What to do with 0.3 acre

water-man · 05-01-2020 7:00pm #1

Evening all,

Looking for some advice on what to do with 0.3 acre of land that I have.
The land has not been farmed for 50+ years. It is a small plot just off a main road. It was full of trees however just before Christmas I got a man to go in and cut then down.

The plot is triangular in shape with the shortest side of the triangle pointing roughly south, there is a small stream on the east side (LHS of pic) and the main road (with water main) is on RHS of pic, pic attached looking south.

I guess I’m looking for advice on how to make it usable for my family – not make money. Ideally I’d love to put a poly tunnel or some such on it (running left to right on the pic) to grow some veg, would like some chickens however would worry about foxes right now.

We are not able (time & money) to everything in one go so looking at a longer term plan (3 to 4 years) that will gradually make the wee plot usable again.

My thoughts would be (after the first 3 no real order):
• Speak to land owner on adjoining field to see if I can cut trees on southern boundary to let more light in (or maybe I should just go for the ask for forgiveness route!!)
• Digger man to remove remaining stumps
• Digger man to install some drainage
• Spray something? Would this be needed?
• Get some manure and put it on the land?
• Repair or install fence
• Plant some fruit trees (any recommendations are most welcome)
• Fruit bushes – blueberries? Goose berries?
• Bee hive??
• How best to prepare ground for a poly tunnel?
• ??? What would you do and why ???

Finally, would anyone be able to offer a rough cost to do any of the above?

Thanks in advance for reading and any responses.

Water-man

Boredstiff666 · 05-01-2020 7:25pm

Probably feed your family on that area. Polytunnels and everything costs money. Chickens have to fenced in securely. Dont blame fox because youre an idiot. Dont blame hares and rabbits because you are an idiot.

If it were me I would build raised beds out of concrete block. Less weeding and more control over pests etc. Keep as much of nature as possible as thats your friend, so no more land clearance.

Soil will be full of weed seeds so be prepared for weeding but a million times easier in raised beds.

Del2005 · 05-01-2020 7:29pm

Did you get a felling licence to clear the trees?

https://treecouncil.ie/tree-advice/trees-law/

water-man · 05-01-2020 9:36pm

Hi,

@ Del2005 - To be honest no I did not apply for a license. I did however use a fully licensed company who do this stuff for the county council and ESB. I like to assume the professionals know all about this stuff and would tell me if something was required.

It was mainly "sally" trees / bushes if this makes any difference.

@boredstiff666 - You say no more land clearance but how about some drainage? re the concrete raised beds - would these need foundations?

Anyone else any thoughts?

Have a nice evening.

Boredstiff666 · 05-01-2020 10:31pm

water-man wrote: »

Hi,

@ Del2005 - To be honest no I did not apply for a license. I did however use a fully licensed company who do this stuff for the county council and ESB. I like to assume the professionals know all about this stuff and would tell me if something was required.

It was mainly "sally" trees / bushes if this makes any difference.

@boredstiff666 - You say no more land clearance but how about some drainage? re the concrete raised beds - would these need foundations?

Anyone else any thoughts?

Have a nice evening.

You only need to go 3 blocks high for most veg. Just clear the top soil down to solid and possible 6" may be enough. But they will be there forever and are cheap and diy whereas wood rots away eventually. Where you have a problem with water drain it. But you had a little eco system there which had established itself over time. You destroyed the lot by clearing so if you introduce veg now then predators may reap havoc for years without no natural defences.

To be honest if you arent able to do anything yourself forget it. It will be just a pipe dream and cheaper at Tesco's.

bizidea · 05-01-2020 11:46pm

I think dell might be a sheep

water-man · 06-01-2020 7:44am

Whilst I'm not the most gifted with my hands between my better half and myself we can manage most things quite well. I'm not afraid to ask questions and learn.

I'm looking for advice on how to improve the wee plot over a few years.

Boredstiff666 · 06-01-2020 8:16am

water-man wrote: »

Whilst I'm not the most gifted with my hands between my better half and myself we can manage most things quite well. I'm not afraid to ask questions and learn.

I'm looking for advice on how to improve the wee plot over a few years.

The soil will have lots of weed seeds in it which will sprout after you have cultivated it. Raised beds make the whole gardening experience a lot less hard work for weeding and all tasks.

Chickens have to either enclosed in a prison complex or a 4ft high very high voltage electric fence to keep predators out. If they get to your chucks it is your fault not the foxes etc.

Polytunnels are great but still hard work unless used with raised beds.

Pigs can dig the whole of your field up for you but need good high voltage electric fencing. They will manure it at the same time.

batyushki · 06-01-2020 12:23pm

We did something similar about five years ago, except what we cleared was mostly brambles. We have two polytunnels, a large outside garden, an orchard and a pond.

Having trees around the perimeter is hugely helpful in a windy country like Ireland. I keep the trees on my southern boundary from shading by pollarding them at about 8 feet above ground, this provides poles for trellises. Brambles around the perimeter should be encouraged again as a windbreak and also cover for the many creatures who share the garden with you.

