Anglesey Smallholder

The polytunnel has borne its first fruit!  A spell of reasonably sunny weather has been ripening the strawberries, the first crop to reach maturity.  In addition to the strawberries, the polytunnel is currently housing six tomato plants, two courgettes, two cucumbers, some lettuces, spring onions, and basil.  All seem to be growing well, although somewhat slug-nibbled.  I have taken to regularly patrolling the tunnel in search of slugs.  Their favourite hiding place seems to be underneath the lettuce, which at least makes them easy to locate and remove.  I ejected ten of them this morning; they were unceremoniously flung over the hedge… no doubt a thrilling experience for such a slow paced gastropod.

The polytunnel has finally been completed!  Despite the wind being somewhat stronger than desirable, we spent last weekend battling to complete the polytunnel.  Getting the cover on is quite a task, and should definitely have been scheduled for a wind-free weekend.  However, wind-free weekends don’t exist around here so we did the best we could.  It was quite a task even with four people, but result is good and the polytunnel construction is now complete.  The next task is to dig over the soil, introduce some fertilizer, and create a path down the middle.  That means that there’s still a fair amount of work to be done before the fun part of planting can begin.  It measures 30′x10′, so there is plenty of room for growing.

The weather this weekend has been fantastic, so I’ve used the opportunity to spend a fair amount of time in the garden.  After demolishing a small retaining wall in the drive, I reclaimed about 100 bricks.  I took three loads of rubble to the tip, so the driveway looks much neater now.  The grass has had its first cut of the year, and I expect it will be growing like mad soon due to the warm wet weather.

The path from the drive is covered with big chunks of stone, “ankle breakers” as my mum calls them.  She finally ran out of patience with them, and decided that we needed a temporary path.

A quick trip to the local builders’ yard yielded 20 concrete paving slabs at a cost of £1.60 each.  The flags are 45×45cm.

The first step is to mark out where you want your path.  Use a piece of string secured at both ends to ensure that it is straight.

Next, shovel down a bed of sand.  Get it as level as you possibly can.  Lay down the slab and stamp on it to get it bedded down and level.  Continue until you have a path!  The total time was about 2 hours, including going out to buy the slabs.

Remember that this is only temporary.  For a more permanent path, you would want to lay them on cement, and spend a lot longer preparing the base.

With the days starting to get longer, but spring still not quite here, it’s time to begin some maintenance. My first task was simple: to repaint the somewhat dilapidated front gate.

The gate was quite dirty, and the paint was starting to bubble in places where water had got in and caused the metal underneath to start rusting. I decided that to make the best job of it, I would strip the gate right back to the bare metal, removing all the old paint and rust.

To prepare the gate, I used a wire-brush attachment for the power drill. The first drill I used was 450 watts, and unfortunately it seems that I burnt it out by using it for hours at a time. I switched to a 1000 watt hammer drill (with the hammer action disabled, of course) to finish. Remember to wear a breathing mask and goggles when doing this – the dust goes everywhere and is probably quite toxic. I’d also recommend doing it outside if at all possible, because it makes a terrible mess. Getting all the paint off took several hours, and wore the brush attachment down to a stump.

Once the gate was all cleaned up, it was time to paint it. I used Hammerite metal paint. It’s tough, long lasting, needs no undercoat, and is perfect for the job. It also goes quite far – I only used about quarter of a small tin. Painting it is a lot quicker than preparing it. I gave it two coats – the second coat has to be applied within 8 hours of the first so that the layers bond together properly. Once it was all done, I left it to dry overnight, and then re-hung it. It certainly looks a lot smarter!

My DIY skills were put to the test today with the addition of some shelves to the cloakroom.  The cloakroom had started to become a bit of a dumping ground for papers and boxes to be burnt on the fire, stocks of firelighters, loo rolls, and all those things that are useful to buy in bulk but need storing away somewhere.

I had intended to make the “baton” style of support by screwing a long baton to the wall and then having some braces coming out, with a solid wood shelf.  However, it turned out that it would be too expensive, so I opted instead for melamine covered chipboard shelves with metal brackets.

