Logs are going out as quickly as we can load them on the van in this final week before closing on Friday 20th Dec. We will aim to keep the kiln running over Christmas to ensure we have plenty of kiln dried logs to go out the first week in January. We open back up on 6th January and our first deliveries will take place on 7th January.
We’re just finishing our tree felling in the woods. Nothing goes to waste here so we are now pulling out timber so that this can be chipped for our landscaping products.
Over the winter we’ve been assessing various parts of estate and its time for the safari tent roof to get a makeover. We’ve been measuring up for a brand new safari tent roof to be fitted in the new year so that we look as smart as can be for our upcoming weddings and events in 2025.
We’re starting to look at our events calendar for 2025. We are planning to open up to the public on a monthly basis, on the first Sunday of each month from May – October. Once the plans are finalised we will be able to let you know more details. Watch this space!
The farm in December is beginning to quieten down for Christmas. We have lifted some more sugar beet so this now leaves us our last 25 acres to lift in the New Year. The team has been busy washing machinery and putting it away until the spring.
At the start of December we began our winter bird feeding in various locations around the farm. Wwe will do our best to get some photos of them being used by actual birds so keep an eye on our social media for these! This helps fill the hungry gap many wild birds experience in mid-winter when there is not much else to eat. The mixture we are feeding consists of wheat, barley, oilseed rape, sunflowers, white millet and canary seed.
We are having an interesting few days this month interviewing students from Harper Adams for the chance to spend a year working here on the estate during a placement year. They will have the opportunity to get hands-on experience of all areas of the estate but, as they will start here in early July, the first job for them will be helping with harvest! It seems quite a long time off during these dark, short days but as farmers we are always planning many months, even years, ahead.
The rest of December has been spent loading grain lorries, of which there have been plenty. We have also had our Red Tactor Audit which I mentioned last month. We are pleased to say we passed! Please support BRITISH farmers by ensuring you buy produce labelled with the Red Tractor, or better still buy directly from local farmers and ensure you know where your food comes from. Food produced in the UK has the HIGHEST quality standards so if you buy local you know you are getting the best quality food with the lowest environmental impact.
We’ve recently taken delivery of 43 more hinds to replace our aging hinds that are no longer producing calves. They’ve settled in nicely and have been busy taking in the sights and sounds of their new home.
Our young deer (this year’s calves) have now been moved into the roundhouse to protect them from the elements. They’ll be kept warm & cosy over winter and will receive a plentiful supply of silage to enjoy.
The stags have been separated and are now enjoying a well deserved rest from their duties..! Fingers crossed they’ve been successful and we can look forwards to welcoming some calves in the late spring/early summer.
We’d like to thank you all for your support over the last year, whether you have attended an event, bought some landscaping products or logs, enjoyed our venison or have simply kept up to date with what we get up to. We couldn’t do it without you.
We will be closed from Friday 20th December until Monday 6th January. Enjoy the break
Antony & Helen
Whether you are feeding the 5,000 over Christmas or want to give that foodie in your life a special present we’ve got a great range of venison in stock and ready to deliver/collect.
Freshly Frozen Winter Warmer Selection packs IN STOCK NOW
Our Winter Warmer selection packs contain prime cuts of quality, freshly frozen venison lovingly reared on the farm at Baumber, Lincolnshire. There are two sizes available, regular & large and each selection pack includes the following cuts of meat:
A Rump / Haunch JointAlso included are:
Orders placed now will be ready for delivery or collection now, prior to Christmas (last delivery day Thursday 19th Dec) and we will be in touch to arrange a time with you.
Fresh Festive Venison Hamper
For the foodie in your life why not give them a gift with a difference? Order a Stourton Estates Fresh Venison Box. Packed with delicious, lovingly reared venison from our own herd, as well as some locally produced accompaniments makes this a great gift.
There are two sizes of hamper available, the standard and the large and each will be ready for collection/delivery on Thursday 12th December.
