It's not just the swallows that show it's summer

This morning after milking/feeding/mucking out (aka "doing up") we were busy checking fences and gates, ready for the main event after dinner - the cows going out! We've still got plenty of silage, but the grass is growing and we want to get one field eaten off before we plough and reseed it.

So it was a rush down the cow track, across the road and a hop skip and a jump into the Meadow.

Then back to field work. We recently took some soil samples to check if fields were deficient in anything. Two fields came back with the comments "pH only slightly down in 2 fields – need calcium lime to address this – just over 1 t/acre on each. Phosphorus level Ok so root growth shouldn’t be affected – possibly some compaction which would be worth a look", so today Henry was out and about with the aerator.

I had just got back inside and looked at the photo, when he was followed by a contractor spreading lime.

Don't be fooled by the look of the gradient - it's actually the steep hill across from our house.

And after a quick drink and cake or two (or three if you're a hungry farmer) it was time to bring the cows back up for milking.

This one found time to sniff out the cake in the feed bin outside the parlour.



These are a bit young to go out yet, but in a few weeks there will only be the very young calves inside.