Spring 2024
I started writing this blog almost two months ago, and just one day short of May I will finally finish it. Hurray it is finally spring 2024, even though the temperatures are rather like winter. What is on the to-do list and what is new at Rails Farm?
New expertise on the farm
New is our fantastic, highly experienced primary teacher Isla joining the Rails Farm teaching team. She’s already got a couple of new students who will regain the enjoyment of learning. Her expertise is just what we needed to close the gap at the younger end of the education spectrum. We can now offer the whole range from KS1 to A-level. I taught some primary pupils Maths but the teaching style for all other subjects is very different to secondary learning needs. I hope that my teaching load will ease soon, because the GCSE exam period has started and I need more time to do all the other jobs on our smallholding.
Regarding the to-do list, we have stopped pruning but could not properly finish. Next winter season we will carry on. We planted hundreds of poplars and willows by existing hedges and established new ones. We have already harvested some willows, planted 9 years ago, for firewood and stakes.
Re-covering the Polytunnel
After nine years we have replaced the totally ripped polytunnel cover. We managed to do this mid of February with the help of lots of very good friends. With a length of 60 feet (20 meter) one needs many people to pull the new cover over the loops and fix it on both sides. The design of our tunnel allowed us to fix it on both sides in a fairly short time. It worked out perfectly well overall on one of the few days without rain and heavy winds. It probably takes another day or so to finish all the cosmetic things like the ventilation mechanics and the repair of one of the entrance covers.
The more challenging part is to prepare the hotspot tape equivalent for the eleven hoops of the tunnel. About 100 meter of fabric tubes are needed. Commercially, one uses a kind of adhesive plastic foamy hot spot tape to establish a thermal barrier between the plastic cover and the metal tubing. This is particularly important in the summertime when the heat of the metal tubes would stretch the plastic cover extensively. The cooling down, contraction, and heat related stretching will break the polyamide structure and leads to tearing of the cover material.
The problem with the foamy adhesive tape is twofold. It gets rubbed off the metal hoops after a fairly short time due to relative movement of the plastic cover and the tubes, and then it ends up as plastic pollution in the soil. Hence, we have decided not to use it anymore and use second hand fabric instead.
Gaby’s overlocker had been used for all these many meters of fabric strips. Time will tell if it works, but it is definitely a more sustainable approach than using plastic. One could of course argue that the plastic cover for a polytunnel might be the bigger problem, but it lasted for almost 10 years and we have cut up the old cover into sheets which we will still use for repair and other applications. Large greenhouses are just not affordable and the plastic cover scatters the sunlight which generates an even illumination which is increases the rate of photosynthesis. It is now fully planted with a whole range of vegetables and our two new fruit trees, one apricot and one peach.
Everything is growing well
The outside beds are also taking shape with planted potatoes, garlic, asparagus, broad beans, onions, and cabbages. Fruit trees are most beautiful at the moment with white/pink flowers welcoming insects. Passing those trees rewards us with the song of bees and a most beautiful scent. The grass grows much faster than I can manage to cut it in the garden. However, our livestock is very positively impressed, enjoying the fresh shoots.
Our swallows have also arrived taking up their summer residency in our barn, preparing the nest for the new offspring. We do have the feeling that our efforts of renaturing our smallholding shows a positive effect. There are more insects, and the morning and evening the bird choir has increased in volume and variety. We are still hoping and working towards inviting the nightingales to our land with managing our hedges, i.e. planting more and increasing the density and width of those. Almost all our newly planted trees on one of our fields have established well and one can see the extent and development of our little new wooded area. Just planting a couple of years ago some poplars and willows along the stock fence has already established a new habitat for lots of birds.
Business as usual
Our advanced German teaching group is going strong and they are making good progress. We have also established a second German starter group who have made already good strides in their learning. However, there are still a few places left for one or two newcomers to join and enjoy learning in dynamic and friendly groups.
The weekly country market in Sturminster Newton is a great community project and a lot of fun. During the winter months it was rather quiet, but we hope that springtime will get more people coming. We can offer more and more fresh produce for customers to enjoy.
Don’t forget our well-established monthly Saturday’s ‘Kaffee und Kuchen’ German breakfast too.
Gaby & Christoph,