Hi folks


We have had a very cool start to the summer this year. The early spring was warm in April, May and June have been cool. It has meant that the vegetables are not growing as quickly as in other previous years. The cool weather has been holding things back a little. We planted oats and grass and managed to keep the birds off it but the rabbits have moved in now. There has been an explosion of rabbits on the Island this year.

Henrietta our sow only had 5 live piglets this year, unfortunately she lost some which can happen. We hand reared 2 of them on goats milk after she laid on them and we had to take them away to let them recover. We decided not to put them back with her in case she rejected them. Two of the little boars have gone to new homes but we have kept the 3 gilts. All the pigs are outside in their summer quarters now on grass.

We didn’t have any lambs this year as the ram we borrowed was firing blanks! We may get some in the lamb sales later in the year to fatten up.

For the first time this year we set duck eggs in the incubator and hatched 9 out of 12 eggs, the little birds seem to doing quite well. 21 young Light Sussex birds are presently ensconced in a new house in the market garden so that we can move them around the growing area as crops are harvested. We have also put some goose eggs in the incubator and we wait to see how many hatch.

The new fruit cage which was created last year is looking good and the trees and bushes which we planted are all blossoming.

The woodland continues to expand slowly as we plant more native trees and hope that by next year we will be able to see a difference in the biodiversity of the area.

The peats have been cut but it is taking quite a while to get them to dry this year. We hope we can get up to the peat bank again to set them up to dry before the midges move in.

Until next time …..

Dave and Jane