ANOTHER great week of weather. It began with 24 hours of rain, which amounted to 30mm here on Manor Farm, although I do know the amount was quite variable just in our own county. Trouble is it soon dried up, as there has been a fairly strong, cool breeze for most of the time.

Otherwise days bathed in sunshine have done much to lift our spirits during this time of uncertainty. My garden has never received so much attention, but at least gardening is something I can do, so I’m very lucky.

The rain has helped the grass to grow and all our cereal crops are looking well, so we will have to wait and see if 2020 harvest is going to be successful. Ian and Kevin have recently serviced the tractors, changing fuel and oil filters , in readiness for silage making.

Ian and Jenny have erected some more stock-proof fencing, so that our Angus cattle could be allowed access to an adjacent paddock which needed grazing. The cattle all look very content as the munch their way through delicious spring grass, but the flies have become slightly annoying.

Since lambing, Kevin has been able to complete the field work needed on Chiverlins Farm. A seed bed was prepared in all the fields to be planted and the crops of spring barley, forage rape and peas have been drilled. Forage rape is known as a “catch crop".

This is a fast growing crop which can be planted and grown between two main crops and has good environmental qualities, such as maintaining or improving soil and increasing bio-diversity. Forage rape is a leafy brassica, ready to graze in 12 weeks. It is very palatable, high yielding, protein rich crop and ideal food for finishing lambs .

The peas planted are a variety called Daytona. This is a variety of pea belonging to a group known as “blue peas". They are used for pigeon and human food, the latter being to make canned mushy peas. Blue peas can be processed to make split peas, which are exported to the EU to be used in soups and sauces.The talk of mushy peas, which I am very fond of, makes me think of fish and chips. A combination of all three elements is delicious!

Sheep work has also been on-going, as Kevin’s father Francis, who checks the sheep every day, noticed one or two of the lambs were scouring. A faecal sample was quickly collected and given to the vet for analysis. It was found to contain a single cell parasite (protozoa) which undergoes its simple life cycle in the sheep’s gut damaging the lining.

It is most commonly found in young lambs between two and eight weeks of age, as they start eating more grass. Following the diagnosis the ewes and their lambs were soon rounded up to be treated. It was a problem which had not occurred since an outbreak 20 years ago. The infection is commonly known as coccidiosis .

I continue to enjoy my daily walks. Armed with my pocket camera I am constantly on the lookout for animals, flowers, plants insects or anything else that may show itself. The birdsong at the moment is unbelievable, as territory is guarded and fledglings fed.

Many different butterflies are on the wing and I have seen many small common blues. However it is the bluebells that take centre stage at the moment. They are abundant along hedgerow banks on Manor Farm and the adjacent woodland is a sight to behold, a sea of blue beneath a canopy of developing green leaves.