4th May 2023

A Week on the Estate: 12,000 Vines, 220 Kilowatts & 20 Activities

We offer our warmest congratulations to His Majesty King Charles III on the advent of his Coronation on 6^th May. Whatever you’ve got planned, we hope you all enjoy this celebratory bank holiday weekend. Saturday’s forecast is for highs of 15C, lows of 11C, overcast skies and the chance of nuisance showers. Whatever the weather does, we’re sure your spirits won’t be dampened.

Exciting plans are taking shape around the Estate. Last weekend, Will Mower and his team from Vine-Works planted 12,600 grape vines. The job started with fencing (hungry muntjacs keep out!) then moved on to sub-soiling in two directions, ploughing, power-harrowing and finally vine-planting, all at a remarkable pace. This is good news for patient Lincolnshire oenophiles. It’ll be at least three years till we get a harvest and it could be ten years before the vineyard is regarded as established and viable. We’re confident it’ll be worth the wait.

The vines are spaced with a view to hand-picking. Each summer, we’ll do a spot of leaf-stripping to allow the air to circulate and expose the stems to sunlight. This is a good way to slow down Botrytis, a fungus responsible for grape-rot.

We’re aiming for a versatile crop that will give us both still and sparkling varieties with intriguing changes of character over time. We may also produce port and brandy-type drinks. We’re a long way from tasting notes but we’ll keep you posted. Lovers of world-beating English wines and volunteer tasters should form an orderly queue.

At Keal Farm Yard, Kevin Lovett and his team have once again helped us make the best use of our roof-space. They’ve just installed 340 x 425W photo-voltaic panels on the Keal crew sheds. Back in March, they installed 176 x 425W panels on a new farm building at Harden’s Gap.

Across the Estate, we’re making progressively greater use of the Solar System’s biggest natural resource. In 2022, we upgraded our electrical transmission system so that we can share solar power across the Estate via the grid. The arrays at Harden’s Gap and Keal Farm are big steps towards our goal of farming as sustainably as possible. To find out what else we’ve got planned this year, click HERE.

Our local wildlife is pressing on with its own plans. Licensed bird-ringer Jim Lennon returned to check our tawny owl boxes. So far this spring, three are occupied, which is excellent news for biodiversity (even if tawny housekeeping leaves a little to be desired). We also offer a hat-tip to Jacqui Rhodes for bagging a fine brace of barn owl pics on her travels. For a fascinating chat with Jim, and a glimpse into the inner lives of tawnies, barnies and more, click HERE.

The Lincolnshire Wolds Open Festival is barely a fortnight away, and our Estate Open Weekend (20^th & 21^st May) is shaping up to be a busy and memorable showcase for our wonderful Wolds. We’re offering visitors 20 activities and presentations (and counting). Both days are likely to be popular, so we recommend that you book your entry ticket and lunch at your earliest opportunity, then start planning your days and reserving your experiences.

Two recent additions to the programme come courtesy of Butterfly Conservation. These friendly, knowledgeable folks are offering two bookable tours. For a short, discovery walk suitable for all ages and introducing you to a variety of butterflies and moths in a natural setting, click HERE. For a fun butterfly hunt aimed squarely at kids, click HERE.

Don’t forget, Friends of South Ormsby Estate can attend all events for free.

We’ll see you out there.

If you’d like to share your views on anything you’ve read here, we’d love to hear from you. Just head to our Facebook page HERE and comment beneath the latest blog post. As ever, thanks for your support.

A Week on the Estate: 12,000 Vines, 220 Kilowatts & 20 Activities

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