FARMING MATTERS: Doing a spot of gardening

Farming Matters. Tree work in the garden. Picture copyright Heather Jan Brunt

At this time of year the ground is usually too wet to do work involving heavy machinery, but we've had a pretty dry autumn and so my husband decided this was a perfect time to do some work in the garden.

Being a farmer, his idea of doing a bit of work in the garden doesn’t involve a spade, a wheelbarrow and pulling out a few weeds.

His plan was to cut back the ivy on the brick and flint dovecote and trim some low branches off the tees.

So his equipment was two chain saws, helmets, goggles, and the Merlo with bucket attachment.

Of course even if the ground is dry, this enormous heavy machine is not going to arrive without leaving an impact and its tyre marks are still visible in the grass now. But I am assured the ground will recover over the winter and by spring it seems I won’t notice a thing.

He spent the afternoon working with two of the men who help us out, one of them operating the Merlo while my husband went up in the bucket, and the other collecting all the fallen wood.

It was quite a lovely afternoon and I enjoyed having some activity around the house. The men were lucky with the weather, as it remained dry and sunny, even though it was pretty cold. But I kept them fed and watered with hot drinks and biscuits.