I am the buttercup-grazing alpaca

Write a Comment on I am the buttercup-grazing alpaca
buttercups

Not really, but seeing as the real alpacas don’t eat them – a good thing as they are poisonous –  we do need some way to keep them in check.

It’s never been as issue before this year, but as everything else around them does get eaten, they are flourishing …

So … at one end of the farming spectrum there are tractors, herbicides, sprays, soil analysis, government grants and mountains of red tape, and at the other end there is me, bimbling about the paddock on a summers morning, reaching into the cool dew to pull up the unwanted flowers, surrounded by alpacas and occasionally throwing a stick for Gwen.

I’m sure my neighbours think I’m mad, and when I look at my bank balance I’m inclined to agree, but as I move from one buttercup to the next …. hmmmm …. that one there …. and this one ….. oops nearly missed this one … I really don’t care whether I am or not!

I am the buttercup-grazing alpaca!

The first bracken harvest

Write a Comment on The first bracken harvest

Hurrah! The first bracken harvest is done.

bracken
bracken waiting for the shredder


A little late, but I always say that. At least our newly planted coppices, lower and upper, have been cleared so the young trees can actually see some sunlight.
Not for long though – the one thing with bracken is it is so relentless. It will soon be time to start again …

It’s a good thing I enjoy it, I suppose. Another early morning job for me: everything is waking up, the air ranges from slightly damp to welsh sodden. It always feels good and reminds me why I am here.

Once it is picked, it is a bit more laborious – carting it across the hillside in a wheelbarrow to the barn, and then shredding it. I have a n electric shredder for that – all mod cons.

Finally, it is bagged up and sits in a pile waiting to be mixed in with the waste alpaca fleece, and alpaca poo … and from there, it is magically transformed into amazing compost!

How satisfying. Meanwhile the second crop is just about ready to be pulled, … just time for a few buttercups and brambles in between …