Welcome To The Mahorall Farm Cider Blog

End of year post

2011-12-14T02:06:00.000-08:00

Well at last we have finished making cider for another year.
It has been an unusual and somewhat challenging cidermaking time for us for various reasons.

The local apple crop did not do particularly well despite reports nationally that it was a bumper year for apples. Lack of rain throughout the year saw a marked decrease in size of fruit.
One orchard owner which we have had apples off over several years let us down badly. Despite the communications we had concerning the time of when we were going to come and pick it them up, we phoned them up to inform them we going to come in the next few days and they said it was fine... THEN they rang back to say that someone had already picked them... astonishing behaviour. When I said that we had contacted them etc and their come back was 'well I can't change the past can I???' Errr no sir but you do remember the past. We move on...

Anyway we are pleased with our slight tweak to the cider making process which has made it a lot easier for us. We have not made quite as much juice as we perhaps we would have hoped to do, mind you when apples are plentiful we do make more and it is the same visa versa.

The festive markets we have attended have done very well this year and that is down to not only the fact that we have more ciders to offer this year but the golden bullet is our extra special Mulled Cider. We know it does well at shows when we serve it up, but we have been extremely pleased with the sales of the mulled cider in a bottle. Every show we have done we have run out!!
We have unfortunately failed to get the online shop going for the Christmas market and we apologise for this. There have been several reasons with one being we have been stretched for time regarding trying to do everything with cidermaking and the shows. It is so easy to lose time rather than gaining time. We are well aware that many of you have been disappointed, and we regret this but there is only so much we can do... An online shop is however an important responsibility to operate and we felt that we had to be 100% happy with it. I still do have plans to launch the shop early in the new year which will offer the entire range of ciders that we do! Watch this space.

We have been very pleased with our progress and development over 2011. We have exceeded our plans now being able to offer 6 more ciders in a bottle. We have really enjoyed all of our shows and we do enjoy meeting all of you on the front line! Our customers really do matter to us! This is more than just a business to us - it is a way of life! Thanks so much to all of our customers and may we wish you a happy Christmas and a happy new year!

Autumn on the farm

2011-11-05T03:14:00.000-07:00

Well we have now got a couple more ciders available in bottles. Damson and Elderflower and also the long awaited Mahorall Mulled Cider! We are extremely pleased with how our new bottled ciders are being received and it was well worth the rigmarole of sorting out labels, bottles, caps etc. We are particularly pleased to be able to offer our Mulled Cider in a bottle. It is always been very popular when we prepare it at the shows that we do over the winter and once you have had a taste then your hooked. Having a nightmare with trying to suss out building the online shop for the website.. its a lot more difficult trying to build one yourself. I am hoping however to be able to crack it in the next couple of weeks in time for the christmas market. We have started cidermaking for 2011 ! Everyone assumes we should have started ages ago but they fail to realise that the season dictates when we start and more importantly the apples have to be ripe so the natural sugars are at their maximum. The old cidermakers used to say that the tree will tell you when the apples are ready - simply meaning that the apples will drop off. We have had no cold weather yet and little wind to speak of . After slightly rejigging the cidermaking set up in the shed we have made the whole process a bit more easier and more efficient. Now we hope to easily do 1000 litres a day which is ideal for us. We are going to make some apple juice too this year as an experiment but not sure whether we will offer it for sale - we will have to see. The apples are a bit smaller this year and not every orchard has done brilliantly. Market price per ton has increased by about £15 which we have no problem with as it does encourage the growers to continue with what they do. All prices have gone up from glass to plastics so it is no real surprise. Gravity is about 1060. After numerous requests each year from other people wanting us to press their apples I am seriously considering building a portable apple press and a mill on a specially designed trailer. Then people could hire it out over a day or a weekend and get on with making their own. We would supply the cloths and even the odd empty barrel if people wanted to go the whole hog. I have a good mate who is handy with welding and trailer building so it might be a good project to get stuck into perhaps early next year. It should not take too long to get the costs back too. The colours in the Shropshire countryside are once again stunning. I am going to make a special effort this year to capture some of the colours on camera. It was a great shame that we had to cancel our owl halloween evening last month.
As the video clip shows I had prepared the barn for a very special evening but unfortunately the Falconer had a very serious accident involving being hit by a vehicle and run over at a show he was attending. A truly terrible accident and of course we had to cancel it. A very great shame but we will definately put on another show at later date. I am very pleased to say that the Falconer has now made very good progress in getting better.

2011-09-25T09:46:00.000-07:00

And it just keeps getting busier!

We have been to quite a few shows over the last 4 weeks and we have been on the whole very pleased indeed with the results. We have been to Far Forest show, Minsterley, Bridgnorth, Acton Scott, Ludlow Food and Drink, TCHT Autumn Fayre and also a show at Attingham Park!

Ludlow Food and Drink is the biggest show that we go to and also handily enough one of the closest! We had 8 different ciders on offer at Ludlow and we launched our new cider too! Cider and ginger is the latest offering from Mahorall Farm and it is always good to test drive a new cider at a show as you you get first hand reaction of what people think. Well we ran out of our new cider and ginger twice! Excellent reaction and we are now planning to continue it and put into a bottle.

Lots of things happened at Ludlow including yours truly being interviewed by a Sky cooking channel, our cider being used as an ingredient in a Shropshire Fidget pie, our largest transaction at a show so far and even an MP coming over to tell us how much he liked our cider! Lots of positive vibes and we had our most successful Ludlow Food and drink ever! So thanks to everyone who came to say hello and have a taste!

Well we have now hosted two parties on the farm and I am very pleased how they both went! Both groups were very nice people which of course helps and they were very well behaved and left the site very tidy. The weather was pretty good for both of them and I think one of the most enjoyable aspects was sitting around the campfire into the early hours.

The second party was actually a wedding reception which was not quite what I envisaged so early on the plans but all the guests loved the whole experience of the farm. There was a fantastic Yurt as well in the campsite.

Our next event planned is a Mystical Halloween event at the barn on the 22nd October. I have lots of exciting plans and more deatils will be posted over the next few days. It will be ticket only due to the restriction of numbers so please, please do not just turn up on the night as there is a chance we will not be able to accomodate you!

So I am now looking into finalising details of the labels of the new ciders we will be offering in the bottle which includes cider Elderflower and damson, cider and ginger and this year we are determined to try and bottle our Mulled cider in time for christmas! Yes we have been hoping to do this for several years but this year we might just get it together!

