A Week on the Estate: Tractor Run, Hand Reaping & New Owls

Midsummer is a special time in the Walled Garden. The potatoes are coming along nicely and the horse radish is taking over a corner all by itself. We used some of the flowering sweet Williams to decorate the Hall. Meanwhile in the Community Vegetable Garden, two months of sunshine and rain have made quite a difference and the potato plot is flourishing.

The expanded Saturday Club certainly means business. High summer’s abundance of sunshine and rain means weeding, weeding and a bit more weeding. Last weekend, one team cleared the docks from the Hall’s French drain then moved on to the driveway. The other team tackled a forest of docks in the old-school manner, using nothing but elbow grease and hand reapers.

We built it and they came! Two barn owl chicks have been recorded in one of the nesting boxes we installed last October. It’s wonderful to see regenerative agriculture in action. Healthy hedgerows and biodiverse pasture give us plenty of mice and voles. Throw in some high-end accommodation, and South Ormsby Estate becomes prime real estate for these beautiful raptors.

Finally, if you’re already a Friend of South Ormsby Estate, we’re grateful for all the support you’ve given us as we strive to create something very special in this beautiful corner of the Lincolnshire Wolds. If you’re a new reader, we’d love to welcome you to the fold.

If you sign up as a Friend of South Ormsby Estate this week, you’ll be entered in a prize draw and could win an Essentials Beef Box, packed with 2.8kg of our grass-fed, flavourfully succulent Lincoln Red beef. Click HERE to sign up and get started.

It’s free to sign up and you’ll become a South Ormsby VIP right away. A £10 voucher will be emailed to you immediately, followed by another on your birthday and yet another for Christmas. You’ll also receive exclusive offers and discounts, priority access to special editions and new products, invitations to VIP ‘Friends only’ events and monthly e-newsletters with all the latest from Massingberd-Mundy and South Ormsby Estate.