Week 4

Monday, Sheep first of course - we were a bit concerned as there appeared to be 14 Ewes, not 13 from the previous day??!  Apparently Lucy (sister) had put one of our oldest pet lambs in the with triplets, as she wasn't getting enough food with the main flock.  She has a 'red' spot, meaning a 'single' lamb....Back to site - over the weekend, we had secured some telegraph poles to make raised beds.  (Thanks to John, Mike & Luke, for their help - very heavy things telegraph poles!) Will & Ben spent a very blustery morning, 'cleaning' the poles up; removing barbed wire, and some huge bolts - we've left the large yellow signs saying 'danger of death' - it adds a little something i feel....!  David, Hilary & I were blown over to dad's fruit cage, where we took some cuttings from his Redcurrant bushes - thanks Dad.  We stopped on the way back, and dug up some of my hundreds of 'Buddleia' seedlings, which we have planted in a row outside the poly tunnel (I've no doubt we will have to prune them vigorously to stop them taking over, but the butterflies will love them!)  We have decided our fruit garden is going to be outside the poly tunnel at the far end. We already have a long row of blackcurrants, wineberries, & gooseberries, overwintering there, and now have Rhubarb and redcurrants.  I expect we will have to 'net' them before they get too big though!
Wednesday & Thursday i was on a course at the Rural Skills Centre at the Agricultural College - CEVAS (Countryside Educational Visits Accreditation Scheme) what a mouthful!  It was exhausting, and we now have to put together a portfolio of information to be sent off and independently marked; along with the 10 minute presentation we had to do on the second day of training - my least favourite bit.   It was useful and interesting to meet other farmers all trying to provide facilities for education.  I left the students in the capable hands of my friend Sue, and together with Gerry & Ben,  they had a busy morning putting together the telegraph pole 'raised bed', and then filling it with gorgeous muck & top soil!  It's now 'settling in' for a week before filling it up a bit more.  Thursday, Bob & Mike were in charge.  The guys spent the first part of the day dissecting the owl pellet that Bob had been soaking for a week!  They then went and checked on their bird boxes - to make sure they had weathered the awful winds from the weekend....which they have.  As it was such a filthy day, they squelched off home after lunch - needless to say, it had cleared up by the time i got home at 3pm!