As a result of our rash of new ciders that have been such a success this year I am attempting to offer all of our products available by buying over the website and delivered to your door. Well it is lot easier saying it than doing it... My good mate Bob and myself have made a start but heck there is a lot to it! A whole new area for me but I am determined to try and get it up and running as soon as I can so please bear with us....

I think as a result of Ludlow Food and drink Festival and our cider being used as an ingredient Radio Shropshire contacted us and came down to the farm to interview us. The reason being is that a couple of presenters were given the challenge to create a Shropshire Fidget Pie by only using ingredients sourced in Shropshire. They have been going around the county interviewing various suppliers. The radio show went out on Thursday Sept 22nd. We are hoping to be able to capture it and you will be able to listen to it again.

September is damson picking time - now damson is more important than ever due to our new damson cider so we have been busy picking before they go over - elderberries are also being harvested to go into our Mulled cider. Soon apple picking will be on us as well! This year is shaping up to be another good year for apples and our little trees in our millennium orchard are absolutely loaded!

2011-08-18T12:19:00.000-07:00

July/ early August has been frantic for all sorts of reasons.....

At the start I managed to have a proper weekend away down in London which was absolutely brilliant. A very special weekend which involved doing a whole load of things. Involved going to War Horse, the comedy store and going on a power boat on the Thames! Really really enjoyed the break despite not having a moment to relax.

Oswestry Show was in July. This is a show we had not been to before and wow what a surprise! The saturday was brilliant - the sun was out and the atmosphere was very special. The show is in the streets of the town and the whole feel of it was of an idyllic market town. Very well organised and I was rushed off my feet from the word go! Sunday was a little different as around lunchtime the heavens opened... and open they did. It is sometime since I have seen rain like that and the market stall I was under was not quite fit for purpose. I am not sure if any stand could have survived the downpour that we had and coupled with having stock in cardboard boxes the ship almost went down.... The rain aside the show was brilliant and well done to the organisers - we will certainly be coming next year!.

We also went to the Attingham Park Summer Food And Craft Show near to Shrewsbury in July. Not too bad an event - we did ok but maybe not top of the list for next year.

July was a month of doing several trips to the bottling plant which is both time consuming and tedious but an important job to do to ensure the cider supplies keep flowing! We are very pleased how things are going particularly with our new flavoured ciders. They are flying off the shelves and we are only just keeping up with the bottling! We are nowhere near being able to offer it for retail sales or even mail order as we are just keeping up with the show supplies.

July was also the month which involved haymaking. Always an intense time not helped by the shockingly inaccurate weather forecasting. I managed to make about 700 small bales which is no mean feat considering that each one has to be moved 3 - 4 times before it is finally stacked in the barn... The machinery is almost medieval but on the whole things went alright. The baler did pack up however on the last couple of rows. Managed to get them all in just hours before it rained and also just before Burwarton Show which was just as well.

Burwarton show at the start of August is always good fun to go to, not only as an exhibitor but also as a visitor. We were very pleased how the show went and ran out of all sorts of cider. Saw lots of old friends and also potentially picked up some possible new retail outlets. I certainly think that a busy stand helps trade. The next door stand said they thought we were giving away the cider for free, judging by the queues!

A couple of days after Burwarton is Tenbury Show. Perhaps a bit more of a local atmosphere but nevertheless a great day out. Trade was slow to start with and then after lunch it got really quite busy - the foodhall area is quite small however certainly considering the wealth of local food and drink suppliers there are in the area.

I am also trying to glitz up the farm buildings area as we are hosting a couple of parties at the farm in the next month.

June Blog

2011-06-30T10:18:00.000-07:00

June has gone quite quickly. We have however got our new range of ciders on the go at last!
The new ciders have been tried at various shows and have gone very well indeed so we have decided now to bottle these ciders so they will last longer. This enables us to offer these special ciders all the year round. Our new ciders are:

Cider with Damson
Cider with Elderflower
Strong Dry Cider

These new ciders will only be available at the farm shop, the shows we attend and I am hoping to be also offer it on mailorder too.
Our first show with the new ciders was at Ellesmere on the 18th/19th June and we were very pleased with how the ciders went. It is nice to be able to offer a tasting of these ciders at shows so customers know exactly what they taste like. What is pleasing is to be able to offer a larger range to customers.
Ellesmere show was well attended and that is down to the organiser of the show called Lincoln who is a great character. Not so sure about the dressing up like a bunny rabbit but I suppose the theme was Alice in Wonderland. Joking apart the show was very good and we were lucky with the weather too.

June is Elderflower month and we have been busy picking the flowers and making lots of Elderflower syrup. It has been a good crop this year and I do enjoy picking them. I think it is because it so peaceful and also natural the actual harvesting of anything from the countryside. You can see what you have achieved and then make something delicious from them. We will be making a small amount of Elderflower Syrup in small 250ml bottles to sell but obviously with our new cider with elderflower on stream we are making it larger bottles for adding to the cider through the year.

We have almost run out of our popular medium sparkling cider which is not ideal. Planning the bottling is not easy at the best of times however the contract bottler has changed its lead in time from 1 month to 4 months. This I think is probably due to so many more cider producers jumping in on the scene as well as beer producers. Anyway it wont be long now and our stocks will be refreshed and we will be back to normal....

We are also planning at least one more photography course and we also planning a very exciting event in the barn just before Halloween. We will be holding a ticket only event which will feature a very special owl display. I am considering making it a bit scary but it will also be aimed at familys so I will have to tread carefully.... We shall have to see but watch this space for forthcoming news.

May Blog

2011-06-05T04:09:00.000-07:00

Still no real rain in May and the ground is suffering. The grass has not grown anywhere near what we would have hoped.

We had our first food fayre in May which was The Shropshire Show at Shrewsbury on the weekend of the 14th/15th of May. The show I think is still trying to find its feet after a rejigging of management and it is certainly getting there. One criticism that was certainly relevant to us being in the food marquee, was that there were too many producers selling very similar products. I feel that this a huge oversight as it is not only the exhibitors but also the visitors which subsequently get a poorer experience. The layout of the marquee was good and plenty of space and the weather was pretty good. As I keep convincing myself it is not always the sales you do on the day but it is the general presence and advertising. As a result of the show (or more to the point hanging around pubs in Shrewsbury in the evenings) we now have our cider for sale in a Shrewsbury pub!

We also had a presence at the Teme Valley Food Fayre in Tenbury Wells. This was ok but I think the numbers of visitors were a bit down on what the organisers had hoped for.