These festive fresh venison boxes contain prime cuts of quality venison lovingly home reared on the farm at Baumber, Lincolnshire, together with some accompaniments, making a lovely present or delicious treat over the festive season!
The Festive Venison Box includes the following fresh cuts of meat from our product range:
Plus some delicious locally produced Lincolnshire accompaniments & recipe ideas:
FREE DELIVERY
Delivery of both our Winter Warmer Selection Packs and Festive Venison Boxes is free within 20 miles by road of our farm postcode. Delivery further afield will incur a delivery charge.
If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to get in touch!
As you’d expect, we are very busy packing and delivering our kiln dried logs. To make sure you remain toasty over the Christmas and New Year period please place your order as soon as possible. Delivery slots fill up quickly, and if they aren’t full already, the last day that we will take orders is Friday 13th December.
Our last delivery date for logs is Thursday 19th December.
Please note: we will be closed over Christmas & New Year. The office reopens on 6th January and we will recommence deliveries from Tuesday 7th January.
On Wednesday 13th November we welcomed Pilgrim School from Baumber for a visit. Thankfully it was a bright and sunny day amidst the gloom that has been November. Their visit comprised a farm tour on the tractor and trailer, the children spent some time watching the red deer and listening to us talk about the farm and how we keep the deer.
‘The children were absolutely blown away! Most of them had never been on a tractor or seen a Deer…it was so special’.
Great feedback if ever there was some!
We have started harvesting timber for the wood pasture. This is the last part of our 10 year woodland management plan to restore the parkland. All timber that has been felled so far has been chipped and is now being dried in the kiln ready for our chicken chip customers.
November has been quite a dry month with 40mm of rain, most of that coming in the last 10 days. The dry spell at the beginning of the month has allowed us to finish our winter wheat drilling. Ruth (our agronomist) and I have been keeping a careful eye on emerging crops to check for slug damage and amazingly we have applied no slug pellets to any crop this year. Due to our most bothersome weed on farm, blackgrass, we have to apply herbicides shortly after the wheat is drilled and this kills the blackgrass as it emerges but the wheat and beans can grow through this ok. Blackgrass is a very damaging weed economically as it reduces the yield of wheat quite substantially and produces lots of seeds in every seed head so can multiply very quickly. We have various methods to help control this. E.g. by drilling later (mid October onwards) we can let some of this blackgrass germinate and emerge then we spray these plants off with glyphosate before we drill the wheat, this reduces the burden of blackgrass and then the herbicides we use can work more effectively. Come spring time we can then hand pull any remaining blackgrass that has escaped the previous methods of control.
We have also drilled a small field of winter beans that we are planning to harvest and then drill next year as a companion crop alongside our winter cereals as was covered in October’s update. We managed to use the Avatar for these beans.
There is 28ha of sugar beet left to lift, we are planning to harvest this before Christmas, the land is destined to grow a spring barley crop so will likely require ploughing. We are going to experiment with different cultivation strategies for growing sugar beet in the spring to try to reduce our reliance on ploughing the land as part of our regenerative agriculture journey. We have managed to successfully drill a wheat crop after a field of sugar beet via our minimum tillage equipment; the Sumo Trio and Vaderstad NZ. Normally this land would have been ploughed to make a seed bed ready for wheat but by using minimum tillage equipment we save on diesel use, it also means there is less carbon lost from the soil due to the non inversion nature of the cultivation. It also saves time which is an added bonus!
The team have been busy tidying the yard and cleaning machinery to put away for winter. We also have a Red Tractor Audit due soon, this is where the farm gets audited to ensure we are abiding by the standards of the scheme. When you see a Red Tractor symbol on a product in a supermarket it means that product has been grown to the highest production and/or welfare standards covering everything from health and safety to environmental protection. A Red tractor symbol also means that product has been grown or raised in the UK so please help support our farmers by buying these products in these uncertain times for the industry!
