Apart from the fact that Lee and I were long overdue a reunion, I've been drafted in, giddy as a kipper, from the depths of Lancashire to do some serious graft, bounce ideas off, and generally enjoy a new life on this amazing farm.

​As a keen conservationist, amateur dry stone waller/cob builder, and general lover of the outdoors, I can't wait to get stuck in to as many projects as possible, and (although we have had many overly-excited conversations on the phone or via Messenger,) now I am physically here, the ideas for the diversification of the farm are flooding out of us faster than we can scribble them down... It's great.

​I went to school with Lee, + even though our lives took us off on completely different tangents, we've been chucked back together at precisely the right time to combine our skills, and get stuff done!!!
I reckon we'll balance each other out pretty well, as I like doing the things Lee isn't that bothered about, + vice versa, e.g. although she is a really talented artist, she doesn't like teaching people. I love it, and spent 6 months in the Italian Dolomites organising walking days for guests to scenic mountain-side places, and teaching them to paint in watercolours.
​That's something I'll be bringing to the rolling hills of Staffordshire this summer, so dust those pallets off + have a go at something you might not have tried since you were a kid. I dare you. 
Views that you paint yourself are so much more evocative than photos, so I reckon a watercolour of your favourite spot is the best memento.

​I'm hoping to get a bit cray-cray with the cob construction as well, now that I've been let lose on a clay-rich landscape. A pizza oven is the first thing on my 'to do' list. Watch this space.

​Yesterday (1st day of my new life) was spent harvesting willow, planning the site of the new mahoooooooosive greenhouse, introducing myself to the Hereford cows, + walking the boundaries to get my bearings. I like it here.
We went for a local walk later on in the day so that I could suss out some good painting spots, and have a gander at the famous Ina's Rock. Apart from being a crackin' piece of natural history to sketch/paint, I've wanted to see that crag for a while, as it boasts 21 climbs, and is under an hour's walk from The Farm On The Hill campsite. Well worth a visit.

​For further climbing info, I've included this write-up from the ukclimbing.com website:


​Peace out, girl-scout. Wah.

'We didn't get far before we ended up stuck halfway through the hedge on what turned out to be a very muddy piece of 'dry' ground.
Back up was called in and the little tractor that was towing us was then towed by a much bigger tractor.. tractor pulling tractor pulling caravan....
Until that moment i'd never known that under the right circumstances a caravan can be used to dig trenches...very neat ones too! 
After creating a, perhaps unneeded, trench all the way up the field and negotiating our way around the woodland we have landed in our beautiful new home. 
the picture above is of Ben making a stand for the solar panels, one of the first jobs on arrival at the new site... 
i never got that picture of the 'tractor tractor caravan' combination. it would not perhaps have been seen as appropriate to get out the camera at that point! :)

I'm always looking for the next way i can 'green up' the way that we live and the above picture of our new chestnut fencing is just that. ​

Chestnut wood is naturally high in tannins and therefore does not need to be tanalised or treated with toxic wood preservatives. It has a natural life span of at least 25 years, easily as long as any of the treated wood on the market and it won't leach nasty chemicals into your soil.
It wasn't an easy product to find here in Staffordshire. Further south chestnut fencing is much more common and is seen as a traditional country craft with chestnut coppices easily found, but for some reason that doesn't seem to have happened here in the midlands.
After much searching we did find a 'local' supplier and after two trips out to Nottingham with the cattle trailer we found ourselves with some of the most beautiful fencing i've ever seen!
Perhaps waxing lyrical about fence posts might seem a  little odd to some but to me... these posts are glorious!
They feel so good to touch, they're all odd thicknesses and create a rather wibbly wobbly look to the fence, and best of all..they are completely pure, don't leach anything nasty, and they're safe for my little boy to touch.. fencing heaven! :)

​Rattling round in my head are many plans for this farm but perhaps the biggest, most adventurous of them all, is that i would love to turn the farm into one big (179 acres big) forest garden.