We had my local buddy come and do the processing of the wood I had managed to obtain using my new winch which is pleasing as at the start of the year I was starting to feel a bit ill prepared for the this winters wood fuel. We still have to source some more wood but at least is it a start..

We are still waiting for the delivery of the new labels for the new bottling of ciders we have planned. It seems to have taken an age which is a bit disappointing but having said that we still have to do the bottling - labels are always applied last. The start of June is going to be busy as not only are we going to be bottling the cider but we are about to start doing Elderflowers.

The development of the barn and the hiring out as a venue is taking shape! I seem to have got the Midas touch with Google as a subtle link on the frontpage of the website seems to have generated some interest. The enquiries so far are a bit larger than what we had originally planned but hey - you have to follow the market. Still have a fair bit to do to sharpen up but I am not pretending to offer anything we have not got - if that makes sense. It does however prove that there is a market out there.

Talking about the barn - our first photography course was very successful indeed. The theme of the event was Falconry and the weather was perfect in very way. Chris Neal (The Falconer) did an excellent job with his much loved birds and provided endless opportunities for people to take some stunning photos. Claire Carter from CarterArt was the tutor for the day and did a marvelous job in ensuring everyone was getting the most from their camera. We covered numerous scenarios from the basic to the very challenging 'in flight' shots. A fantastic range of birds were used from Molly the Barn owl (my favourite) , a Bengal Eagle Owl, a Kestrel and also a modest appearance from the cutest baby little owl which was just gorgeous! The range of skill of the participants varied quite considerably. One gentleman had hardly taken a photo in his life and had to borrow a camera. He thoroughly enjoyed the day and it has inspired him to take it up as a hobby! The cameras that were used during the day were quite impressive. I had to secretly whip out my mobile phone to take a few photographs and felt a bit of a numpty!

Everyone rated the day as excellent and already we are planning more courses!

April News

2011-05-05T02:58:00.000-07:00

April as we all know has been exceptional dry. This has its advantages and also its disadvantages. The grass has stopped growing altogether and we are now pretty desperate for some proper rain. One advantage that has been considerably beneficial is that the dry weather has enabled me to get machinery down into the vallet and to get some wood for the winter ahead. I have bought an electric winch and mounted it on to the front of the old Leyland tractor. The winch can pull about 6 tons and the creme de la creme is that the winch can be operated by remote control! This machine has been enormously useful and the investment has been a very good one! The valley is about 10 acres and has a track down to the flat bottom floor. It can only be accessed in dry weather and as it has been so dry I can succesfully pull out large loads of wood on a trailer. I have been immensely impressed with this tool and would be more than happy in selling the things! I have also gone one step further in purchasing a synthetic rope instead of a steel cable. This is useful for handling it and can also be slung up into a tree to help when felling. I have been experimenting with a pulley for pulling at angles and also using a very successful method of loading a trailer with a winch. I have been so impressed I have brought forward the 'launch' of my youtube channel and have posted a couple of videos on it.
The whole thing has been brilliant and I have now got a significant amount of wood for this winter.

Cider sales in April went absolutely beserk. This has been another advantage of the hot weather and of course the many bank holidays. We have obviously not been alone and the big rub is that there is a massive lead in time for the bottling factory and it will be difficult to last out what we have in time for the next bottling. We have however have a back up plan in as much that we have plans to launch 3 more ciders in bottles and do some bottling ourselves. You heard it here first and hopefully they will be launched this month. The labels have taken forever to finalise (my fault) but we are nearly there!

I too took advantage of the holidays and took some time off. Booked a VERY last minute hotel over in Wales with a gorgeous sea view AND a glitzy spa with a hot tub, swimming pool, steam room and sauna. Spent hours and hours in there and it was great.

Booked a few more shows for this year which flys in the face of my plan to ease up on the shows but hey you have to keep the money coming in.

You may have noticed that we are now offering in conjunction with Hawkeye Falconry an experience day at Mahorall regarding flying Hawks. It is a new venture and we already have had a few bookings. It is quite exciting as we of course have fantastic countryside as a backdrop and also an indoor barn if the weather turns nasty.

We are also planning to hold professional photography courses in the barn and in surrounding countryside for people who want to learn how to get the best out of there camera. We will also be offering the special chance of photographing some of the beautiful birds supplied by Hawkeye Falconry. This however has not actually been publically advertised as the first course we have
planned was booked up within a week! Hopefully as time goes on we will be in the position to advertise some future courses....

One last thing is the Bluebell wood has been fantastic this year particularly with the nice weather.

March

2011-03-25T10:19:00.000-07:00

Well we are just about coming to the end of March and I have no idea where it is has gone!

The days are getting longer and with the clocks changing in a few days it will be even better. It is just as well so more things can be a done in a day!

I have been going to a more social networking courses and I feel I have taken on board as much as I can handle now. Very interesting stuff and I can certainly see how it can increase brand awareness. Now over 150 followers which I am quite impressed withI am looking forward to putting it to good use when we launch a few things that are in the pipeline. Yes we do have a good few things in the cooking pot that are coming together quite nicely.

Went to an interesting talk on The Much Wenlock Olympian Trail plans next year. Much Wenlock or more to the point a man called Penny Brooks contributed to the rebirth of the Olympics that we know today. Quite hard to believe but it is true. We are hoping to be on the map (quite literally) when people hopefully visit Much Wenlock next year. It is always useful to feel as if you are in the loop. Met one or two interesting people too AND another talk on social networking...

I am a bit concerned I have not got round to the wood gathering mission for this year but I have my eye on a number of trees which I can just reach albeit on a slope so next week I must do something about it.

I have decided to make more hay this year as the demand has gone mad after this winter. Hay making is fun IF it all goes well but challenging when you are doing it and the fear of the heavens opening.

February on the farm

2011-02-13T02:41:00.000-08:00

Bottling a lot of cider this month. Both our dry and medium bottled ciders are close to running out so we have had to do two bottlings this month. We have decided to alter the style of the glass bottles from the 'beer style' bottle to a more slender modern looking shape. The new style bottles are also more eco friendly which is is an interesting concept but the idea is that they have less glass in them. This results in less energy and materials to make them and also they are slightly lighter. This will help slightly with transport and of course they will be lighter to lift for individuals. Our label will be staying the same so they will be just as easy to recognise on the shelf! We are expecting the new bottles to come on line next month.

