Blog
Health and safety
18 December 2011
Last weekend I spent an amusing half hour towing my two children around the field with my tractor. One child was on a pedal go-cart, and the other, towed behind that was on a toddler’s pedal tractor. They absolutely loved it, and I made sure that the field was flat enough that they couldn’t run forward into the back of the tractor (which had a box load of muck on the back!) However, when I saw some walkers watching from the gate I started to wonder if I really should be using a tractor to drag kids around a field with. Who knows what those passers-by thought – did they think ‘what a funny little family scene’, or did they think I was crazy and irresponsible?
Logsplitting
24 November 2011.
I like to burn firewood – it’s more of a sustainable product than coal (especially now that coal tends to be imported from overseas) plus it is cleaner to burn. However so much handling is required with firewood that it has ended up being costly stuff to buy, and very time consuming if you cut, dry and split your own. Up until fairly recently we used to be able to buy fallen timber for a small fee from nearby government owned forests. However due to some bureaucratic nonsense or other, this is no longer allowed.
Creepy Crawlies
13 September 2011.
Due to the warm wet weather that we had in the summer of 2011 the grass grew well and the horses grew too fat. I had to bring them in off the grass for a spell each day in order to limit their intake.Mucking around
14 July 2011.
The grass is growing like crazy here in the damp Welsh hills. This is partly thanks to the rain, and partly thanks to the cow manure that went on the field during that nice dry spell we had in April (otherwise known as summer). In a wet climate like we have here in Snowdonia muckspreading happens pretty much whenever it is dry enough to get a tractor into the fields, which isn’t often.
Hedging your bets
7 June 2011.
Before March was out, and while the fields were unseasonably dry, we managed to get the hedges trimmed. This meant that it was time our trusty old Teagle Hedge-cutter made its annual appearance.
The beauty of working horses
7 March 2011.
The sight of working horses in action, whether that be pulling a cart or ploughing a field, often evokes emotions of nostalgia and awe in the spectator, writes Jo Roberts in her latest blog.
Waste not, want not...
11 January 2011.
I have just read Clarissa Dickson Wright’s life story – ‘Spilling the Beans’. For those who don’t know her she was one half of the Two Fat Ladies. What an absolute treasure she is.
A cunning plan
1 October 2010.
In her latest blog, Jo Roberts comes up with a short cut to repair the damage to her field by horses – and ends up with another task on her hands!
Older, wiser and positively vintage
11 July 2010.
One of the things I like about the vintage tractor scene is that old things are seen as having real value, writes Jo Roberts.
Too scared to plough?
17 June 2010.
I still haven’t had the chance to try a spot of ploughing in a nice secluded place with no one watching, writes Jo Roberts.Current Issue: Feb 2012
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