Last week we finally arrived in Florence and got the keys of both our small house and the field where we will build our market garden. Unfortunately, the field does require lots of work before we can start cultivating it. We discovered that previous tenants left lots of rubble and landscape fabric in the soil (in certain areas of the field), alongside lots of “rubbish” (plastic pots, wooden furniture, scrap metal, concrete blocks) all around the field in the overgrown vegetation.
We’ve contacted a contractor, known in the area for his ability to work swiftly and efficiently at converting even the most derelict of fields. He flail-mowed all the areas that he safely could, and will subsequently start to move stuff out of the way. The landscape fabric that has become embedded with grass roots is going to take a lot of painstaking pulling and shaking with a digger. Lots of bits and bobs will need piling up awaiting removal sometime later in the season. Most of the bamboo roots will be excavated and moved where they can be of use rather than encroach into the vegetable-growing areas.
After the clearing phase, we will mark the tree rows and he will subsoil them, ready for us to plant our agroforestry system.
This process will set us back at least a month and probably more than 5k£, but it’s needed to make sure everything can go ahead smoothly and safely in the future!
Anyway, before we know it we will be planting trees, fencing the river side of the field and making no-dig vegetable beds. We can’t wait!