Lambing is now well underway with our primitive breeds, Manx Loaghtan and Castlemilk Moorit, lambing first. These breeds have no trouble lambing and are very protective of their lambs. As it has warmed up a little we are lambing outside and so far there has been no trouble with the sheep looking very well and lambing with ease.
Our commercial sheep have now begun lambing with lots of twins Our final breed, Ryeland, follow in a couple of weeks and we're looking forward to seeing their lovely cuddly lambs.
Earlier in the year we harrowed our home paddocks to remove the dead thatch and level out the molehills. Any livestock droppings were also scattered which allows them to dry out and kills any parasites. The soil is left aerated and the drainage improved.
The blackthorn is now in full bloom and there are already lots of pollinators around. we have seen bumblebees, honey bees, butterflies and flies. Plants rely on insects to set seed and at the moment there is a decline in all pollinators. At least half of our bumblebee species are in decline and butterflies and moths are also in long tern decline.
We do all we can to help with no pesticide use on our organic farm and wild headlands around all our arable crops. The farm office is surrounded with flower beds and pots of pollinator friendly flowers. We leave odd patches of nettles in the paddocks to add to our diversity of habitats on the farm.
All our arable crops are now sown with the spring barley already germinating. We also have spring oats and a grass/clover ley being used in the arable rotation.
The building of the holiday let is progressing nicely with the steel frame in place now. Once this is finished the bricklayers will move in to build the external walls with our original bricks which have been saved. These walls will also have bee bricks built in for solitary bees. These are non-swarming bees and bee bricks provide nice nest sites for them.
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