Well, as we all know it has rained this winter - a lot! The ground is now saturated but at least we are much luckier than a lot of folk up and down the country. We have been extremely lucky only losing a few fences and a couple of trees.
Our animals have coped very well but with the grass getting a little scarce we are feeding the sheep hay every day and they have begun to eat concentrate in order to give them extra energy as they approach lambing. With a few weeks to go we are preparing their building and keeping a close eye on their condition so they are neither too fat nor too thin prior to lambing. We bring our ewes inside for lambing to protect the lambs from late frosts and snow. They come in three weeks before lambing to give them time to settle down before the lambs arrive.
The cattle have passed their TB test for another year. This year the test was done in a howling gale which was bitterly cold and miserable.
Over the last year we spent a great deal of time converting an old brick building into a holiday let which is now up and running. We are beginning to welcome visitors who are keen to visit a few of Wiltshire's great tourist attractions. The county is particularly rich in archaeology as well as some wonderful walking, National Trust properties and shopping.
This year it is time to focus on our lovely organic animals. Hopefully we will begin to sell our produce as boxed lamb and beef. People are more and more concerned about where their meat comes from and our extensive, pasture fed animals have good lives and are able to grow slowly until they naturally reach maturity.
Boxed beef will be available in just over a month and lamb will follow this summer.. Keep an eye on our Facebook and Instagram pages for further updates.
Lastly, another of last year's new enterprises was Flowers from the Farm. We were slightly concerned that the bulbs might have rotted off in the wet soil, but they are beginning to emerge now and signs of life is appearing in the beds every day.
Now looking forward to March and the start of spring...