Amaustan, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
‘Had we but World enough and time,
This coyness lady were no crime……………….But at my back I always hear time’s winged Charriot hurrying near:
And yonder all before us lye
Deserts of vast eternity……………………’Andrew Marvell. To his coy mistress.
This extract from Marvell has always resonated with me – I am knocking on a fair bit and as the years fly by even more so,
It is not easy to express the feeling I have driving the odd few miles to the farm most mornings. The countryside is beautiful; the sense of all-pervading tranquillity makes me feel at ease with myself and content to be living here. Occasionally I come in via the medieval part of the town, through narrow streets and past a variety of old houses.
It is not the intention to be an all-singing, all-dancing farm. We have neither the experience nor the inclination and of course there are limits; of time, of money, of capability. To be as self-sufficient as possible in vegetables was the first priority. Other areas and opportunities will doubtless present themselves in due course.
As to livestock the first task is to rehabilitate the old chicken house and make a suitable run for, probably, a dozen or so layers. My first thought was to let them be totally free range, except at night, as on the farm where I buy my eggs, Having seen a couple of foxes here I now aim to provide quite a large enclosed environment for them. There is plenty of land. Otherwise, lambs, sheep and rabbits for the table. I was shocked by the price of rabbit here. I recall, from my wartime and post-wartime childhood the lovely pies and stews we ate occasionally.
Next – other money-making opportunities
© Gillygangle 2023
