8a. The Field, Continued – Hillside Garden

Sheep

So, having decided that a couple of sheep would solve the problem of mowing the steep and uneven field, and having fallen in love with the delightful Black-nose sheep from Valais, an area of Switzerland where some of our family live and work, I decided that a pair of young wethers would be the ideal solution to the mowing problem and would make a perfect birthday present.

George & Archie arriving on my birthday 2019

Valais Blacknose sheep are, rather surprisingly, not as hardy as most British breeds, so a shelter is required; planning laws do not allow us to build a permanent structure, so we have installed a movable arc made from recycled plastic.

In a matter of months, the sheep had eaten off most of the chicken field. Time to bring back the fencing contractors to create a further large area for the sheep to graze whilst keeping them away from the young fruit trees. The new grazing area runs almost the entire length of the far side of the field, then along the top, wrapping around the top edge of the chicken field and making use of the most difficult areas for mowing.

At the time of planting the Raspberries, I had also planted a selection of young fruit trees and an orchard area is finally taking shape. The sheep can now graze the strip between the far wall and the edge of the fruit trees, all the way up to the top field wall and around the boundary of the chicken field.

Because the sheep are notorious for eating young trees, it was necessary to fence off the young hedgerow trees.

Wild flowers

2020 seems to have been a great year for Buttercups

If allowed to grow for a week or two, the back lawn produces a lot of nectar & pollen

The natural vegetation of the chicken run, rich in Burnet, Wild Carrot and Buttercup

As well as a wide variety of grasses and sedges, the field has some Clovers and Vetch

I’m delighted to find Red Campion appearing in the rougher un-mown areas

Wild Carrot and bird-seeded extra Raspberry canes along the verge below the chicken run. The variety of naturally appearing wildflowers has encouraged me to invest in some wildflower seed.

In the area of field that is designated to fruit trees and bushes, a clump of bird-seeded wild raspberry canes, tangled with dense nettles, had gradually increased in size to the point where they needed to be grubbed out. While much of the “orchard” area is now tamed enough to be mowed, this steeply banked section remains difficult terrain and, thus, is ideally suited to being a wildflower area. After removal of the raspberry canes & nettles, I sowed a wildflower seed mix which is doing quite well in attracting pollinators.