I bought myself this book a year or so ago and have dipped in and out with wonder ever since but since we've been here in this new spot i've spent quite a lot of time actually researching and planning.... and i've placed a wonderful seed order of plants to plant in this garden of my dreams! :)
A farm goes through many changes, each generation doing what he or she believes to be right. A balance between conservation and the ability to actually keep the farm running in some sort of sane financial way.
I can see this wonderful place in my head that i would love to help take form, less fields and hedges and more trees and open spaces. 
The first part of the plan was put into place 5 years ago with the planting of our first 12 acre conservation woodland with the help of a wonderful man from the Woodland Trust called Peter Leeson. I had contacted Peter about the possibility of some sort of grant for tree planting and he came back to me with new ideas he had that so perfectly complimented mine..it was one of those meetings that was just meant to be.
From those first ideas we now have a glorious woodland growing, planted with a mix of deciduous trees and shrubs and undersown with a mix of meadow and woodland wildflowers. There are both large and small clearings/meadow areas worked into the space and the whole thing is beautiful. 
So now i just have to 'garden' the remaining 157 acres! :) 
Being here in this new location is part of that plan :)
​

I thought i'd let the pictures tell the story, please click on the slideshow below to see the development of our garden in the last couple of weeks... and yes i know it look like a mown field! :)
​

my apologies for the captions hiding the photos! :)
I am about to write an actual garden blog and will post the link to it here when it's done! :)... and there will be full size photos :)

oh yes! :)
that's really all i need to say about this one..
In the never ending search for green products, and the need to find a washing detergent that didn't irritate my son's sensitive skin, i have found soap nuts! ​...

...and obviously being a plant mad gardener this ticks that box too! :)
You put about 4 or 5 into a little cotton bag, add it to your wash and that's it, clean, natural, biodegradable,  irritant free and very green washing...and they really really work!
My clothes have never been cleaner..far better than any other eco washing liquid/powder i have tried..can't reccomend these enough! :-)
and to make it all extra special i sourced a really low energy twin tub that runs completely from our solar panels so our washing is now completely guilt free!! 
very happy! :) and lots of clean clothes ...

1. Coltsfoot flowers/ Tussilago farfara.  
I first spotted these in the new woodland a couple of years ago and since then they have self seeded and spread all over the place, they mean spring to me, they're the first flower that comes out here..apart from the dandelions of course! :) Their flowers appear and disappear before their leaves show themselves.
Coltsfoot is said to have edible flowers and leaves (although i have tried neither..and would be really interested to hear from anyone that has).
more info on Coltsfoot and it's edible uses can be found on the site www.ediblewildfood.com, clicking this link takes you to the right page.

2. Cowslips
When we planted the woodland we undersowed with a mix of annual and perennial wildflower seeds...and Cowslips were not one of them :)
but here they are, looking so beautiful, i'm so glad they made their way here on their own because they're a wonderful thing to find on a March morning, may there be many more in the years to come :)

3. A Sunset
because, well, everyone loves a sunset :)

...and number 4. A rainbow over our new home

and if you got this far...thank you for reading, and i hope you have a wonderful day :)

woke up this morning to a google alert telling me our website address. had been found somewhere. i clicked the link expecting to be taken to a camping review site only to find.........
we've been 'featured' in the guardian !

see link below :-)

http://www.theguardian.com/travel/2015/may/19/best-wild-garden-cottages-campsites-uk

happy days! :-)

The last couple of months has seen us busy in the fields again but this time with a new, and very exciting, project. 
This year we are not planting a new woodland, or an orchard, this year we are planting vegetables..and lots of them :)

As some of you may know about ten years ago i grew and delivered organic vegetables on quite a large scale, i think our busiest week saw us delivering to over 130 houses, well we're back! 
Back growing for sale, and loving every busy, windswept, sunny and rainy moment of it!

We are planting every day, salads, peas, beans, potatoes, onions, carrots, parsnips, tomatoes, squashes..and that's just so far. 

We've bought a little caravan and we are in the process of painting it and turning it into a mobile veggie shop. Our little caravan (bertha to those in the know :))will soon be found in local villages filled with delicious, fresh home-grown organic produce :)

As well as fresh veggies we will also be selling bunches of beautiful farm grown cut flowers, well if you're going to grow veg you need to grow flowers! The bees are going to be loving our hillside this summer. 
It makes me smile just thinking about it! ....i'm so excited! :)

The tea room is being moved to the field, we thought you may like to enjoy your cream teas while surrounded by all our veg and flowers..we're building you the most wonderful garden to sit in while we work :)

additional news ... (although its hard to keep my mind on anything other than veggies at the moment!!) We  (our campsite, meadow and tearoom)  have been included in Tania Pascoes new book; 'Wild Garden Weekends' 

here's a link to the book on Amazon :)

