Sheep wool

The ladies and gents have been sheered. @about 39p a kilo from wool board. Washing the best fleeces for spinning. 

Get a foot bath and fill with water and detergent

Add your fleece and lace to soak

Leave in the sun to dry

Takes a few days but we will get there! Then it’s ready for the spinning process 

Bbq for a fiver

When you buy a bbq for £5 and do it up. The picture is the remains of the bbq after using. 

Cost £10 to do up and a few hours. So pleased with result but was excellent testing it out this evening. The heat resistant paint worked. Food was lovely too! 

I can see some happy evening ahead! 

New arrivals

This years pigs have arrived 

Lambing finished

Last two lambed!! 

Breakfast!

Polytunnel news

Polytunnel cleared of plants all outside planted! Frames set for tomatoes. Up cycling  old barrels into tomato planters. Irrigation system arriving tomorrow. Then sowing next lot of seeds for my second flush! Tomatoes will be planted. 

Morning after

All survived the night. All fed now mid morning snooze! 

When you think it’s all over!

When one of your last sheep to lamb is scanned for three and you think it’s all over!! And you spot another head coming out!! 

First time mum who tested my shepherdess skills, first lamb was tiny and cold. Heat lamp and tube feed was needed. Catching mum was a performance. Last one needed help coming out as leg was stuck! 

Bunting

Decided to make bunting for around the honesty box for a street  party we are doing for jubilee. 

Mushrooms

Mushrooms are fruiting 

Barn clear out

Ducklings in their nursery pen 

Cows in yard then in field. 

Video of cows wouldn’t go on my blog see Facebook

Tame lamb left in barn and four ewes to lamb. 

4 chicks under warming lamp. 

Goose not sitting so taken her eggs and put in incubator. 

Wool dying from plants

After weaving and spinning meeting on friday it’s inspired me. I span silk and also discussed dying wool from plants. Been on my to do list for years. 

I have started the process with daffodils

First wait till these (our walk to the office aka the farm barn)

Start to die and look like 

Leave to dry! Before proceeding ……,

Oyster mushroom farming

I went on a mushroom farming workshop and started some mushrooms in buckets on 12/04/22

6 days in dark place and fungi on its way. 26th

Is when they sue to start fruiting, 

Easter chicks

Born yesterday. Two are on their way out to join them 

Chicks a hatching

Is it 21 days already! Easter chicks 

The New Hive

What can I say!! 

Quick version

Land owner-unsafe hollow tree needs felling for safety.

Honey bees had made home in said tree. 

Eviction notice given to bees. 

Tree came down bees refused to leave tree. 

Bees made protest with placards and everything!!

Negotiations took place and a compromise

Tree stump with bees moved to a new home on our farm! 

Colony safe fed and doing ok. 

Next step transfer to a hive!! Watch this space when weather gets warmer!! 

The Staff!!

When your veg field is full of weeds

And you want to plough it to grow this year!……………Bring in the staff!! 

Recycling a calf feeder

We decided to adjust Nd recycle an old unused calf feeder to a strawberry planter. 



Should look good when strawberries grow. Hopefully will keep the slugs at bay!! 

Lambing update

Oh it’s a cold breeze today could of done with gloves at 0730 this morning. 

Ready to go into the fields! 

Went from feeding, watering, hay and straw in 20 plus pens in a morning to 14.

Mornings are feeding poultry. And ducklings then onto sheep. 

Sheep 

Mix up lamb milk for the lambs to drink in a few hours. Feeding each ewe in each pen adding hay to ach pen and then straw. Finishing off with cleaning and filling water buckets. 

Health and welfare check of each ewe and her lambs. 

Some photos 

Lambs numbered so we can identify any lamb that needs attention. Might be not feeding as it should or ill or thriving. This lot all doing well

The ladies to lamb. We are down to 13 left

How the hay gets to sheep for feeding. 

After that. Check regular through day and supervise lambing. Pen ewe and lambs. Feed up again at teatime. 

By time we fed ourselves and ensured hey, clean pens and water at least a 12 hour day gone by!! 

All cute on here but hard graft and sad parts that I not going to put on my blog. 

Only 13 to go! 

All about the bees

All about bees today! 

Too cold to do a full bee inspection in the hives! However on a quick look bees bringing food into hive and doing well for this time of year. 

Weather going to change and go cold so booster feed given incase they can’t get out their hive. 

Risky time. Nice weather brings them out as it’s spring and then temp drops and they can’t get food. 

Friendly bees when you have treats!! 

Then there were two

More cuties - the dinkies doing ok

The tame ones - now feeding the self from shepherdess bucket




Making friends with the neighbour! 

And other stuff

Too hot in the polytunnel for jumper and hat