Spring Additions

It’s so glorious you wouldn’t believe it’s only April, I do wonder if the fantastic weather is the result of lower pollution levels with the lock down or is it just coincidence.
We had a lovely new arrival 

Lavender presented us with a son, 
This is Boris son of Johnny and what a little smasher he is.
As he was arriving into the world on the other side of the fence we had a ewe delivering twins.

We still have four more ewes to deliver, we have had lots of lambs this week.

The garden shed got an unplanned spring clean,  I was looking for an attachment that eluded me in the shed and in desperation the whole shed got emptied

It gave me chance to go through everything, de clutter pass on to others what I didn’t need.

Then re organise the whole shed making it easier to negotiate and find things

Plenty of space and the tools are easy to get to, the old wooden units that were damp and warped gone on the bonfire replaced with plastic storage units that have been in storage.
And yes I found what I was looking for.

I have been de cluttering seed packets as well, I have sold a lot on my little stand at the end of the drive, I have been mixing up seeds with some wild flower seeds I have and they have been scattered in a cleared strip in the field it will be lovely if some of them come up.

On the little stand Alpaca poo and herb plants have been this weeks best sellers, we did end up with a wait list for Alpaca poo.

In the veg garden growing area I am setting up new additional grow beds 

A couple of the beds are for growing on natural dye plants,

I have started som Japanese Indigo from seed and bought in. Madder and Woad plant to start things off.

Other new beds as for growing on herbs I have been asked by a local restaurant to supply them with fresh herbs and edible flowers.

Last Year I had a go at growing Gourds for crafting with.

They grew really well in the poly tunnel and the whole effect of them growing up the supports and hanging down was fantastic.

They were harvested in Autumn when the leaves started dying off, 

Everything I read about the drying off said to just leave them a mould will grow over them and the skins would harden, 

Winter is damp in wales and I had doubts they would dry off, above the log store Martin put in a mezzanine floor for me to store fleeces up there, so I laid out the gourds and left them for the winter

 Got them down the other day, all covered in mould and yes under all that mould is a nice hard skin.

Now I am just cleaning them up ready for decorating, I am so impressed with them, I have now got more seeds sown for growing on this year.

We have enjoyed a few treats this week

Home made cream teas, 

Lots of BBQ

Hope you are all staying safe and have managed to enjoy some of the good weather 

It’s A Busy Time Of Year

No matter what is going on in the world and as devastating as it is life has to carry on, here at Stickle Tarn it’s doing just that.

20 little fluffy Light Sussex chicks joined our little farm the other day, I have been wanting Light Sussex birds for some time, they are a dual purpose bird, we are going to raise them for meat and eggs they will replace our mix of chickens as they are getting on now.

We have done Ross Cobbs for a few years now a fast growing commercial breed with ferocious appetites, now we want to try with something a bit more slow growing that we can breed from.

 The other month I got a Kumquat tree to add to my citrus collection, it came laden with fruit 

The fruit has now been used for a Kumquat Liqueur, should be ready for some parties when this is all over and things start getting back to normal, the fruits will be dipped in chocolate as a nice tasty treat.

My grandson salvaged an old sign and repurposed it for the end of the drive 

Then made me a stand to put eggs out on as we have a bit of a glut from the ducks and chickens at the moment 

I have been adding herb plants 

Seed trays greenhouse sundries 

Packets of seeds

For the locals to buy when passing

It’s going really well, over the coming weeks I will put out veg plants and then any surplus veg we have.

One of the ducks had to be culled yesterday as she had a ruptured prolapse so crispy duck is on the menu for this week.

Yesterday was a great day for the Buffalo Mamas 

https://youtu.be/L29kyvCUjEg

Time to turn them out after a winter indoors 

Lily had a great time yomping  around the field the two mamas are heavily in calf so there wasn’t much leaping around from them, Lavender is starting to bag up so it won’t too long before she calves.

We have given them the run of the gorse field which they enjoy using for a good scratch.

The boys will all be turned out later this week and Humphrey will go up to join them.

End of there winter lock down.