The fermentation has been slow this winter and the yeasts have sort of had the brakes on as at has been so relentlessly cold. Things have been picking up now and one particular tank is going berserk and sounds like a diver under water! Constantly blowing bubbles to the point of being a bit annoying when we are in the shed... All the tanks however are working away as they should which is very pleasing particularly after this harsh winter. I have always thought that if you do not meddle with the whole concept of making cider there is less chance of things going wrong. It is also nice that each tank has its own character when using wild yeasts.

I have been lucky enough and have managed to bag a number of free courses recently and I have another 3 or 4 to attend. REALLY enjoying stretching the old brain and useful information is always good to take on board. I am exploring several avenues regarding marketing using the internet. It is all very interesting indeed and I am picking up lots of useful tips. The biggest attraction to me is is that it is all free - both the courses and the actual concepts. The last course was called showcasing you product online. Nearly didn't go as I thought it would be building a website and how to portray it. I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was a heck of a lot more and several times I simply could not keep up with the tutor! It was based on creating eportfolios using open source software. I have a lot of homework to do on testing it out but it is very useful to know.
I must say that it is so refreshing for a small business to be able to develop by attending such free courses organised by local authorities/groups. It is a shame that one set of courses are coming to an end this month due to the cut of the funding. Just pleased that I was able to make the most of it and in all honesty I couldn't face doing any more or my little brain would burst!

Spring is slowly showing a few signs of happening which is inspiring. Longer days and less grim weather is always so very welcome. The crocus is bursting through and the last few days the Daffs are shooting up in the garden. All very good but I am well aware that I have a lot to do before spring officially happens.

I am really quite excited with some of the plans we are going to explore this year. More focused on farm based bits and pieces. We are not planning to attend quite as many shows this coming year for various reasons. Much as we enjoy them they are quite time consuming and also costs of attending these shows are always going up. Vat has of course gone up, which increases everything but particularly the fuel prices. Fuel costs add up shuttling to these shows and also there is a slight feeling that some show organisers are seeing such shows as a cash cow. Occasionally there is little thought in a good selection of producers and stall holders are just bums on seats. I am aware that the organisers costs are going up too, but to be worth going to any show, we as a stall holder has to make a decent profit over the show days. All sounds a bit harsh but we are lucky enough to be able to explore different points of sale.

2011-01-20T02:01:00.001-08:00

After sort of hoping that the start of the New Year was going to be nice and gentle it seems as if we are busier than ever!
It is disappointing that the Quest for finding wood has reared its ugly head again and dead standing trees are under threat.

A major wood gathering mission needs to be launched again for now and the future. A winch attached to something has to be the answer as so many trees are just out of reach. I want to keep 'getting stuck' in a vahicle to a minimum because it is tedious....

Forever on the quest of learning new things I attended an online marketing seminar at the new Shrewsbury Food Centre. I already dip my toe into Facebook and Twitter but not really grasping how it could be properly used regarding marketing. I certainly have an interest and I also quite like the fact that this type of marketing and information sharing can all be done for free.
The course run by 4startersuk and sponsored by Shropshire County Council was very good indeed and I thoroughly enjoyed it. So watch this space or more to the point my Facebook and Twitter.
Mmmm planning for the year ahead... Lots of ideas and also help from various angles which is very encouraging. Have to remain focussed but also excited about future developments.
I have a new smart phone which I am hoping will be very handy. A heck of a lot to get my head around but so far so good. I am convinced I have lost a few phone numbers (and weirdly gained some too) on the transfer of the sim card but I am sure it will sort itself out.
Discovery still going well (so far) but unfortunately the other day the rear door hinge broke and there has been quite a bit of faffing about to try and get some affordable ones and I still have to actually replace it. I really miss not being able to use it.
It is great that the days are visibly getting longer. Snowdrops have just started to appear too.
These little indicators of the year progressing mean a great deal to someone in the Countryside as things are beginning to wake up at last. Shame I cannot say that about me.

2010-12-24T02:35:00.001-08:00

Ok - it has been a very busy last few months so unfortunately I just have not had a moment to find to keep up the Blog - sorry....
Anyway here we are now and the theme of the last two months have obviously been making cider. Started off very well indeed. The mild weather in November meant that the trees hung on to the apples so it enabled us to start off with the early varieties.This was a bonus as it meant we got more apples from each orchard. The apples were in very good condition indeed which helps our processing of the apples a great deal. This year has been an exceptional year for fruiting. We have estimated that the orchards we used this year have fruited three times as much as last year.
We rattled on and was very pleased with the results, hard work but well worth it. We reached a point that we were waiting for the next apple delivery and a small window to 'do other things'. One of these other things were to prepare for an event we were planning to do in December on the farm. It was called ' A Mystical Evening With Owls' The local Falconer was going to bring a selection of owls down to the barn and we were going have live flying displays over peoples heads in the barn. This required us obviously to glitz up the barn with a new partition and 'filling in holes that created draughts'. Coupled with our busy cidermaking time it was a challenge to try and do everything.
Unfortunately when the time came for the weekend the snow had arrived and it was too slippy and cold to be able to host it. We are hoping to be able to hold it at some point in the future.
Another big thing on my list was to purchase a car. Undecided on what vehicle to get I did some rearch on possible ideas. For some reason I was interested in buying an lpg vehicle. Probably something do with cost effectiveness but there was an element of the unknown ie fixing it if it went wrong. On my searching for lpg vehicles on a well known auction site I kept coming across Land Rovers and particularly Discoveries. I started to look at straightforward deisels for pulling power,so I started bidding on one or two but it usually led to being outbid and very often the car was miles away which meant tedious journeys to not only to go and see it but then you have to go back and bid on it. So I came across one that was local - went to look at it and from the outside it looked stunning and at the right price. I nearly gave the bloke the money there and then but on further inspection it was rotten as a pear so I walked away disappointed. Another one came up in Bridgnorth which is only half an hour away so off I went with a mate in the dark to have a glance. Looked ok and I made an offer but the Guy wanted more and to let it run on the auction. So I went back home and watched on the auction. Yes I got quite excited in the thrill of it and did go above my price I originally wanted to pay but coupled with 'urgency' regarding time faffing about with vehicles I was content with it. Up it went again and then the bidding ended and I had won!!! All very exciting and then the 'What the hell have I done' moment came... I had just spent my little savings pot in an instant and I had only seen the car in the dark! Felt awful for a bit and then organised to pick it up. Got dropped off at the addresss of the car in the next couple of days and saw it in the cold light of day... It looked great! Sorted the stuff out with the bloke and off I went in my Land Rover Discovery! Wow it felt great and then I started to feel sick with the ride... Soon passed and I was feeling great again!

