LOCATION!

We are located 4 miles north of Cirencester, between the villages of North Cerney, and Woodmancote. From A435 you take the turning towards Bagendon, go up past the Church to the T junction. Turn right towards Woodmancote and Scrubditch Farm is approximately 100 yards on the right. The Care Farm is situated down the drive, up the track on the left.
From A417, turn off at Perrotts Brook/Daglingworth, and proceed towards Perrotts Brook. Just before the A435, turn left towards Woodmancote. Go for approximately 1 1/2 miles and Scrubditch Farm is on the right, just past the Bagendon/North Cerney Cross Roads.

Monday 15 December 2014

Christmas Break!

We are now starting our 4 week break....where has this year gone to??

The Cotswold Christmas Fair at Andoversford turned out to be a rather quiet affair - mainly due to it being 'Black Friday'....and so we didn't get the foot fall we would normally.  Still the stall ended up being ok, and we only have a few trees left, along with a few jars of jellies and jams.

The pork, gammon, bacon and sausages are all back - we have virtually sold out of pork, but the gammon and bacon are still available - it does look fantastic!

We had our end of term lunch last thursday here at the house.  It was a great affair again, with all the volunteers pitching in to help cooking with me, and producing puddings galore!  The students so enjoy getting together - it's a great end to their year.  We also invited the head chef from The Bathurst Arms, Ben and Sue, one of our Trustees, so it ended up with 25 of us squeezed into the hall and round the dining table.  Of course we had pork, slow roasted over night and it was delicious!

We are one of two charities that Tescos have given a 'helping hand' to this week.  They had a cheque presentation at the large Tesco store in Kingsmeadow on Friday, and Johnny came with me to the photo call.  We all had to wear silly Christmas hats....not looking forward to that photo!  We are putting the cheque towards a set of livestock scales to weigh the sheep and pigs during the year.

Today, Alan (volunteer) came with me to pick up 'Perry' the boar.  We have very kindly been lent him again by Gary Salter.  Gary has started producing delicious salamis and parma hams with his Oxford Sandy and Blacks.  Perhaps we will be able to build on a 'butcher's and cutting room' next year...it would be great to start producing our own specialities too.  As we parked the trailer next to the woodland, Sandy and Perry were calling out to each other, and they almost walked off hand in hand - it was lovely to see!

i don't want to speak too soon, but the ducks are back laying again...not sure if it's the khakis or the older Aylesbury, but our customers are very happy!  We also appear to have happy hens back laying.  One of our new volunteers did a bit of research, and discovered that hens like laying low down, and the houses we bought from Countrywide have all their nesting boxes really high up.  So we have put some nesting boxes on the floor for them, and moved the purches up higher - result...we are definitely getting more eggs!

HAPPY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE, and do keep spreading the word.

with festive wishes, for a peaceful time and a prosperous New year,

Emma x


Friday 14 November 2014

November!

We have been busy here getting our weaners ready to go off.   We have been given some whey to feed as an extra boost, and the pigs love it!  we will be sending off three of our biggest weaners the last week of November, ready for Christmas Hams and sausages.  Do get in touch to book your pork.

happy pigs!
The students have been tidying up all our raised beds in the poly tunnel and outside for the winter, whilst also planting more winter salads inside, to sell to the pub.  We have some lovely red celery still growing outside, but other than that the poly tunnel is the best place to be from now on.  They have also been making newspaper pots to plant the sweet peas in; they will also over winter inside.
The Christmas Trees are looking great in our colourful red, green and white pots, and they will be 'dressed' next week, ready for the Fair.

We have the two horses back now, so the students are very happy.  They seem to especially like helping to put them out; doing their rugs, and bringing them in at the end of the afternoon, and brushing off some horrendous mud!  It's a great opportunity for some therapeutic bonding, as Manny particularly likes being cuddled.

We have had some kind of sickness in the hen run - 4 hens have keeled over and died recently, so i took one poorly one along to the vets to see if they could shed any light on the mystery.  Rob (vet) thinks it could be a bronchial problem, so we are putting anti biotics into their water, and also worming them for good measure.  Fingers crossed we don't lose any more.  Unfortunately 3 of them were Ella's new bantams.

'Baxter' joining his girls!
Our flock of Wiltshires are doing really well - all the ewes are down on the bank with 'Baxter', and the rest of the ram lambs are up here at the Care Farm, having a bit of 'finishing food' to help them on their way.  We supplied the local pub with their first lamb last month, and apparently they had really good 'feed back' from the customers, and so are having another one next week.