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Wild-Garden-Weekends-Explore-Gardens/dp/0957157398/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1431645658&sr=1-1&keywords=tania+pascoe

An article about Tania's book has recently appeared in the telegraph and we were one of the places she mentioned to visit (!!!!...still slightly in shock about this!!!!!)
below is a link to the article for anyone that wants to see :) 

so all good here... :) 

lettuce will soon be ready, we've decided to give away lettuce bags from this first sowing as a little hello to anyone interesting in our veggies.. ( we can't really fill bertha with lettuce bags and nothing else and it would be a shame to let any of it go to waste)
Please drop us a line if you are local and interested in buying organic veggies from us and we'll drop you a bag of mixed salad leaves round...and please spread the word there's enough to go round :)

the above are a few pictures of the veggie field...many more to follow :)

best wishes from everyone on the farm :)

oh and we now have a solar heated shower and wood fired sauna on the campsite...all mod cons! :)

Today I went for a walk with my camera, the pictures say far more than any words :-)
much love to you all and happy January x

Happy New Year to you all from everyone here on the hill :-)
Life here on the farm is really exciting at the moment, i absolutely love this time of year! January always feels so full of promise, filling my head with ideas of what we can do and achieve on the farm ..quite often far more than is actually possible...!
So...some of this year's main plans... start planting the living garden centre, plant the first section of the willow for fuel, campsite improvements to include a covered wash area...luxury on the hill! :-) , nut trees, fruit bushes and a polytunnel! ...and that's just to start! :-)
i love it! :-)
and maybe somewhere in there i'll make a little time for sitting on benches in meadows....

and writing regular blog posts! :-)

much love from us all, and from the new addition to the farm folk...little Rowan, our new three month old son...

It's been such a beautiful and exciting week here at Farm on the Hill!
The sun has been shining down on us as we planted the new traditional orchard comprising of 97 different varieties of heritage trees from a selection of quinces, pears, perry pears, plums, damsons, apples, cooking apples and cider apples!
Like every job, it took slightly longer than i anticipated...but nowhere near as long as it took to plant the 5,400 trees in the woodland!!!....no job will ever seem big after that one! :-)
The trees are now all happily in the ground, tree guarded from any potential rabbit attack, and to top it all off, have been watered in nicely by today's gentle rain :-)....i love it when it all works out perfectly, which to be honest it always does! :-)
So....project one of the new year completed, now to move on to to projects number 2 and 3; the opening of the craft shop in less than a month (!!!) and the fencing of the 'living garden centre'.
wishing you all a wonderful week from everyone here at Farm on the Hill :-) xxx

Hi everyone :-)
the last couple of weeks have been all go on the farm!
It can seem like you have forever to do winter jobs but all of a sudden time starts to fly and the new spring season fast approaches!
(Not that i mind at all, i'll be really glad of some warmth!! :-); This winter has been so cold in the house, I'm seemingly getting a bit old for no heating!, and i'll be glad for the time when i can take my coat off when i'm inside again! :-)...)

We've been busy weeding the veg plot, (this is one job that you may find i continue to mention every time i write an update as, as every gardener knows, it is never completed! :-))

...and cutting down some of the willow ready for the first deliveries of willow cuttings that are going out to as far away as Orkney to start their new lifes.
It's amazing when you stop and think  about the life of the willow plants. Originally they were bought in as cuttings from Yorkshire (where they would have originally been bought in as cuttings from somewhere else!) they then are planted here, get cut down, re grow and are cut again and again, and each time the rods are cut into foot long cuttings which then travel to their new homes, in order to grow, and be cut down, and passed on again! :-) The willow family tree would be a great one to trace! :-) x
You can see some photos of the different willows wegrow we on the slideshow above. Much of the willow we cut this year will either be replanted on the farm as we are extending ourwillow areas, or dried and used for weaving. We'll be holding a willow weaving course during the summer months were you will be able to make your own basket :-)

last week saw me sowing the first seeds of the season, I've sown early lettuces for the veg plot as well as a variety of flower seeds for the new 'living garden centre'.
This will be open to the public for viewing and sales. The idea is that, a bit like in times prior to the plastic pot, the plants will be growing in the ground rather than in pots and will be available to buy, with plants being dug up during the dormant season.
This is a much more 'eco' way of having a garden centre/nursery as the plants will not need daily watering which is the case when they are kept in pots in garden centres. They will not need artificial feeding and can be grown totally organically (most composts used for pots run out of nutrients within a few weeks leading to garden centres either having to feed them with plant foods or discard them as a waste product.)
And in addition to the above, the plants, unhindered by the confines of a plastic pot, will be able to grow into big healthy and happy plants! :-) win win win! :-) xxxx! x....so excited about this project! :-)

