Jobs on the Smallholding: February

Are you a smallholder? Would you like to know what other smallholding folk are occupying themselves with as Winter drags on? Or are you just keen to find out what is on the jobs list for us smallholders in February?

Here’s an overview of our jobs this February, although this year has been a little out of the ordinary!

Garden

It is still pretty chilly here in south-west Scotland. so the garden is still mostly dormant at this time of year. Our 2500 (ish) over-wintered onions remain poised, ready to flourish once the warmer weather finally appears.

We ended up leaving last year’s leek and carrot crop in the ground, pulling them up as we need them. They have kept surprisingly well.

The remainder of our vegetable beds are weeded, edged and ready to go in the Spring.

If you have fruit trees, check which time of year is best to prune them. Most of our trees prefer to be pruned back over Winter, so that is on our list of things to do this week.

Polytunnel

The plan for February in the polytunnel would usually involve sieving compost, setting up potting stations and organising some shelving for our module trays of seedlings.

But sadly this year is very different. Because at the end of January, Storm Eowyn completely devastated our polytunnel.

So this February, a lot of our time and effort is going into dismantling the old battening and removing what remains of the plastic skin. As we do this, we are considering how best to repair and improve our tunnel, to try and safeguard against severe weather events in future.

Animals

Our hens have been in the fruit cage for several months now, because our new arrivals last spring were very determined to escape and explore. They literally liberated themselves from the electric fence, bounded across the field, flew over the stock fencing and went running away down the lane. And they did so multiple times.

However, they have completely decimated the grass inside the fruit cage. So we need to move them back out to the field, to provide them with some more food and entertainment. We will be tackling that this weekend.

Otherwise, we have just been doing the usual daily checks and regular jobs for our menagerie. We have not had any medications, vaccinations or other big jobs to tackle this month.

House

Over Winter, we spend a lot more time inside. These cold dark months give me a lot more time to observe how we use the space in our (relatively small) home. Which of course leads to big ideas about how we could improve on our current set up.

If you have urgent maintenance tasks or more whimsical aesthetic renovations to tend to, Winter is the ideal time to get those projects underway. The garden is mostly dormant and the weather makes outdoor work a lot less too appealing!

But alas, a lack of time and finances at present force most of my big ideas onto our “10-15 year plan!”

However, we are reliant on our own water supply; we have a well pump and secondary booster pump that bring water up to a header tank. Water then passes through a particulate filter and a UV filter before coming out of the taps. Storm Eowyn, and the 10 day power cut that followed, highlighted (or potentially resulted in) some issues with our current set up. So we are planning an upgrade to some of the key elements, and also relocation of our water system to a more accessible part of the loft for easier maintenance.

General Land Maintenance

In terms of more general outdoor jobs, we regularly check our boundary and have noticed the gaps in the hedges are increasing. George has been researching tradition methods for hedge laying, with a view to planting some new trees and hedging plants to breathe some new life into our boundaries.

The sheep and alpacas are keeping the field in check.

Our other tasks are directly related to the recent storm. Sadly, several trees were felled and have needed to be dealt with. This always feels like a large and unexpected job to add to an already busy schedule. But it is nice to have some extra firewood in the wood store!

And lastly, the strong winds shredding the polytunnel and sent fragments of plastic and other rubbish flying into the neighbouring fields. We have been doing the only responsible thing; going on daily litter picks to remove this rubbish, so as not to endanger livestock and wildlife.

I hope you have enjoyed this insight into the month of February on our smallholding. Make sure to sign up if you would like to read the posts to follow in this series!