As with all things farming (and gardening) the weather has been the biggest talking point for months now. As you may well remember, last year was one of the wettest on record and during the months of March to May '24 we had a whopping 12" of rain, which left us unable to do any landwork. Move on 12 months, and this year has been one of the driest on record with only 2.1" for the same period! So a transition from hideously wet to exceptionally dry.
January is proving to be a really tricky month for garden birds as high winds and heavy rain make feeding a challenge. Time at feeders is reduced because, quite simply it is difficult to hang on when branches and feeding stations are being constantly buffeted. So to help your garden birds out, try to relocate feeders , where you can, to more sheltered areas of your garden; perhaps in the lea of a garden hedge or bush.
In terms of feeding, offer them the highest quality and highest energy foods - that will help them to maintain their calorie intake during the reduced time they are able to feed. Check out our Winter Warmer Range of bird foods - all of which have the highest calorie content so desperately needed at this time of year. Just look out for our Winter Warmer Logos!
And of course, whilst the days are starting to lengthen, they are still very short in January - contributing to the significant challenge for garden birds.
The third thing you can do is put up some nest boxes or place a few nesting pouches or pockets which will act as a simple shelter to high winds and driving rain. These are an effective and cheap way to provide more shelter.
National Nest Box Week takes place every February (starting on Valentine's Day) and heralds the start of the breeding season. With all this bad weather we are currently experiencing, it seems unlikely that garden birds will be considering romance, but you will begin to hear more birdsong in your gardens, as many species will start to establish their territory and attract potential mates to nest. Every year our family business gets behind the initiative which was started by the British Trust for Ornithology ( BTO ) and we will be offering a range of nest boxes to help support romance and true love! More about this in my next newsletter.
Look after your birds.
With best wishes from me and the A Team (that's these guys! ) here on the farm!
Lesley
Despite the wet weather in October, we managed to get our winter wheat drilled and we are still delighted with the performance of our new drill. This year we are trying a new wheat variety called 'Bamford' which is a soft milling wheat. If it grows the way we would like it to, and it meets the spec next harvest, it will go off to Spain for Spanish bread making. So much, however, will depend on the weather at harvest time. The other wheats we have planted are Grade 1 and 2 hard wheats, and these will stay in the UK for bread making if we get the quality. So many outcomes are determined by the weather!
We finally have our new grain store up. The wet weather delayed the start of the project, but it is now done! The whole barn was erected in 10 days by only 2 chaps working together. It was quite incredible to witness. All elements of the barn arrived pre-made and the guys used state of the art cherry-pickers to manoeuvre all the components into place. It was very impressive.
This new addition will allow us to store a lot more grain on the farm (approx. 14,000 tonnes). This will ultimately save us a lot of money, since much of our wheat and barley currently has to go to a central store which incurs significant transport and storage charges. There are also hefty charges for looking after the grain—things like drying charges and even cooling charges on hot summer days! So it makes financial sense to be able to do it ourselves.
Stage 2 for us is to complete the barn so that it's ready for harvest 2025. We still have to put down concrete, install doors and electricity for grain drying, all of which are significant costs—but we are committed now!
Stock up on these feeds to help your birds cope with the cold weather. We're currently offering a 10% DISCOUNT on all of these products—but that offer ends at midnight on Saturday 14th December, so be quick!
The robin's favourite!
A super high-energy seed mix with delicious suet and crunchy mealworms. Christmas Crumble™ is a delicious, festive choice that's sure to be appreciated when the weather is chilly.
Supreme food for winter!
Tidy Garden Suet Boost™ is a high-energy seed mix with added suet. A really good choice for this cold weather!
Wholesome, high-quality peanuts for wild birds.
Our Classic Peanuts have a really high oil content, which adds calories and helps garden birds to fend off the cold.
Delicious insect-flavoured suet in bite-sized nibbles!
These high-energy Insect Suet Pellets will stay soft and digestible even during the coldest of days.
Here at Really Wild Bird Food, we stock a fab variety of Christmas presents for bird lovers and wildlife enthusiasts. Click the link below to have a browse!
CHRISTMAS GIFTS FOR BIRD LOVERS
And of course, what could be a nicer gift than some gift vouchers to spend with us this winter?
Christmas in our house certainly won't be relaxing this year, because we have a new family member.
Meet Liza! She is now 10 weeks old and and a bundle of trouble. I am not sure how wise it will be to put up a Christmas tree...we may have to go bauble and tinsel free.
Enjoy your birds, and don't forget to make the most of our winter warmer savings—on offer until 14th December.
With very best wishes,
Lesley (and Liza!)
Brrr! It's snowing in many parts of the UK and very cold in most! Temperatures have plunged as cold Arctic air has swept across the UK, and we need to act quickly to help our garden birds. Snowy conditions make it difficult. The variety and abundance of natural food sources has been challenging this year. You may have noticed how sparse insects have been, and the autumnal hedgerows have been very scarce of fruit and berries. So this cold snap has added more challenging times for garden birds.
We managed to get the main of our harvest into the shed in good time, with crop results mirroring what seems to have happened across most of the UK: some crops yielding exceptionally well and some surprisingly badly, mainly due to the atrocious weather we have had all year.
Richard has a rain gauge in the garden which measures rainfall with a fair degree of accuracy. A 'normal' year's rain here on the farm (although the concept of 'normality' is something far removed these days!) would be around 33 inches, but from 1st October 2023 to 30th September 2024, we had 60 inches of rain - an incredible 5 feet!
June is a month that hosts a number of farming events, in what is usually a quieter work month ahead of a busy harvest season. It's a good time for farmers to meet socially and attend educational events.
This is the time of year when crops are growing like crazy and passing through their growth stages very quickly. This means that we have to be extremely vigilant, inspecting them regularly.
Steve, our agronomist, visits regularly to check crop health and advise on the prevention of fungal disease by the application of fungicides. Getting the correct timing for fungicide applications for wheat can be difficult (because of the very rapid growth) but it is extremely important.
Here's a little fact that may help you out in a pub quiz one day: every inch of rain that falls produces 8kg of nitrogen per hectare for the soil.
Rain is by far the cheapest source of N fertiliser available to us. That's why most of Britain's dairy farms are on the west coast, where the higher rainfall super-fertilises the grass and keeps the cows well fed. It's also the reason why our farm looks so green at the moment. In the last five months, we have had 33 inches of rain - just a bit less than our normal annual rainfall! Surely it has to stop soon...?
