I am trying to be ahead of the game this month by writing this post part way into July. Our fields are changing… The barley is going a lovely golden colour, and the other crops are ripening fast. So inevitably, we are about to be super busy!
We are about a week off the start of harvest; thus, the two John Deere combine harvesters have come out of the sheds, and the boys are frantically carrying out the last of the annual maintenance and checking them over with a fine toothcomb.
This last week has been very hectic, with all hands-on deck. The lads have been chasing the forager from morning until night and leading back trailer loads of grass, which will be made into grass silage and fed to livestock later in the year. Judith and I have been delivering supper to the fields every night to keep the lads fed, and the tractors have rarely been back in the yard before midnight!
Today, we have been giving the tractors a good clean down with the air compressor… After all the silage work, they are covered in tiny little bits of dried grass, which if not removed can pose a nasty fire risk. Last years unprecedented heat wave caused so many poor farmers to lose crops and machinery to fire, and we had several smouldering’s! So, this year, we are being ultra vigilant when it comes to cleaning down to ensure our machines stay free of dirt and dry debris.
The turkeys arrived at the end of June and continue to bloom. They are so active, and within a week, learnt how to jump and fly over the outer ring of their pen and got up to all sorts of mischief! At one stage, I think we had more outside of the ring, than inside! Needless to say, they now have the run of the whole building and it wont be long until they have their ‘waterproof’ feathers, so they can start going outside.
Judith has officially retired from rearing the turkeys, so this is my first year, and what fun I am having. I never knew turkeys were such little rascals and also so sensitive to their surroundings. It has been quite the learning curve, but I am thoroughly enjoying it, and hopefully will continue this side of the business for many years to come.
Whilst on the subject of poultry, we have some new ladies! This week, Judith and Martin have purchased another 20 hens to add to their current flock of layers. To prevent any ruckuses, they are living separate from the rest of the flock at the moment but will hopefully be gently integrated over the next week or so. We are very fortunate, that our hens have lots of lovely outside space in the woodland, so with a bit of luck they will be very happy little hens and lay us lots of eggs!
We continue to be busy with baling work, and earlier this week, baled and wrapped another 600 bales of haylage. We have all been very blessed with the grass crop this year, however there is still a possibility there could be a shortage of bales later in the year. This is due to the dry spell we are currently having. I keep being told we need rain to make the grass grow! If you are after any haylage, our first batch is now ready to eat, so please do get in touch.
Last but not least, the sheep and lambs are doing well. Judith has recently taken them to their new grazing, and they are loving being out on the rich pasture. Thank you to everyone who contacted us and registered their interest for a lamb box. It should not be too much longer until the lambs are ready, and we will be in touch to arrange a collection date.
Until next month.
Wishing everyone all the best,
Martin, Judith, Richard, Tanza & George