The cost of livestock.

Oh dear. A visit to the rare breeds auction on Saturday left me reeling. No belted galloway or white park heifer for us! A beltie was withdrawn when bidding failed to reach over 1200 guineas. A smallholding friend was there to bid for some weaners...the saddlebacks went at 60 guineas each. Our rare breed crosses cost us £35 for weaners. If you are going to eat them, it seems pointless paying for the registration certificate.

Now, today we have had some rain at last. This evening is mild and sunny but alas, I am back to work and am busy doing the administration my job demands. (home based)

So, a short entry.

Don't forget to weed your garden every day though. They are sprouting every minute. My bug bear is the dreaded mare's tail. This will not be weeded or even killed. No wonder it is the longest surviving weed since pre-history! (pic, they are the spikes sticking up. I'll show you a full grown one later in the year)

Sad news.

I did say I would tell you some sad news...well out of the 5 lambs born only 2 have survived. This is indeed a heavy loss, especially to Betty which is the one ewe that lost both her lambs. She has a full udder at the moment but doesn't seem unperturbed, making me think that perhaps she isn't the perfect mother. The other 2 ewes have a lamb each so are happy.

The weather has been so dry that already I have to provide the cows with a supply of water...uinheard of in April! Cloud is showing definite signs of "bagging up" (increased size of her udder) so I am keeping my fingers crossed.

Meanwhile, I trudge up and down the field with water for the seeedlings in the pig pen, keep my greenhouse pots(pic) and the flower pots all well watered and so far everything looks very nice.

Rhubarb crumble again for tea but the purple sprouting broccoli is still producing new shoots so I am getting my vitamins.

Cool cloudy day but 14.4c on my weather station and rain forecast.

What a difference a week makes!

I have been up north during the week of sunshine and no rain!. I have returned to a JUNGLE!
My beautiful seed bed, in the old pig pen, has sprouted millions of tiny seedlings...weeds of course. There are brussel sprouts and a few spinach beet seeds and one pea as well.
So in a blitz this morning, I planted up some of my veg in pots in the greenhouse. Peas, runner beans, sunflowers, courgettes, leeks! The greenhouse seeds of broad beans and lettuce are doing well and there is no use planting up parsnips. Lets hope this will whizz them on a bit.
Also because the soil is so warm, I have put in my potatoes. I have used Marfona for the last 2 years with great success. So in they go again. The last of them from last year was used just a week ago!! So they also store well.
I cleared a raised bed ready for the parsnips, the 3 rd row.
I weeded the decorative beds for 2 hours.
I strimmed the front "lawn" and the worst of the long grass around the chicken run and "orchard". The speech marks are because the lawn is just a patch of green moss with lots of weeds in (see pic) and the orchard is 3 unproductive (no edible apples have yet been produced) apple trees, bent with the wind and knarled even though they are only 4 years old.
However...the place is alive with unfurling leaves and primroses, daffodils, grape hyacinths, pansies and the seeds of the self sown annuals. It looks nice.
Next post...the sad news.

Rhubard rhubarb

Yes, its time to pick the rhubarb! First crumbles ready for eating tonight!
It is a brief interlude for me at Sandal Farm as I am off to Scotland again tomorrow, having just come back from the wilds of the Cotswolds yesterday. Only a 2 day break but the sun shone and the trees and flowers were in full bloom.
There are two lambs again as Betty lambed on Sunday, the morning before I went off. A little girl lamb so no intervention needed as yet. She is a companion to Becky's boy and they are prancing around like...well, like happy lambs!
Sadly there isn't much activity in the seed beds. Only the cabbage has started. I am going to plant up in some pots when I return from Scotland and get them going in the greenhouse. The broadbeans in the greenhouse are looking good...but fancy having to grow broadbeans in a greenhouse!! The allotments in Warwickshire made me weep with envy.
Still...it's better than living in the Cotswolds because I have acres of moorland on my doorstep and get away from every living soul very easily. Today, I wouldn't see a living soul anyway as it's fog up here!
Catch you in a week's time.

And then there was one...

One lamb as sadly one died. The ewes can't count so I think twin lamb was left out in the cold wind for too long. He hadn't been mauled. It's a hard life. People ask why I don't bring them in but these sheep are very nervous and do not like to be in a closed space. While some breeds adapt to life in a pen, these do not. There is a shelter in the field but it is hardly ever used, and of course there are the walls and rushes which they do use.

Two more ewes to lamb and although it is damp today (Good Friday), it is very mild. Betty is all bagged up and ready to drop so I am keeping my eye on her.

The rain is needed for all the seeds I've put in. I have done the second sowing. I am still waiting two weeks until I put my potatoes in though. No rush up here!

No sign of a calf, even though Cloud had a show about 2 weeks ago. Our imprecise farming methods are cheap and animal friendly but a little haphazard!

Here's a picture of Cloud with her calf from 2 years ago, who is still with us.

Lambs and harrows.

The first lambs have appeared overnight. Two wee boys from Becky the biggest and oldest of the Shetlands. They are shivering in the wind this morning but tucked behind their mum by the shelter wall, seem happy enough. Of course, you can never tell with lambs. Last year we didn't loose any but we have done in the past.

The mild weather has got my started...I am re-building a stone wall that my neighbour knocked down last summer. I have re-started it once before but then he decided it would be in the way, a week's work wasted as he demolished it. He told OH to go ahead so I have attacked it with gusto. It is a mess of wire and pallets as it is the best way for Cloud to get into his field with all their uneaten spring grass.

The hay fields were harrowed yesterday, a lovely smell of cut grass! The farm shop look after these fields for us as they take off the grass for silage and keep it, except for the 3 or 4 bales that we need. So gardeners, get harrowing for a fertile, weed free lawn. I don't do my one lawn as it is mostly moss and looks green with it but would look bare without it. It is only for visual purpose anyway.

Happy Easter!

An Away Day

Every now and then I take a Sunday off to walk with my walking club. It is based in Huddersfield (as that is where I used to live) but someone will usually pick me up if the planned walk is in the Yorkshire Dales.

Today I left the dogs and spent the day tramping the hills on the opposite side of the valley from Ilkley Moor. The route was beautiful, starting and ending by the River Wharfe near Bolton Abbey, the company was the usual mix of sane and mildly eccentric walkers with a young couple whom I'd not met before and the weather was sunny. What more could I want.

Shame I have no photos, I am very bad at bothering with carrying a camera but any Yorkshire tourist site will direct you to the beautiful countryside that West and North Yorkshire have to offer.
There were lambs being born as we walked past but other ewes are still hanging on to theirs. The Shetlands are huge with their tiny bodies up to twice the girth, so it must be soon. I wish for good weather for the few days after birth so although rain is forecast this week, it is also going to be mild. So watch this space...

The picture shows where our ewes give birth. This was my first ever lamb, four years ago now.