I've spent an overwhelming couple of days this week on the Land - really just trying to kick start getting on top of things: which has meant doing a lot of shopping and general tidying up of the not insignificant amount of tat that was left by the previous owners.
The first thing I did was strim my main entrance - so at least I've got a parking area for a couple of vehicles where you can to actually park - rather than having to drive through long grass which could be hiding stones.
I then got a bit carried away with my new industrial strimmer and ending up strimming about 1/4 of an acre in total (it's a start) and piled up the brush to kick start a hugel bed near the main gate - I think the previous owners have done one on the other side, so I'm just going to mirror it so I eventually end up with a kind of hugel entrance way. That lower field is also a bit devoid of character, so it could do with a feature or two!
I also managed to break into the 'house' which required drilling through the door, and there's a lot of work needs doing on that, it basically needs finishing:
That's after the general land clearance which is going to have to be the main priority.
I've had to spend the rest of the time on the land sorting out tatt - I tidied up the outdoor kitchen area today, filling up 7 rubbish bags of proper rubbish and more that was compostable or potentially useful. I also raked the floor over - it's a stone/ earth floor that's been untouched for two years so raking rather than sweeping was the way to go. Had I had a spade with me I would have used one, but they're surprisingly hard to come by here - just regular spades.
I also started clearing the grass and weeds outside the kitchen - I've decided I want that little outside area and up to the well to be quite classically neat, if nothing else just so can clearly see the edge of the well! And it'll be somewhere nice to sit once I've got a bit more shade up!
I've got a bloke coming to give me a quote on clearing some trees on Saturday and some general advice about land clearance too hopefully, so that's something I'm looking forward to.
I need as much help as I can get!
Shopping
I've also had to do a lot of shopping - I am quite devoid of tools - I left too many in the UK which would be handy now (like my fork and spade!).
I must have spent about 3-400 EU just on tools and tatt - digging tools, shad netting, a fork, buckets, a watering can, some basic wood for making a platform (gotta have a platform!), a lot of screws, a ladder, a scythe, and so on and so on.
The Strimmer was the main event of course. 500 EU on a Stihl:
This all takes time!
I'm currently living around 35 mins drive from the land which is OK - I will of course sleep there most nights eventually, but I'm just not set up there properly and probably won't be for several months - but I'm in no rush, I like where I am living and am happy to do the 'commute' - it's a beautiful drive with hardly any traffic on the roads, but it is an hour and 15 minute round trip every day.
Also, given that I'll be in 'shopping mode' for at least another month and that the main Agri stores are 30 mins in the other direction, I probably won't be going shopping and landing in the same day, that's just too much driving.
I still need to get some online work done at least a few days a week too!
Final thoughts
I'm glad I'm in no rush to 'develop' my land, because this is going to be a slow burn project for sure!
It's also been a bit weird this week having earned so much money from CubDefi - here I am actually starting a farm for real, while earning passively from virtual crypto farming - it's the perfect combination - living the dream!