A Week on the Estate: Caroline Age, Prairie Cattle & Saturday Veterans

Out on the pastures, our regenerative approach to farming is about to reach a significant milestone. Our entire Lincoln Red herd will be living outdoors all-year-round from this winter onwards. Come rain or shine, these hardy cattle will be living on grass and cover crops grown in our own biodiverse fields and pastures.

The quality of our native-breed Lincoln Reds and our inspirational approach to farming them has not gone unnoticed. Herd Manager Richard Lakin recently hosted Bruce and Jenifer, cattle ranchers from South Dakota who want to add Lincoln Reds to their existing herds of Herefords and Anguses. They were particularly interested in mob grazing, rotating between paddocks and the use of pasture and standing hay.

Bruce and Jenifer have a lot of acreage to play with – 25,000 acres, give or take – but they recognise that the versatility and hardiness of the Lincoln Red breed equips it well to thrive in a wide-open, northern prairie landscape with greater extremes of temperature. To read the latest on over-wintering outdoors, plotting genetic lines and cattle professionals talking shop, you can find the latest ‘Lincoln Red Diary’ blog HERE.

At the Massingberd-Mundy Distillery, a new season means a new spirit. On Saturday 24^th September, Tristan’s brand-new Botanical Spirit will go on general sale. Using discarded heads and tails from gin production and his knowledge of vodka, Tristan has created an ultra-smooth, flavoursome spirit that will please both gin and vodka aficionados. Despite being bottled at 43% ABV, the Botanical Spirit has a surprisingly gentle softness and rich mouth feel. On the palate, subtle notes of pine, juniper and citrus resonate and the finish is as clean and classy as any high-end vodka. You can secure your bottle HERE while stocks last.

Finally, we’ve prepared a warm, autumnal welcome for our country-loving friends. If you’re walking one of our trails this weekend, why not join us at the Sheepdip Paddock parking area at 10am on Sunday 25th September to help christen our brand-new walkers’ cabin. Mark Vines, Pete Staves and Damian Furlong will be on hand to meet, greet and brew up.

If you’ve walked our trails, snacked at the Old School or simply rejoiced in our glorious countryside, we’d love to welcome you to our new walkers’ cabin. Mark Vines and the team have worked hard to create this free facility at the Sheepdip Paddock parking area on Brinkhill Road. With complimentary hot drinks, a picnic area and an eco-loo, you’ll be able to park up, boot up and brew up all in one place!

There’ll be hand-sanitisers and towels and all will be cleaned and maintained twice a day, every day. The Old School has given great service to our visitors but it’s time for a change. We hope you can make it and we look forward to saying hello.

If you’d like to share your opinion 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.