July 2019

Well, where does the time go…..probably my most regular saying!

So Spring came and went in a flash and we are already into July.

A brief update this time, with some photos for you all to enjoy. Do send us a comment, love to hear what people are thinking.

So, we got the rabbit hutch built, but it wasn’t as big as we thought, and not so strong! So, we have had another stronger one made which we can move about onto fresh grass to keep the bunnies happy. The smaller run has been useful for the new chicks we had for the school visits! Always a use for things around here.

Farmer Emma has been out to get some new turkeys, a small group to keep each other company as they wander the fields, in the barns and through the yard! She also got a couple of new hens as the fox has been quite a regular visitor over the last couple of months. The hens have bullied the turkeys a little bit, especially when it comes to feeding time-something I think they might regret when the turkeys are fully grown! Im sure by then they will have sorted out their differences and all will be well.

A favourite on the farm right now is Fluffy, everyone was very keen to make sure she got a mention! She is very loud and we know when shes about…….she is one of the bottle fed lambs and still likes to have some milk now and again. We are not sure if she how much she will grow, but we don’t mind! All shapes and sizes here!

A recap on the Urban Beach Clean from last time….we counted up the bottles etc and sent information to the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society (https://uk.whales.org/) to help with their research. The results were:

28 glass bottles-we have some keen wino’s driving round and throwing the evidence into the hedges.
33 plastic bottles, the oldest ‘use by’ date was 2014, and that bottle looked like new!
58 cans, the oldest date we could read was 2012!

We also found a car bumper, bags of old soil/rubble, lots of balloons and the rubbish from a family meal from McDonalds, including the receipt.

Going back a few weeks the sheep were very pleased to get shorn. The weather has been so hit and miss, but when its hot, it really does get hot so it was a relief for them to get the winter coats off once and for all.

With the school visits over and lambing well and truly finished, Farmer Emma has been busy over the last week or so cutting and turning the grass for hay! So far so good, with the barn filling up to keep the animals happy through the winter.

With the good weather around the goats have been able to get outside and have a run around. The kids can get their first taste of a hedgerow and see just how high a wall or fence they can get over, leaving us wondering just where they will end up at the end of the day!

As the weather has dried up and warmed up the animals can get out and enjoy the grass, meaning we can muck in and get there houses all nice and clean. Hope you like these before and after photos of one of the goat areas! (just to say, in case you were worried that the animals don’t get a regular clean bed, they do get cleaned out and fresh bedding regularly-mucking out isn’t just an annual job!!)

We have one member who has been very keen to clear out one of our barns on his own, its quite a task but he has been very committed to the job! Heres some pictures of him, busy and hard at it!

There’s still a way to go, but its looking much better already!

Recycling continues to be a regular activity, sorting crips packets, pens, snack wrappers……its amazing how many we get!

We have sent several loads of pens off to Shepton Sports Center for a collection there, thanks to a member of our team, seen in the picture with the box he made for our collection point!

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