The story of The Pig stye, as promised

 On 05.06.10 Mr and Mrs Pig still lived happily in their home. Unbeknown to them the 'farm' on which they lived was about to be sold and they would have to move out very soon. Luckily a home was found for them just over the fence, so they are still happy.

 Meanwhile the new land owners decided that the lovely 'weed free' area behind the containers, in other words the pigs old home, would be an ideal area to have a vegetable patch. Since the man of the place was preparing things to house bees on the land the 'lady' of the land took it as her project to develop the area. She had very little knowledge of gardening but she knew that she didn't have much time or inclination to do a lot of weeding. That was okay because she came across the 'no-dig' technique of gardening which seemed simple enough especially when the main ingredient needed, straw, was contained in the shed a short way away. So The Mrs spent some happy time moving the richly manured straw from the shed to the pig stye. She patted herself on the back for all her hard work and consoled herself that even though the available straw didn't cover the whole pig stye it covered most of it and maybe she would be able to source some more before the weeds became too much of a problem in the uncovered area. Taken 08.08.10.

Well I wouldn't bet on it but it looks as though the Mrs efforts may have actually fed the weeds, with the manure in the straw, rather than smothered them. No matter, she thought, there was still a bit more straw in the shed. She hadn't used it all because the Mr had had some strange idea that it shouldn't all be used. To this day the Mrs still doesn't know what the Mr was thinking about then but the argument had been forgotten until she started writing this story, but no doubt it will be forgotten again. Mrs managed to cover the far side of the stye.  Taken 17.09.10

To help cover the area, a kind farmer, whose wife kept some horses on the land, dropped a ton of mulch into the pig stye. Mr decided they would have a better chance of covering the weeds if the weeds were shorter. So he got out his noisey power tool and strimmed the uncovered weeds. Mrs was very grateful and she then set too and raked the mulch around. Still not all the weeds were coverd but most of them were so the Mrs was generally happy. However she felt that she was maybe being ungrateful and maybe just a little too fussy when, as she was raking the mulch, she found many bits of rubbish in it, mainly plastic from wrappers but also other bits that she felt belonged in the rubbish bin. Indeed she had already done a lot of litter picking since the family came to own the land and just as she thought it was all done then some got dumped on her beloved veg patch to be. Every time she walks over it now she picks up bits of litter and consoles herself that she will, in future, buy straw for the patch and not accept any mulch. The litter is also a frequent reminder of how badly mankind treats the planet.   Taken 02.10.10

For a while the area no weed showed a leaf and Mrs was happy and hoped that the ground was not covered too late in the year as she had wanted to keep the warmth of the summer sun in the earth, under the cover of the straw, rather than maybe keep in the cold. Princess gave the Mrs some ammusement when she, the horse, climbed over the flimsy fence and did a bit of free weeding round the edges as well delivered some manure directly to the veg patch.  Taken 15.10.10

With her head full of ideas and hopes Mrs began to worry. She worried about rabbits digging under the fence and eating all the vegetables before they even had a chance to grow. She also worried about the deer jumping over the fence and joining in the feast. So there was nothing to it but to put up a stronger deeper fence. Mr and Mrs worked at it together. It took a few weekends of digging through stoney ground. They just dug and dug, sometimes even in the rain.  Taken 23.01.11

Mr put up stronger posts.

The whole family helped put the fence up. The fence had to be 6 inches below the ground and 8 inches bent in so the rabbits don't dig under it. Stones were placed on the fence to weigh it down the stones were then buried with soil and flower bulbs. The Mrs is looking forward to seeing pretty flowers come up from the ground year after year.

Mr and Mrs also planted a mulberry tree in the vegetable patch. The veg patch may move, and/or grow over the years but the tree needs protection from the cold and wind. It gets protection from the containers. Planted 05.02.11

When Mrs realised that she intended the veg patch to grow she felt bad that so much work was going into the fence. Mr said he wouldn't take it down. So Mrs asked for a gate just in time. Fortunately there was an old gate at Mr and Mrs house. It was wide enough for a wheelbarrow to fit through. Mr has nearly finished hanging the gate. As you can see from this photo taken 26th March work was hampered, but not stopped, by big puddles. I'm not sure what vegetables can take that amount of water.  Good luck Mrs and lets hope that not too many weeds come up. Just save those coardboard boxes for a 2nd attempt at smothereing them next year.

Three weeks later the earth was dry and Mr and Mrs found some huge paw prints in the veg patch. Mr reckons it is a badger print. Well the fencing as it is should be good enough to keep badgers out, when the gates are closed, Mr is working on another one. After that there is still another side that needs a trench for the chicken fencing to be buried in and the area should be rabbit proof too. Then all that will be needed is for Mrs to put some vege plants in. Hurry up Mrs time is marching on and the story is not finished yet and Mr wants to use the computor.