July 2
Great relief to have some rain at last, though can’t help wondering if the summer will now descend into a soggy mess like last year and the year before. The weeds have perked up straight away and with luck the grass will follow soon.
Maybe the rain will galvanise activity in the farrowing shed, where the most enormous sow finally delivered a set of triplets when the bookies had her down for ten to twelve. The rest of the maternity ward has been given a lecture on earning their keep but they have little respect for authority.
The last group of sows to be weaned are in with JP the boar and once they’ve been through a cycle they can go up to the woods for the summer – but by then we need to fix the quad bike to take their feed up.
The young stock are starting to look a bit better and should finish off grass but we’re still undecided about which cows to sell. Someone wants the old shaggy ones to help manage a bit of moorland, and that would mean we could give the reluctant heifers a second chance with the bull… but the shaggy beasts were here first and are invoking the last in first out principle. Maybe we need a Big Cow phone-in..
A busy week for visits, with three groups of farmers from Norway, the Czech Republic and SAC. The Norwegians advised on apple varieties to use here, while the SAC students suggested converting the roughest ground to woodland and managing the water better for irrigation and generating electricity.
We’re getting some help from Glasgow Caledonian University to measure and reduce our carbon footprint – simple things like covers for the chill cabinets in the shop and making biodiesel for the van from waste cooking oil. They can also help with the zero-carbon beef question – how much woodland and permanent pasture do we need to balance the methane emissions from our cattle. Not sure if the budget will stretch to damming the stream for a mini-hydro scheme, though.
The observation hive is ready and waiting for the bees which should arrive next month, and the phacelia we’ve sown to welcome them is growing well. The fabulous tipi should be arriving in mid July so we’re planning some fun and education activities for the holidays.
And then there are the turkeys. Yes, one did lie down and drown in an inch of water while another one which was in rehab in the kitchen managed to jump out, walk through to the shower room and die on the tiles – but the 90% who inherited the will to live gene are looking great. Next week they move out of the ring and get the whole shed and a couple of weeks later they will be ready for the pig shed… so the lingering sows need to get on and produce.
