Blazing into June
Young blogger Jack reflects on a busy period at Hill Top Farm. With shearing over, it’s all systems go to be ready for the impending harvest.
Shearing
Shearing was pretty straightforward this year. We had long spells of dry weather so it was all wrapped up in a few days. Mostly. Two Welsh ewes decided they didn’t like the idea of being shorn so they took off through a gap in the fence, just as we were gathering them into the sheep shed.
While the rest of the flock stood lean and newly pitched, grazing after getting their woolly coats removed, the two rogue ewes stood at a safe distance. They were still visible, as if they were taunting Dad with their full fleeces.
Repairing
There are plenty of jobs to be done between shearing and harvest. Dad started by repairing the gap in the fence so the two woolly escapees wouldn’t be able to take the same escape route twice. There was a boundary fence to tackle in the Pig Plot as well. The fencing wire, posts and stakes have become much more costly now, but the replacement fence had to be done.
Preparing
The machinery for harvest needed servicing too. It’s always quite exciting to get the rake, tedder and baler out of the shed to dust off the cobwebs. I helped Dad to grease the machines, oil the chain on the baler and check for missing tines. We stocked up on a few spare tines (just in case), bale wrap and bale net. Then, after a bit of deliberation, Dad decided it was time for a new mower. The old drum mower had been a trusty servant for at least 30 years. Grandad bought it back in his day. It’s pretty compact, which was a strength when it was bought and put to work behind a Ford 4610. Now it just feels a bit too small and last season it had started rattling, giving notice. We pulled it out of the shed with the rest of the implements to see Dad decided he would have to change up. When he suggested that I could go with him to the dealer, I didn’t need to be asked twice. In the end we went for a ten-foot disc mower, twice the width of the old one. We’d have the fields cut in no time at all. We just had to hope that the dry weather would hold. As the new mower arrived on the yard it started to rain. It rained all week. Watching the weather forecast twice wasn’t going to change that. Dad said we would just have to find some other jobs to get on with while we waited for the weather to clear up. And with that, the two rogue ewes turned up on the yard. They had decided it was time for a haircut.
Jack – Farmer in Training
Jack was born to farm. He just loves helping out his dad, and his trusty dog Meg is never far away. Farming is in his blood and bones. He has his own small flock of sheep, a few hens and some calves. He has great plans to expand his own enterprise (though Dad says he has to learn to walk before he can learn to run). He may be little but his ambitions are huge.
