Spring is in full swing which means lots of mowing. This year we are going to get sheep, but we need fenced fields and secure stables for the night before they arrive. Which should be in a few weeks from now.

A new tool in our toolbox is a two wheeled tractor, an Agria 7700m. It can get into the smaller plots, has a smaller turning radius and if you tip it over, it won’t kill you. But it surely gives you a workout!

With a Lombardini single cylinder diesel it has an output of ten horses, but these diesel horses pull hard. We can it use for tilling, plowing and mowing with a beam mower. In fact, you can find just about any device used for big tractors, available for small ones too. But the wish list is small: a chestnut harvester, and a wood chipper would be nice. Perhaps a potato harvester once we start planting larger quantities.

In the near future we would like to have more terraces. It didn’t seem to molest the original residents to be working on fairly steep land. But with flatter land we open up possibilities of some mechanization of our farming activities, building hoop houses, and installing irrigation systems.

One of such irrigation systems is simply leading gray water into the vegetable plots and fruit orchard

The objective remains the same: we’re not aiming to make a profit out of our farming activities, but to attain a minimum of self-sufficiency in food production, with the least effort possible. Perhaps we’ll make some profit selling chestnuts, and there is an opportunity for a beekeeper.

Most importantly it provides healthy food & physical activity during good times, and survival in case of a SHTF scenario.