow very fast, almost as fast as the dreaded slugs and snails munch through my plants! And this year's exceptionally long winter with several feet of snow certainly haven't helped matters. Regardless, the 90m x 10m strip of wilderness is slowly taking shape on what little budget we afford it.

 

OK, so it's painstakingly slow, despite trying to get it to a stage that it will produce food for us as quickly as possible. I've been trying my best to do as much as possible with as little as possible, salvaging useable 'stuff' in an effort to try and follow a frugal version of permaculture. As you can see, the Foxgloves are in full agreement with this strategy.

 

The bottom of the garden remains untouched barring what the hens have managed to achieve for us by way of clearing the ground. Moving from the hen run we have the burn, which has flooded once during the severe rains we had last year. Next to this is the wild bird corner, seen above, which is surrounded by Foxgloves and a selection of shrubs donated by friends or traded for through our LETS (Local Exchange Trading Scheme) group.

 

 

It's a very pretty corner of the garden and one where we were happy to see Blue tits nesting this year in the first of the boxes we'd hung in the old plum tree. What with that and the ducks having the run of this part of the garden, it makes for an ideal shady retreat - if the old wooden bench remains with us long enough to enjoy using it. All around the edges, I have planted raspberry canes but these have taken on a life of their own and will need sorting out later this year so we can train them into neat productivity in future years.

 

About halfway down the garden, we dug a pond and linked it to the stream, hoping this would help siphon off any excess surface water during floods. There's another wooden bench beside the pond but you tend to get soaked when sitting there if the ducks decide it's more fun to bathe in the pond than swim in it. They do love their pond but, like everything else about here, the pond project hasn't been completed yet.

 

 

The willow whips have sprouted and had to be cut back this year, the reeds have rooted and are growing well and the little fruit trees that had to be rudely transplanted from the previous garden at a less than suitable time of year seem to be recovering from the upheaval, some even beginning to produce fruit. (Only apples and cherries, the pear and plum trees are much slower) but that's as far as the central garden project - the micro orchard - has reached, so far. But the ducks love it!

 

In true permaculture fashion and in support of several pleas to leave parts of the garden uncut to attract and benefit bees and other insects, I have banned the mowing of the daisies and buttercups that grow among the fruit trees, barring a path through them to get to the bottom of the garden and reach the hens.

 

In this mid section, we also have the duck housing and two compost bins but I have to say they will never produce sufficient compost to sort out the entire garden, so I have had to invest in pre-packed bags for starting off seeds and getting the vegetables going. The hedgerow is slowly becoming edible, as I have all the raspberries, crab apples, blackcurrants and elder. We'll see how things go with those before embarking on any further developments in that department.

 

Apologies if these posts seem to be rather image heavy, but it's the easiest way of recording progress so I may look back this time next year and see what progress has been made.

 

Frugaldom

 

www.microholding.co.uk

We now have the mini-orchard completely planted and all of the trees seem to have taken to the new ground. In total, we have the old plum tree, which was in the garden to begin with, 12 assorted apple, plum, pear and cherry trees plus 5 crab apples.

The crab apples have been planted along the south facing wall and will be kept down at manageable hedge height as part of my 'edible hedging'.

The orchard will be fenced off from the main garden, as I want the ducks to have the run of it. Slightly beyond this area, but within the fenced part, we plan on digging a pond.

It was lucky for us that we found a pile of 10cm diameter plastic pipes dumped at the bottom of the garden. These have now all been retrieved and measured - there are enough to join them up and make an overflow drain that will run between the pond and the stream. I'll just need to source a few connectors and a couple of angled joints to lead it down through the middle of the garden and then round to the little footbridge. It'll take a lot of digging to lay them all in but the pond will take even more, when we get around to excavating that. Hoping to be able to make it between 3m and 4m diameter, with a small patio/seating area nearby.

The large slabs propped along the side of the rhubarb patch still have to be moved but we can't budge them. That's a job for son and his weight-training buddies, I think. Hopefully, we'll can find some strong logs or blocks to rest these on, as they'll make fantastic garden benches down in the orchard.

Since stripping out all the largest stalks of rhubarb, many more has started to come through. We should see an excellent second crop and I haven't wasted any of the first lot, as fellow LETS members have been trading for it.

