I keep laughing and joking at the moment that my head needs booking in irvan upgrade. Work is so busy at present my head cant take anymore, things seem to go in one ear and out the other. Tonight proved this! I was just about to come up for a shower, i filled my evening drink up to think the water pressure is low, which sparked the thought did i turn the hose off from watering the pumpkins and marrows, NO!!!!!! Very well watered plants! I was amazed whilst being outside at dusk the huge amount of bats, i do love seeing them.

I am collecting three more pigs on Saturday! That will be our lot for the year a total of 15. Not bad. 

We are planning the weekend after to make sausages so the order book is open for joints, chops, hams, bacon and sausages. 

I helped mum worm the sheep on saturday, first time i have seen them for a while. Lotties lamb, Peaches is a stunner, every young lamb would love nice long curvacious legs and hair like her! A definate addition to the Furzedown Flock.

 

Well time for bed, sorry for the lack of photos i must clear my photo memory on my phone.

P.s i forgot the last  lot of this years meat  chixks have arrived.

I'm sitting at the kitchen table tying this post after a incredibly hot and humid week. The rain is pouring, and we have thunder lightening. I'm not a huge fan of storms but one we really need the pasture is so dry and in need of this rain.

We had to bring the sheep home from the kennels last night as they have eaten all of the grass and been push on next doors fence.  So hopefully this down pour will give it a new life and they can go back.

Pork sales have been absolutely amazing this last few weeks. Thank you to everyone who has purchased from us, we hope you are enjoying it as much as we do. 

We have had about eight new customers all enjoying sausages and pork joints. I even had a Mr Pigg buy pork from us! 

I was meant to have had yesterday off work, however that didn't

 Go to plan my phone started at 8am and I think the last call was 3.30pm. Every time I started something I ended up back in the house on my laptop. In between calls I spent the day yesterday smoking bacon and a ham. I look forward to a bacon sandwich on Saturday morning. 

We are off to the Southminster Show tomorrow, we are taking the goats. Dyes the kids are allowed out. I really hope they behave, I am planning on sitting next to their pen with with my spinning wheel in a perfect world. However I could end up sitting in the pen with them on halters!

Mum is taking Teresa the Oxford Down with her lamb Minie Minie. Dad is smoking and making sausages. Other members will be selling their produce, making bread and bringing chooks.

I love the Southminster show it's a great day.

I have planted lots of kale in our patch in the wood, I wrapped it up yesterday to protect them from the cabbage whites. Everything is looking really good. 

Last Sunday was a great dinner, we had home grown chicken, spuds freshly dug from the wood and lettuce from the poly tunnel. 

Anyway I'm off for a swim now before a few hours of work. 

The three pig carcasses were delivered home today. My sadness went as we opened the fridge doors and saw three excellent carcasses. The fat content was good. The last  lot of pigs were very fatty, but we tried to slow the feeding of these and are very pleased with the end carcass. 

I have been slacking with pork sales, we have sold 3/4 of a pig however i have lots   Left if any of our followers on here would like to purchase some this weekend. 

We have chops and joints as well as taking orders for bacon and hams. Not forgetting sausages as well! We have a new flavour this time a pork and sage sausage. We are also going to bd experimenting  with a pork and ale sausage. With ale from our local

Micro brewery Farmers Ales. We are going to use Gareths favourite beer from them Dark Horse which brews out at over  7%. 

Our hay was bailed this evening, luck would have it our days of hay carting are over with the marvels of modern technology. It will be loaded on the trailer for us and then we will fork it off when we bring it home.

Anyway i am off to bed early start in the

Morning Gareth is leaving home at 5.45.

P.s i have a  crook neck squash growing.

The cows have gone on holiday for the summer to our friend Sallys house. They have grass up to their backs and its hard work being a cow, you have to eat and sleep all day. 

The turkey poults have arrived ready for christmas. We have 25 this year, so if any of our readers would like a turkey please reserve  yours now to avoid disappointnent. We had such huge demand last year we could have sold twice the amount. 

