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Sunday
A lovely day, fresh with some sunshine and a break from the rain. Checked on ewes and
the sow that’s due to farrow, and watered the ewes and lambs in the lambing shed. DK
(our farm student) is on duty today and is feeding the pigs out in the fields. Mum and my sister Sue came over to walk for the first
time in months, so we went to Hulestone Point beyond Selworthy Beacon with the
dogs. The view is breathtaking, but we see the beach shingle ridge has been breached in
another place. Lovely lichen in among the heather. Picnic on organic yummies and
then walk down over the farm – no better place to be on a day like this.Home to find sow had 13 piglets, but
squashed one. Tried desperately to revive number 13, but no good. The other 12 are
fit and well, however, and so cute. Fed dogs, tidied our farm shopfront and shut in ducks.
The ducks are ‘a-dabbling up tails all’ – at least they like all this week’s rain. |
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Monday
Roger to the local abbatoir with this week’s stock
at 5.30am. Rain, rain and more rain – torrents of
it, ugh! A fence is down, what a
day to do repair jobs. Everywhere is flooded and the
stream is now a raging torrent – it’s created a
lake behind the farm shop.
Unblock drains, check everything. Slates are off,
gutters beyond help: water’s coming in behind the
chimney. Discover no water is
coming out of the taps – don’t believe it! No
water in the cottages, pig or lambing sheds, the
cutting and processing ‘white room’ – or
the main farmhouse – nightmare. NT up to see water
treatment system.
They think there may be a leak from the pipe at the
reservoir. David our son goes through three sets of
clothes and wears his
bike to check the cattle out – I have to laugh.
Check e-mails, answer calls for meat orders. I have
guests arriving on Wednesday, and
no water. Roger is out till all hours carting water to
the animals. Do chores, feed sheepdogs, shut in ducks.
A very stressful day,
and I don’t sleep well. |
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Tuesday
Another rather wet day. Check stock. Bread to shop, put up special offer meat signs: have
arranged for Adam to do our turn in the shop, as I must be at the farm to sort out the water problems. Give boys breakfast: do the
books. Attempt the big clear-up: the shop has been trashed but the white room was luckily missed by water invasion, thank
goodness – it’s vital to our business now, and our own and the NT finances that went towards it wouldn’t be available again.
In between answering the phone (our guests who’ve come every year for 14 years
rang to confirm – great), spend ages going up and down to the field trying to find the
water answer. There’s a fox right down by the ducks, and it’s only 4.30pm. I reckon the
foxes cost me £500 last year in lost ducks and chickens, and they’ve just got the goose.
Sort out meat orders, do chores as normal. Perhaps the farm is not financially
viable, but you have to go where your heart goes: after three generations of care here, we are proud of our now organic farm. End day
with no water still. |
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Wednesday
Walk dogs over to the top field to check stock. We’ve got some fields that have never
been touched with fertiliser. I think we’re getting things right – the balance between
practicality and profit. We’ve just had the soil analysed: very expensive but a vital farm practice. We’ve got good enough grass
to finish the stock on, but we’re having to buy in organic pig feed, and we’ve got to
work out if that is cost-effective and keeps our pork at a reasonable price.
The weather has eased off, and our guests have arrived. They go for a walk around our
woodland ‘duck trail’ and saw red deer, a green woodpecker and buzzards.
Last dust and clean, prepare sheets for guests arriving tomorrow, and fill their hamper.
But what about the water? I suggest a bowser: more phone calls, and promises it
will be here by 8pm. Work on our advertising, do chores, collapse into bed. The bowser
arrives at 9 o’clock the next morning. |
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