Lambs are growing aswell as the grass, and starting to venture off in little gangs looking for fun games to play. The later lambs are just starting now, with a pair of strong looking twins coming yesterday morning. Hopefully the young hoggs will fair better than the old girls in the milder weather.
Finally after much work, some tears and a little swearing we opened our coffee shop in the village. Its been a long time coming after much wrangling with the usual suspects.
We haven't said much about whats being going for fear of being stopped before we got started but have been working on the idea and the building for six months now. Its such a great business to run alongside the farm and the box scheme as we already have excellent food around us and its seems a shame not to be able to go full circle and prvide it on a plate aswell as a box.
The locals have been very supportive luckily as Longfram is a very tightly knit community..maybe the hard work in the shop has changed peoples perceptions of us 'organic types' or maybe its just the anticipation of B's cup cakes.
Things are going slowly on the farm after a little excitement last week when the rain came and the seeds turned to seedlings, with broad beans, peas, celeriac, romanesco's, fennel, artichokes, horseradish and brussel sprouts all making a little progress which has now stopped as the temp has dropped to averages of 10 degrees daily..i seem to remember this happening last year but the rain never stopped from April right through. The long range forecast is that we are all in for a really hot year though so fingers crossed.
We still need to get all the potatoes in, along with carrots, turnips and parnips and I was hoping to have had all the beds worked ready for the cabbages, leeks and lettuce plugs which arrive next Monday but the new tractor is now dead. Replacing some worn blades on or power harrow with nice new ones has made the tractor work too hard and its unwilling to start again. Lesson learned and the last time I replace old parts with new..sometimes older really is better.
B's horses went away yesterday. Mr. Lovage being sold but mum and his big sister had to go along for the ride so he would go in the trailer, I hoping they won't come back but instead be replaced by some cattle but B's got ideas of a putting Winnie to a heavier smaller horse so we can have a foal that we will be of some use pulling a trailer or roller round the fields. Sounds like lots of work to me but then the horse will never get stuck or break down which would obviuosly prove handy at the moment.
We haven't said much about whats being going for fear of being stopped before we got started but have been working on the idea and the building for six months now. Its such a great business to run alongside the farm and the box scheme as we already have excellent food around us and its seems a shame not to be able to go full circle and prvide it on a plate aswell as a box.
The locals have been very supportive luckily as Longfram is a very tightly knit community..maybe the hard work in the shop has changed peoples perceptions of us 'organic types' or maybe its just the anticipation of B's cup cakes.
Things are going slowly on the farm after a little excitement last week when the rain came and the seeds turned to seedlings, with broad beans, peas, celeriac, romanesco's, fennel, artichokes, horseradish and brussel sprouts all making a little progress which has now stopped as the temp has dropped to averages of 10 degrees daily..i seem to remember this happening last year but the rain never stopped from April right through. The long range forecast is that we are all in for a really hot year though so fingers crossed.
We still need to get all the potatoes in, along with carrots, turnips and parnips and I was hoping to have had all the beds worked ready for the cabbages, leeks and lettuce plugs which arrive next Monday but the new tractor is now dead. Replacing some worn blades on or power harrow with nice new ones has made the tractor work too hard and its unwilling to start again. Lesson learned and the last time I replace old parts with new..sometimes older really is better.
B's horses went away yesterday. Mr. Lovage being sold but mum and his big sister had to go along for the ride so he would go in the trailer, I hoping they won't come back but instead be replaced by some cattle but B's got ideas of a putting Winnie to a heavier smaller horse so we can have a foal that we will be of some use pulling a trailer or roller round the fields. Sounds like lots of work to me but then the horse will never get stuck or break down which would obviuosly prove handy at the moment.