Due to the snowy conditions here in mid November, winter feeding has started in earnest so the herds are enjoying our herb rich silage now which we cut earlier in spring/summer in readiness for the winter months.
We’re preparing the roundhouse for the calves that will over winter in there. The roundhouse provides the younger deer with some shelter and warmth over the winter months. So far the middle door sections are in, we just need to partition into quarters and connect the water so they stay hydrated. Once this is competed we will then herd and transport them. Upon arrival they will be served a mineral boost to ensure that they stay in the very best of health over the winter.
If you’ve not yet tried these amazing fire briquettes made from willow now is the time! These briquettes kick out heat and are great to get your room warm quickly – perfect for this time of year as the nights are drawing in.
For a limited period we are running a price reduction on packs of Willoglow briquettes reduced from £9.50 to £8.50 per pack. You can add just one pack to try to any other bagged product order (such as kiln dried logs).*
Order online & use them alongside our kiln dried logs for best results!
Holding your wedding at Stourton Woods is an experience that you and your guests will never forget. With the safari tent sheltered by the woodland and overlooking the deer park and lakes it is a venue like no other. All weddings here are entirely bespoke so you literally can bring your ideas and make the day of your dreams one to remember for all the right reasons!
Of course, planning your special day can be great fun, however we recognise there is a lot to consider and making sure everything runs just as you expect is no mean feat. To help every couple navigate their wedding journey at Stourton we are delighted to be working with Amy Lauren Weddings. Amy and her team are based at Louth and you can find out more about what they do here. Amy has a wealth of experience of planning weddings, (she is currently a regional finalist in the 2025 Wedding Industry Awards for Wedding Planning, good luck Amy!). She is also highly organised, loves bespoke marquee weddings and is super friendly. Amy visited us here recently and fell in love with the venue – even in the rain!
After booking your wedding here Amy will be on hand to ensure that everything runs smoothly in the lead up to your wedding and on the day itself, she is a great asset to the team here and we are looking forward to working with her.
To find out more about our weddings please don’t hesitate to contact us.
We started early for our Open Day on 6th October to welcome members of the Horncastle Running Group eager to start their Sunday following the 5km route around the estate – it was great to see such a diverse group of runners, walkers, children & dogs getting active and taking in the beauty of the trail! We have had some great feedback from this event and hope to run another one next summer.
Then from mid-morning we opened the gates to many more visitors coming along to enjoy the guided farm safaris on the tractor & trailer, to stock up on venison and enjoy delicious refreshments from the nomad coffee company!
We are now scoping out and planning an exciting programme of events which will start in early May 2025 – please follow us on social media or share this monthly newsletter with your friends to keep up to date.
We have great selection of all cuts in stock in now, please email contact@stourtonestates.co.uk for details and Tina will put together your order for collection from the farm by arrangement or delivery with any logs or landscaping product order. Also – if you’d like a particular cut or venison joint over the festive season please get in touch ASAP so that we can arrange for this to be supplied to you in plenty of time ahead of Christmas.
We’re excited to be exhibiting VERY LOCALLY at the Walled Garden Baumber on Sunday 10th Nov for their first Food & Drink Fayre. We will have a full range of venison available and will be sharing more on how we rear this incredibly sustainable and healthy meat when we give a talk at this event and we will share just how versatile this top quality meat is to cook!
Did you know… some of the veni-fits of eating farmed venison?
Whilst the health benefits of eating venison are now well recognised; being low in fat, high in protein & iron and packed full of B vitamins, there can be a distinct difference in flavour between farmed and wild venison. The flavour of wild venison can vary dramatically, you may not know the species, age or sex of the animal – or even how old it is and definitely not what it has been eating either! Our farmed venison is reared and cared for daily in surroundings giving the herds the highest animal welfare standards. Their main diet of parkland grass is supplemented by herb rich forage grown on the farm and we ensure they are moved regularly onto fresh pasture and giving them ‘new’ enclosures to explore! Of course, we are quality assured and the way we care for the animals throughout their life prior to being culled at the optimum time means the animals are not in the least bit stressed prior to being prepared for sale. It also means that we are able to offer a consistently high-quality product which is both tender, flavoursome – and healthy!
