Nobody’s Fool

With April showers appearing through March, and a return to frosty and colder temperatures marking the start of April, the seasons have certainly tricked us and the bees here at the croft.

Thankfully a warmer dry spell soon followed and April 19th has been marked by me and the bees as the official start of spring here on the Isle of Lewis.

The next act of the global pantomime has seen the price of heating oil double this month. I’m glad that I opened up the fireplace and removed the oil range when moving in; the price of coal hasn’t changed and it’s a reliable source of heat. It also serves as a source of heat that is independent of the energy grid, very important in a rural setting. Staring at a radiator all night wouldn’t have quite the same positive effects of comfort and wellbeing that the warmth and light of a flickering flame provides.

I have turned my thoughts to cutting of the peat. Traditionally the croft would have been issued a peat bank, and once May arrives I look forward to continuing this back-breaking tradition and resuming the cutting, stacking and drying of next winters fuel source. I took the nice weather and the fact it was a Sunday as an opportunity to wonder out and have a look at the peat banks. The bridge might need some work (or not, the quad will still get over that I’m sure), but either way it’s going to be a great spot to enjoy a sunny afternoon or ten digging.

Judging by the number of discarded bottles near to each bank I think it was also the tradition to ‘celebrate’ before returning with the peats, and I hope the village can come together and follow this social tradition!

But that’s for next month, this month’s to-do list needs completing first.

Ditches get Bridges

This month I turned over the small vegetable patch behind the house. This should be large enough to provide vegetables to sustain me through the year, and beyond if I take to preserving surplus produce.

Despite the very good soil from generations of planting it’s tough growing here . The combination of wind, rain, salty air and pests are a problem and everything needs protecting from rabbits, deer, pigeons and the near constant westerly winds. But as suggested, people have been growing on the croft for generations and I so with some optimism (or naivety) I set to the task of pulling back the winter covers and breaking ground.

The soil started off heavily bound with grass, and very sticky. Each fork-full requiring me to clear the tines before taking the next. As I progressed and removed the clumps of grass and buried car exhaust pipe the soil did become looser and easier to rake. I began to wonder if I would have been better building raised beds and bringing in compost rather than digging, but funds have to be managed and cashflow controlled, so digging it is. Maybe next year I shall build up on these beds.

For now the leeks, onions, potatoes, broad beens and kale are in the ground with more to follow as the growing season ramps up.

I also took the opportunity to move the compost bin, and to make a more permanent set-up from pallets. The sods of grass and some soil that had been removed from the vegetable beds were added to my existing mix of cardboard, food waste and seaweed. The main reason for this move was to give room for a digger to level and clear the land behind the house to give a more level (and less muddy) yard for guest parking and general manoeuvring of vehicles and equipment.

A useful improvement, and I’m glad the dumper was here to shift the 40 ton of MOT Type 1 that it took to cover the area. One thing the Isle of Lewis is not short of is stone, and this was delivered in a matter of hours from the local quarry just 8 miles away. The quad, trailer, and my back would have managed moving the material – I wasn’t as daunted at doing it by hand given I’d moved 7 ton last time – but machinery made the job about two weeks faster and was way more fun.

Whilst the digger was on site it also made sense to have the croft ditching sorted properly. Doing it by hand with the ditching hoe and strimmer had worked to clear and find the original ditches, but the digger was really needed to open them out and divert all of the water away from the Blackhouse. This area is like a funnel, with water from the neighbouring croft and all of the ditches on Croft 5 heading towards this central point. A large ditch across the middle of the croft now catches this water and diverts it into the neighbouring ditch and down to the loch. Hopefully this prevention method, and some dryer weather, will give the area around the Blackhouse chance to dry out in preparation for future improvements.

I also need to build some bridges now, to cross said ditches. I love bridges me!

Gorse for the Whin

During my previously mentioned Sunday walk onto the common grazing I also found my bees gorging on the abundance of gorse. Known locally as Whin, this is the source of the the orange-brown pollen that I have watched the bees bringing in to the hives.

Gorse is one of the first signs of spring and the bright yellow flowers certainly offer an unmissable splash of colour after the long Hebridean winter. The smell is also fantastic and hopefully, if the forecast is right, I can think about putting on as honey super to start collecting all of that wonderful wild, Hebridean flavour!

Plant a Tree Update

Thanks to everyone who as Donated a Tree! This month has seen the total number of trees planted on the croft reach 37. That’s 37 more trees than were here 6 months ago and that total includes: Rowan, Crab Apple, Goat Willow, Alder and Hazel.

Pitch up, Stay for a While

The dryer and brighter spell towards the end of April gave me a good opportunity to promote the campsite. It is now listed on Pitchup as a 28 day pop-up campsite, which integrates nicely with our Hipcamp listing.

I am looking forward to welcoming self-sufficient campers and backpackers to the croft and hoping they enjoy the experience of having the whole site to themselves (with the occasional visit from the bees and the evermore scruffy-but-happy spaniel). With almost 5 acres of campsite campers will have the opportunity to pitch where they like, explore the croft, relax, and enjoy the amazing views.

Perfect for those who really want to get away from it all!

If you’re looking for a wilderness camping experience then come and pitch up at Croft 5, Enaclete, Uig, Isle of Lewis.

There will be a beekeeping update to follow in a separate post. The beekeeping season has started and it will be a busy time for the bees and the beekeeper, so plenty of content to follow.

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