In with a Bang, Out with the Fool... (Tupping Begins)

In our usual tradition, we'll start with the weather. Variable is the word that springs to mind here! Biblical amounts of rain, then gorgeous sunshine, gale-force winds, then snow in the forecast for next week, it's hard to keep up really. While the warm sunshine was nice, we're really quite pleased to see cold weather in the forecast considering the time of year. We need cold weather and frosts to help manage the pests and parasites which are spreading more and more across the country, bringing with them worrying diseases. Blue tongue is a continual threat for sheep and cattle farmers, as the midges which spread the disease don't die until there's been a sustained cold snap, and we're especially worried as ewes who contract the disease can abort their lambs, and there's very little one can do to prevent it's spread other than keep fingers and toes crossed!

Ice on the water troughs. It is a relief to have a cold snap at last!

On the sheep front, the rams went in on Bonfire Night, as is tradition for us. Sheep gestate for just under 5 months, so we can expect our first lambs to appear around April Fool's Day. In with a bang, out with a fool as the saying goes! Lloyd and Rambo were much admired by the ladies when turned out into the field with them, but poor Dougie (our Shetland ram) did not receive quite the welcome he had hoped for, with the Shetland ewes all taking one look and sprinting for the hills!

Thankfully after a couple days of getting accustomed to the idea of a strange man being in their midst, the girls have allowed him to join the group, but I think we can safely say that the Shetland lambs won't start appearing quite as soon as the other lambs! This will be the last year we use both Dougie and Lloyd, as next breeding season will include their own daughters, so to avoid any genetic mishaps we must move the boys on to pastures (and ladies) new. While it's still very early to be thinking of these things, we are gently starting to think about where to look for replacement rams for 2026. We will be sad to see these handsome rams go, but it's also exciting to think about what other good ones are out there! 

Rambo meeting his lady friends for the first time this year.

While the sheep are having a jolly time romping about and eating up the autumn flush of grass, the cattle are now all ensconced in the barn for the winter. All the rain has been much needed to compensate for the drought this year, but it does mean that the cows are beginning to poach the ground which damages the sward and also the soil structure, which in turn would compromise the grass growth for next year. Perhaps if dry weather returns they can be turned out for short spells over the next few months, which would be a treat for them, and also mean we wouldn't use quite so much straw and hay. Due to the dry conditions, crops did not grow well, and as such hay and straw have been very expensive to buy in, and we're very conscious of every bale we use, counting and double counting the barn to make sure that what we've got will be enough, or if we'll have to fork out and buy in some more provisions. We've all checked each other's maths though and the barn should be well stocked to see us through the winter. We have recently sold a couple of cattle, and are due to sell a couple more as breeding stock, to a fellow biodynamic farm down in Devon which is starting their own suckler herd. It's a beautiful set up, and we're really rather envious of our cows going off to live in such a lovely part of the world. 

The cattle are in, and grateful to be under cover!

A brief mention here for the garden, which we haven't discussed much in recent blogs primarily because it's in "sleep" mode now for the winter! There are a few salad crops growing under cover to stock the cafe, and some beetroots storing in the ground, but otherwise the rest of the garden has been seeded with a cover crop mix to cover the soil and feed the soil biome. This means that in the spring the soil will be full of extra nutrition which in turn will provide the crops with extra nutrition! Seed calendars have been released, meaning that it's time to start looking at what vegetables we want to grow. So many delicious and interesting veggies out there, it's hard not to buy everything!

Christmas veg box and Great Taste Gold Award winning turkeys - available to pre-order from the Pantry!

And finally, a quick reminder that if you're looking to stock up on sustainably produced festive food we are offering a range of goodies from free-range turkeys to Christmas cake to sprouts! Click here to see what it's in stock if you're interested, or send us an email with any enquiries. 

Until next time,

The Rush Farm team

Play time for the Shetland ewe-lambs in the evening sun.