Don't forget to put 28 NOVEMBER in your diary for the Cotswold Christmas Fair at the Frogmill Hotel, as they are raising money for the Care Farm.

Saturday 1 November 2014

HALF TERM BREAK

Ella came home for half term, so while she was here, we went to pick up the Wiltshire Horn Ram, from Adrian Andrews in Stanton st Quinton.  He is called Baxter, and is very handsome.  Let's hope he performs as well as Neville from last year!

We have moved our lambs into the Orchard here at the farm, at the end of my parent's garden.  They love it down there, and look quite at home.   We will probably send another 2 or 3 off to the abattoir within the next week; having already sold 3.  The local pub, The Bathurst Arms, in North Cerney, have our lamb on the menu this weekend! www.bathurstarms.com

Ella was given some little bantams by Lucy, her aunt, as a late birthday present.  They look a bit like her favourite bantam, 'Fiver' that sadly got eaten by the fox this summer (along with all those others)  They have little top knots, and are terribly tame.  One keeps trying to sit on my arm when i'm feeding them - i had to take it up with me to feed the pigs this afternoon!  I am hoping that Ella might be able to take them with her to The Orchards, where she is moving to in a couple of weeks time.  It's still at The Orchard Trust, but more independent, and has a good bit of garden at the back - perfect for a little hen arc!

I discovered that the quail had been eaten yesterday - i think by rats...there was a tell tale 'run' in the corner of their arc - so disappointing...we'd managed to keep them out all summer.   So, no quail left now.  I think it is probably too late to incubate any more eggs; especially as colder weather is forecast for November.  We will have to start again in the Spring.

ps has anyone seen November's issue of 'Small holder' magazine?  There is an article about the care farm in it!


Monday 20 October 2014

october

Sorry the Blog has taken a back seat over the last few weeks - sadly my father passed away and so i haven't been keeping up with my 'blogging' ...SO

We have taken the first 3 ram lambs off to the abattoir this weekend, and they will hopefully be ready the first week of November.   The ewes have gone down the Bank field so they can be 'flushed' ready for the ram arriving next week.

All the students have been working really hard this term - they have been preparing the raised beds in the poly tunnel, where we are growing lots of salads for a local pub.   Outside we still have a small bed of chard and spinach, and some leeks.

We have had lots of windfalls which has been great for feeding to the pigs and our ewes love them too.

After half term, we will be busy getting ready for the Christmas Fair at the end of November.  The students really enjoy making produce each year for it.  We hope it will be a good fund raiser for us.

Hopefully, i will get time to download / upload some photos before long - bit more exciting than text only!



Tuesday 23 September 2014

WINTER TERM!

Hi everyone - welcome back!  We have been blessed with the most fantastic weather this summer; going into Autumn and everything is growing at an alarming rate - even the sloes are ripe already!

Sandy moved back to her woodland
home
Our students are all pleased to be back, and one of the first jobs we did was to move Sandy back up to the woodland - she is very happy to be back near / although not with her off spring.  We sold 6 of the weaners in the Summer holidays, and the six we have left are really thriving.  We have two gilts and 4 boars left.

The hens and ducks we bought in over the holidays look great - hens laying already, but sadly not the ducks yet - although they love their new surroundings especially the pond.

The Khakis settling into their
new home
We have had lots of produce available during the summer, runner beans, purple and yellow french beans, swiss chard, spinach and now leeks.   Unfortunately our sweet corn was supposed to be picked as 'baby' sweet corn (we only just found the label) so the pigs and hens have been enjoying them!


Feeding the ewes - this one
loves apples!

We are checking the lambs regularly, as we will have at least 4 hopefully ready to go off within the next couple of weeks.  We are hoping to sell some to the local pub....watch this space!
Rufus enjoying the sunshine!








Monday 22 September 2014

END OF TERM

I know......it's rather a long time since my last blog!   Lots has happened in between!

On the way back from picking up Ella we stopped at Gavin Davidson's near Huntley to re-stock our poultry.  We bought Black Rocks, White Stars, Lavenders and Speckledys - 10 in total.  They are 'point of lay' pullets, and we had two eggs by the time we got home!   They have settled in really well with our other hens, and are now laying about 5 small eggs each day between them.   The weather hasn't helped, being so hot (we love it though!)