We have also got another six meat chicks  to help stock the freezer up, hopefully by the end of the year we will have raised 18 for the freezer.

The garden is coming on well, the flower bed in the back garden has been im bloom since february. We have a huge array of perenials which are increasing year on year. Most the lavender is in flower and the dahilas are stunning. Mum was given a really pretty french lavender plant with white ears for her birthday, its so pretty. 

We also have the most magnifiscent arum lillies. I must take a photo and post tomorrow. 

Most if the potatoes are in flower so i hope soon we will be earing Furzedown Spuds.

The pumpkins/marrows/squashes are doing well i keep watering them and fingers crossed soon we can enjoy

Picking and  eating our crop.

The sheep are all well, mum is busy checking them at three other locations. She had a scare with Fred earlier in the week, he didnt come when he was called  and the grass is so long Mum

Couldnt see him. She is also really scared of Fred and his mate David the jacob, they always see Mum as a butting post. 

So she had to drive home to collect my brother to only find out Fred was in a really deep sleep enjoying the sun. Silly boy!

The horses are living out at the moment they are having a lovely time and are as fat as butter. 

We are making sausages next weekend, so an early start on Tuesday delivering pigs to the abbatoir. 

Im off to bed now i will share the lilly photo tomorrow. 

Over and out 

Danni 

I can't believe I haven't posted for a month, I am sorry to all of our followers. Summer is such a busy time of year. Time is very short at the moment, for me everyone seems to be building, and I am clocking up the hours at work. I am working on bathrooms at the moment about 48 of them for a prestige development in Hertfordshire. Hard work but very rewarding! Poor Gareth is working in Dover and a Dad is in Ramsgate so both are having to use the dreaded Dartford Crossing everyday. Mum is busy at work and also training for the race for life! She is marching around the Prom is Maldon as I type. If anyone would like to show their support to this good cause and Mums enthusiasm by sponsoring her please email her Donna@furzedown398.freeserve.co.uk.

Well all is well on the animal front, Esme didn't have a kid so her time with stinky didn't pay off. We do have a new steer Red. He is wonderful, he kisses me, I don't no how we are going to eat him! He might have to stay. He has settled in really well with Tilly and Tulip who has grown so much.

Most of the sheep have gone on their summer holidays now so it's quiet at home. The pigs are growing well, we have 7 left, and will be making sausages again at the end of this month. 

The vegetable garden is going well, mum has been busy! Although she is so disheartened at how the slugs are eating everything and the pigeons stripped her broccoli in a day. We now have a brassica cage and hopefully that will help. SLUGS the Bain of our life! Any tips please do tell us.

Our extended veggie garden in the wood is looking good the potatoes are flowering, we have leeks and sweet corn planted as well as a huge array of pumpkins, squashes and marrows on the muck heap. We are just staring to eat our raspberries this week. 

Elderflower cordial is made and will be for sale at the gate this weekend. 

Anyway off to work so I will endeavour to catch up soon.

Danni

Busy day shearing! All the sheep are now ready for summer!

The shearers sister Nancy has told me all about Halifax mill

 And how they will process small quantities of fleeces. So i am going to arrange to send a few of ours! I want it washed and carded into batts so i can spin it.

When we put Esme in the field, she insists of eating the trees on the way. She really is a big goat!

Its been a lovely weekend the weather has been good and we have done so much gardening.

Mum has all the gowing under way and a fair amount has been planted out. 

Maurice has been sieving muck with me with it so well rotted its like compost. 

We have so many different beans, broad beans, french beans, patio beans, climbing beans and runner beans.

The potatoes are doing really well, Gareth keeps telling me off for watering them! Most of the onions and shallots are planted and seem to be doing well.

Dad and Maurice have finished the drains for the cutting room and Maurice has restored the ground level by rotevating and Gareth harrowing with the quad.

Busy day tomorrow the shearer is coming! We have our sheep and Nigels to have their hair done. What Am i going to do with all those lovely fleeces? Make time use my wheel and spin, spin, Spin!

A photo to finish, Tilly and her baby!