The microholding, is being created in 'layers', as the garden slopes slightly, down to the stream. The laying hens are going on the opposite side of the water in what will be a 10m x 10m enclosure with a 3m x 2m chicken hut.

The chicken hut is gradually being renovated as and when we can salvage reuseable materials.
 

There's plenty of space for the hens, plus there's the opportunity to clear a further area of rough land in the future. At the moment, this area is VERY rough - mostly overgrown with brambles. It also has the burn running along the side of it, so that would need to be made safe. We haven't quite decided what to do with this, yet, all we know is that, as microholding land, it won't be wasted.

So, starting from the very bottom of the garden, we'll have poultry separated from the main garden by the stream.

Next, we'll have the orchard with the duck pond. This is where we've laid out the old livingroom carpet that was in the house, so it helps kill off all the weeds and grass beneath it before we start excavating. We'll then use the carpet to line the actual pond before fitting a proper liner, so there's less chance of any stones or rocks bursting the liner once the pond beds in. I suspect eBay or eBid will be the source of the pondliner.

The orchard will all be fenced from the main garden to keep the ducks enclosed and I'll probably keep the pure breed bantams there, so it's easier to keep an eye on broody hens and chicks. The compost bins have been fitted into a corner of this area, too.

 Next, we'll have fruit bushes - raspberries, tayberries, red/white/blackcurrants, gooseberries - and rhubarb. The shed will be sited here, too, which means it will be about halfway down the garden. We've already got most of the blackcurrants into the ground and some are starting to form berries, already. I've made a start on getting the raspberry canes in and I've got the gooseberries transplanted from their buckets.

Proceeding towards the house, the next area is being dedicated to vegetable growing, so this will be an area for raised beds, square foot gardening and cold frames.

Not sure how much of this will be achieved in year 1 but I'd really like to get somewhere dug out for potatoes, before it's too late. (If it isn't already!) I have only one row of potatoes planted along side a small onion bed. There are plenty of old windows lying about the place, so the carrot seeds are growing well under them and the courgettes are looking like fine, healthy specimens.

Beyond the veg plots will be the greenhouse - not yet organised - and then the tubs and pots leading up to what will be the patio. At the moment, it had planters, tubs, pots and buckets sitting everywhere, along with an assortment of other garden 'stuff'. I also have a couple of tiny trees in planters that granddaughter planted from fruit stones about four years ago. I think there are two nectarines. I don't suppose that they'll ever grow to bear fruit but it's nice to keep them for her.

In the assorted pots, planters and tubs, the strawberries are doing exceptionally well. The prolonged warm, sunny spell has really driven them on.  There are about a dozen planters and troughs filled with them, as I haven't decided where they'll eventually go. With luck, all these flowers will develop into fruit and we could see a bumper crop, despite their all having had to move. Some were only transplanted within the last week.

Many of the seeds I planted over the past couple of weeks have germinated and today's rain should really help their cause: salad leaves & lettuce, radishes, carrots, peas, parsley, onions, the onions sets have sprung into life and the nasturtiums and sweet peas are catching up after their late sowings. In other tubs, I have sat seed trays containing courgettes, giant pumpkins, tomatoes, peppers, peas, runner beans and french beans. These tubs have been covered with glass, so I'm eagerly awaiting the results from there anyday now.

My mint - two varieties - is growing well. We love this ground and mixed with crumbled chocolate into homemade ice cream but it's just as nice mixed into cheap, shop-bought varieties, which I suspect will be all I'll get time to use this year. The lemon balm mint gets used for drinking as tea - tastes delicious.

With so much to do indoors, we are glad to see the arrival of the much-needed rain. For a start, it will make us stay indoors getting more of the renovation work done. But lest you all despair, we have managed to get quite a bit done in the house. All the wood treatment has been completed upstairs, we have holes in the sittingroom, hall and bathroom floors, the kitchen ceiling is partially down and we have, I hope, only one serious pipeleak to be mended.

The new fuseboard for the electrics is being fitted tomorrow and the attic rooms should be completed by next weekend. By then, also, the shed should have been delivered and we can start getting all sorts of stuff stored into that.

The Frugaldom microholding is coming together and we have another 29 days left of the 50-day challenge to make it all habitable.