You will need:

• Wood for the shelf
• Brackets
• Screws for attaching the brackets to the wall (5mm x50mm / No10 x 2″)
• Screws for attaching the shelf to the brackets
• Rawl (wall) plugs (suitable for a 5mm / No10 screw)

Tools:

• Tape measure
• Set square
• Saw
• Hammer drill & 6.5mm – 7mm (No12) masonry bit
• Screwdriver

Installation is simple:

1. Measure wall to get the desired length of shelves.
2. Measure the wall again, to make sure you got it right the first time.
3. Measure the wood, and mark with a pencil at the desired length.
4. Use a set-square to draw a line across the wood.
5. Place masking tape along the line, on both sides.
   This stops the melamine coating from cracking, you don’t need to do this if you are using solid wood
6. Cut the wood – I used a jigsaw, but a hand saw will do just as well.  Don’t forget to support it at both ends so it doesn’t split when you get near to finishing the cut.
7. Offer the shelf up to the wall at just below the desired height.  Use a spirit level to make sure it is perfectly horizontal.  Use a pencil to draw a line along the wall on the underside of the shelf.
   The reason you draw the line below where you want the shelf is that you are marking where you want the hole for the bracket to be, not the actual shelf.
8. Decide on the spacing for your brackets.  This will depend on the type of wood you are using, and how much weight you want to put on.  Melamine coated chipboard is weak and will bend, so you may need more brackets than if you were using solid wood.  I opted for 3 brackets for a 1.2 metre span.
9. Mark on the line you’ve drawn where you want the brackets to go.
10. Offer the bracket up to each of these marks, and use it as a template to draw circles on the wall for each screw hole.  Note that the bracket may not be symmetrical, so make sure you get it the right way up.  Use a spirit level to make sure you have the bracket straight while you’re doing this.
11. Drill the holes.  I was drilling into brick, so I used a hammer drill.  Use a 6.5mm or 7mm drill bit.  Wear goggles and ear protection. I didn’t think about ear protection, and everything sounded muffled for the rest of the day.
12. Put 7mm rawl plugs into the holes.  If you’re mounting on plasterboard, you’ll need special a kind that fold out.  If you’re mounting on brick, just use the regular plastic ones.  Give them a light tap with a hammer if they don’t just push in, but be careful not to squash them.
13. Screw the brackets to the wall.
14. Place the shelf on the brackets, make sure it’s positioned correctly, and screw it to the brackets from underneath.
15. Stand back and admire your handiwork.

The hardest part was figuring out which combination of drill bit / rawl plug / screw to use, because they were all a mix of imperial and metric units.  As I said earlier, use a 6.5mm or 7mm (No12) drill bit, 7mm (No10-14) wall plugs, and 5mm (No10) screws.

Today I decided to make a simple slate plaque for my sheep’s house.  The process was very easy.  I will probably redo it at some point with a better picture!  I used an old broken roofing slate.

First, cut the slate to the size and shape you want.  I started off using a hacksaw, then remembered that I have a jigsaw and finished cutting it using that.  Mark the cuts using a ruler and pencile, then slowly cut along the lines.  Use a set-square to make sure that the corners are true right-angles.

If you’re using a jigsaw, make sure you choose a fine-toothed blade, set it on a medium speed, and go slowly and carefully.  When you are cutting wear goggles and a mask – the dust is quite fine and you don’t want to be breathing it in.

When you have finished cutting out your shape, draw your picture on it with a pencil.  Hopefully you have more artistic talent than I do!

When you’ve finished drawing, fit an engraving bit to your miniature drill, and start going over your lines.  An engraving bit looks like a small sphere.  Again, use a medium speed setting.

I found that the best way to use the engraving bit was to hold the drill at a 45 degree angle to the workpiece and drag the bit back towards the body of the drill, not to do sideways strokes like you would with a pencil.

Once you’ve finished engraving, wash it off with water and admire your work!  Make the cuts nice and deep so they stand out.  I might paint in them to make it stand out better.

Use a drill to make a hole for mounting it, and you’re done!

Hi, and welcome to my blog.

In spring 2008, I moved from London to the isle of Anglesey, North Wales. I left behind the small yet ridiculously expensive flat in the city, and bought my very own smallholding in the countryside.

I’ve always loved the countryside. I never planned to move to London, but that is where much of the work is, and so I had to go. I didn’t enjoy living in the city, and being out here is a wonderful improvement. I have as much space as I could ever want, clean air, privacy, and the opportunity to own my house rather than rent.

I have no farming experience at all. Nobody in my family owns any animals beyond a dog or cat, nobody is an expert at DIY or a mechanic, and sadly, nobody is a millionaire. However, my parents live nearby and have given me invaluable help. My mum is a keen gardener, and her knowledge will certainly be useful once we start trying to grow some vegetables. While my dad is not an expert at DIY, an extra pair of hands is always useful. They have already given me many many hours of assistance with painting and redecorating the house, and repairs to the exterior.

My biggest worry is caring for the animals. Having no experience, I may not be able to spot the early signs of illness or injury. Caring for farm animals is also made more difficult by the fact that they are less tame – it’s rather difficult to catch them to check their health, and chasing them around is likely to make things worse. I’m also unfortunately extremely shy – just making a telephone call is an ordeal, especially if it is something I am unfamiliar with. Things like buying feed, bedding, or finding a vet… it’s difficult for me.

Still, I will try my best. Whether it leads to success or failure, I hope you will join me on the journey.