The silage pit

This concrete structure was used to store silage made on the farm for the dairy cows. The last time it was full of wet grass was twelve years ago. We do not make silage, it is very time consuming and needs lots of man power to work as quickly as you can cutting collecting and preparing the grass in the pit by compressing it with a tractor. It is then covered with black plastic and tyres, lots of tyres. The whole lot can be ruined if it's not properly stored making it unpalatable for the cows to eat. It is also not very organic with the amount of plastic and tyres used and as our cows are outside on grass all year with hay fed  in the winter they thrive without it.

So for the past years the pit has been used for storing stone and rubble from when the building work started, so much stone and concrete that was removed from inside the barn and around it. Over the years some stones and rubble of various size has been used for structural flooring of the sows cabins, holes have been filled and the right sized rock used for a flower bed wall or circle for a bonfire.Logs have been cut and overwintered along the one side and an occasional piece of farm equipment temporarily parked but that's been about it.

Now for the first time since being here it's empty the rubble and stone have been used to fill in the entrance to the hanger where the cattle come in for feeding and shelter in the winter. In it's place the poly tunnel is going to be erected to store machinery that is to be rehoused making way for the hanger to be extended for the cattle as we are growing the herd and they will need more room.