The piglets were weaned at 8 weeks, and we sold 6 of them last weekend to a friend and local farmer at Whittington.  They are really happy with them;  hopefully we will get a photo soon.  They all loaded easily,(i grabbed them and passed them over....some of them weigh nearly 20 kgs i reckon!)  and looked fantastic - the students had done a really good job looking after them.

We have kept 2 gilts for breeding,  and 4 boars for meat at Christmas (bacon and ham)

Ella and i found 4 Khaki Campbell ducklings for sale last week, and went to Bisley to buy them, to hopefully boost our duck egg laying potential.

Nationwide Building Society have done a great job putting in a pond in the duck pen, and it gives them more room to splash about.
Nationwide volunteers weeding
the bank

more volunteers digging the pond
We had a great last day; giving the students their certificates and photographs, and a delicious lunch - slow cooked gammon from our Oxford Sandy & Blacks, and lovely salads from our volunteers.
very happy ducks!




We start again on 8 September; meanwhile we are picking madly each week for the Friday market, with volunteer help.  The runner beans have just started, and we had a huge crop of Pink Fur Apple Potatoes too!



Wednesday 2 July 2014

busy busy!

Gerry has had her baby - a lovely little girl; Connie Ruth - we wish them all well


We have moved the piglets this week with Sandy, up to the woodland, as they were starting to wreck the field outside their nursery (we have been letting them out to feed so that Sandy didn't eat their as well!) They should be weaning next week, so then we will move Sandy back to her nursery for a rest

the piglets in their new feeding pen in the wood
We have lots of produce coming on in the raised beds - the students have been busy planting over the last couple of months, and with the rain and now sun, we have lovely sugar snap peas, broad beans,
potatoes, and strawberries ready for picking.   Next up will be the sweet corn, leeks, runners and french beans.  The cabbage and cauliflower don't look quite so good, as some bug has got in with them...in the poly tunnel we have planted lots of tomatoes of different varieties in grow bags down the centre, and mixed salads round the edges in raised beds.

We are starting ours tall in the Friday market (formerly WI/Country Markets) behind Smiths again this week hopefully, so do call in and buy some produce.  We are also selling sweet peas to Oops a Daisy the florist in Cricklade Street, Cirencester

We have lots of pork, bacon, sausages and gammon for sale this week too!

The tractor we purchased (a second hand Kubota) is still in the yard - with a few small problems, but hopefully by next week it will be sorted !
Tim and Lez looking at the engine....puzzzled!

Thursday 5 June 2014

OPEN DAYS NEXT WEEK!

I start this post unbelievably upset as that .....FOX has had another load of our chickens this morning...
She was obviously lying in wait and when the hens were out of their house she pounced and we found four left in the pen ready to collect later (one bantam in the house) and loads of feathers again so she had taken several during her
first visit.  By the way i say SHE as we think it's definitely a vixen and her cubs that are laying waste to everyone's hens round here at the moment (they are feeding their young)

Free range piglets!
helping Mum!
On a more positive note, we started feeding the piglets today - they haven't quite got the hang of it yet - rather prefer eating Sandy's food, but they ventured out of the pen gingerly and have definitely eaten some of it!  They really do look cute lying in the sunshine, and have grown So much over this last week

''My birthday present' proud dad!
Last Friday Mike, Ella and i drove up to Mildenhall in Suffolk to collect Mike's birthday present....a lurcher puppy!  He is gorgeous, called Rufus, and is so far being amazingly good - although he did wake us up at 5am in the morning to start with (it was just like having a baby all over again...NOT used to that!) and he was rather sick all the way back in the car!

We are flat out now, getting ready for our Open Days that start this Sunday with OPEN FARM SUNDAY, and continue with Open days next Monday, Wednesday and Thursday  Everyone worked their socks off today, cleaning, building, strimming, mowing, and generally tidying around the site - in between gazing at piglets playing!

Monday 19 May 2014

SHE'S DONE IT!

Sandy has farrowed!  15 minutes after the last student left on Thursday....sandy's waters broke (luckily just before Gerry left for home!) and i got a frantic phone call asking me to come back NOW!
CLEVER MUM!
I got back in time to see 11 of the 13 piglets born - it was an amazing sight ....they rush out at such a rate with their eyes wide open and they have eye lashes!! one of the piglets didn't last the weekend for some reason - but Sandy is an amazing mother, so we are hopeful that we wont have any other problems. She's so quiet around them, and feeding them all well.