Challenging times - follow the daily progress in my '50 day challenge' thread of the Frugaldom Forums. The forums are free to join but you need to register in order to read or post. We also reserve the right to delete 'lurker' accounts.

This is what we have to convert into a self-sustainable, eco-friendly, self-sufficientish garden.

Here, we see the bottom of the garden. This is where the hens and ducks will soon be going to live. It's a fair sized area to fence off for them, probably measuring about 8m x 10m - plenty of space for our micro-flock.

Between there and the main garden, there's a stream, so there's plenty of scope for keeping a duck pond filled with fresh water, not to mention watering the furthest corners of the garden.

The far end of the garden meets the main garden by way of the small, concrete bridge over the stream. Perhaps, one day in the future, we'll have a more ornamental water crossing but, for now, this will do us just fine.

Once across the bridge, we arrive at the bottom of the main garden. It's over 90m long and about 10m wide, so plenty of space for developing our great outdoors.

Looking down the garden from what will, one day soon, become our patio, you can just make out the trees at the bottom, where the steam runs through and where the feathered friends will take up residence.

It's all very exciting, but also a huge task, as the place hasn't been touched in two years. Apart from that, we still need to get the house reasonably fixed up this summer. There's no building work to do, thankfully, just major cosmetics and upgrading of services & utilities before we can safely move in; with luck and a great deal of determination, we're planning on being there sooner, rather than later.

Apart from that, I need all my fruit trees and bushes planted so I can see what the space looks like once the bottom of the garden has been turned over to the feathered friends. The fruit trees will be transplanted to form the mini-orchard.

Progress will be mapped here and in the forums, but you'll find all the relevant links at http://www.microholding.co.uk/ just as soon as we make a start.

Last year, we finally managed to get an arch for the gate. It's been great fun for the many birds we have visiting our garden. I had planted honeysuckle either side of it, so that had climbed a fair way up it by winter, before it was pruned back. The plants had just started to waken from winter hibernation when it had to be dug up, but I think they should survive the transition period in their big pots.

Along with the honeysuckle, I had cut some willow withies from a friend's forest, so these were starting to root. The plan was to have a willow archway with the honeysuckle intertwined. However, it's not to be, for now. As of this afternoon, this is how the gate looks.

Inside the gate, we had constructed a large, deep bed, using four, 8ft long sleepers, sectioned into two beds, each seperated by a wooden walkway.

The square foot garden has proven to be a very productive corner , especially after employing the square foot gardening method of growing fantastic vegetables.

We grew huge cauliflowers and amazing broccoli, amongst everything else. Now, I've had to rip out the winter cabbages, early carrots and the last of the parsnips, as it all needs to be cleared prior to moving out of here. It was quite a quick job to do, what with all the little helpers of the feathered variety!

After a few dry days, it has ended up looking ready to plant up again! The wooden walk has been removed and will probably be chopped for firewood to use in 'George', our logburner. The rich soil that's left behind will be used to backfill the holes where we dig out the fruit trees.

In another corner, we had completely gutted out all the brambles, bricks and rubbish to create a growing space for potatoes, herbs, globe artichokes, peas and beans, all of this around a cherry tree. Like the square foot garden, this was also fenced off to protect it from marauding chickens and ducks.

This corner has also now gone, barring the cherry tree. With luck, the new trugs will arrive quickly, enabling us to make a start on digging up the remaining trees. I've already received the despatch notice after ordering them only this afternoon! Impressive!

The telltale garden canes and fence stabs are all that's left to show what was once there. It took two years to cultivate the corner and about an hour to undo all the work.

It's quite sad seeing it all disappearing so quickly, but we have the prospect of a whole new beginning, once we move. In this respect, the landlord's decision to serve notice on us has served us pretty well, thank you very much. Fate is beginning to lend a helping hand, once more, despite the heap of ill-fortune we have had to face this year, so far.

Our hens all freerange but, despite their freedom, they are normally to be found wherever we are - following us about the garden, digging wherever we dig, squabbling over any creepy crawlies or worms that we uncover. Silkie Chick (original name for a Silkie hen, NOT!) is one of the household favourites. She was the only chick to hatch from half a dozen eggs in the incubator. We'd had a lengthy power cut and had given up all hope of anything hatching. However, I left the machine switched on, just in case. Lo and behold, out popped a solitary Silkie chick. The name has stuck, even although she was two years old this month.  In that time, she has paid her own way handsomely.