I am extremely pleased with the purchase .

The snow
When the weather turned the temperature plummeted at Mahorall... It was relentlessly cold for a long time, more cold than snow. It stopped us making cider for a number of reasons and it was very hard work. We had a number of pipe breaks and wood had to be flung on the woodburner at home like a steam engine going at full speed! We have been devouring wood furiously and once again I am faced with searching through the woodland in the hope of finding some dead wood suitable for immediate burning. Ash trees will be in the firing line as they can be burnt green. It leads to a wider picture of tree management on the farm and also some plans of reigniting an old coppice woodland (which is a pig to get at)

Horses

A number of people have been asking us about where our horses have gone. A very unexpected event happened back in October. We originally had a 'deal' with a 'friend' of mine called Oliver Garrard of no fixed address near Ludlow. Some of you will know him. The arrangement was back in 2004 for us to look after a mare called Dobbin and we would get about three foals of her to sell on and to split the money when they were sold on. This would probably raise several thousand pounds which would be helpful to split as we were providing the free keep, supliment feeding, hay etc etc. The deal however became a bit one sided as Oliver Garrard did extremeley little and rather me ringing to remind him that it would be nice for him to do something I left it to see when he would make an effort. Months and months went by and then he suddenly turned up at the farm as if he was possessed. He had organised a horsebox to take the horses away. All he did was to swear abuse at me and was obviously off axis. I dont care who they are - to verbally abuse us and then to physically threaten me is one step to far. He refused to talk to me about it but was prepared to ring my wife later on several occaisions when he was drunk to swear at her. And then to top it all the person he sold the horse to - he gave him my wifes phone number to ring her up and offer her the chance to buy back the horse for £1500 !! It beggars belief... There is something wrong with you Oliver Garrard and you know it. There is no excuse for that shocking behaviour that showed you up for what your are really are. You should be ashamed of yourself to do that to anyone, let alone your mates.

Christmas arrived in amongst the snow which was lovely and quiet and the period between Christmas and New Year has been so very relaxing. After a hectic cidermaking and relentless cold it has been nice to do very little indeed.
It is now somehwat challenging to get back into the groove now the New Year has started... Despite this we have lots of plans which will hopefully lead to an exciting new year!!

2010-10-05T09:10:00.000-07:00

The last few weeks have been very busy indeed and also a lot of fun. We have attended a few shows and also hosted a show at the farm in conjunction with the Titterstone Clee Heritage Trust. The TCHT event required a lot of preparation as there was not only an afternoon event but there was a party in the barn afterwards. The weather during the day was glorious, we could not have wished for better weather. The event itself was great fun but we were very disappointed in how many stall holders let us down at the last moment and did not come. Despite this we felt the day went well.
The evening event in the barn was also enjoyable however as with the day event it would have been better if more people attended. The talk about the trust was well received and the band (called Hagglebag) was excellent. It was a shame that it was only really in the last hour that I could drop my responsibilities and let my hair down and do a bit of dancing....
The week after the event was light duties only. There was a certain amount of beer left over from the Autumn event and as a result had to be consumed... this further compounded the week of only light work.
I have also recently started dipping my toe into the world of Twitter! There is now a link on the website and one or two people have started to follow me!

We are expecting to start cidermaking towards the end of October. This is about normal time for us to start. We are however STILL waiting for our tractor to be fixed after what seems like weeks of being messed around. Most disappointed but we will have to wait for the return of the engine ( and fitting) before we can start making cider. This is because of the front end loader system is crucial for us to be able to move the apples around.

There are lots of apples around this year and it appears that they are of reasonable size. The 'wholesale' price of apples have remained the same this year which is actually no surprise as there are so much fruit about.

Quite looking forward to making cider this year and it heralds the end of the years different seasons for us. I am doing a cidermaking day on the 27th October which hopefully will be quite fun. This will be a ticketed event only and is being funded by the AOAB office at Craven Arms. Further details will be available soon. The next post will be reporting on how the cidermaking is going.

2010-09-13T05:19:00.000-07:00

I have at last managed to make my hay for 2010! A week of fine weather arrived at the end of August/start of September. Makinh hay at this time is a bit late really and the heavy dew and cooler nights meant it took longer to make. The old baler started off very badly and I had to even resort to the instruction book... Eventually she sorted herself out and the last field the bales were brilliant.
Bridgnorth food festival went very well and the atmosphere was terrific.
Ludlow Food Festival was another ggod event. Very big and very tiring but we were very pleased with how everything went.
The tractor engine is still being fixed up and we have missed being able to use it particularly during hay making.

The days are now drawing in and the nights are getting cooler. Just over a week ago we asked someone to come and process all the wood that I had collected over the winter. This machine was brilliant. The wood was loaded onto a conveyer where it was cut to a given size and then the wood was split and a conveyer loaded the wood into a trailer. We estimated that we manged to do 9 tons of wood. It is a very nice feeling to be more prepared as we go into the winter.

Plans are coming together for the the TCHT Autumn Fayre at Mahorall Farm. Fingers crossed for a good day.

Cidermaking is soon to be with us and this years crop seems to be a very good one.

2010-08-08T02:50:00.000-07:00

Cider sales are doing well! We are only just keeping up with the bottling... The van always struggles coming back loaded from a bottling pick up but we have now 'tweaked' the engine and it it seems to be doing a whole lot better. It used to be embarrassingly slow even when empty but that has all changed which is excellent news! We have also repaired the rot on the back door which is a brilliant job done!! I hit the rear door with our forklift some time ago now and coupled with the classic transit van rot on the bottom of the rear doors it looked awful. We have now cut off the whole bottom of the door and replaced it with a new section and painted it! A very good job done indeed!!!

I am still waiting to do my hay and there has been no real decent slot of weather for me to have a go. I am not planning to do that much this year but it is still fairly important to get some done for the winter for the horses.
Had a go on the Porsche the other day which was both exciting and disappointing. We had a fiddle on the engine to establish that we had the right leads connected in order for the firing and had a go starting it. Away she went on the first attempt and then died again. This has always been the case and it seems we cant go any further. We then pulled it out of the shed and had a go at towing the beast and again got her going only to do on us again. So near yet so far!!! After abonding it again it seems as if we may be on an uphill struggling. The origin of the car is a rescue from severe flooding. Water went over the roof in a garage... I think it may be a case of the electrics being a problem and may well always be a problem. Even if they are sorted now then they are likely to fail in the future.... A bitter pill to swallow and a whole lot more work and I have to be sure it is all worth it...???

