July 2024

Full moon

The bell tent is back, silhouetted by an extremely bright full moon. The cockerels crowing at 5 am are not necessarily conducive to restful tent life though! The cows have made good progress getting through the grass in the field they have taken up residency in. They have also stopped charging away when you walk along the road next to them, which was their party trick when they first moved in.

Bex with Denise.

The Mom’s

Maverick’s flock has expanded. His 2 chickens weren’t fulfilling his cockerel needs so we have added 3 more girls to the flock. The new additions have followed the tradition of being named after mothers, so our weekend guests got to add their respective hen names. The next generation has also come into play with a Grandma's name included. We have:
Denise - a Sussex Star
Jean - a Copper Blue Maran
Wendy - a Speckled Star
After a week in the chicken run with their own house, the new girls integrated smoothly into the main flock and are now staying in the big house. They still keep in their 2 sets of 3 more than as a collective but exist in harmony.

Integrated into the flock with Maverick the big man.

Majestic Barn Owl, resting whilst hunting.

Other visitors

There have been a variety of visitors, some more welcome than others. We were very pleased to see this beautiful barn owl. It hunted in the field before resting on a garden post, staring directly into the caravan. It must have seen me taking pictures as it flew off shortly after. A less-welcome guest is a mole that has taken up residence in the “well-maintained field”. He could have spent time in other places but his molehills would have been less visible in the grasslands! Every night we wake up to another half a dozen mounds, although the mounds do make a good source of topsoil which can be used to mulch the fruit trees.

Blackberries

The garden has started to produce some crops. This blackcurrant bush had a healthy yield of tasty berries. The rhubarb has also done well in its first year, we will let it settle for this year and hope to get a good early crop next year. The Swiss Chard and Kale have been other successes, which I’ve been sautéing with garlic for lunch. The sprouts are doing well and they should be ready for Christmas dinner. This week I’ve planted a few more later crops like spinach and rocket that hopefully will provide some output before the weather turns.

Thanks for reading, love from Hillside Farm x

PS Avvy would like you to know she’s a big fan of the peas from the garden and will sit like a very good dog to get them fresh from the pod.