Down on the Farm

The countryside is bursting into life the trees are budding and hedges greening up.  Our roadside verges are a picture with primroses, dandelions, wood anenomes adorning the banks.  The garden is creeping out of its dormant winter with the daffodils in full bloom and the blossom just out, magnolia just about to burst.

On the farm we have had several lambs born and they are enjoying lazing in the sunshine and running in the lamb races up and down the field.  Our spring barley planted two weeks ago is just about to burst through and our winter sown crops are growing with the lovely sunshine and longer daylight days. 

Some friends took me to Hever Castle a couple of weeks ago, the weather was fantastic and what a beautiful setting.  The Castle formerly belonged to the Boleyn Family, Ann Boleyn one of Henry VIII wives.  The gardens even though just coming to life were quite spectacular and I’m sure are whichever season you visit.  There is plenty of room to move around and quiet areas to sit and relax and soak up the atmosphere.  Well worth a visit.

Spring on the farm

Thought I should ressurrect my blog after hibernating all winter!

We have finished our first batch of lambing.  We lambed 350 ewes in February and lambs and mums are all now out in the fields, the lambs enjoying lamb races and growing fast.  We were pleased to welcome several guests in February who came for an insight into lambing.  We are now seeing signs of Spring with the trees just budding and the first of the daffodils in bloom, and I have given the lawn its first cut of the season. 

Andy has been busy ploughing the ground preparing it to plant Spring Barley in between keeping the pigeons and rabbits off the oilseed rape which was planted in the autumn.

I recently had my annual inspection from the Quality in Tourism team for my bed and breakfast accommodation.  This year was a mystery guest staying overnight, all went well I am pleased to say and I have again been awarded my 4 Stars plus a Silver Award and this year an additional breakast award for which I am very proud of.

The bluebells are beginning to push through so not long before we see the woodlands covered in carpets of wood anenomes and bluebells.  The wild ducks have returned to the pond and paired up and the frog spawn is hatching so Spring is definitely on its way a great time of year to get out and see the countryside.

August already

Can hardly believe it is the 1st August.  The contractor arrived with the combine on Friday and made a start on harvesting our Oilseed Rape which was coming off quite well and a nice sample, rain overnight meant we ground to a halt yesterday, but this meant Andy was able to come with me to celebrate a friend’s 50th birthday in the evening.  They have been combining today, but a heavy shower has just gone through so no doubt that will be it for today.

We let the two new Indian runner ducks out of the run yesterday, they enjoyed the pond and being able to have a proper bath instead of a paddle and seem to have made friends with the other ducks, they all went to bed in the same house last night so that is a good sign.  Looking forward to some tastie duck eggs from them soon.

We popped into Wye the other night it is only a 10 minute drive and we had a very nice meal at the New Flying Horse, we were celebrating Maria’s excellent 2nd year university results.

This week I have been busy making some cherry plum jam which turned out very well and we have been eating some very delicious Kentish cherries.

Sunny Elmsted

Another sunny day here at Elmsted, so far we have managed to escape any rain, the weather is just right for my guests.  Over the past few days we have had several Europeans, French, German and Dutch.  My guests, having spent a wonderful day at Leeds Castle yesterday,  have headed off to the beach today, they were looking for a sandy beach so I suggested St Mary’s Bay on the Romney Marsh about 25 minutes away. 

Maria brought some delicious fresh apricots home the other day so after eating quite a few, decided to make some apricot jam, and I have to say I am pleased with the results and hope my guests are too.

There is an abundance of local fresh fruit available this year, the Garden of England certainly knows how to grow it well.  There are delicious strawberries, raspberries and juicy cherries and the apples will not be far away – can’t wait for an English apple.

2 Little Ducks

Another lovely sunny day here at Elmsted, we have some new arrivals – two beautiful Indian Runner Ducks were given to us yesterday.  They are settling in to their new home and making friends with our other ducks – a lot of quacking going on.  They both need names – we are open to suggestions!!!

We are about a week away from the start of harvesting our Oilseed Rape, our neighbours have been busy combining their barley.

After a welcome drop of rain yesterday, I am off to do a bit of gardening!

Kent Show

We popped up to the Kent Show on Friday, an enjoyable day, catching up with several farming faces.  Stuart and Maria took 6 Charolais lambs up to enter in the Young Farmers Competitions, unfortunately we were unplaced against the strong competition from the many school clubs, but its the taking part that counts – so they say. No prizes to bring home this year – just the dirty washing!! 

The sun is shining with a bit of a breeze but everything is looking greener since that drop of rain last week.

Another glorious sunny day at Elmsted,  what a great summer so far.  We have been very busy on the farm, shearing the sheep, making hay and preparing for harvest. Our numerous guests have been enjoying this glorious weather and have made good use of the garden and trampoline

What a difference a day makes – lovely sunshine today, drying up nicely.

The first sheep and lambs went out on the grass today, but still no more babies.

Time to get out in the garden I think!!!

Latest news from Elmsted

Well what a miserable day it has been outside today.  Fog and drizzle all day most unpleasant, but that’s what we have to expect being 450 ft above sea level. 

We had a new arrival today one single Charolais lamb, those born nearly a fortnight ago are growing like crazy.

We are preparing to plant some beech hedge and hang a gate so plenty of mud around at the moment.

Hello world!

Well this is a first for me – a blog!

Elmsted Court Farm is a 250 acre sheep and arable farm and we are situated in the Kent Downs, a beautiful part of Kent with rolling hills, green pastures and woodland. 

On the farm we have 300 breeding ewes all of which are in lamb.  We have 20 Charolais ewes which are supposed to be lambing at the moment but so far we have only had 3 produce, I think they have been waiting for the snow to disappear.  The remaining 280 are due to lamb from 5th February so a busy few weeks ahead.  We have a sheep dog called Millie, a Llama called Luke and several chickens and ducks.

We  do bed and breakfast in our beautiful old farmhouse which has lovely oak beams and is very cosy, we have two rooms which are both en-suite and great for a quiet relaxing break or a quick stopover before going to France.  We also have the converted Dairy which is our self catering cottage and sleeps 5.