This week i have come across two requests to help out with crowd funding community projects whic i would love to share with you. For those of you that haven't come across crowd funding before it is when community groups/projects ask for financial backing to help them to set their dreams in motion. Both projects are very different, very similar and literally miles apart (!!!)

The first one is to help save the old lock up studio in Cromford, watch the video below to hear all about this wonderful project and how you can help...for as little as £10!...and you get a tshirt!, and if you pledge £20 you get a free art course for a child - brilliant :-):-)
to support this fantastic project please visit:
http://www.peoplefund.it/help-save-the-old-lock-up-studio-2013/

and the second extremely worthy cause is not quite as local, in fact its in Palestine ,where a friend of mine is busy helping bring the opportunity for a voice through film to people within the Jenin Refugee Camp :-) Please take a look! :-) xx
to donate and support this project please visit:
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/thefreedomfilms/the-freedom-films/posts

and I think that's it! :-)
now to sow some seeds; tomatoes, peppers and broad beans....it's a fruit day on the biodynamic planting calender :-) xxxx
my very best wishes and have a wonderful week :-)
Lee xxxxx

Hello from Farm on the Hill :-)
And Happy February!
This last week has brought with very type of weather; snow, winds, thunder and lightening (which i have never ever seen when when the ground is covered in snow..i'm still not quite sure how that happened!), rain, and today..beautiful February sunshine. It brings it all back when you find yourself uploading photos of the farm covered in snow at the same time of pictures of grassy fields and sunshine!
It's not surprising that as a nation we spend so much time talking about the weather..there is always so much of it to talk about!
Thephots above tell this weeks story much better than my words ever can but here's a quick summary....

goats in the garden!!!
I went outside to get the post and found 2 beautiful, friendly.....and extremely smelly (really they smell so much..you don't even have to be that close!) unexpected visitors! They had decided to leave the neighbours field in search of greener more pleasant lands and ended up in our garden!  They must have found something they liked becuase even though the snow has all now gone..the goats haven't!!

Due to the weather (yes i mentioned it again but...!) ,over the past couple of weeks i have found myself spending long hours in front of the computer improving and expanding the website and learning how to use twitter!  The brilliant consequence of this is that we now have many more local artists showcasing their work on the site. I'm stunned by the varied and immense talent that surrounds us, and you never even see it...but now you can!
Please visit our online craft pages to have a look at their work, find out all about them and what they do...and then visit their sites to buy wonderful pieces of art , craft and jewellery! :-)
...and then tell everyone you know about it! :-)
You can see some examples of their work on the slideshow above :-)
Also if any one wishes to add their work to the site, or knows of anyone that would, please get in touch, the more of us the merrier :-)

My snow painting :-) ....
At the end of the last blog i mentioned that i was about to start a painting, and I did! :-)
There is a picture of it above, i loved doing it, my first painting on a canvas for 20 years :-)...totally inspired by all the wonderful creative people i am now in touch with (thank you all so much! ) :-)
....i'm now working on some upcycled pendants for the craft shop made from old magazines....pictures next week :-)

and today i took a sunny walk around the farm with my camera and captured some beautiful things; stunning February skies, delicate seed heads, a huge badger hole ....and an ever faithful hound :-)

Have a wonderful week everyone, and thank you all so much for reading :-)
my very best wishes xxx
Alethea x

A big snowy hello from everyone at Farm on the Hill! :-)
The last few of days have been so beautiful on the hill,
I've taken lots of photos...all of them snow themed!
we have dogs in snow, snowy fields, a snow covered fairy....it made me laugh while writing the captions!! snow snow snow!! :-)
The very first day it 'snowed' ;-), Ben and I took to the hill with a snow board and made a little video - set to a snow themed tune of course! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0q0tvas3NpU
click the above link to watch ben going down the hill, falling over at the bottom, then going down again, and again...and maybe even again!! :-)
now i'm off to make a snow themed picture...feeling inspired :-)
my very best wishes to you all xxx