An Evening Stroll in the Field

26 May 2024 | ~2 minute read

We've been trying to decide what to do with our larger field. I think we have a plan, now.

So we split our little 2.5 acre smallholding into 3 sections; that's 2 fields and the "home part" shown in blue below:

At this point, I've pretty much got field 1 like a lawn, and we use it all the time for the kids to play in, the chickens to cluck about in, and the dogs to frolic in. It's pretty nice:

But field 2 -- which is around double the size of field 1 -- we've had little use for. I attempted to mow it one time last year, and that ended in failure. Since then, we've pretty much left it alone and decided to just let it grow wild.

It turns out we quite like it like that.

So what we've decided to so, is mow some paths through the field to allow the dogs to frolic, and the kids to play. Both of which love it, because in parts, the grass is as tall as me (6' 2" / 188cm) so it's like a huge maze for us all.

An evening stroll

It's been a busy weekend, and we haven't had a chance to walk the dogs today. It's fine, because they potter with us all day, but I prefer to get out with them. So tonight, once the kids were in bed, my wife and I took the dogs out in our maze.

One of the paths I put in the field heads straight to our little stream. Which, of course, the dogs love.

Now it's back to house for a (decaf) coffee, to watch the F1 qualifying with two tired (and wet) pooches in tow. It times like this I count myself very lucky indeed. Maybe it is all worth the hard work?

We're thinking about seeding more wild flowers in field 2 next year, and maybe getting a bee hive or 2, we will see though.

• HomeLife