John Walton: School visits in full swing as rabbits congregate in the main veg field

For those of you who think it was easy over there in the sunshine, let me tell you that I did spend the last nine days with my dear mother-in-law, as they say “every silver lining has a cloud” (only joking).

At the time of writing the country is basking in glorious sunshine and with a southerly breeze it is actually quite warm, a bit of a change to the cold winds of late.

I swear you can very nearly see things growing, including the clover which has been a bit slow until now and is very important to us organic lot in order to make the grass grow.

Alas, any amount of difficult growing conditions will not suppress the mighty dock, but at least Andrew is managing the grazing well enough that the cows are eating most of them and yes, there is milk in them.

The open farm is well in the swing, especially the school educational trips, with a record number of bookings coming in causing a bit of a headache for Jill and Jane in the office as I have told them that we cannot turn schools away if they want to learn about what we do, and what happens, on a working farm.

It should run like clockwork as we give each school a time slot to arrive with a break of 15 minute intervals but they undoubtedly arrive all at the same time with between six and nine coaches causing a few minutes of totally controlled… panic.

The veg growing is enjoying excellent conditions for planting as we approach the planting of the raised plants.

The big problem though is rabbits. The main veg field this year is perfect veg ground with beautiful soil, but it has become the local meeting ground for the rabbit population of Cheshire.

Couple this with having three children that each know the characters of the classic film Watership Down off by heart and you have a recipe for family mutiny. If only I could find the keys to the gun cabinet!

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