July is usually a fairly quiet month regarding shows which gives us a bit of time to regroup and brace ourselves for the shows in August and then a whole raft of them in September. However looking back on july it was quite hard work. The engine on one of the tractors gave up and we were told that we need to recondition it. Quite a big job and it has to be taken out and sent away... Our water supply stopped working too which was a nightmare. After much panicking and checking of the system we had to eventually call in the professionals and they identified a blown capacitor at the well head... Not something we could have done but it was a real joy as you can imagine to have running water again. Our fertiliser spreader fell apart too and after discovering the parts for it were pricey to say the least we had to go and buy another one... And one last thing was that the computer went down... So with a bit of encouragement from my good friend Bob we have now built another one from scratch. That is why the website has been on idle for a few weeks... All in all July has been a bit of a challenge but I am feeling a whole load more positive now about everything!

We have just done a couple of our favourite local shows at Burwarton and Tenbury which have been enormously successful and we really enjoyed both of them. The weather was OK apart from a couple of showers/storms but the overall turnout was very good indeed! Our next show is at Bridgnorth at the end of this month.

2010-06-12T02:56:00.000-07:00

I received some truly horrific news two weeks ago today when I was informed of a death of a very close friend of mine indeed. Maybe not the subject to post here on the Blog but it has to be honest really knocked me, and it has affected a great many people I know. He and his lovely fiance were planning to hold their wedding party on the farm in a couple of months and it was something we were all looking forward to a great deal. Bri I am going to miss you terribly - may you rest in peace....

The food fairs are now in full swing! Bridgnorth food festival was brilliant on the 31st of May. Fantastic atmosphere and plenty of people attending. I think a festival has the upper hand when it is free for visitors to attend.

The summer Much Wenlock festival on the 5th of June was even better. We always enjoy ourselves when doing a show at Much Wenlock and the biannual summer show on the Church Green was brilliant. Held at the same time of a longer Festival of arts at Much Wenlock it had a sprinkling of various performing arts. This made the show more of a festival than a food fayre which, was for us refreshingly different. A superman performer entertained both the adults and children and a random couple on a bike with one dressed as a mosquito making mad fly noises. Some girls dressed as sheep were wandering around bleating and also a couple of real live ducks which kept escaping from their pen. When the show began to get busy around lunchtime it was fun to be aware of some quite random things going on in the background! This included yours truly managing to hog a random 5 minute slot being interviewed on Shropshire Radio! A really good day and a big well done to the organisers!

Market Draytons farmers market was a different event and considering it starts so early and more focused on perhaps a market there is the inevitable standing around for me waiting for the magic time of booze o'clock when people become more interested in both tasting and buying cider. It is also against us that the market finishes at between 1.30 and 2pm meaning a small 'booze' window. It is however a good overall event but not quite a worthwhile market for us to attend.
Off to Dudmaston Hall tomorrow near Bridgnorth (well Peter is) for a small food fair but the next two weekends we have the Ellesmere Food And Drink Fair and also the Shropshire West Mid Show. A busy month ahead for shows!

Down on the farm

We are continuing the work in the buildings to be able to have the Clee Hill Trust evening event on September 25th. Make a note of this date and watch the website as some excellent plans are in the cooking pot. We have run two Autumn events at the farm in association with the Clee Hill Trust. These have worked very well indeed and we are going stronger this year. Not only is there going to be an action packed afternoon fair,(which there is so much planned it is going to be tricky to pull off..) but we are also including a very special evening do with a live band, talks and food. This will be a ticketed event only so first come first served!
More information will be posted soon.

The farm is looking very green now which is such a contrast to the bleak winter which only seems a few weeks ago. Disappointing to be soon coming across the shortest day soon but I reckon we have still a lot to look forward to with a good summer. The grass is growing very well indeed which is just as well as this year I am planning to drag all the ancient haymaking equipment out of the shed and try and get it working... Can be great fun but also can be a nightmare.

The horses are not quite so enthused by the long grass as it has quite simply got away from them. Because Dobbin has had Laminatus in the past PLUS she is quite simply an eating machine she will eat and eat and eat. So we have to limit her and as a result the grass gets a bit stringy in her field as we have to strip graze her. She will however hopefully have some lovely grass after the haymaking has been done on the aftermath.

I am at last almost in a position to be able to offer some still cider available by mail order on the website in a 10 litre bag in a box. This will be launched hopefully next week if all goes well. Whenever the website gets a major bolt on or rehash it involves a very late evening indeed with my good Friend Bob the website Guru. It does also involve the occasional sip of alcohol too while we explore ideas and designs. I love fiddling around on the website to bits but doing it on my own has the potential of going VERY wrong.... There will be the day that everything will just disappear into cyberspace never to return again.

2010-05-22T02:38:00.000-07:00

How time has started to fly....
With the start of spring everything kicks off and we have been very busy to say the least. The shows are starting and it appears that there is an evergrowing list of jobs. That said we feel that we are more or less keeping on top of everything but just as well the days are longer!
We have had several shows and an open day with varying success but generally it is positive. We hosted a farm walk in conjunction with Worcestershire County Council on the 8th of May which went well. The weather was good and the Bluebells albeit later this year were putting on a good display. We started off hosting the 12 people who came and took them on a guided walk on our nature trail. The member of staff from Worcestershire County Council then continued on with an extended circular walk through two parishes and then ending up back at the farm. We then gave them a talk concerning how we make the cider and then the enevitable tasting! As the 'theme' of the walk was Nature trail and Cider everyone 'appeared' to be interested and had a good time.
The next day was an early start up to Market Drayton to have a stand at the Muller 10k fun run. Quite different from a normal show as the theme of the run was of course fitness and being knacked afterwards. The whole idea of tucking into a cider before or after running 10k was going to be unlikely! Anyway as soon as the race had started the 'supporters' then flooded into the marquee so to say it was a sudden rush was an understatement! The show was brilliantly organised and trade was pretty good.
The weekend after I went to the Staffordshire game fair for a two day event. Lovely weather and the show was well organised but not that many people turned up. Main reason probably was that it was the first one and it takes time to build up. Enjoyed the weekend and hust as well the weeather was good. The same saturday Peter went down to the Teme Valley food fayre in Tenbury Wells. VERY successful and a brilliant day. Weather of course helps but this is the same at every event.
The weather is certainly helping cider sales and late last night was sorting out the mail order section of the website. Looks a lot better and cleaner. Thanks once again Bob!
Next month is definately show month, one more this month at Bridgnorth and then attending a total of 7 days of shows in the month of June. Really looking forward to it all.

