Our land

Our property is a strange shape, typical of Italian properties that have been carved up over time due to complex inheritance laws. We have the area immediately around the house as well as four small paddocks. Three of these are on a lower level in front of the house and we call these the "front", "middle" and "back" paddocks. The fourth is on a higher level behind the house and we call this one the "upper" paddock. We have yet to uncover the fourth from its mess of 50 years but we do manage the three lower paddocks in terms of mowing. The heat and humidity of Spring here creates phenomenal growth. I swear if I look hard enough I can actually SEE things growing! We mowed 2 paddocks this week. Unfortunately I only managed to rake and dump 4 wheelbarrow loads into our compost bins before they were full. So we will have to leave the remaining grass to dry on the paddocks. Over the next month, we will start to mow the paddocks on a rotational basis which will optimise our mulching (one paddock a week). On the evening of The Big Mow, we went to a friends house for dinner, where conversation eventually made its way to our recent activities. I proudly described the "arms full" of cut grass that I had loaded into the wheelbarrow, to which they responded "Have you found any ticks on you yet?" I started scratching. My contribution to conversation for the remainder of the evening was negligent as all of my senses were directed to crawling and skin piercing sensations. Thus the evening was ruined and we had a fitful nights sleep...but woke (happily) in a tickless state.

 

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