Help Needed

The sorts of jobs that are waiting to be done...
Wooden window frames to be rubbed down and treated.
Chicken sheds to be brushed and treated or painted.
Painting of walls and woodwork inside house.
Pond and tiny stream and waterfall to be dug and made in garden.
Trees to be staked.
Fencing.
Lawn to be cut.
General gardening.
Housework, cooking, etc.
Trees to be watered.
Chicken to be fed and looked after.
Ponies to be halter trained and groomed.

Geese

Chicken

We keep a variety of rare or traditional breeds of chicken and bantams (miniature chicken). This year numbers are low because so much of my time is being taken up with other things. Eggs are hatched in the house in incubators, and chicks kept there until they reach a large enough size to live outside. Here are some photo's of some of them:

Ponies

Sam and Storm are both Welsh ponies, Section C and about 13hh. They are 4 years old, and ready to be trained and broken in - a challenge for anyone with plenty of experience! The six shetland ponies are too small to be ridden by children over about 8 years old, but also need to be trained to be halter led etc. So opportunity for helpers to handle ponies, but not ride.

Whispering Willows

This spring I began planting willow. The first photo shows the fedge just beginning to shoot in April. (Fedge is half fence and half hedge, being a little like a growing trellis)





























The next photograph shows a close-up of part of the living scupture horse. Some dry rods are used to weave between the living ones and hold the sculpture together. As the willow grows, new shoots are woven into the structure. The second photo shows the partly made horse. He has about four willows planted and growing at each foot. All reach up into his body, with those from the front legs reaching into the head.

The willow that makes up this dome is just beginning to shoot at the top, four months after planting. It will form a lightly shaded living structure, ideal for sitting under when the sun is hot!















Willow structures can be living - which means they will grow - or dead. Dead structures are made from willow rods that do not go into the ground and will therefore not grow. Both are made during the winter months. Helpers keen to learn about willow will be a ble to do more during the months when the plant is dormant - between November and March - although there are always shoots to be woven into the structures during the summer.




























A newly planted willow dome in January.

The Smallholding

Two years ago the smallholding was simply a large, empty field, so it isn't nearly as interesting or exciting as most on the HelpX site, I'm afraid. We've been too short of time and money to develope it as quickly as we'd have liked to have done. My son, Simon, has a small Massey Ferguson tractor which he used to make hay there. As you can see from the photo, it is on a hillside.... hot and sunny in the summer, but cold and windswept in the winter.









First to be added to the field were some tiny Shetland ponies. In this photo is Eric when he was just a few months old. There are six Shetland ponies there at the moment, ready to be trained to be lead, pick up feet and generally behave themselves by helpers who like ponies. Anyone used to Shetlands will know that they are fun-loving, cheeky ponies who who try hard NOT to behave themselves!

For the past two years we've also kept chicken, ducks and geese there. Now we have about a hundred chicken of different breeds and twenty geese. One goose is sitting on eggs - hopefully we will have some hatch within the next few days. Ours are friendlier than most geese, having been hand-reared.

The birds are shut into small sheds and coops at night. During the day they are in large runs, and our small mixed laying flock often have the run of the whole field. The geese are also loose in the field, although they are kept away from the willow as they eat it.

The chicken houses are all mobile, with most of them being moved spring and autumn with Simon's tractor.

This spring I planted over sixty fruit trees and some willow fedges and domes. I also have a small willow bed to produce new plants for next year and rods for basketry etc. in the winter. This summer it will take quite a while keeping these watered - especially as water has to be taken to the field.

The Area

The house is on the edge of a small village, 7 miles from the town of Andover, and about 20 from Salisbury. For those who like history, there are several historic sites fairly close - Salsibury and Winchester cathedrals, Danebury hillfort, Stonehenge, Avebury, Woodhenge and even a couple of small castle ruins. 2 miles away is the Middle Wallop Army Air Museum.

The village has its own train station on the mainline between London and Exeter, just 5 minutes walk from the house. The trains go to London every hour, as well as places like Andover and Salisbury. London is an hour away by train.

Although the house is on quite a busy road, just 100 metres away is a small road that takes you into quiet country lanes, ideal for walking or cycling.

The Home

Our home is a modest house, which at the moment looks - and has been - rather neglected! I'd like to be able to say that it's always clean and tidy, but the truth is that after working very long hours and 7 days a week on my smallholding, I don't have the time or energy to come home and clean it. So, if you are looking for spick and span surroundings, then it is not for you! The first photo shows the back garden and back of house, the other two show the small bedroom.

It was built in 1980, has double glazing, electric heating and an open fire that we often use during the winter, so is easily kept warm in winter, and is also light and airy. Downstairs there is a dining room, kitchen, bathroom and large sitting room, plus two bedrooms. Upstairs is a third bedroom.

We usually use the upstairs area ourselves, it is a double bedroom with a small area to one side for a single bed. Downstairs the larger double room has a shower and fitted wardrobes. The smaller bedroom has a double bed that just fits in. It could do with redecorating and the fitted wardrobe being improved or removed, which is one job to be done later this summer. All bedrooms have their own TV, DVD player and heater so a guest or helper may have private time with some comfort.