April - June

During the months April through till June we concentrate a large portion of our time clearing the land of weeds. For some areas we use a Strimmer (aka Weed Whacker).

Whilst for others we use the more traditional tool known as an Azada with which to cut back the weeds as well as machetes. 

Now if we only had a small area to clear the above tool would be great and perfectly adequate.  However, we feel we must be honest with you all.  Weed clearing is by its nature an ongoing process and is by no means restricted to just a couple of months in the year.  Weeds, especially after any kind of rainfall seemingly grow in profusion on our land even if the rainfall is very light.  This means we are constantly taking the fight to the weeds in an effort to win the war.  The trouble of course with our method is that they grow back pretty darn quickly which means we are constantly taking it out there to the weeds and fighting the good fight.  Now of course we could do as my neighbours do, and that is spray strong weedkillers and be done with the problem for a year at a time. Thing is, we would rather not do this as in our opinion and a good few others such sprays damage the eco system.  But how eco is the use of a Strimmer (Weed Whacker) I hear you say.  Well maybe not as eco as using an Azada we grant you, however, when you have 40,000 square metres of land to clear you sometimes have to take a different route than you would like.  Saying this we only clear beneath the trees with either the Stimmer (Weed Whacker) or the Azada leaving a wild habitat for the animals and insects (yes even the insects) in which to live peacefully which means the damage we do is kept to a minimum..

Of course sometimes we get to do something different from weeding, especially when a project such as screening something from view is concerned.  Then we get to go down to the riverbank and harvest the wild bamboo from the banks of the "River Ebro"..

After which we make all manner of things such as fencing and baskets, sometimes using wire, sometimes using more traditional methods.
Below we are wiring up a fence screen, though sometimes we make wattle fences using a similar technique to the warp and weft method.

 

 

 

 

We also try to catch up on the gardening, decorative, our family just love the sight of pretty flowers, (don't you?). 

The below picture was taken on a rainy evening but still the flowers look so beautiful, don't you think?

And of course there is the practical side of our garden.  Below is a view of some of our planters we use to grow organic vegetables and soft fruits in.

 

.

 

Mmmm home grown strawberries.