Sheep
John Clare writes in the poem The Shepherd's Calendar (1827) that January sees the farmer inside as winter descends "reading the news...or old Moore's annual prophecies of flooded fields and clouded skies"! Last winter certainly saw that prophecy come true, and it was a difficult time for most farmers here in the South West. However, our Ryeland sheep coped well with the bad weather and only came into the barn for lambing. All our lambs are bonnie and are growing well on the summer grass. We sold wool to a neighbour who knitted both hand warmers and a waistcoat - truly beautiful work! Our wool is in the natural Ryeland colour - fawn. Wool can be purchased from our Etsy shop (about to be launched - watch this space).
Cider
After the excellent harvest from our trees last year, we performed a traditional Cornish Wassail in the orchards in January to try and encourage the trees to grow well! Meanwhile, the long fermentation continued throughout the winter, and we used the time to upgrade some of the equipment and plan for the new bottling.
Exciting news!
We now have a new product available, a Medium Dry sparkling cider, for which we have just won a Silver Award at the Royal Cornwall Show. Very pleased! This should suit some of our customers who prefer something not quite so dry. Look out for this in our outlets! We hope to expand the number of outlets imminently, and you can also find us at the Stithians Show 'Taste of Cornwall' tent on 15th July 2024.