2010-04-27T11:13:00.000-07:00

I attempted a job that I have been wanting to do for years... On the nature walk there is a wooden footbridge that I built over 12 years ago that crosses a stream. Underneath the bridge is a lovely old stone tunnel that was the original bridge and was wide enough to take vehicles. The start of the tunnel I assumed was blocked and the stream had made its own way around but was starting to erode the structure. So I had a dig around to try and find the start of the tunnel. It was a lot longer than I had thought but eventually found the start and tried to open it up. I was hoping that it was just sediment or a log that had blocked it but unfortunately I think the structure has collapsed. I think that it is a very old structure as it is made with stone rather than brick. The local brick kilns were in operation in the early 1800's so I would assume it was made before then. Anyway I have now got the water going through it again which was a very nice sight to see!
At the end of last week we managed to get away for a few days holiday up to the Lake District via Alton Towers. Much as I love the farm it is always nice to have a break! Had enormous fun and the weather was great.
Now back at the farm we are having a big spring clean in the cider buildings. Lots of painting and general glitzing...

2010-04-17T05:31:00.001-07:00

Spring is here and I am managing to do many of my plans on the farm. I know I keep going on about collecting wood but at present I have probably got about 7 tons back at the farm ready to be chopped and logged etc. This is a very pleasing sight as we are so dependant on wood to keep warm during the winter. The other fact is that the farm is being improved with the tidying up of hedgerows.
I have also being 'improving' one of our old orchards. It was quite a sad job as it is a very old orchard which interestingly enough was the spark of how we started making cider over 11 years ago. About three years ago we had some very strong winds and we lost three lovely big apple trees - probably the best we had in the orchard. They were blown over and split the roots which killed them. It was like tidying up a battlefield and I have now removed the remnants including the stumps. It looks so empty now as the trees we have replanted look so very small.
We are more or less up to date with the fencing work with is just as well as the cattle have arrived and enjoying the lush grass.
Dobbin and Whinny have now come up from their tired field that they have been in all winter to a field in front of where we live. They are having to be strip grazed in order they dont overdose on the lush grass.
I managed at last to remove one of my many 'surplass' vehicles and to take it to the scrap yard. Quite a trip but I was very happy with the price I got for it! As my mates know I have always been very lucky with picking up cars that are useable for next to nothing. And now as the price of scrap is good I am almost making a profit and getting a free car!

2010-04-08T11:38:00.000-07:00

Spring has certainly taken hold and the sound of lambs bleating mixed in with birds singing is certainly confirmation.
Last weekend was a tasting at The Granary Shop at Weston Park. The park was open for Easter and we were asked to provide tastings of the cider that we sell there. Lovely weather and there appeared to be a good turnout. A lot easier than doing a show for us and I of course enjoy meeting new people. Three other producers were there and I thank them for allowing me to graze their produce for the entire day for sustinence!
Thanks also to my great buddies in Newport for entertaining me again for the friday night!
We are continuing with spring jobs including the lopping of overhanging tree branches around the fields. We are doing this for two reasons - overhanging branches damages the tractor with any field work we have to do and also to continue with the quest for collecting wood for next year. The small twigs and branches are the pain but our old silage grab helps to remove them. Essentially it is a mechanical grab with prongs on and and can be used as a large meachanical hand. The brash can be buldozed into a pile and then picked up and put onto a trailer to take away for burning. One field boundary has been completed and probaly we have managed to get a ton of decent size logs.
In the last cople of days I have managed to grab some spare time and go for a couple of walks around the Wildlife Site on the farm. An ideal time of the year as the vegetation is minimal. Managed to take some lovely photos, identify some more potential wood to harvest as well as considering a new potential project to do -more on this if anything happens.

2010-03-30T12:24:00.000-07:00

I have at last got the Land Rover's four wheel drive system working! I am very pleased indeed! Most times I have attempted to use the machine I have ended up getting stuck. Not what I expected from the best 4 by 4 by far.... Anyway a special effort of finding out what was the matter was definately needed. Took the floor plate out and had a look at the gearbox linkage system and attempted to see how it works and the whole thing just came out. How it was meant to work was a mystery so tightened it and put back together as we found it. Jacked it all up off the ground and started it up and fiddled with the front hubs and managed to get the system working. Quite exciting. Took it out to a wet patch in the field and drove into it and instantly got stuck. Pressed the four wheel drive button which had appeared to do absolutely nothing mechanically and... as if by magic the vehicle just drove out as if it was invincible! So dont quite know what we did to it but fingers crossed at last I have a 4 x 4 that works!

The Market Drayton Farmers Market last weekend was a bit quieter than I had hoped and had a barrage of many questions about the new cider duty and will it affect us. Well... of course it will as we are cider makers! Anyway I had a great weekend up with my great buddies in Stoke the night before but got caught out with the clocks changing and had to leave the house quicker than a fire drill...and left half my stuff there

Had a photo shoot up at Weston Park today which was to promote and celebrate the first birthday of the Granary Shop. A few producers which had supplied the shop from the start were invited and there maybe just maybe a picture of christhefarmer in the Shropshire Star in the next few days. I will be up at Weston Park again this Easter Saturday offering tastings of our bottled ciders to visitors.

Weather has not been brilliant at all these past few days and we have had to do a few 'inside' jobs. The ground is really wet now and it is apparently going to get cold again soon which is a shame as we had all thought that spring had actually arrived and we could put the fierce winter behind us.

Tomorrow I am hoping to fire up the chainsaw and fell a few trees to make an effort of wood supplies for next winter.