In the furthest corner of the garden, we had our work cut out right from the start. This corner didn't really exist when we arrived here in November 2008. It must have been some sort of dumping ground. Out of here, we dug oil drums, a roll of fencing wire, an old mattress, a couple of bikes, the remains of a long-forgotten barbecue, a sackload of broken glass, a broken compost bin (we nursed it back to health and put it back into use) and hundreds of bricks. The bricks were salvaged to lay a base for the garden shed, but they'll need to be replaced in their original positions before we leave. Our landlords have not been forthcoming in their letting us know the condition they want the garden left in, although we've been well-informed by several people that we need to remove everything in order to claim back our deposit.

I'm not too sure how we'll put this back to the way it was, if the landlords insist! Fortunately, I have the original photos for reference, but I don't really fancy re-hiring a van and driver to return to the council tip, where most of the stuff was taken. (At our expense, I might add!)

By clearing all this lovely space, we managed to fit in three vegetable beds, space for beans and peas, a row of sweetcorn and some more globe artichokes.

We also erected a small greenhouse, which has been along this road from one house to the next. We are the third house in the road to have made use of what was once part of a neighbour's conservatory. It's built on a raised, slabbed patio, which has been brilliant for growing tubs of salad stuff, courgettes and cucumbers.

All of this will be removed, as we transfer everything to the new place. For now, it is being used as secure storage for all the pots of fruit bushes, herbs, flowers and trees that have already been removed from the main garden.

Spurred on by the incredible weather today, dismantling of the first of the pens began in earnest. It will take a good few more dry and sunny days to complete this task, but everything that can be, will be salvaged for reusing at the new place.

Our Pekins relished the demolition work today. Bernice was particularly interested in any place where a brick was being lifted and could hardly contain herself with excitement. She squawked and chattered away to herself for hours, whilst digging and scratching in the fresh earth. That was, until she suddenly realised that she needed to lay her egg! She scuttled off at a number of knots, jumped into a box, dropped said egg and was back into the muck within minutes!

Pekins are fantastic little bantams. They are so friendly and tame that they think nothing of hopping onto your lap whenever you're sitting in the garden. They're twice as quick if you dare try to sneak a biscuit without sharing it with them! The downside of these tiny, feathery, clockwork looking toy chickens is that their eggs are tiny! They do make great pets, though, and have a tendancy to sit and brood anything in the hope of hatching chicks. (The Silkies are the same, in this respect.)

That's the story, so far, of the preparations for our next big adventure. Hopefully, we'll be away and settled into our new place before summer begins and we will have enough time to make a start on the new microholding project. Hopefully, too, we'll have plenty of time to breed a few more hens, quails and ducks. It's getting rather exciting, as there's probably enough space to keep another of my favourite species - horses and ponies - but I have promised myself that there'll be no more of those. I can't, however, promise that there'll never be any more pets.

Keep up with the progress in our free frugal living forums. I'll eventually get around to reinstating more of the Frugaldom website and then the whole process will begin again - this time for REAL!

Back on the trail of what women want - I'm practical, as well as frugal, but extravagances and treats are appreciated. Contemplating what I do from day to day, I came up with the following list::

I have a good life, I enjoy it, I don't hanker after riches, foreign travel, fine jewellery or designer clothing. I happen to like my green wellies (not Hunter brand) and my waxed jacket (not a Barbour). I like my checked scarf (not Burberry) and I like my secondhand bargains and charity shop treasures. So, when my family asks, 'what would you like for Mother's Day', I have a list of extravagances that could be suitably fitting for my chosen lifestyle...

I think the above items tie in nicely with my chosen lifestyle of frugality and the quest to create our very own, mortgage free microholding. I can't think of anything else I'd like, unless I renage on my anti-pink and anti-cut flowers deal to opt for the bouquet plus extra chocolates, hand delivered by all the family who would bring dinner with them and then clear up afterwards. Then again, it just can't happen that way, not with five generations in this family!

I guess what I'm trying to say is that family spirit and camaraderie can be lost in commercialism and consumerism. Gifts are all well and good, but it's remembering who and where your family are that counts most.

