July 2018 Farm Round Up

Another hot and sunny month – some good things about that, some not so good – this one is going to go into the record books.  The haymaking went without a hitch – no rain showers threatening – definitely living up to the proverb of make hay while the sun shines.   However, with no rain, the grass has just stopped growing – great news for gardeners who don’t have to mow their lawns but not ideal if you want to get a second cut from the fields!

And people have been asking, how are the pigs doing in this heat.  Not good for rooting with the ground being so hard but they’ve done plenty of  wallowing  this month – and why not – eating and snoozing in the sun or under a tree.  As long as we keep the water levels topped up, all’s good!

New arrivals on the farm this month –  five 9 week old Mangalitza weaners arrived and soon  settled in to their paddock.   Last month’s hatch of guinea fowl continue to grow like crazy and it has been a month of new life all round – pheasant chicks abound out in the pig paddocks – one hen has 5 on the go which is quite impressive.  Fingers crossed, next month will see the arrival of some Large Black piglets – our lovely sow, Frosty is looking rotund and I don’t think it is just overeating!!

We continue to get some fabulous reviews from visitors to the cottage on the farm.  For the third quarter on the trot, we have achieved AirBNB Superhost status and also, very proud to be shortlisted as one of 5 contenders for the South West Rural Tourism award   –  given how the South West is such a tourism hotspot, just to be in the top 5 is very exciting.  Finals night is not til October so can’t keep my fingers crossed that long 🙂

One of the joys of pork is the concept of being able to eat just about every part of the animal – one of everyone’s favourites is crackling aka pork scratchings!  Robert spends some time perfecting his  nose to tail eating

And just to finish with a smile, we’ve had people arrive on the farm on pushbikes, in classic cars but, some definitely know how to travel  in style