July's Pick of the Month

The premium Tidy Garden™ seed mix is always our number-one seller, but never more so than during the summer months when people are out in their gardens and don't want to be looking at messy sprouting seeds and untidy feeding areas.

Of course, this year's drought has made it more difficult for left-over seeds to germinate – but it's still great to know that everything is eaten up and your garden will remain mess-free!

We've taken 15% OFF all Tidy Garden Mix™ pack sizes for the month of July. Prices start from just £9.31 for 2kg of bird food. This is a really good opportunity to try a fantastic feed at a great price!

Save 15% on Tidy Garden Mix™

And don't forget: you can save a further 15% if you CLICK & COLLECT from the farm!

Another pick of the month for us: pulling wild oats!

We have taken on more land this year, which will enable us to keep up with the demand for all our bird seed crops. Unfortunately the new acquisition has some quite large patches of wild oats growing, which need to be removed before harvest. If they are allowed to remain, they will profusely shed their seeds and create an even bigger problem next year, and the only way to do it is to get out there are pull them up by hand!

Luckily, we have fantastic staff members (and a daughter home from uni) who have been willing to get onto the land and give us some help. We are very grateful to them all. We have a great team working for us; everyone willing to muck in.

Left: a handful of wild oats. Right: another glorious day and a 7am start to beat the heat!

As I write this, the harvest has just started. Richard is off to start combining our oilseed rape. The first day of harvest is always an exciting day, usually filled with trepidation and the big question: 'will the combine be trouble-free?!'

There is a huge amount of work undertaken in the weeks running up to harvest time. The combine is thoroughly serviced and checked for any parts which need replacing (and there are invariably some significant repairs and replacements needed). This year it was the water pump – always an expensive item to replace – and the poor design of this particular combine meant that accessing it was extremely tricky; a real headache for our mechanics. All the trailers and grain moving equipment are given a 5* clean, as are the grain stores which will be housing our newly-harvested crops. Shiny and spotless!

Lots more news to tell you in my next newsletter, but until then.... stay out of the heat and enjoy your garden birds!

With very best wishes,
Lesley

P.S. I may need a physio after this!