Good morning,

My days are often too quickly filled with emails, delivery driving and faffing about in the yard - there’s always something that needs moving, packing or cleaning. When Nev asked me to help him move some cattle after lunch yesterday, I was very pleased to get out of the office and into the field. He’s certainly capable of moving the animals by himself but I think he knew I could do with some sun on my face.

So today’s email is a short round up of a quick field stop with my favourite cowboy.

First stop was to find our farming friend Hedley and marvel at his John Deere combine harvester in action. The ground is just dry enough to get on it with a bit of kit that big, and he was easy to track down by the cloud of dust that could be spotted from the lane. The wheat is cut close to the ground, the seed gets threshed from the straw & chaff, ready to be cleaned and stored. The straw is left in swaths or rows on the ground, which will dry out in the sun (fingers crossed) before being baled and driven to Trenchmore to bed up our cattle over the winter.

Then we went to find the animals that needed moving - a small group of pregnant cows, 2 young calves and our handsome wagyu bull, Duke. The electric fencing was disconnected and carefully rolled up, before being unravelled and switched back on in a different place to get this herd onto fresh pasture.

Nev pointed out how lush the grass is thanks to all the rain. It’s full of starch & nutrients, and our animals are back to gaining weight. The sunshine seems to be having a cheering effect on grass, animals & farmers alike.

Food on the farm

We’ve sold out for this evening’s supper club, and are now taking bookings for 1st September, which will be all about cooking over flames.

SoPi Pizza is in the yard tomorrow from midday, so join us for a pint and slice.