Posts

Image
 Mid summer - early winter 2020  Determined to make the most of this most unusual year the overall theme has been trying to catch up on numerous jobs on the farm. With having no shows or parties at the farm for once I had extra time on my hands to do many small jobs that needed to be done. As with the last post the order of activities are in reverse order.  November   Lockdown 2 - We decided to close the farm when the second lockdown was announced. Initially the new laws prohibited us from opening and then at the last minute 'breweries' were allowed with a click and collect service. The shop usually gets quieter anyway and coupled with the 'essential' travel only' element we have decided to shut. Following on from the above we have decided now to shut the shop at the farm until spring 2021.  We have plans to improve the buildings and shop and this will enable us to carry out the work and reopen again when the work is complete ready for spring next year. All quite ex

Spring 2020.

Image
The lockdown diaries on the farm The shut down of the country in March has meant that all of our lives have been somewhat different. This unprecedented time was new territory and only time would tell what it would all mean to each of us individually. As a family we had to take stock of what would be the consequences for us firstly as a small family, then the farm and the business. As with everybody things moved very quickly indeed and lots of things including what you would normally consider small, suddenly became important. As much as you could, you needed to order things but also to take a look at things as a whole. I feel normally relatively far removed from the real world and I am comfortable with how things are. I am sure I am not alone in thinking there is a lot of mind clutter (in normal times anyway) that can fill your head and I normally try and keep it to a minimum. As the the lockdown took hold a torrent of  negative information was across all the media sou
Image
February 2020 Rain, rain, more rain and gales... The weather continues to be even more challenging with gales and relentless rain. When it rains the results are that it is more difficult to get onto the fields with machinery without doing damage or more to the point getting stuck! One project I have managed to at least start, is to replace an important fence that borders the farm drive. The advantage is that I can do most of the work using the hard surface of the drive so no mess in the fields. It has to be done before spring as the fence line was very weak. Old fenceline with undergrowth. There was also the situation that undergrowth has started to grow up in the fenceline which makes it impossible to tighten the wire so the only option is to start again. Old fenceline removed. With all of the torrential rain we have experienced the streams on the farm become torrents but on the whole we are lucky as we are on the side of a hill that we are relatively unaffected by