The solar panels have proved fantastic! We haven't had to run the generator, and the batteries have been topped up to full capacity on most days, even if it doesn't seem sunny. :) A brilliant investment Iain!
I've been steadily planting more trees (yes there are still more to go...) as well as starting on planting vegetables in the field.
We decided to split the big field in half with a line of trees, keeping one half grass, and growing things in the half nearer the house. We've kept aside the willow trees, as in the middle of this tree line we've left a nice big gap where we're starting a willow tree tunnel! At first we thought of making a willow bird hide, but I got too excited at the thought of a tree tunnel so it's become that instead. :) We can always take cuttings in the future to make more willow features, our neighbour mentioned that he'd once made a living willow chair... that might have to happen!
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| Start of willow tree tunnel (not much like a tunnel yet) |
The weather is becoming warmer and the days are becoming longer, which is great for growing things. We've planted out broad beans, which are already sprouting (thanks for your help with that Pop), along with potatoes, onions and cabbages amongst other veg. I've also tried planting kohl rabi this year, which I've never even eaten before, let alone grown, but it looks very intriguing so I thought we could give it a go!
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| Potatoes in their trench, ready to be covered in a mound of soil |
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| Sprouting broad bean |
With the weather warming up, we're not needing fires as often. This is good news for our log requirements, but is making us debate how to make hot water in the summer without having to light a fire. Do we go for a boiler, solar heater, or ground source heat pump? Decisions, decisions...
As well as becoming warmer, the weather has been very windy! We've had a few storms lately, here in the UK. The worst of which has been Doris. She was fierce! I'm very glad my parents were visiting when she hit so we had extra help to baton down the hatches. We all hid inside watching as bits of the barn were bending alarmingly and random debris was flying around. We realised how strong it was when our neighbours shed was blown completely over with a smashing of glass and a big thump. The next victim of the storm were our new solar panels! Poor Iain's face as they lifted into the air like sails and landed on their face, scraping along the ground...eek! As the second set started to lift we ran outside and tried to save them, I lay across them to hold them down, but the wind just lifted me with the panels, it was so scary! As carefully as we could, considering the weather conditions, we lay them on their face too and weighed them down with breeze blocks, also weighing down the other set which had already blown over.
A post storm inspection revealed that although the solar frame had buckled a bit, thankfully the panels and connectors were all working. There were a few scratches on the surface of the panels, but considering the impact they had, that's pretty remarkable! It doesn't seem to have affected their efficiency, so I think we had a lucky escape.
The shed around the wind turbine didn't hold up very well... that's basically now in pieces on the floor, but hey, I guess that's extra firewood! Every cloud has a silver lining and all that.
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| Destroyed turbine shed |
Other than those casualties, we only had a stack of bricks and a few pots blow over, so a bit of soil top-up and they were fine.
So a bit of a scary month, but we survived, and had luck on our side. Fingers crossed for calmer weather now, and sunshine to help the little seeds sprout and grow!