I highly recommend a small pond both as a water store and as a wildlife feature. We use a cheap pump driven by a leisure battery to pump water from the pond to barrels which are then used to water the polytunnel.

Polytunnels are amazing and if you're willing to commit to the work, I highly recommend them. We water 1-2 times a week in summer and of course there is all the soil prep, planting and harvesting. But the rewards are worth it.

We have orchard trees and soft fruit. Orchard trees are less maintenance at the beginning of their lifecycle, soft fruit requires a lot of picking in summer and netting to protect from birds.

You may have a problem with brambles coming up constantly from roots (hard to tell from the photo) but if you mow them a few times they will die off.

Animals require a lot of work and attention, my suggestion would be to start with growing vegetables and fruit and then bring animals on later. If you have a lot of time and you don't travel much, they are very useful for manure, clearing etc, but there is a huge time investment required.

Best of luck!

Boredstiff666 · 06-01-2020 12:28pm

batyushki wrote: »

We did something similar about five years ago, except what we cleared was mostly brambles. We have two polytunnels, a large outside garden, an orchard and a pond.

Having trees around the perimeter is hugely helpful in a windy country like Ireland. I keep the trees on my southern boundary from shading by pollarding them at about 8 feet above ground, this provides poles for trellises. Brambles around the perimeter should be encouraged again as a windbreak and also cover for the many creatures who share the garden with you.

I highly recommend a small pond both as a water store and as a wildlife feature. We use a cheap pump driven by a leisure battery to pump water from the pond to barrels which are then used to water the polytunnel.

Polytunnels are amazing and if you're willing to commit to the work, I highly recommend them. We water 1-2 times a week in summer and of course there is all the soil prep, planting and harvesting. But the rewards are worth it.

We have orchard trees and soft fruit. Orchard trees are less maintenance at the beginning of their lifecycle, soft fruit requires a lot of picking in summer and netting to protect from birds.

You may have a problem with brambles coming up constantly from roots (hard to tell from the photo) but if you mow them a few times they will die off.

Animals require a lot of work and attention, my suggestion would be to start with growing vegetables and fruit and then bring animals on later. If you have a lot of time and you don't travel much, they are very useful for manure, clearing etc, but there is a huge time investment required.

Best of luck!

Perfect example of how to keep things as natural as possible. The pond is a brilliant idea as you can do nowt without water.

water-man · 06-01-2020 7:44pm

@ Batyushki - that is an amazing transformation and is exactly what I would envision.

Do you remember what steps you took on your journey with that beautiful garden?

batyushki · 07-01-2020 6:53am

Here are some things we did along the way roughly in order:

Cleared brambles and fallen trees to see what we had. Mowed a few times where brambles were persistent.
Pollarded trees on the south boundary to let in more light and to prevent branches from falling on the polytunnel.
Installed a proper gate.
Planted willow where we had very moist soil around one edge to help dry out the soil.
Installed the polytunnels.
Put in a water pipe from the pond to the polytunnels and got barrels to keep in the polytunnels. The water is pumped up from the pond and stored in the barrels ready to be used (we water by hand).
Dug out the first beds in the big polytunnel. We use scaffolding planks in the tunnel to separate the path from the bed. They last a lot longer inside the tunnel; outside the planks would rot away within a few years.
Started digging out beds outside. Our site was very wild (still is) and it really wants to return to a meadow. The most successful beds have some kind of separation between the bed and the path to keep weeds out. We've used old concrete blocks and roofing tiles to good effect. They also help raise the bed slightly which improves drainage.
Got a mini-digger and dug drainage ditches about 30 cm deep to connect with the pond. Our site is low-lying so drainage was an issue the first winter. The ditches allow winter runoff to move to the pond which keeps the beds a lot dryer than they would be otherwise. Renting a digger for a weekend is not expensive, perhaps 150 or 200, and anyone can learn to operate a small one in a few minutes. Most of our drainage ditches are open but we did some with plastic drain tile along the main path and to drain the polytunnel.
Raised the main path with gravel and subsoil to prevent it from becoming a ditch itself. I recommend you use gravel for your main path. Wood chip is great for paths between beds but within a year or two it will rot down to soil (which is great!) but will then not be useful as a path.
Planted apple trees, plum trees, currants, gooseberries, and blueberries. Used woven weed fabric around each plant to get them established, since weed competition is fierce here. Use your wood chip to mulch under fabric in the orchard.
Planted cobnut trees and cornelian cherry trees.
Built a toolshed. We have an older shed on site but needed a better one. Was able to disassemble a friend's shed that was no longer required and rebuilt it at our place.
Made a compost heap from some pallets.
Built a swing, sandbox, trampoline, picnic table etc for the kids to use when we are working there.
Planted raspberry beds outside and strawberry beds inside.