As in previous years we will be getting a beautiful selection of freshly cut Nordmann Fir trees ready to be delivered to your door. These premium trees have the added advantage that they hold their needles throughout the festive season and beyond! Pruned and tended throughout their growing season, they have a lovely conical shape.
Once these are available to order we will let you know! Keep an eye out on our Facebook and Instagram!
We are absolutely delighted to welcome David Bristow who has joined as our new Farm Manager. David has really hit the ground running in October, mainly concentrating on drilling our winter crops, he is keen to drive forward our transition to regenerative farming too – more from him below…
‘October has been a busy month on the farm, drilling, loading grain lorries and sugar beet lifting have been the main activities. We have had 67mm of rain spread quite evenly throughout the month, this has meant a bit of a stop start autumn drilling campaign. However as at 31st October we only have 50ha of winter wheat left to drill, just over half of which is after sugar beet so with a decent weather forecast showing a dry spell I am confident we will get this competed in the first few days of November.
We have used all 3 cereal drills on farm this autumn! The new avatar (our direct drill) has done a great job on some of the drier land but as the month progressed and land became wetter we moved onto using the Sumo DTS which is a strip till drill, this means it loosens only a strip of soil where the seeds will be planted and leaves the rest of the land undisturbed, a bit of a halfway house if you will between direct drilling and full cultivation. Another drill which we’ve used is a KRM tine drill which has the ability to drill if the soil is wetter still as it doesn’t pack the soil down around the seed, it also has plenty of clearance for soil and remaining vegetation to pass through it. A versatile approach is always required with the land here but as we gradually move to a less intensive cultivation approach the soil will get better conditioned and become easier to drill into even if ground conditions are more marginal. We will continue to monitor crops for slug damage that may occur.
As part of our move to regenerative farming we have also drilled beans alongside the wheat as a companion crop, this will provide some nitrogen to the wheat crop (as beans fix nitrogen from the air into the soil), diversity in root structures and a flower in the spring which will provide nectar for insects, all of which improve soil health and biodiversity in the long run.
As you can tell, there is plenty going on the farm & I’d like to thank all the team at Stourton for such a warm welcome and a seamless transition. If you read this & have any questions or subjects you would like me to cover in a future farming update please drop me an email at david.bristow@stourtonestates.co.uk and I will cover it another month!’’
We have now weaned the calves from the Hinds and given them all a copper bolus to keep them healthy through the winter months, this is particularly important after they have been weaned. We’ve also started to give them herb rich silage to supplement the parkland grass, although the warm and wet weather has certainly maintained good growth into the autumn. Neve has been out feeding the deer early morning and checking on them – who are understandably friendly when they see her… or is it that she is bringing them their breakfast?!
Whilst it was a bit of a misty start to the day, we were really pleased with the number of people who came and enjoyed our first ever Food & Drink Fayre on Sunday 8th September – even the sun made an appearance in the afternoon!
One of our big motivators in putting on this event was to help support businesses with direct sales to customers so people can buy quality local produce directly from the producer and know its provenance. All too often we tend to buy our produce through the supermarkets (as it is convenient) but also where the supply chain is often long and the producer generally loses out. It was fantastic to hear from so many producers who spoke at the event, hearing the stories, understanding the challenges and seeing the absolute enthusiasm to produce high quality goods quite literally on our doorsteps!
Don’t forget if you want more of our lovingly reared venison, we will be at the Louth Food & Drink Festival on Sunday 29th September, not far from WHSmith in the marketplace. We have an exciting new recipe from Richie Stamp-Mason from the Red Lion Inn at Spilsby who we are working more closely with – come & see us to find out more!
Our last open day this year will take place on Sunday 6th October and, with the leaves turning, autumn really is one of the best times of the year to come and enjoy the colours and walk around the estate.
