And so begins the season of 2024

As I look out of the window and it is raining it seems a sensible idea to be sat at my desk tippity tappiting, until I venture into the greenhouse later (still protected from the rain 😁).

Quite a bit has changed here since I last wrote a blog, with a very challenging and very sad end to 2023 - part of our barn fell down (stage 1 in picture. We had builders come and look at this point. Luckily they didn’t start trying to secure it as a week or so later the roof gave way). This was really expensive as it then became unstable, and because it has a road running alongside it the highways instructed us to make it safe. We had to have it knocked down to first floor level using up many £1000 of our savings, all the contents ruined, insurance wouldn’t pay up, structural surveyor who did a report 2 years ago wouldn’t get in touch, hence we decided to simplify life!!! On positive note however, and moving forwards, new flowers are being sown again, new growing areas prepared (no-dig of course - all that soggy hay has a new use). The hellebores are looking amazing, and the daffodils and narcissi are beginning to flower, AND the days are getting longer, yay spring is on it’s way.

In light of the barn money pit some of the ideas we were mulling over have dropped off list, Aquaponics being the main one. We have reached a decision that as we are not getting any younger, and given that it would be a mammoth task to set up such a system, and the fact that fish need monitoring 24 hours a day 365 days a year we won’t be setting up another new business. If we were younger I would definitely still be going for it. We will concentrate on the flower farm, Airbnb, and glamping, and sourcing sustainable trout from elsewhere. Paul is currently in the process of installing the base for the shepherds hut and working out how to build / install / procure a composting toilet (no smell of course) and learning how to grow veg, whilst I concentrate on the flower farm.

With regards to the flower farm I realise I have to be more proactive for it to form part of our income. Although I have provided natural funeral flowers before I have not advertised that this is something I can do (the same goes for eco wedding flowers) and have joined the new group of ‘farewell flowers’ (www.farewellflowers.co.uk), updated my website (still a work in progress), and will get the word out there to funeral directors.

Please bear with me as I update my website between the fun bit of growing, the challenging area of selling and marketing, and the cleaning of the Airbnb (not our house of course…).

I hope you have had a good start to 2024, and a very belated Happy New Year