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Our Goslings
Writing this newsletter gives me a nice chance to sit and reflect on what has happened during the last month and what we will be up to next. This time I really couldn’t believe another month had passed and initially thought what on earth can I say! However, on reflection, it’s been as busy as ever and the change in the weather has given a great chance to get some of the things done that it was just too hot to do earlier in the summer. It has also given a realisation that autumn is fast approaching, and with that another long list of must-do's arrive!
So a quick recap of the month: Our little Barnacle Goslings are growing fast and we have started to introduce them to our big geese, this is going well; the goslings being so fast and flappy that that even Perkin our gander seems to have quickly realised he has no chance of out-running two silly teenagers!
Having enjoyed the lovely little quail eggs from our flock of quail for sale, we decided we should really keep more quail ourselves and have renovated one of our older chicken houses, setting up a quail aviary by our house; the little call of the cock bird is lovely to hear nearby and we are already getting 2 dozen eggs a week from just 4 little girls.
The bees are still working hard in their beehives and have stored a good crop of honey, this will be left on the hives for their own use through the winter. Our bees really struggled at the start of the summer, so it has been fantastic to see them building up and getting stronger, the least we can do is leave their golden crop for them to enjoy!
We have continued with extra clean-outs and red mite treatments to all the chicken pens to ensure the red mite stay away - probably going over the top but we are determined here to keep these mites away - as many of our chicken customers will know from experience, it is a nightmare to treat once an infestation sets in, and on our scale we just can’t let that happen. A new flock of little bantams have arrived and are settling in well.
Our electric van had its first service! (Not sure what they service in an electric motor!?) This means we've had it a whole year now - which really does make me wonder where the time has gone - (probably driving around doing deliveries!) The van has been great for us, charging from our solar panels has worked out really well saving both energy and money.
We had a lovely afternoon at Crowhurst fayre, helping on the horticultural stand by the observation hive, talking to many about bees and all things smallholding! Next month we are off to Scotney Castle for their Hop and Honey Fayre - let’s hope we are again lucky with the weather!
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