We will be open from 10am – 4pm and it is just £4 per car to park for the day in the woodland car park.
Come and enjoy the trails, bring your pooch (on leads please) and spot the deer in the parks. We will bring the veni van and have a selection of frozen meat on offer from 11am – 2pm where we also hope to have the BBQ out so you can enjoy a cheeky venison burger for lunch!
As this is our last open day this year we have decided to offer mini farm tours on the tractor & trailer FREE OF CHARGE, yes you read that right – FREE . We are taking bookings for these via our website so if you’d like to take advantage of a mini tour of the estate please get booked in ASAP and we look forward to seeing you then!
With the weather on the turn it might be time to get stocked up with some of our kiln dried logs ready for winter. Kiln dried logs are better than barn dried logs as they burn more cleanly and efficiently meaning that you use less, they create less ash and your chimney won’t need sweeping as often. Win, win!
Our kiln dried logs come in 0.7 cubic metre bags and are priced at £122.50 a bag.
We deliver within 20 miles (by road) of LN9 5PB and expect to have enough in stock until Christmas! Guy is out in the van 2 days a week so don’t delay get your order in soon.
We recently unloaded our 600th load of logs out of the kiln – what a milestone!
With harvest safely in and having bid a fond farewell to both Dan and Oli who have moved onto pastures new this month, we have turned our attention to drilling the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI scheme) plots. These have been sown with wildflower mix and winter bird food and will form quite a large area of our farmland for the next 3 years. This is all part of our plan to move to a regenerative agriculture system.
Moving to a regenerative system means that we look after the soils to increase the nutrients in these areas, improve drainage and give the land time to recover from being farmed intensively. It also brings big benefits to the wildlife in the area, encouraging insects and giving birds a safe haven, particularly over the harsh winter months. Our hedgerows will not be trimmed quite so severely and there will be much wider field margins in support of this too. You might visit and think the farm looks a bit scruffy and rough around the edges,, but the really important work is going on underneath the soil. There will be an increase in both the nutritional benefit of the land as well as the wildlife over the coming months and years.
The big recent purchase on farm has been a Horsch Avatar drill – this is an important piece of the ‘regen’ farming toolkit as it is a direct drill, meaning it does not need the land to be worked (typically ploughed and power harrowed) prior to drilling. We can also sow cover crops – crops that are grown simply to benefit the soil prior to drilling in the spring. Using a direct drill such as an Avatar benefits the soil and reduces the need for quite so many ‘passes’ over the land to prepare it for drilling thereby reducing our costs of production. We will wait to see how these direct drilled crops fair when we come to harvest next year!
Some land at Stourton, particularly the heavier clays, will still need to be cultivated and both Tom and Jamie have been using the Caterpillar and subsoiler to loosen the land before using a more traditional sumo drill for the winter barley to go in. We’ve also had a busy day getting some sugar beet lifted and dodging showers to get one field ready for Sygenta so that they can sew some winter wheat trials on the land up near Hatton. Neve, our Harper placement student has moved almost seamlessly from corn carting to beet carting in little under a month! Phew – we’re really looking forward to our new Farm Manager joining us next month…
The most wonderful wedding was held here in September and what a lovely review we received from M&B:
“This venue is everything we could have dreamt of and more. The natural beauty creates the most beautiful setting for your perfect day. Nothing was too much trouble for the team and the help, support and love throughout has been absolutely amazing. The flexibility to be able to build your own wedding is something we hadn’t thought of until we found Stourton and we had so much fun I would do it all again. From the first moment we visited we completely fell in love and watching our ideas and planning come alive has been so magical. We can 100% say it was OUR day and it was one of a kind.”
If you’d like to consider holding your wedding at Stourton Woods please get in touch, whilst we’ve also said ‘goodbye’ to Julie this month, we are still completely committed to holding wonderful woodland weddings here and we would be delighted to show you the venue and what can be achieved here.