2010-03-24T11:38:00.000-07:00

Managing to carry on doing spring work which is pleasing. Fixed up another trough and got the old JCB up and banging. Disappointing to see that she managed to spring a few hose leaks which cost a fortune to fix. But after the problem was addressed she did well and saved a lot of back breaking work. Did another wood run in the 'beast' which was very successful. Managed to find some brilliant dry and dead wood which burns beautifully. Land Rover is working ok of sorts - still confused with how the damn 4 wheel drive works and seems that every time I get in it I manage to get stuck somewhere... I am aware that the 4 wheel drive push button is not correctly lined up but I always thought that low box is permanent 4 wheel drive plus there is the endless fiddling with the free wheeling hubs on the wheels. I think I have managed to get three wheels spinning but by that time I have dug myself in. Anyway I am sure I will get it sorted. The roof rack is brilliant and lots of stuff can get flung on the top like posts and rails. I even bothered to get the pressure washer on to it to try and get the green nature paint off it which has helped to lose that 'freshly dragged out of a field' look.
At last the sign for the entrance to the farm has been done by one of the local pubs and it looks pretty good. Attached it to the fence and the whole 'glitz up the entrance' project has now been completed.
Today I have been doing my first bit of field work which is another sign of spring. The job was harrowing - no it was actually harrowing. Essentially it is dragging a matrix of metal around the field to pull up the dead grass and to aerate the soil ready for spring.
We have had a bit of clear out of the cider shed - sort of spring cleaning. We are hoping that a few more people will be coming down to the farm shop from easter onwards.
Off to Market Drayton this sunday for a farmers market. Hopefully the weather will be ok.

2010-03-18T01:21:00.000-07:00

Well the show at the weekend was OK but nothing really exciting as far as we were concerned. People seemed to be about but the Rugby and Grand Prix may well have made a difference. I feel that we are at the very start of when the cider season begins to take off. Enjoyed it though and thank you to the people who turned up to see us.
Back on the farm we have moved on to dealing with the replacement of the waterpipe feed on a trough on the farm. This particular trough has been a bit of a bugbear as it has not been working for quite some time yet this last winter sprung a fierce leak which was a nightmare.
So the main line was cut and 'new size' pipe was attached with a tap, drain, and new ball valve all set into an inspection chamber. We then filled in the large hole we had to dig to remove the wet soil and to make a sink hole to drain the water. The whole job went fairly well - always takes longer than you expect but a great job to at last complete.
The list of spring jobs is always endless but it is good to cross off a few on the list and feel a little more prepared for the year ahead. Still a good few tasks to go including the 'collect lots of firewood for next winter' job. Any firewood collection that has gone on is to scoop up any wood hanging about on the farm to keep the relentless hunger of the woodburner. In fact I am off to go on exactly that theme now...

2010-03-12T01:20:00.000-08:00

First drop of rain this morning for quite a few days. More birdsong in the morning which helps to reinforce that spring is just around the corner. No yellow daffodils quite yet - still just the leaves poking up out of the ground.

Fencing went quite well yesterday despite the Land Rover deciding that it had had enough at the end of the day and refused to start. I am hoping that this is because I did not use the tedious 'warming up' of the plugs for long enough AND I have started and stopped it about 8 times during the day and it never really had a good chance to charge. Apart from this I think the Land Rover is going to be quite a success as it enables me to get to the more remote parts of the farm to do jobs.
Today I am loading up the van and heading off up to Telford for this evening. Stopping the night and cracking on with the farmers market at Telford for the weekend. Looking forward to a couple of nights out in Newport but not so much the early mornings....

Had an intense late afternoon the other day when the foal was dealt with. Tamed is too strong a word but a head collar was applied after much wailing and gnashing of teeth. What a feisty animal - jumped a gate from standstill and it was hard work to say the least. Didn't hear much horse whispering at all more horse swearing! I even heard the word slaughter house being shouted but I am assuming that was just in the heat of the moment. We were all quite chuffed the job has been done until I went to feed the horses this morning and lo and behold the head collar has fallen off..... a very, very disappointing sight to greet me.

2010-03-09T13:03:00.000-08:00

The days are certainly getting noticibly longer which is brilliant as I am able to squeeze more useful hours into the day.

The fencing at the farm entrance is now complete and we are very pleased with it. The entrance has been widened to make turning easier and we are just waiting for our new 'welcome' sign.

After finishing the fencing I have moved on with trying to sort out my recent purchase of the Land Rover. After initially getting excited about the project disappointment began to filter through when there seemed to be a million of things that needed to be done, and then like sun breaking through a grey dull sky things are starting to look up again. Used it today for an 'official' job of repairing fencing on the farm and all seemed good. I can know start it on a key rather than hotwiring it with a long screwdriver each time I use it. I have now got some seats too which helps the ride across the fields somewhat. The bonnet is now the correct one, which hels as the Series 2 one that seemed to come with it flapped about everytime I went over a bump.like some It has a sort of ignition light and seems to be charging the battery once running. The exhaust has been improved which means not only the noise in South Shropshire has been reduced but also has the ridiculous amount of smoke inside the cab. I have replaced the back window and rivetted a quick plate by the pedals to stop stones mud and general debris from flying up off the tyres into my face. When it starts to rain again I will probably have to try and sort out the windows in the doors but all is good now.

Tomorrow is more fencing and then preparation for the first show of the season is on Thursday. Quite looking forward to the first show which is at Greenfields, Donnington Telford.

2010-03-01T05:44:00.000-08:00

The website is continuing to be improved and admittedly I have got carried away with uploading photographs..

The fence project at the entrance to the farm has almost been completed and it is looking fantastic - vast improvement.

I have recently purchased an MOT failure old Land-Rover which I am quite excited about. Managed to get the engine working, pulled it out of someones field and mangaged to get back home. Many thanks to my buddy Rupert which seems to be more excited about the whole project than me. Yes it does need some attention such as clutch, brakes and floor pans but the main thing is that the engine works and its deisel. My intention is to use as a run about on the farm and save the unnecessary wear and tear on the transit van. IF it all goes well I am planning to purchase a winch and will help me get firewood from the remote places on the farm.

Photograph of the Land- Rover is on the website.

Today started with locating the horses which seemed to decide to break through the fence and go for walkabouts on the farm. All very exciting (for them). Now they have been relocated in a more secure fenced area.

The weather is fantastic today - nice and bright and warm in the sun. Definately a sniff of spring in the air today.

2010-02-18T13:14:00.000-08:00

Well at long last I am making definite progress with re doing the website and entering a whole new world. Very excited indeed by the whole project.
This would not be possible without my new freind called Bob who I cannot thank enough for the time he has spent in helping me make such progress. I have lots of things planned including.. well we will have to see how it goes!

Cider is busy fermenting away and they are all working well despite the relentless low temperatures. We are planning our show dates for the forthcoming year and we hope to do more shows than ever.

Spending time on the farm is order of the day at this time of year when things are beit quiter on the cider front. Latest project is replacing the fence at the entrance at the top of the drive. So far so good but grim weather keeps slowing the progress.