Roger O'Farrell

Hi, and thanks for your replies

I have to admit never hearing of hugelkultur (had to look it up)...
On first glance it sounds like something I could do on a small scale, but an acre is an awful lot of land to do basically by hand.

I had thought of the livestock solution, but...
a) by Autumn the grass/weeds are going to be so high the sheep would probably need sat-nav to find their way around, and
b) Having two German Shepherds, their 'shepherding' instincts might prove to be an obstacle to that particular solution
(while livestock would get the grass/weeds cut down, would it not still just leave me with a shortened version of the same thing, ready to shoot forth again in springtime and requiring mulching anyway?)

Any timber I cut can be used (after seasoning) to fuel the solid fuel range for cooking/baking and heating the house.
I plan on planting some trees (willow possibly) in the forest garden for coppicing for future firewood anyway.

To be honest I'm not too concerned about improving the fertility of the soil at this stage. There's a lot of peat locally and a forest up the road has been cut down recently, so sackfull's of decomposed organic matter is readily available. A chicken tractor is another area I'll be looking into to improve the fertility. By the way things are shooting up (grass/weeds/bushes) I think the soil is pretty fertile to begin with anyway.

Thanks for taking the time to reply and I'll take on board any suggestions I receive, and see if I can incorporate them into the plan.

Regards,
Roger

Hi to All,

I'm totally new to all this, and I'm a long ways away from most of you (middle of Ireland),
but I'm hoping someone out there in cyberspace-land might be able to point me in the right direction (or at least help me in avoiding the wrong one!)

The Scenario:
I recently purchased a cottage on a small piece of land (one acre) which I will only be able to visit periodically until I can fully escape the rat-race in October, meaning that soon after taking up full-time residence Winter will be arriving. The land comprises of an undulating rectangle of good fertile soil, bordered by (mainly) hawthorn bushes and brambles (haven't got the ph yet).

The Problems:
I'll have a lot of cutting back of trees, and hedgerows during the Winter months together with working on the cottage, and seeing how there's only one of me, unless I n train the dogs to use a saw the labour force will be stretched pretty thin!
The major problem is the field itself. At the moment it's a field of tufts of grass, thistles and nettles. Reading up the suggestion for dealing with this seems to be to sheet mulch, but the idea of sheet mulching an acre and leaving it for a year or so seems laborious.

My (possible) Solution?: (Warning: I'm going to use the 'P' word now!)
1. Talk nicely to the locals and pay one of them to plough the entire acre.
2. Allow the Winter frosts to help break up the soil.
3. Get the nice local back to harrow the land.
4. Dig a winding path three or four yards in from the perimeter, and some linking paths to the centre.
5. Install some drainage and a pond.
6. Sow the entire remainder with white clover.
7. Hopefully start the tree, bush, shrub and groundcover layers, but not feel I'm constantly racing against the clock to outrun the grass and weeds which I hope will be subdued by the clover.

So am I totally wrong in my plans?
Oh just as an aside...I have zero background in gardening!
I'm doing this almost entirely from reading up on same (but...I've operated this way before in other areas successfully, and "if you don't try, you don't learn" is my outlook.
I plan on keeping bees and chickens, and having a smallish section for annual crops, but most of the acre will (I hope!) be a forest garden...eventually.

Any advice, suggestions, or psychiatric help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks