Following on from what felt like a very bleak and miserable January, as I write, the sun is shining, we have an abundance of snow drops growing on the farm, and the daffodils are starting to come out. Everything seems greener and brighter, and hopefully it is a sign that spring is on its way. The days are noticeably longer and getting out of bed certainly feels a little easier now the sun is rising earlier. This inevitably leads to longer working days again, but we love it, and it is great being able to get back to work properly and get what some see as ‘proper farming’ done!
The boys have been super busy getting on with spring drilling. This week they have been putting beans into the ground, some of which will be combined later in the year and sold. The remainder of the crop will be whole-cropped and used as cattle feed. Whole crop means that we don’t just harvest the beans, but use the entire plant; beans, stalks, leaves, and all, leaving just a small amount of stubble which will be ploughed back into the soil to provide extra nutrients for the following years crop.
This week has also seen the fertiliser spinner back to work, with us spreading fertiliser onto our oilseed rape (OSR). We had some heavy pigeon damage to the OSR crop, due to them feasting on it during the cold spell, which has left it looking very sad and in places bare. Fingers crossed a good feed of fertiliser will give it the boost it needs, and it will look much better and be growing well in a few weeks’ time. Despite the wet conditions we have had over the past few months, we are fortunate that our other crops are looking well and thriving, long may this continue!!
The boys have continued working on our new grain shed. We are hopeful that it won’t be long until we get it up and the roof on. Then the hard work of concreting the floor will begin. I am told it will take approximately 70 cubic metres of concrete for the floor, which will be poured in sections and hand floated to ensure a lovely smooth and ‘airbubble free’ finish! Concreting a shed really isn’t a fun job, or for the faint hearted, but it will be so rewarding seeing it finished and ready for harvest 2024!
Judith has been busy with her sheep. They have just returned from their winter grazing and with approximately 4 weeks left to go in their pregnancies, they will soon be in the lambing shed. It has been all hands-on decks the last couple of days getting them vaccinated with Heptavac P. This is a very important vaccine for sheep and is used in pregnant ewes as a pre lambing booster and it also helps protect the newborn lambs against a lot of nasty diseases. Over the past couple of years, Covid 19, Brexit and the energy crisis has caused a disruption in the availability and supply of vaccines for beef and sheep worldwide. This sadly resulted in a lot of unnecessary losses in flocks’ country wide, and in turn some very frustrated farmers and vets. We are very thankful, that this year the vaccines are available thanks to the National Sheep Association pushing the government and pharmaceutical companies to ensure that an industry wide plan has been put in place to sure up future supplies.
We are delighted to announce that we have just placed an order for our KellyBronze turkey chicks, which will arrive with us at the end of June at 1 day old. We will be selling more birds this Christmas, so hopefully no disappointed customers this year. I know I have previously mentioned this, but we were blown away by the number of orders we had last year and also by the wonderful feedback we received after Christmas. This is what makes doing it worthwhile. Thank you again for your ongoing support, and we very much look forward to seeing everyone again this festive period.
Our lamb boxes have once again been a huge success this month. We do have a small number of boxes left, which are available from the freezer. This is the last time we will be selling lamb until the Autumn, so if you wish to reserve one, please do get in touch to avoid disappointment. These can be collected at any time. The lamb boxes are £85, and an average half lamb box weighs 9kg. Each box comprises of the following cuts: 1 x full leg of lamb, 2 x Victoria boneless shoulder roasting joints, 7 x cutlets, 5 x T-bone chops, 4 x leg steaks and 2 x packs of mince. Liver and kidney is also included if required. All the lamb is labelled, and all cuts are vacuum packed to promote freshness, increasing the shelf life of the meat and improving tenderness.
Until next month.
Wishing everyone all the best,
Martin, Judith, Richard, Tanza & George