July 2005
Baby turkeys dying, cash flow-not, WWOOFer abundance!Oh what a frustration it is to look after livestock that isn't thriving and you just don't know why... we are having a dreadful time with these little turkeys. One minute you look at them and they're all find and dandy... next minute, 2 or 3 are dead. No one knows why or what or how to stop it and we're heartbroken.
The other hard thing this month has been that our cash flow seems to have stopped and we can't quite see why. Our friend Annabelle is currently trying to help us sort out the paperwork that's mountained on our desks... we know that we've been doing markets with just beef for the last few months and there's little pork in sight which definately makes a difference. But it is so wearing to work as hard as we do and find that the bank balance seems to get worse rather than better.
And in complete contrast, we have an abundance of help and life on the farm which is a joy to behold. Gloria is back digging and baking and bringing her experience of community living to the farm, Fabienne is proving invaluable driving the tractor, topping the fields and helping with farm plans, John and Rachel have taken up residence in the caravan and are supremely enthusiastic about anything and everything. This month has been a whirlwind of activity, bringing in the hay, hatching eggs, collecting wildflower seeds from The Haven in Swindon, digging up oak saplings (yes, I know it's the wrong time of year but it was either now or letting them be trampled by the cows), moving cows and electric fencing, fixing fences, sealing gutters, clearing ditches, oh yes, and Chris arrived for a week at the end of the month to reclaim the vegetable patch!
Phew!!!
Mum has given birth to her second calf... one drizzly summer morning, he arrived and within the day had found the teats and mum was nursing him without the aid of a safety net. What a joy.
We even found time in the middle of the month to welcome our family and friends to the farm... a beautiful summers day with good food, wine, company and the faint smell of farm wafting on the breeze!