late summer update

I can’t believe it’s been two months since my last blog post. Lots of traveling in July – for work, and to visit family and friends back in England. In the last couple of weeks I’ve had visitors staying, so there have been quite a few visits to the land, and a bit of progress.

Still no deer fence because the ground has been too hard to make post holes deep enough. We needed more rain! But I’ve replotted where the fence will go, and the modified route has been completely strimmed and for the most part cleared of obstacles (dead branches, barbed wire and the like).

With the use of a larger car, and then a colleague’s truck, we took some bigger stuff up there as well. The posts for the fence… Now let it rain. Speaking of which, the rain barrel is now installed, hidden away in the old cow barn. We bent a bit of the broken, sloping roof to channel the rainwater into it.

 

spot the hidden rain barrel

 

But even without a lot of rain this summer, the bee garden has done quite well. When I saw it again earlier in August, many of the plants looked like something had snacked on them, but they’ve nearly all sprouted up again. And some – the lavender hyssop? – are flowering, so the bees should be relatively happy.

 

ten weeks after planting, and looking quite good

We also installed a compost bin (selling them at Wholefoods). A little easier than installing a deer fence, it has to be said…

compost under control

 

And finally, a couple of pictures of the work force in action. I’m reversing the truck!

 

helpers in tick-proof gear

 

truck on a trail