A busy week in the garden, we’ve tidied up all the beds that have crops in – the chickens had been wandering and taken advantage of the lack of netting on one or two things, so we’ve covered those properly, and cleaned up decomposing leaves that are such an attraction for slugs.

A few large outside beds remained unfinished, so they’ve been laid out, topped up with some of the ancient horse manure,and covered with a good layer of compost, ready for planting. We also got stuck into the polytunnel too, topping up all the empty beds with manure and compost, after watering the soil thoroughly.

The pond has had a tidy too – the willow fence is on the south east side, and had got very tall, so its all been woven down to form a strong fence, and to let more light in. On the other side we’ve cut all the willow down to ground level for the same reason. Last winter the pond suffered when the horse chestnut tree fell into it, and it has taken a year to recover. Opening it up a bit should encourage that further.

Our Bornay wind turbine has been away for repair at Grant’s Electrical Services up in Ballymena, who rewound it completely three years ago. This time they gave the stator a chemical clean, dried it properly in the oven, and then it had a fresh coat of enamel. It was treated to new bearings while they had it apart, and now it’s ready to go back into service. We’ll wait until the summer and then put it up on the new mast, when the one currently up there will go away for a service, and we can clean the blades up so that its ready to swap next year.