... well I'm back! I've spent the year making sure that the children and myself are doing ok. We've found a new state of 'normal'. I have cut back a lot on animals and work around the farm and just left the bare minimum with the hope of getting back to it bit by bit to a level that's still fun and not overwhelming. I need to make sure I have time for me, the children and other important things in my life that ensure happiness. It's about finding a new balance. The polytunnel has been dormant. We'll thats not the best description. I haven't done any work in there whatsoever but it's far from dormant! It's like a jungle on steroids. In fact there's still quite a lot of edible stuff in there when I do go for ramble. All the perennial herbs of course are thriving and many of the annuals have self seeded. The grapes did exceptionally well with total neglect and were delicious. Self seeded spinach was in great supply as were many salad leaves. At one point in early summer I put in a few bought courgette and squash seedlings along with several tomato plants but I didn't mind them. I still got plenty of harvest whenever I wandered in to see how the tunnel was getting on but it was hard and quite sad to see it getting so overgrown and out of hand.
I have realised that I need more than just me to get things back on track and keep things ticking along. I'm going to start taking in WWOOFers now and then. I didn't do it this year because I felt it was more important to have the space for me and the kids to find our feet as a new family first. We are getting there and it's time to start looking at seeds for Spring 2011. There's plenty that can be done between now and April in terms of clearing the weeds and preparing the beds. Its going to be a big job!
Watch this space.
