Some Like It Hot, and some don't!
- whitehousefarmoast
- Jul 19
- 3 min read
June and July have been focused on balancing the enjoyment of a sunny English summer and all its pleasures with the effort of working hard to ensure everything continues to grow and thrive during the hot days and nights.
During hot weather, the sheep consume about 4 litres of water each per day, requiring numerous trips up and down the hill to refill the bowser. Fortunately, there are plenty of shady spots around the field edges, which have been a blessing, along with a lovely breeze on the hillside that helps cool them and keep the flies away. Fly strike is a painful condition where flies lay eggs on the sheep's wool coat, and the hatched maggots feed on the sheep's flesh. It is unpleasant and can be fatal. We have been monitoring this, and so far, we have been fortunate. This week, we placed a large tub of garlic lick in their field, which they all seem to enjoy, and acts as a natural repellent to keep those pesky flies away.
The vegetables and plants in the polytunnel have also required frequent watering. Opening the polytunnel doors in the early morning to allow air circulation and watering in the early evening have become daily routines. This consistent care has resulted in a successful harvest of beans, fennel, courgettes, cucumbers, garlic, basil, and sunflowers, all of which are thriving and available for sale at Cuckoo Line Stores nearby! The tomatoes are swelling nicely, and with any luck, they will all turn red soon.
Alongside our daily tasks, it's been a busy month with the sheep, which has boosted our confidence and enhanced our shepherding abilities. Under Brooke's guidance and with her valuable advice, we have effectively treated lame sheep, ordered and replaced missing sheep tags, and managed a DEFRA visit when our flock was randomly chosen for a Brucella melitensis spot sample check. This weekend, we successfully moved all 42 sheep back to our fields for a brief stay to graze on the long grass and keep it in check. We had them all relocated back up the hill within 2 hours, setting a record for Whitehouse Farm Oast, greatly aided by our friends, Rachel and Justin, who thought they were just visiting for the night and dinner but ended up helping with some sheep herding before breakfast.
This month's other significant event was reconnecting with Chrissy from Brockwells Farm in Uckfield (where I coincidentally assisted with lambing ages ago) to find our RAM for the autumn. BellStone, the charming Greyface Dartmoor, will be visiting Whitehouse Farm Oast for a romantic stay in December. We hope he performs well, and we look forward to having plenty of adorable Greyface Dartmoor lambs in May, along with lots of lovely milk to get our milking parlour up and running! I enjoyed sending the wool to British Wool this year and also connecting with a local mill in Devon, so I'm excited about the wool possibilities, and apparently, Greyface Dartmoor have plenty of it!
And last but not least, has been the haymaking. Making use of the dry weather, long evenings and our neighbour Colin's fleet of vintage tractors, small bailing machines and Dunkirk spirit we had great fun haymaking and filling up a side of our new barn with our own delicious home grown hay, ready for those greedy sheep this winter!
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