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 sprinkli...
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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 Na...
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 w...
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...
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 remov...
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 h...
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...