Gerry holding the first one!
We had a disaster on Saturday afternoon - a fox ran berserk around in the hen run slaughtering our laying hens.....it must have had at least 8 of them (both black cockerels had disappeared earlier in the week) it left them lying around in the hen run ...obviously hoping to come back later for them - really sadly Fiver was among the dead ones - she was our favourite; having managed to save her when she was a chick....such a shame.  The foxes are SO brazen at the moment; chancing their luck, picking hens and ducks off all day if they can - it's their feeding season, and they just try anything.  They seem to know when there's nobody about.  So all those people out there who think foxes are sweet animals...take note they are NOT!

we have two chicks that have hatched in the incubator and Bluebell has hatched one chick in the hen run - not a good tally again i'm afraid.  We put the quail out into the hen run with their ark too as it's too hot in the poly tunnel now.
The students worked hard today filling and watering everything in sight - it's so dry everywhere...the potatoes have shot up as has the salad in the poly tunnel - and the beans and sweet corn are nearly ready to go into the prepared beds.

Just off to feed Sandy again - she's getting 3 feeds a day now....proud mum!

Tuesday 6 May 2014

Farrowing.....due to start this week!

The students are all back and raring to go...we have a new student on Thursdays, and he is settling in very quickly.
Sandy settling in to her new home!

We moved Sandy into her own 'farrowing nursery' last Thursday - great fun running down the track with some food; being followed very swiftly, considering her size now, by Sandy!  We were a bit worried the first couple of days, as she didn't sleep in the ark.   We have added some straw to the shavings and she has now settled in there.  We put up a heat lamp yesterday, ready for the impending piglets (fingers crossed!) so that she gets used to that too.

our newTractor - in need of some tlc...but
 all in working order!

The students have been planting out madly - beans, cauliflower, cabbages, sweet peas
and in the poly tunnel we have salads, tomatoes, and other veg waiting for some warm weather
Sandy meeting the sheep!
We found this tractor advertised in wiltshire, and i sent off Mike (husband) with Dan friend, and tractor man to have a look at ....and they thought it was a good buy, so Dave (another friend!) and i went and collected it last weekend, and took it straight round to Tim down the road, to look at and service - he's coming up with a list of things that need doing!
It will be a real help to have a small tractor to do topping, mucking out yards, collecting up stuff, and generally maintaining the site.
Apparently it's very easy to drive, 4wd, so we may even be able to teach some students to drive it in the future...
The quails are going mad, we have collected 10 eggs in the last three days, and there are only 3 laying hens...?  Not sure what's going on there, but we are not complaining!
We have eggs under a broody 'Bluebell' hen, and some in the incubator so will have some special chicks hopefully in two weeks time.

Monday 21 April 2014

LAMBING FINALLY FINISHED!

We had our first set of twins on 22 March, and our last single lamb on Good Friday!  I am totally exhausted - having done lots of early mornings (3am!) to check on the ewes in the barn, and then out in the field....we decided to put the last ewe out with all the others as she just didn't seem to be showing any sign of lambing - i had nearly given up on her, when she finally started lambing on Good Friday morning.   We had to give her a helping hand, as it was a huge ram lamb and she was really struggling.  She wouldn't come in from the field, so we just put a pen up around her and kept an eye on her there.   It has been great finally having some sunshine and the lambs are all looking really good.  The ewes not quite so good, as the spring grass seems to be going through some of them rather quickly!

We have had a bit of a disaster with our quails - the two older ones disappeared out of their house at the weekend - the door was wide open and they had flown off - i hope they are somewhere safe....and sadly only 3 of the quail we hatched have survived - no wonder they are so expensive to buy in the shops!

great to be out in the field
All our bantam hens are suddenly going broody and refusing to get off the nest boxes / or are to be found hiding in the barn and the hens are all laying furiously at the moment which is great.  We had so many eggs at Easter, that i took six dozen down to church on Easter Sunday, and put up a sign saying "help yourself to eggs" and put the donation box beside them!   It proved to be a great success, and we only came back with six eggs....and hopefully we may get some new customers too.
re-locating the hedgehog!
'we love it here...'

The potatoes are through already and so i've been busy 'suring' them up (i think that's the right terminology?) and in the Poly tunnel we have lots of seedlings coming through ready to plant out - cabbage, cauliflower, celery & parsley.

'March with her lovely ram lamb
Sandy finding it difficult to get up...!
We are busy getting all the fencing sorted for the pig nursery - Sandy really looks pregnant now, and will be due to farrow around 7 May, so we want to make sure she is settled into her farrowing ark and nursery at least two weeks before if possible!
more lambs!!

