Red Kite at Bungeons

A kite flew out of the hedge yesterday it was incredible to see so close, there has been a lot of bird alarms in theses overgrown ashes.
We have 2 mums with chicks and given another family away. At the moment the mums are staying safe in the runs with their chicks . Nora our wwoofer helper has put straw around the strawberries and cut the heads of the docks, too late to dig them up.

Opico Grass Harrow

From this..

To this

Chris, Ken and Thomas have been converting this 12m machine to two 6m machines
It folds hydraulically for transport and they have added an air seeder to apply grass seed mix as part of grass rejuvenation

Weird and wonderful wood

Small woven willow fence A mixture of our own coppiced willow.
This week end is Weird and wonderful wood at Haughley it is always an inspiring day out loads to look at, food, music and the chance to hunt for tools and books.

The hay bale hen and chicks. She managed to get 6 chicks from the hay bales across deep muddy rutts standing water, tall grass, pouring rain and into the hen run , there were casualties along the way. She is incredibly fierce  We made the right choice to leave her alone.
We managed a quick visit to the bees One hive is very hungry I am feeding them syrup and still getting dead bees, when we looked inside it doesn't seem right a bit muddley and they were not happy at being disturbed There is a laying queen . They need some sun and warmth.
Izzy has created a facebook page for bungeons.

Oak before Ash...

We have had 3.9 inches rain 99.5mm in April a total of 8inches for the year so far.
The nucleus when moved on a rare bee day into Francis' brood box was not flourishing I don,t know why it was fine, so now we need to get some eggs and brood into the box but the weather is not good for bees I haven't been able to visit my bees since the end of March. I have put sugar syrup on top for them.They can't take advantage of all the rape fields which are surrounding us due to the heavy rain.
On Saturday I will be at Hartest farmers market selling my willow plant supports and on Monday at Beccles for the fete to raise funds for the Kenyan exchange  http://www.sjlhskenyaexchange.weebi.co.uk/
I saw my first swallow about a week ago but no sound of a cuckoo. A hen has raised chicks up on the bales behind machinery we don't know how she will get them all down in one piece and into a dry space, meanwhile the cat sits close by watching.. again the dilemma to interfere and possibly make matters worse or let nature take her course.

Woven Plant Supports

Sunday May 20th is the next willow workshop to be held here at Bungeons farm. Please contact me if you would like to book a place.
It has been a true Blackthorn winter -cold,frosts, hail, rain and wind I think there may have been some damage The fruit blossom ,sugar beet seedlings and asparagus have suffered, but the rain has been so welcome we have finally been able to mulch the willows, fruit beds and orchard and also move a few plants about.
I have one hen sitting tight, we have moved the nucleus to its new home but we are still waiting for bee weather to move them into the brood box, I am sure they are outgrowing their small home.
I am really looking forwards to tasting some fresh honey and making up creams and potions with the wax.

Bees

We visited the bees yesterday for the first time this year. All three colonies and the nucleus were busy bringing in pollen and nectar. We topped and tailed and put the queen excluders back on. The bees have done a good job of cleaning out the full supers we left for them. So the season starts again the 3 hives have enough space to store the rape honey ,the rape is already showing flowers in some fields, and I am hoping to sell the nucleus on quite soon ,if not they will need to be rehoused on my next visit as they will be short of space.
The smallholders day was a success and enjoyable despite a vet visit for the cattle.
Clare has her web site up and running  www.connecttolife.co.uk .
I am busy planting in the garden and Ken is preparing the ground and mulching. Chris has been managing the grass at Lavenham. It is already so dry.
With Izzys' help I  managed to sell some of the currant bushes at Needham Market Bootsale today, but still have quite a few left to sell. The weather is incredible it feels like summer.

The Garden mill at Alder Carr Farm

My good friend Clare visited yesterday and we took my willow plant supports across to Andrea at The Garden Mill at Alder Carr Farm It was a pleasure seeing the willow supports among Andreas' many plants and shrubs . Inside the  mill it is a treasure trove, I stocked up on soap but there is also loads of gardening goodies.

I will be doing some willow weaving with children at Alder Carr over the Easter week-end so I hope the weather is as kind to us then as it is now. Sitting in the sun  by the summerhouse with Clare we discussed the Summer camp we hope to run . Our aim is to offer a calm retreat with workshops here at Bungeons more details will follow. Today I am off to The traditional Building course being held by Orchard Barn rural skills at Ringshall, hopefully I might learn the best ways to seal some of the draughts in this old house.