Smallholding
To Bute / Pork / Apple pressing / Tree survey
Monday 23 October, 2017
Monday 2nd October
Wet and windy today. Spent the day in the office with routine paperwork but also had the foreword for a new book on smallholding to write.
Met with Martin and Dan to discuss future plans for the Festival.
Started feeding some straw to the cattle.
With the wind, we’ve a lot of windfall apples and pears so Dan juiced some of the apples. It’s lovely juice.
Dan, Paul and I had a look at the barn and firmed up on the plans for that. It will be top priority after we get back from holiday. Time wears on and I really want the cattle in by 1st November.
Bugs feet / Home cooking / Apple harvest / To-do list
Friday 6 October, 2017
Monday 25th September
Pretty dismal here today. The roofers arrived to repoint the chimney and do some minor roof repairs but were rained off; they came back when it cleared up in the afternoon, and the work is now complete.
Vet came to X-ray Bug’s sore feet this morning and to take a blood sample to check for Cushing’s and Equine Metabolic Syndrome. He was tested two years ago and was fine, but Robert wants to check again. The X-rays will help Jane, the trimmer.
Read more on Bugs feet / Home cooking / Apple harvest / To-do list
Apiary / Barn / Wood store / Gwenna's ear / Bug lame
Monday 25 September, 2017
Monday 11th September
Not as nice as forecast – and we need to cut the front lawn so that the pup can negotiate it safely – and visibly. The vegetable garden needs cut too. Hopefully, tomorrow.
Spent an oddly satisfying couple of hours cleaning the ponies’ field and digging ragwort.
Gwenna is proving to be a bin raker and scatterer of paper!
Processed more apples and roasted more tomatoes.
Roasted tomatoes for freezing.
Read more on Apiary / Barn / Wood store / Gwenna's ear / Bug lame
Bertie's stump / Gwenna / Rosie's neck / Wood store
Monday 11 September, 2017
Monday 28th August
Dry, overcast and windy – but warm. Feels a bit stormy.
If you read last week’s diary post, you’ll know that Bertie Cat had part of his tail amputated this morning.
Bertie and his stump, confined to barracks.
He’s home and seems fine but is confined to barracks at least until Thursday – and he doesn’t like it.
Read more on Bertie's stump / Gwenna / Rosie's neck / Wood store
Meet Gwenna / Wood store / Apiary / Bertie's tail
Wednesday 30 August, 2017
Monday 21st August
Dry today. Paul collected the timber for the wood store and is cracking on with that.
Wood store site ready for construction.
Limpy Pig is less limpy but not yet sound.
Popped to Forfar to pick up some feed – I’m having a few days “off” after we pick up the puppy on Friday, so need to be sure that there are sufficient stores in.
Read more on Meet Gwenna / Wood store / Apiary / Bertie's tail
Limpy pig / Carnoustie Show / P&K / A2 results
Thursday 24 August, 2017
Monday 14th August
More heavy rain showers but thankfully, they aren’t prolonged enough to cause any standing water in the fields. In fact the fields are pretty good.
The contractor arrived today to spread P&K on five of the six paddocks. He had a wee problem with low branches at one of the access gates – his GPS was on the tractor roof.
Spreading P & K.
Plums / Grazing / Milking cracked / Wood store started
Tuesday 22 August, 2017
Monday 7th August
Dry, sunny and windy today. Got news that we won’t have the grazing at Ravensby any more. That’s a real blow, especially with losing the grazing at Astwood as well. To be honest, my head has been right up my bum today. Didn’t even milk the cows.
We don’t have enough grass at home for the small herd of cattle and small flock of sheep in the numbers we have at the moment so I need to think hard about what we keep and what we sell. It was tears and snotters at the prospect of selling Rosie and Winnie.
Read more on Plums / Grazing / Milking cracked / Wood store started
Lammas / Apiary Renovation / Bees to Heather / Pickles
Wednesday 16 August, 2017
Monday 31stJuly
Nice day here. Gemma’s been strimming in the orchard, preparing the next paddocks for the poultry.
Poor milking but milked Rosie with the calf suckling – cows are holding up milk, as we were told by Tim Tyne so I have a cunning plan.
Dan took Bryn for a walk to the golf course and got some lovely photos.
Bryn x
Read more on Lammas / Apiary Renovation / Bees to Heather / Pickles
Flies / Kitchen purge / Ace home / Barn planning
Monday 14 August, 2017
Monday 24th July
Full sun today – feels like summer.
Annie has a couple of really sore teats and the flies are horrendous. That led to contaminated milk today, so the pigs will have a good tea tonight. Really annoying though.
Vaccinated the three calves with Bravoxin 10 and put Spot-On on the three cows, Winnie and the three calves.
Need to find a way of eliminating the fly problem at milking.
Tuesday 25th July
Indulged in some retail therapy and bought an Eazyzap fly killer.
Read more on Flies / Kitchen purge / Ace home / Barn planning
A wedding / Record-keeping / Cattle / Bread and cheese
Thursday 27 July, 2017
Monday 17th July
While doing the routine weekly paperwork, I’ve been pulling out the costs for this year’s pigs and meat birds. Because they are short-term discrete enterprises, it’s pretty simple.
Today we cleaned the eight birds we killed yesterday – they weighed 2.3kg to 3.4kg, totaled 22.3kg, average 2.79kg. I’ll do the same when we do the nine hens next week and see how much they cost us to produce.
As things stand with the pigs, if they have an average deadweight of 60kg, they’ll have cost us £3.73/kg to get them to the butcher.
Read more on A wedding / Record-keeping / Cattle / Bread and cheese
