Farming

Well, we’re over the bleakest months of the year. I can’t say that the coldest part is yet over because recent years have brought a cold east wind during March and April.

Last Autumn I responded to a Facebook advert which was requesting Leeds based artists.

As we leave the old year behind, I keep seeing online posts about what a horrible year 2022 was, but I think that in the next decade we may look back with nostalgia and accept that it wasn’t so bad after all.

I can take things a little easier this month. Apart from bagging and selling potatoes, I can catch up with jobs around the farm.

The hot, dry summers we get now are not conducive to growing potatoes. Once the temperature exceeds 25 degrees, potatoes go into survival mode and the yield suffers.

As I write, harvest is now almost over, with one small area of spring barley remaining.

Again, this year, a cold dry spring has become a hot dry summer. The record temperatures have forced the cattle and sheep to remain indoors for shade during the afternoons…

Over the Jubilee weekend I finished shearing the sheep. I have reverted to hand shearing because the sheep sit quieter without the noise and vibration of machine shears.

May has been a month of catching up on work which should have been done during April.

A month ago, I had the feeling that I was starting to catch up with my work. The sun was shining and the land was drying out after winter.