Having had a warm and very dry April, the month of May arrived with some much-needed rain…
The beginning of May was wet, and at times extremely cold too, with fires still burning in the grate, we were not quite ready to turn our heating systems off completely even with the increased fuel and energy costs!
The arable crop received the much-needed drink to kick start their growth as things were looking very slow. The rain was also a welcome as the grass fields needed this to get the grass growing for our sheep and lambs as well as the cattle for grazing. The lambs and calves are responding well to the milk yields increasing from their mothers, and with plenty of time to play their racing jump games once more.
The cows' winter yards have now all been cleared out with their highly valued dung being stored in a bay (fertiliser costs have reached dizzy heights this year), ready to fertilize the arable fields in the early autumn.
Our sheep have finished lambing, with only the last stragglers born at the beginning of June, and whilst it is always so precious and exciting to see the first lambs of the season, it is also such a relief to see the last especially when it has been such a good lambing season with record numbers of twins and even triplets! The earlier lambs are growing quickly and already look like teenagers rather than lambs. At home we have 6 sock lambs left, all named, and bottle fed regularly by the children and our Shepherds Hut guests who are staying.
With the end of May and going into June the weather turned warm and dry, so we were able to start shearing on the farm, starting with the most susceptible to catching flystrike, whilst the remaining bulk were done by the professional shearers just recently. So, our barns are now bulging with their beautiful fleeces which we have been busy sorting for our next run with the mills that once processed can be sold through our Romney Marsh Wools business. Our sheep are also now looking cooler and happier in their fields having shed their winter wool coats.
We have continued to welcome guests into our Shepherds Huts and we have also been delighted to be able to return to some fairs and events which are now almost back to pre-covid and it has been wonderful seeing customer face to face.
Solstice has just passed, always a significant day as it marks the longest day and that halfway point of the year as we continue to look forwards to our next phase of harvest on our farm.