The students start back on Thursday, and so we will have plenty for them to be getting on with - let's hope the weather holds fair

Thursday 27 March 2014

nearly Easter break....just one more week!

We have had some lovely school visits this term, two from Shrubberies Special School, near Stroud, and one from Paternoster School in Cirencester - they have all been really successful...the first class from Shrubberies are coming back for their second visit in May.  The year 6 children from Paternoster school have been finding out about jobs in the community, so were asking us lots of questions!

We have had another set of twins today - both ram lambs, and all doing well!  It's a shame we have had to lamb inside this year, but the weather has been so bad off and on from January, and we have less grass here on site, that we felt it was the best solution...but hopefully after the weekend, the ewes that have lambed will be out in their field again (with sunshine too fingers crossed!)

Gerry was cleaning out one of our old hen houses this week; ready for the students to do some refurbishments, and found a hedgehog hibernating in there!  We have put it in a box in the tool shed for now...until we find out where to best put it when it comes round....

We also keep finding bantams eggs in the funniest places - 12 of them hiding in a load of old barbed wire - laid by several bantams over the last few days!  One of their favourite places is in the hay bales in with the ewes.

The students have been really busy over the last week or so; helping Dan to finish off the woodworking shed - it now has wonderful sets of shelves, and a fold away working bench.  We really needed the extra space, and can't wait to get started making and designing some items to sell in aid of the project.

Next week is our last week before our Easter Break, so we are having an Easter Picnic next Thursday with all the students and volunteers - let's hope we can have it outside!


Sunday 23 March 2014

LAMBS!

We have our first set of twins!  Born Saturday morning - i checked them at 6.30am .....nothing then - left Mike in charge of feeding at 9 am, and got a phone call from him saying that they had arrived!
Spring is 'springing'...violets on the
track!
LAMBY with her twins

more beautiful violets

Thursday 20 March 2014

week 10 / 11

Our quail have been hatching!   We had 10 hatch...but only 8 are still with us - they already have their full wing feathers after one week, and are stuffing their faces - so in 6 weeks we could have egg-laying quail (as long as they are females - not easy to tell yet!)

No lambs yet...although we think it's any day now - some of the ewes look very full and 'dropped' ready for the off - so i will be blogging some photos by the end of the weekend i'm sure!

We have put plastic covers over two of the larger raised beds outside to try and warm up the soil ready to plant out our chitted potatoes by the end of the month - although the weather's seriously gone on the turn again right now....and the seeds that students planted a couple of weeks ago are looking great inside their glass house (in the poly tunnel)  we have cabbages, cauliflower, rocket and basil plants

We are trying to harden off the sweet peas ready to plant out, but i have to bring them in at night as we keep getting frosts!

The Thursday students mended the hay rack today (with the help of Dan and Mike) and it looks fantastic.  It now has 'carry handles' at either end too (photo to follow from Gerry) and it has new 'pallet' ends - fully refurbished ready for the ewes and lambs in the field next month.

We had a visit from Paternoster school key stage 6 students this week - they are doing a scheme of work, looking a the 'work in the community' and wanted to ask us some questions about what we do at the care farm.  They really enjoyed looking round; helping to feed all the animals, and perhaps some of them might be able to and see us regularly in the Autumn.

We have a student from the RAC hoping to do a work placement from the end of June; and she has reliably informed us (when she visited today) that Sandy the gilt looks as if she is definitely 'with pig'.....so that's brilliant news!

Monday 3 March 2014

After Half term!

Last week we made the decision to take the two 'barren' ewes to sell at market - so on Thursday, we met the students at market (well not quite all of the Thursday students...some got lost in Driffield village!) and saw our ewes make £65 each - not bad for last week, as the average was £55.00 - it was a quiet week for all livestock apparently

We also put 24 quail eggs into our incubator - we have been collecting them up, hoping to increase our quail production for this year.  They will hopefully hatch around 17 March.

Dan, one of our new volunteers, helped by the students, has been busy putting up the new pig ark, that we have been given funding for.  It's going into a 'nursery', where we really hope Sandy will go at the beginning of May - ready for farrowing....!  It looks very majestic sat on it's concrete plinth in the field!

We also got our wonderful little trailer back; completely over hauled by 'Firefly' Phil, from Cerney House (just down the road)  It looks amazing, and will be really useful her for stock moving around the farm.

