A cold, grey but dry week means that though our pastures are much drier the grass has not been growing and lambing has begun – with our first lamb of the season aptly arriving on the first day of spring!

Tim has spent much of this week getting the barn ready for the sheep after the suckler herd was moved out on Monday and the young stock on Tuesday.

The amount of material coming out of the barn is certainly going to put pressure on our composting area so we have taken the plunge and bought a second hand muck spreader – that should arrive on Monday though there is no question of using it immediately.

Spring seems to have finally sprung and it is wonderful to see ‘a host of golden daffodils’ in full bloom all down the driveway.

Calving began on Friday with the arrival of a heifer calf. Her mother was rather protective so checking things out had to be managed cautiously!

Becky and Jasper had another good week working against a tight schedule in which we hope to be supplying Worcester Roots salad crops next month.
Last night we all sat down to an evening meal to mark the end of Joaquin’s time in the UK. He spent his first night here and now his last. Anne and Chris excelled themselves on the cooking front with the bulk of the ingredients being our own produce. We suspect he is the first and possibly the only Wwoofer to come from Chile.

Next week we expect to see two new faces on the farm and one who has been with us before – all here to help with the lambing.
Yesterday our young volunteer working towards his Bronze D of E award spent time with Chris feeding and checking the animals and reported that he had enjoyed himself very much – just what one hopes to hear.
I have to confess I did not turn the radio on at 6am to see if my interview with Alice from BBC Hereford and Worcester was broadcast! I did however read the article in the Guardian newspaper yesterday about investing in green energy projects and was delighted at the write up of the current SCBS offer – here’s hoping!
– Farmer Adrian