GERROFFF MOI LAND!

This is an update from my thread YEEEHAARRHHH!! No idea if it would be possible to make this into a running thread about what I am doing or if it is of any interest to other members. Excuse me for being very excited about it. This gardening and growing plants has become a very serious matter for me.

Those of you that read that other thread will know that I have been lucky enough to find a small plot of land to lease, just a couple of hundred yards from my house in Somerset.

What I want to do with my new plot is grow lots of flowers for cutting. Grow bedding and veg plants to sell from my home.

Been very busy on the plot. First thing to do was sit down with Mrs Chopper and work out exactly what we are going to grow, where we are going to grow it, where we are going to get what we need and when to do it all. We are not looking at doing this as a formal business, more of a hobby that will pay for itself and possibly give me some pocket money. My health issues prevent me establishing anything official or formal. I will be keeping accurate records just in case some penpusher decides I am having too much fun.

So we have done lots of research, made contact with quite a few suppliers of seeds and bulbs. I already know people I can get just about anything else we need. I kid you not, I cannot remember the last time I was this enthusiastic about a project. No stress, no wanting to rip someones arms off to beat them to death with the soggy end, just mad keen to get out and get on with things. BRILLIANT feeling.

The farmer has very kindly taken care of putting up a stock fence. All brand new materials and it looks very tidy. I have bought some rabbit fencing and so far we have fenced off all down one side of the plot. We have bent the fencing over so that there is about a foot of mesh that lays flat on the grass on the outside of the fence. Also done the gate as well.



Chopper.
[hr]
I tried using a motor driven rotorvator, but after just a few hours I was in so much pain across my shoulders and neck that I had to stop. My right arm has serious nerve damage. On a good day I cannot feel how much pressure I aplly when I do things like trying to write. Break lots of pens. Shaking hands with people usually ends up with folk getting very sore fingers. I just cannot feel it. After doing some work I found that my whole arm was twitching quite badly and I couldn't even hold a coffee mug without violent tremors. Time for a rethink.

I solved the problem by buying this little beauty!!



A Yanmar compact tractor. Little diesel engine which is incredibly strong. Got a rotorvator and load box with it. Never driven one before, nor done any work with one. Soon figured it out though. Done most of the initial rotorvating in one day. Still causing a fair amount of pain and discomfort but much easier.



You know when you see a newly ploughed field and you look down the furrows and it is a lovely straight line, well I have gone for the more artistic look!!! Not easy keeping a straight line. I got better by the time I stopped. I suppose it is one of those things that takes a lot of practice. Well I have the tractor now so I will get plenty.

Chopper.

 

Looks a fantastic bit of land Chopper. Keep the updates coming, it will be interesting watching your project grow during the year. Much more interesting than watching Carol Klein!
Love that tractor - it will save you hours of work quite apart from the discomfort and pain and you might be able to earn a bob ot two ploughing other folks allotments.

 

Nice one Chopper.

I don't think "Yesterdays Farming" has been held in your village for a few years, time it comes back, you'll be ready for the plowing match.:D[hr]
Just checked,

http://www.ssapc.freeservers.com/

Its being held in Bruton this year.

 

Don't be worrying about whether or not anyone is interested, I certainly am and if I was a betting man I'd bet that everyone here is interested too.

I like the tractor. Do you mind me asking roughly how much they cost? It's just I could really do with a little tractor for my plot in the countryside but I have no idea how much they cost (I know they are damned expensive for the bigger new ones but I only need a little one).

I liked your quote "rip someones arms off to beat them to death with the soggy end". When I was a kid, if I was being especially naughty my dad used to threat to pull my arms off and hit me with the siggy end. I thought it was his own little saying, seems its more widespread than I thought

 

Thanks for your comments Clueless.

No problem asking about the cost of the tractor. I paid £2550 in total. That bought me the tractor, the rotorvator and the load box which is almost new. The guy delivered it to me, serviced the tractor and rotorvator and gave me a warranty on it. I am confident that should I decide to stop doing what I am doing for any reason, that I could get my money back by selling the equipment. Thing to remember is to look after your kit and protect it. There are numerous new parts on the tractor and they are not cheap parts. He fitted good quality stuff.

The guy I bought mine from is a trader and he will deliver for the cost of the milage. Let me know if you want his contact details as he does have several other tractors for sale.

Chopper.

 

Ahhh bless...your tractor has a face

Nice to see the update Chopper, I was wondering where you had got to, but we now know you've been busy.

Steve...

 

Thanks for the info Chopper. I'll save up and then see about getting some good kit for next year.

There's a lot to ponder. Not least the security of any new kit I buy. Hand tools and small petrol tools are no problem, they are easy to find homes for, but my land is in the middle of the countryside, 20 miles from home, and with no chance of planning consent for any buildings, so I'd have to think of a way to keep a tractor up there without it being pinched. I might be able to hide it, as my land is not flat, and has plenty of wooded bits, and maybe a massive metal anchorage and a beefy chain might be the solution.

As for sourcing one, thanks for your offer of putting me in touch with your supplier, but you're a fair way away, and locally I might be able to get an ancient tractor if one of the local fishermen decides to renew his gear, or there's the farmer's auction just up the road at Thirsk that usually has a good range of kit.

 

I'm delighted for you Chopper
That all looks great. I, for one - but I'm sure there will be plenty more - will be very interested to see your updates, so keep them coming. :thumb:

 

[size=large]Excellent Chopper, you are definitely serious about the project. [/size]

[size=large]Of course we will be very curious about the updates! I hope that handling the big tractor will not give you consequences on your neck/shoulder.[/size]

 

Hi Dave,

Not sure if it still applies but you used to be able to put up an agricultural store without planning permission, for exactly the purpose you need, security. Might be worth checking out if it still applies.

 

Thanks Ziggy, I'll look into that. I hadn't heard of that before.

 

I have a Jinma tractor (Chinese "replica"!) - 35HP I think, cost me about 2K with almost no hours on the clock. I have a box on the back, and a topper mower and some gangs, but that's about all I use it for.

There is a local equipment hire chappy (farmer type, so bigger kit then allotment Rotavators which the likes of HSS Hire do) and I hire a tractor + Rotavator from him when I need one - saves having to maintain my own (let alone store it), and he charges no more for the pair than the local hire shop does for their biggest drag-you-behind model.

Just a thought ...

 

Absolutely right Kristen. Horses for courses. I could have boght a much more expensive machine, but for the amount of work to be done, it just didn't seem any point. If I need heavy machinery, one of the club brothers has access to the latest all singing all dancing farm machinery. He did actually offer to come and rotorvate the whole plot in one go. Wouldn't have cost me a penny, but that is not what I wanted to do.

Clueless. You may find that there is a local farmer that may be willing to come and do big jobs for you for the cost of a few beers. Might be worth looking into mate. Security for things like compact tractors and quad bikes is always a problem. I can store mine at home and keep an eye on it. I would not consider leaving it anywhere out in the open.

Chopper.

 

Cheers Chopper and Kristen, good ideas there. I might go for the hire option, or I might ask the farmer next door to come in. The trouble with the latter is that I've been advised to 'watch im' about the neighbour on one side, but I can't remember which side is the good one