It was a harvest of two halves. A dry spell, followed by three weeks of rain and then the sun came out again. Those three weeks of continuous rain were not happy weeks for farmers and our nerves were shredded as we waited to see what impact the bad weather would have on our crops.

However, we were not as badly affected as other areas of the UK, especially Yorkshire, where one poor farmer had his whole farmyard washed away by torrents of water.

We were expecting June to be a scorching month but it’s been surprisingly damp! We can’t complain because it’s kept our crops happy and healthy. So, what’s been going happening on the farm this month?

Mud Glorious Mud at The Cereals Event

On the 17th June Richard headed off to the annual 'Cereals Event' at Boothby Graffoe, just south of Lincoln. This is the main technical event of the year for arable farmers, and the best opportunity to learn about advances in arable farming.

The Wheels are Turning Again!

After a few Winter months of inactivity on the land, the extra-ordinary February weather heralded the start of the farming year and the wheels started turning in earnest. Sian's dad has been weather recording for 34 years, and this February he recorded the warmest maximum temperature since his records began; a sultry 21 degrees C on the 26th February. Needless to say, farmers all over Hampshire were hard at work making the most of the beautiful days.

The first job for Richard was to drill our spring beans. This year he is using a variety called 'Lynx' (I do often wonder about the people who market the names for seeds!). To me, Lynx is either a men's deodorant or an elusive, scarce feline. Here's hoping the beans are not that elusive or scarce this year! They had a terrible time last year with flooding and then drought, so we are hopeful growing conditions will be much better this year.