Some things that are ongoing:

Gather fertiliser each winter. We have access to seaweed but have also used manure and duckweed from the pond. We mulch with seaweed whenever we can get it to keep the beds covered and contribute to soil building. You won't need fertiliser the first year since the land will be naturally fertile after being left alone.
Plant green manures. These are cover crops that keep beds productive when you're not using them. Fruit Hill Farm have bulk cover crops that we use in the autumn or during a year when a bed is to be left fallow to recover.
Strim or mow to keep the paths walkable in summer. We have experimented with letting the paths go wild but it makes access difficult. I compromise by letting the margins of the garden go wild and mowing a couple of times in summer.
Cutting back the hedge each winter to keep it from re-colonising the land.
Removing ash saplings that spring up everywhere.
Removing nettles from the garden area. Before we grew here the nettles were dominant in several places. They are a lovely plant for nature and can be used by humans, but we had a superabundance and they are not compatible with hand weeding. So removal of the roots has been an ongoing task.
Netting soft fruits. Besides blackcurrants, the birds love all our fruit so it must be netted before it ripens. This requires some kind of framework to hang the net above the bushes. Summer raspberries and cultivated blackberries are too tall for most nets and we have given up on them. Autumn raspberries come after most of the birds have moved on and can be grown without nets. The shorter bushes (currants, gooseberries, jostaberries, blueberries) use hoops or frameworks made of branches to hold the nets.
Digging. We try not to step in our garden beds and just put new mulch on top to keep the soil in good condition. However when you harvest potatoes, jerusalem artichokes etc the soil is dug over. We also dig over any bed that gets invaded badly by buttercup or nettles. Luckily in the polytunnel we haven't had to dig since establishment as we never disturb the soil except to plant. The soil will stay soft and alive if you avoid stepping in it and always keep it covered (mulched) and watered.
Watering. This is a big job in summer since it never rains in the polytunnel! We tried a few 12 volt automatic watering setups but have never been satisfied with the results. So it is watering cans for us.
Composting. We have soft and a woody compost areas. We get a lot of branches from the small bit of woodland and we re-use these as pea supports, the bigger ones as poles and trellises. We grow willow to use for hoops and supports.
Seeding. We have a greenhouse at home where we start most of our seeds. We then transplant to the land.

You mentioned spraying. I would highly recommend you not spray. You're going to be eating everything you put into the soil, and poisons affect the soil and water in ways we may not even understand. You can easily control weeds and trees by mechanical means on a small scale.

Even with all the work we've put in over the last five years, there are several areas of the land that are still not fully utilised. We have invited some friends to grow there too which helps use more of the land, provides someone to back us up on watering and picking when we're on holiday, and gives us someone to talk to when we visit.

All of the above takes a lot of time and it progresses over many years. Take it slow, observe the land and see what works best in each part of it. The main thing is to put in enough time that you can really make it work. Nature is always working to re-wild your land and it will quickly return it to woodland if you turn your back! But it is also a great pleasure to leave parts of it wild and see what the earth can do when left to its own devices.

water-man · 08-01-2020 1:44pm

Many thanks for the reply batyushki and for taking the time for the detailed response.

I think this year if I can tidy the wee field up and pollard (never heard of that word before) the tress on south then access what I have would be a decent start then look at some drainage. Some of the shredded wood that is currently there I'm planing on taking to the house garden and using there. The rest I'll gather into one area.

victor8600 · 08-01-2020 2:01pm

water-man wrote: »

• Bee hive??

A beehive can be put later. Bees should not be moved too much or disturbed by work near the hive, so leave this until you have setup up everything else.

Boardnashea · 15-01-2020 6:11pm

victor8600 wrote: »

A beehive can be put later. Bees should not be moved too much or disturbed by work near the hive, so leave this until you have setup up everything else.

A local beekeeper may be delighted to put a couple of colonies on your site, once it is secure. You will be more than welcome to help with the inspections and work and i'm sure the harvest too and when you are ready to start your own hives you will already have some experience and a network to help you.
Contact your local association (check the other forum here).

Ritiu · 30-03-2020 8:36am

You already have ideas about your free land. Choose what you like best and what you would like to do. It is necessary to fertilize the land.

Siamsa Sessions · 30-03-2020 12:57pm

Chickens in moveable coops - their poo is great for soil fertility and they root/scratch up moss which helps grass growth.

You could keep a few goats for milk after the chickens work is done or plant veg in your improved soil. Or combine both these enterprises. Main thing would be to mimic nature and have several enterprises sharing the space.

uck51js9zml2yt · 30-03-2020 10:46pm

Siamsa Sessions wrote: »

Chickens in moveable coops - their poo is great for soil fertility and they root/scratch up moss which helps grass growth.

You could keep a few goats for milk after the chickens work is done or plant veg in your improved soil. Or combine both these enterprises. Main thing would be to mimic nature and have several enterprises sharing the space.

I've a half acre plot with orchard, veg garden and chickens.
I planted 180 willow to act as a windbreak this year and currently building a new chicken run.

What to do with 0.3 acre

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