January seems to have come and gone in the blink of an eye, and already we are one week into February. We had a very slow start to the month and enjoyed a few quiet days after the new year. This was very welcome after a busy time doing turkey prep in the run up to Christmas, and our pigs leaving in-between Christmas and New Year. We had hoped to squeeze in a little holiday; however, this has not happened due to work commitments, but hopefully we will get away before silage season starts in May.
Whilst January started very cold and wet, we have been very blessed with the weather the last couple of weeks. The wind has really dried out the fields, which has enabled us to get out ploughing and start Spring drilling. Richard and Jake have been busy trying to get it done before the forecasted change in the weather and the last few days have managed to get lots of spring beans sown.
We have had a fun few days working at the docks unloading ships this month, and have also managed to get the crop sprayer out. The wet weather has made getting plant production products applied very challenging due to the ground conditions and the sprayer being unable to travel. The wind has also bought its own challenges due to the risk of ‘spray drift’ meaning we are unable to spray in breezy conditions. On the subject of spraying, we are very pleased to say, that Tanza is now a qualified sprayer driver. She passed her final exam two weeks ago and is very much looking forward to taking over some of the sprayer work. This should hopefully take some of the pressure off Richard and free him up for other things. Richard is worried, this will mean he will be stuck in the workshop fixing everybody’s breakages, but hopefully this will not be the case!!!
January has not all been cosy days driving machinery: Richard, Martin and Jake have spent a lot of time preparing for our new grain shed. We were fortunate to be granted planning permission last year for a new grain storage shed, and the work has now commenced at home. They have been digging off topsoil, putting in drainage pipes and laying foundations as well as re-routing water pipes and electricity cables! Sadly, re-routing the water cables didn’t turn out to be the nice easy job they expected to be, when they found the pipe had developed multiple leaks! But, lovely shiny new (leak free) pipes have now been installed, and all of the drains rodded and checked to boot! Our new shed is already here at home, and we are planning on getting it erected over the forth coming weeks, so it is ready for use for this coming harvest.
Alongside ‘tractoring’ and working on the new shed, we have had lots of jobs ongoing in the workshop. January and February is always the time for maintenance, and as quickly as one vehicle is serviced and repairs completed, the next is in! The boys do end up quite grumpy doing these jobs day after day, but fingers crossed all this TLC with give us a problem free fleet this coming summer!
Our lamb boxes were once again a huge success in January, and we are doing one final batch in February. We will only have 8 ½ lamb boxes available, so please do get your orders in quick to avoid disappointment. To register your interest, please give Judith a call or text on 07747 150415.
Until next month.
Wishing everyone all the best,
Martin, Judith, Richard, Tanza & George