Good afternoon,
We are well into calving season so I went to see who I could find to share with you this morning. The girls were glowing in the morning sun - working it for the camera with perky ears, blonde tails and wet noses. We’ve had another set of miracle twins this year, which Nev has affectionately named Topside & Silverside. Topside wasn’t getting on so well outside, so Nev brought him back to the yard for bottle feeding. He’s now on solids and doing great, and Silverside is thriving in the field with mum’s full attention.
I’m about to make this year’s blend of mulled cider, which certainly signals a change in season. The late summer sunshine is great for the orchard as the fruit need both sun and chill to finish ripening. After a slow spring, we’re expecting a late harvest and will start testing our fruit for ripeness in a week or so.
The crop looks a little better than we initially expected but not a drop on last year’s so we’re still hoping for a good turn out at the apple swap, which kicks off in a week’s time. For anyone with surplus fruit, the details are here. We are also soon to start recruiting apple pickers so please email me if you’re interested.
A few tips for making sure your own apples are ripe is to twist the fruit 90 degrees and it should come off the tree easily, without any part of the branch or leaves attached. The pips should be brown and to be extra sure, you can test the starch has turned into sugar with iodine drops, which we have at the farm and you’re welcome to use.
The boys are serving burgers tomorrow, and Clare will be looking after the cyder tap and shop - which is well stocked with fillets, sirloins, denvers, brisket, short ribs and roasting joints.
She is also selling chilli plants, sauces and jams so pop in from 11am - 4pm to see what is available.
We don’t have much of an update after last week’s email, other than the stock has all been recalled and our new batch arrived back from the bottlers today. I want this newsletter to be honest about the good times and the bad times, both of which there are plenty in farming & food production. Even still, I’m always a little apprehensive to bring everyone’s attention to things that have gone wrong, and I am very grateful for the kind messages we received in response to last week’s email. I was reminded how lucky we are to have this community, who know that sometimes shit happens and how we pick ourselves up and move forward is what counts. So, thank you.
