IT’S been a busy and productive summer at Tigley Tump, the off-grid smallholding where former Reconnect editor MARTIN FOSTER now lives…
T HE change of seasons (and after a sun-drenched summer, it really does feel like a defined shift of season this year, as we enter Autumn) brings with it here at Tigley Tump the return of one of the smallholder’s life decisions: which coat to wear. Sartorial decisions have slipped still further down my list of priorities (they were never very high) since we moved our lives here, and for the last few months what I wear has mainly been determined by which T-shirt/ shorts combo was on top and/or least grubby. But as I write this in mid- September, temperatures are dropping along with the rain and I’ve had to delve deeper into my wardrobe (aka The Coathooks Behind the Door in the Porch) to select something a little more weatherproof. The nature of the work here also evolves with the seasons, of course. I’ve mentioned before that no two weeks, months or years are ever the same when you’re working on the land because dear old Mother Nature likes nothing more than to drop a new surprise ingredient in the mix to keep the recipe interesting. This year she added that rarest and sweetest thing of all – a new human life, in the perfect shape of a baby boy called Jessie. Parents Cat and Paul are also the natural force behind the horticultural side of things here so the growing of produce was stepped down to make room and time for introducing and welcoming Jessie into the Tigley way of things. There is a very tiny pair of wellies on the doorstep though and bedtime reading does often include plant books, so it’s only a matter of time before the workforce is one man (or toddler) up. Contrary to what a friend suggested recently, winter at The Tump isn’t all about some semi-hibernational state in front of a roaring log-burner, fuelled by hearty mugs of warming mead (although come to think of it, that could soon be a major constituent of the evenings at least). Paul and Cat have still been busy between nappies and nursery rhymes and, after the last of the harvesting, we will be laying the Mypex (weed-proof sheeting) foundations for next season’s crops, creating drying and storage areas for the spoils of this year’s harvest and much more. The long, dry summer was tough on the livestock – or rather, tough on those of us for whom it created extra work keeping them healthy and happy. Our borehole water supply kept up with increased demand most of the time (see my column in the last issue) and hard work and a range of non-heavy chemical solutions saw us defeat the legions of sun-basking bugs (if you questioned wasps’ role in life’s rich pageant, check out red mites). The heat did little to inhibit the passion of our cockerels, though, and many of their off-spring are now happily scratching around in the gardens and smallholdings of South Devon and far beyond – that we post fertile eggs to all corners of the country often surprises people, and is all to the credit of Jenny, who so tirelessly promotes our high-welfare animal and poultry husbandry online. We also now have two very active hives of bees which should provide the basis of Tigley Tump honey supplies (and sales) next year and we still have available pork joints, bacon and sausages from our rare-breed Welsh pigs. Search for Tigley Tump on Facebook or call/text me on 07837 003962 to find out more. We can deliver free in the Totnes area, or you can collect from us. Also keeping us busy as I write this are preparations for the Forking Local Food Festival. It’s all happening (or will have happened by the time you read this) on Vere Island in Totnes on September 22 – it’s too late to encourage you all along, I realise (ah, the joys of magazine production deadlines and lead- times – I remember them well) but retrospective thanks to those of you who came along to say hello. You can find out more about this annual event, and other local food activities, on Facebook by searching ‘Forking Local Food Festival’, ‘Totnes10’, ‘Transition Town Totnes’ and, of course, ‘Tigley Tump’. A busy, productive and creative summer for us all at Tigley Tump, then – with more exciting plans in place for all local land lovers over the months ahead. Now, where did I store those wellies?