More snow

Windows in the holiday cottage

The windows are in the holiday cottage!!

Carpark is finished!

The car park is now finished!

Permissive access map

The map is all finished for our permissive access on the farm - check it out!

New parking area

The new parking area for the permissive bridleway and farm walks has started again supported by the Higher Level Scheme (HLS) - so exciting!

New disabled access to the Baptism Pond

The first of our capital projects paid for by the Higher Level Scheme (HLS) is a disabled access pond to view the Baptism Pond and the vineyard - a really exciting development

Autumn colours

Autumn Berries

Autumn is so full of colour and lots of berries this year - a sign of another snowy winter??

Grass mix in the autumn

The grass margin plots - these plots promote spaces for beetles and invertebrates

Moles are busy

The moles are busy in the fields amidst the stubble!

Pest controllers having a debrief!

The cats have taken to meeting on the bonnet of a car for a quick debrief!

I loved these guys!

I could not resist these guys when I saw them on my travels in the Cotswolds - a mix of traditional breeds and full of individuality.  Suckler cows have such a strong mothering instinct and they are very protective. there was a strong wooden fence between me and their calves when I took the photos!

Phacelia plot

The previous photos have been of a mix of plants fodder radish, phacelia, and mustard (but only a small amount) - you cannot see the tritcale in the photographs but they contain this plant too to provide seeds for birds later in the season. This plot is just phacelia and it is vey busy.

More bees

More bees!

Bees in September

Bees love phacelia and we are looking at ways of encouraging it to flower in September and October so that the bees can access food all through the autumn. Great to see the bumble bees still as busy. There is no shortage of bumble bees on our farm!

Flowers for bees and butterflies at the end of September

Wheat in the store

After all the rain we have finally got the wheat in the grain store to feed the chickens for the coming season. Hurray!!

Holiday cottage

The holiday cottage is coming together... very exciting

History Walk

On September 11th we held a history walk on the farm - a great afternoon.

Poppies

The fragility of red poppies ...

More food for birds

Autumn is coming!

Winter bird table

The plots are ready in waiting to provide a source of seeds for seed eating birds to help them through the winter - mustard, fodder radish and sunflowers.

Floristically enhanced plot

The daisies are long gone now, but the plot is still a source of activity for insects both crawling and flying and still beautiful to the eye.

Can you see the spider's nests in the flower head - full of baby spiders when you get up close!

Sweet clover

The sweet clover has also been providing nectar for the bees all summer.

The flowers have nearly all gone now and much of the aroma, but it has kept the bees happy for months!

Red clover plot

The red clover has been magnificent this year - check out the activity on the trial plot.

Butterflies galore on the trial plots

This month the butterflies have been breath-taking - I hope my photos do them justice!

Not sure about the blue one is it a holly blue - any ideas??