. . . . . And so spring springs, as ever

There's something about lambs  .....

No.2 ewe, on the left here, gave me some sleepless nights.  For weeks she was globular, with an udder like a football.  But she had just the one lamb, this morning, large and fit, and both are healthy.



 
This not-so-little mite was no.1, born three days ago, and is getting deeply curious about his human carers already.








And here are the first twins.  Their spotty knees are the genetic inheritance from their mum; her breed is mostly Ryeland, a medieval breed based locally, between Hereford, Ross on Wye and Monmouth, and developed to make the most of the local red soil which lacks some minerals.  We've always found they do well here; should I go back to that breed after my trial of primitive Hebridean sheep?  My major problem with the Hebs is their colour - black - impossible to find under a hedge on a dark night.  I hadn't thought of that.

But don't forget the veg garden! It's still claggy and water-bound, but now is time to start sowing - broad beans in the tunnel, and tomatoes, celeriac, chillis, and more in the greenhouse.  The ground would be warming now if it weren't so wet.

Wet

"Wet" doesn't do it justice  . . . . .  In the past 8 weeks the farm has had 500mm (20 inches, in old money) of rain.  To put ir into context, the hot dry year of 2003 gave us a total of 636mm in the whole 12 months. Most years we get around 900mm.

Not much can be done in these conditions!  The higher end of the farm is just very wet - but the bottom is completely sodden from the rain rushing off the lane and through the fields on its way to the stream.  The veg garden is in the middle.  There will be more slugs than soil come spring.  Thank goodness there are no pigs on site right now.

 
Wet sheep.  I've moved them uphill now; their new field will soon be a bog too.






Wet hens.  They spend the day sheltering by the back door.  No wind or rain there, but lots of mess for me to step through.




I'm still hibernating.  Roll on spring!  And the fun of tackling those slugs!  Wwoofers, you will be so welcome!