march 08, 2010 07:19am
Frosty nights followed by sunny days seem to herald the approach of spring, an event we are all looking forward to after such a long, cold winter.
Farmer Percy has been busy getting the land ready for the change of season: starting with muck spreading and grass cutting, he then went about dragging the land ready for ploughing and planting spring barley. It is wonderful to see, now the blanket of snow has melted, (hopefully not to return, fingers crossed), the ground beneath once again. The countryside is definitely waking up: some of the wild birds are already gathering twigs for nest building, and the blue skies are a positive change to the snow-filled clouds we are used to!
Our Humble Bee Cottages guests enjoyed glorious sunrises which followed cold and frosty nights, so early morning dog walking was a real pleasure over the past week. The days were cold but sunny, showing Humble Bee Farm at its best.
The cold weather made sure the log burning stoves came ‘into their own’, and our wigwam guests marvelled at the snugness of their wigwams! The ground is, at last, drying out, so our motor-home visitors could park up and settle without ‘a hitch’. We get visitors from all over the country, with some making the trip from Scotland to Humble Bee Farm.
Down on the farm, our calves and mothers are doing well. The early morning sunshine means the guinea fowl, hens, cockerel, ducks and geese are all up and about as the sun peeps over the hilltops and they all love to bask in its rays. Spot and Charlie, our two dogs, are as daft as ever, and often join the birds in their early morning sun-bathing.
As Easter isn’t too far away, we are currently updating our Access Statement for our cottages and our Filey-based holiday apartment, measuring steps, doorway widths etc, ready for our guests as the season gets underway. We have the advantage that Merry Dale and Swallow’s Nest Cottages here at the farm are stable conversions and therefore are all on ground floor level. Our holiday apartment in nearby Filey is also on the ground floor and has the most beautiful views of Filey Bay and Brigg.
So a sense of excitement and anticipation is gripping us all here at Humble Bee Farm. More information in our next blog.
Posted By: humblebee
march 01, 2010 10:22am
There is never a dull moment here at Humble Bee Farm!
We’ve just had a double surprise today in the form of two new born Blonde Acquitaine calves, in addition to seven other recent arrivals. This caused lots of excitement in the cow barns! Mums and youngsters seem to be doing well, with the mums on a diet of corn, barley and straw.
Farmer Percy went to market last Friday to purchase more cattle for his herd, but as prices were on the up, he decided to leave it until later in the season.
Spring seems to be nearer after what has been an incredibly long winter. The weather has been too wet so far to plant the spring barley, while the Muston Young Farmers ploughing match was a great success. The event attracted 40 tractors from all over the north, including some vintage models. The winner was from Clitheroe in Lancashire.
Our fat lambs, which we brought to Humble Bee last autumn, have been doing a grand job in The Dale, cleaning the grass of ragwort and others species ready for the cows to go to pasture in the spring. These lambs will go to market at Easter.
The weather has been a real feature this winter: over the half term holiday in February, we had a busy week and the heavens opened towards the end of the break. This resulted in numerous snowmen making an appearance and sledging took place – maybe snowman building should be a Winter Olympic sport?
Our cottage guests also enjoyed the wintry landscape as they could relax in our outdoor hot tubs, covered by thatched gazebos, sipping champagne while watching the snowflakes fall.
Work has started on our new toilet and shower block – we hope this will be ready for early spring. The foundations have been laid, and the brickwork is just about to start, so things are very much taking shape.
Our two dogs, Spot and Charlie, are doing well and are always greet our guests.
Keep up to date with ‘the buzz’ here at Humble Bee Farm by checking our regularly updated blog.
Pictures of the calves to follow next week.
Posted By: humblebee
december 16, 2009 10:03am
Fabulous new amenity block, scheduled opening - Spring 2010, including:
Separate male and female toilets and shower
Family/disabled shower room
Baby changing facilities
Indoor wash-up area
Fridge/freezer and microwave for customer use
Central heating
Book exchange (select and swap a book from the range of titles)
Powered by solar panels
Posted By: humblebee
december 11, 2009 12:38pm
After a long overdue overhaul we've finally launched the new Humble Bee Farm website.
You'll have probably already seen the great new pictures we've organised to give you a really good insight in just what you can expect to see before you visit us.
We'd love to hear what you think of the new site - why not drop us a line from our contact page in the main website?
Posted By: humblebee
december 11, 2009 12:04pm
To keep everyone better informed of the latest news and of all our offers and promotions we've included this new blog area on our website.
With an RSS news feed you'll never miss out on any of the fabulous seasonal deals as we'll be posting each and every one of them here for your benefit.
Good news for everyone!
Posted By: humblebee
