Beginning :: A Loo

Right.

I've very much skirted around this issue because I didn't want lower the tone of the blog...but poop and pee is a way of life, like it or not.

Every off grid book and blog I have ever read has made me wonder about where they do their business.  Without being rude, taking care of your crap is a big issue when you can't simply poop and flush and move on with your life.

Initially, we were using a patch of long grass down the side of a slope in one of the fields.  This was not ideal and was most certainly not a long term plan.  The morning that my daughter was startled from her ablutions by a large red deer was a turning point.  We had also had some rain, and I can tell you that peeing on wet grass whilst being soaked by heavy rain is not fun.  Not in any way shape or form.

I did not find the joy in that moment, and so I had a little tantrum and insisted that we HAD TO HAVE A LOO.

So, as we had already earmarked a place for a composting loo, we decided to get to it and start the build.  I had recently scavanged a load of pallets and we decided that these would be a good starting point.  We used some fence posts and some wood off cuts and some roofing left over from the shelter project and came up with a rustic, yet fit for purpose loo.

At this point can we discuss the appropriate angle for a funnel?  As we were composting, we decided to go for a seperator model, which basically means your pee and your poo are kept seperate.  The poo goes into a large compost bin (again built with pallets and lined with black plastic) and the pee was directed into a large container which would be emptied onto an exploded haybale that I'd gathered up in wheelbarrows and piled up in a heap across the field.  I can report back that there is no smell from either area.

Anyway...back to the funnel.

So, as I am a Lady...it was decided that I should have quite a lot of say in where the funnel to catch the pee was positioned.  Apparently males have a bit better aim - or at least, better equipment with which to aim, whereas girls squat and hope for the best...at least this is my own personal experience.  Getting that funnel at the correct angle was the most challenging thing we had done so far.

I am not kidding. 

And here after the toilet talk, is a picture of thousands of tiny flying bugs that danced in the sun today, looking exactly like fairies.

Little bitey fairies.

in the garden

Did I just call it a garden?

As you can see from the pictures,  It is more a wildflower and weed haven.

I have made some developments here and there.  We dug out a pond where the stream over flows and I've planted around 500 bulbs, mostly daffodils, tulips and crocus but with a few pricey alliums thrown in.  The result will be eye watering.  I didn't go for muted tones or even a specific colour palette.  I just got them all in the ground.  My theory is that there is so much green, any colour variations would be welcome.

I've dug over five beds and put cabbage - red and spring, Kale - red and green as well as purple sprouting broccoli and strawberry plants in them.  I was getting worried as I dug because the topsoil was so thin.  If I dug down three inches, I was met with a clay subsoil.  After consulting with neighbours, I found out that the previous owner had had the field flattened and scraped, and that most of the topsoil from this field was dumped on the banks of a nearby stream.

This revelation has completely changed our plans around.  Subsoil is apparently what you need for a good wildflower meadow.  So, where the vegetable garden was going to be would be the ideal place for wildflowers, bee hives and some fruit trees.  I initially found this hard to accept, as it didn't fit in with my plans.  I am learning - slowly - that working with what we have is far easier than trying to force my will.  So, for this Winter I will leave the brassicas where they are, and feed them as best I can, but next Spring I will not be planting out in this field.

I've done some exploratory digging over in the big field - the one we planned to leave for a hay crop - and found this to be much better soil.  It crumbles if you fork it - whereas the other soil lay in sad sodden clumps, a coppery shimmery line of clay displayed in each one.

We have just slipped past the Autumn Equinox, and it in an almost text book fashion, the weather has changed - there is now a noticeable chill on what was a warm wind, and we can watch the leaves fall in their hundreds from the trees that line the track.  Most of the trees here are Alder, Beech, Rowan and Hazel.  A useful mix that we will make good use of over the years.

The Alder is very much a weed.  They are springing up in the fields now that they are not being munched down by cattle, and I am determined to rescue as many as possible, and have started a small nursery of saplings in pots whilst I work out where I want to put them,

I'm also eyeing up the Beech saplings I've seen in the boundary ditch, but some of these are over six feet in height, and I'm not sure what is the best way to move them without damaging them.  I do know that over Winter is the best time to move them as they are dormant.  Maybe I should start with one and see how it fares.  Then next year I can move the rest.

So, for now I am very much back to the drawing board.  Trying to work out how much of this land I should turnover to a garden, and what I would like this garden to look like.

I've been watching the '80 Gardens Around the World' as inspiration - and so far I've decided I like the look of Mediterranean gardens...which is northern Scotland is as unlikely as you could get!  A girl can dream...