Let them all know that they mean something to you. Don't leave it until some made up 'celebratory' day in the consumerist-society-driven calendar.

What would YOU really like for Mothers' Day?

Longer days mean more eggs.

As the winter slowly passes, spring will soon be here. The spring equinox having been and gone means that the days will gradually be lengthening and the hens will soon be in full lay. The girls have produced enough eggs to keep the household going through the winter, but there haven't been enough to warrant any regular sales.

We've only got one pair of white ducks remaining with us, for the time being, but I'm already planning on having a couple more as soon as we get settled into the new house - probably Khaki Campbells or some more Indian Runner ducks, as I like both. Our solitary duck, Phoebe, is laying an egg every morning now, but I don't want to incubate/hatch any of these, as there would be no point. We need some nice new ducklings for spring, completely unrelated to Joey, our white Aylesbury X drake.

Preparations for moving house are underway. We are digging up everything that we planted; it's a bit like un - gardening! Fruit bushes, apple trees, plum trees, pear trees and cherry trees - the entire mini orchard has to be moved. The crab apples have already been transplanted into large pots, as have most of the gooseberries and tayberries. There's an entire row of raspberries still to be dug, along with the blackcurrants. If the rain stays away, we should get them into pots this weekend.


All of the vegetable beds have been dug over, so the hens and ducks have now been given free access to these areas, in the hope that they'll root out anything we've missed. Our miniature white Silkie hen, however, prefers to dust bath in the damp soil, so she is constantly filthy!

The sleepers that surround the deep vegetable bed are being rehomed. The soil from the original square foot garden will be ideal for filling in holes after the fruit trees have been removed. It will mean raking and rolling the entire area, but I'll get some grass seed spread on it, just as soon as the hens and ducks have all been transported to their new home.

The grape vine seems to be surviving relatively well, as is the Russian Vine. Not a very popular species, I know, especially for anyone with a small garden, but it will be kept well trimmed. I'd not long put an arch across the garden gate and planted honeysuckle either side, so it all needs to be carefully removed and transplanted before the plants fully recover from their winter hibernation.

Bird boxes along the fence should be removed, but I've already seen bluetits flitting in and out of them on a regular basis. I have no intentions of disturbing them and am prepared to forfeit a few bird boxes in order to encourage them to continue breeding here.


My longterm plan of cultivating willow had just been newly implemented when we received notice to quit this house, so I'm hoping that the withies that were planted won't mind too much if we move them again. I'm determined to have a mini willow plantation somewhere, so the next garden should be the place to start again... without fear of any landlord asking us to move.

Most of what is in the greenhouse will be composted. Only the trays of lettuce seedlings will come with us, although I am desparate to get a few more seeds sown. Trouble is, we don't, yet, have an exact date for moving, so the greenhouse needs to be dismantled in readiness, as does the garden shed.

The next step is to sell the surplus quail so we can dismantle their run. Japanese Coturnix Quail are very hardy little game birds! They have lived outside in a corner of our garden all year round and we're still getting a few eggs. I was amazed they survived the -16C temperatures during the hardest part (so far) of this winter. At that point, their eggs were freezing solid before I could get out to collect them in the mornings. It's still dipping below zero here first thing, but a few of the hens have continued to lay throughout winter - not bad going for what is traditionally thought of as a migratory bird.

I'll probably keep about a dozen quail hens and three of the best cockerels to take to the new place, then start incubating / hatching new stock as soon as we're orgaised enough to safely run an incubator and brooder. Pity this variety of quail are known more for their laying ability than their interest in breeding!
There isn't a great deal more we can do to prepare the garden for our next big move. All I can do is hope that it will be our last for many years, and that we can reliably call it home. I'm glad we didn't set down too many roots here and am now looking forward to beginning again - a whole new frugaldom project and the creation of the new microholding.

Rest assured that the entire process will be well photographed and documented, once again. I now have three full years' worth of this project, including two false starts. 2011 needs to be our final startup! Wish me luck!

Many thanks, in advance, for any helpful hints, tips or suggestions. It's a fairly traumatic time for all concerned, as this move has come very unexpectedly. But I guess that's what happens when you rent from private landlords - they can want their houses back at anytime.