Funniest thing happened today (Monday)  we discovered that one of the Marrans we hatched last year, is a cockerel - we were convinced we had two hens, but .....he is definitely a cockerel, and looking far more majestic than last week - he's not crowing yet, but doing everything else!
We had a busy day with the students today - they all worked really well as a team, mucking out and getting the stables ready for the horses; mucking out the ewe pens (which we do twice a week at the moment) and looking after two visitors this afternoon.

We have a new sign up again at the Care Farm - thanks to Cotswold Signs, and one on the drive to direct people up past the yard to our site!

Photos to follow - i can't remember how to download them off my phone again.....sorry!


Tuesday 18 February 2014

half term

Sadly we had to say good bye to Perry the Boar on that glorious Sunday just past!  It was a long process - starting with the loading (or not loading) in the morning....!  We didn't feed the pigs as normal - keeping the food out of reach thinking he would just follow us into the trailer - not a bit of it...Sandy thought the food was lovely and went straight onto the trailer - Perry however was having none of it, and managed to get quite some speed up in the extremely muddy conditions in his woodland home!  With perseverance, and some assistance from Lucy, Mike and Ella, we enticed him out of his lair with mangos and bananas....slowly, slowly, Lucy begged him to follow her with the delicious fruit, whilst Gerry and i kept behind to stop him turning - finally he gave in, and went up into the trailer!
Ella and i drove him back to North Nibley in glorious sunshine and dropped him off at his permanent home, back with his girlfriends.
So, fingers crossed, Sandy will now be pregnant - we have put her in with the other two weaners, to let her end of the woodland rest - it's suffered more than the rest of the wood with all this horrendous rain.   We will then get the pig nursery ready for her to move into at the end of April.

We are running a day of children's activities on Thursday, and have good bookings both morning and afternoon - we will run more at Easter, so do keep checking the website for updates.

The two 'barren' ewes are going off to market next Thursday - the students really enjoy their visits to Driffield, to the market, and we always go and have a look at the poultry while we are there - just in case!

This week is a break, but the students start back next Monday - although we still have all the animals to look after - but luckily Ella is back this week to help - she especially likes looking after Manny one of our horses.

Friday 7 February 2014

NEWS!

ok i think i can now show you some photos....having had a lesson from Archie my nephew and godson! So here goes
Perry the Boar we have borrowed to
run  with Sandy! 
Our two new weaners enjoying
the woodland!

Perry is here for two more weeks so we are keeping our fingers crossed that Sandy will be 'in pig' once he goes back
My Land Rover's demise on
the way back from the
abattoir....




Do have a look at our website - Gerry is running
some Half Term Activities for School Age
Children!

www.scrubditchcarefarm.org.uk


The End!
 We are all totally FED UP
with the weather....endless
rain! But we have kept the
students busy and well fed on Gerry's home made cakes at break time!
We had the ewes scanned
this week - two of them are 'barren' sadly, but the others are all expecting.
These photos are the the sad end of my 15 year old Land Rover.....
Preparing the Pig Nursery
Who's been in the poly
Tunnel....eating our
salads?

I think we may have a bit of
a rabbit problem....!

Wednesday 15 January 2014

2014

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL OUR FOLLOWERS AND SUPPORTERS!

We have been really busy so far this year!  Firstly, we have been having the path laid up to our new decking area (thank you to John and Gavin) and especially to the kind person who donated the paving slabs in Filkins...(photo to follow hopefully!) Next we were given an gardening shed from Debs and Paul (ex allotment) and have been giving it some TLC - it now has a lovely new roof, and is ready for a lick of paint - the shed will be our 'woodworking' area - so watch this space for lots of products this year!
Then ......the arrival of 'PERRY' the Oxford and Sandy Black Boar!  He is stunning, and Sandy seems quite interested - we really hope she hurries up, as he's only on loan for 5 weeks!  We also have two more weaners - so will have more pork available around May....(photos to follow hopefully)

I have a new phone, and of course am finding it impossible to work - it took me over a year to work the last one reasonably well - this is a 'touch screen' thing....nightmare!  My last one bit the dust getting soaked in this horrendous weather we've been having!

Two more ram lambs are due to go off next week, so we will have some of that lovely Wiltshire Horn Lamb available in a couple of weeks time.

The students were all pleased to be back, and we have spent the first week, madly fencing off a section of the woodland to split the weaners up from Sandy and Perry!  We are anxiously waiting to hear when the scanner man's coming ...should be within the next two weeks, to scan our 12 Ewes - great excitement!

2014 has started very wet and windy, but with lots of exciting projects on the go - let's hope we get some better weather soon!