The deer are getting ready for the rut, we have separated the two main stags from the boys – Winston and Harry and they are now awaiting their hinds so they can do the business… They are definitely ready for them there is quite a pungent aroma around them that apparently the ladies quite like! The boys have had their antlers removed, this is just like cutting toe nails just a bit longer & stronger. Neve made her own shield and got in on the action with Antony, and over 2 days all 50 boys have had the weight lifted off their heads and are prancing around the parks.
We remove the antlers to protect the deer and ourselves from any exuberant behaviour and it ensures we have a ready supply of natural antler dog chews. If you’d like one of these, we have a great selection of sizes – please get in touch! These doggy treats will also be available from our stand at the Louth Food & Drink Festival on 29th September.
Preparations are well underway here for our first Food & Drink Fayre, held here from 10am-4pm on Sunday 8th September.
We will have over 50 small food and drink businesses here displaying their incredible talents and skills; so whether you’re looking for some rare breed pork, award winning cheese, a riot of fruit and veg, gins, wines ciders, sweet treats or crafty home wares, it’s all going to be here.
We obviously don’t want you going hungry so we will have a variety of street food and drinks vendors here, including Dancing Dungarees, Ferry Ales Brewery, The Very Cool Coffee Bus, Ohlala Loaded Fries, Fleurs Kitchen, The Ginger Pig, Gourmazin and Ellmoo Ice Cream to keep the wolf from the door whilst you’re here.
If that’s not enough we have the following activities available so you can really make a day of it!
With relaxed music playing (and hopefully good weather) you can soak up the atmosphere whilst enjoying everything on offer.
PLUS! We have teamed up with Good Housekeeping who are giving all Food & Drink Fayre attendees a 10% discount code for tickets to their Good Housekeeping Live & Country Living Christmas Market from 13th – 16th November. All you need to do is visit the Stourton stand on the day to claim your voucher code.
There will be a £5 per car parking fee to pay on the gate which goes directly towards the upkeep of the grounds and venue here. Parking will be in the field off Clays Lane – it’s a good idea to fill your car & come in groups for a great value for a day out!
We have been really pleased with the interest we have had in our Walkabout Wednesdays that have taken place throughout August. It’s been great to see so many people enjoying the woods and walks, taking advantage of the arboretum to enjoy their picnics and spotting the deer and wildlife here.
Keep an eye out on our social media as we look to see if we can run these again in the future.
The full range of venison cuts, burgers and sausages will be available at our Food & Drink Fayre on 8th September & at Louth Food & Drink event on 29th September.
If you’d like to place an order for collection please contact Tina in the office and she can let you know what’s available, take your order and arrange a collection or delivery for you. Simply phone or email Tina on 01507 578236 or contact@stourtonestates.co.uk.
At Stourton we have never stood still and whilst change can be quite unsettling it can also bring great opportunities. Unfortunately several key members of the team have left or are leaving the business shortly. We wish them every success in their future roles and endeavours. We realise that as a business changes shape and refocuses it is understandable and somewhat inevitable, that people change too.
With a new farm team in place imminently, we have the chance to alter how we operate and implement innovative farming practices. We are refocusing our efforts into regenerative agriculture, streamlining our operations and ensuring how we do things is just as important as what we do on a day to day basis.
With our time fully invested in our core business and new team, we have taken the difficult decision to take a break from our Enchanted Lights event this year. We understand many people will be disappointed…. but just wait until next year! Building such a big event is no mean feat and we need to ensure this event gets our complete dedication for visitors to enjoy the magical experience we create in the woodland here. Unfortunately with a much smaller team we just haven’t got the time, resources or focus we need to put into this event for it to be a success without jeopardising our core business operations.
As disappointing as this is, it gives us a small window of opportunity to work with contractors to do some essential maintenance works. We need to remove some trees that are dying and could become unstable, we need to make repairs to the (increasingly uneven) ground in the arboretum which was damaged by this event last year and the safari tent roof is set to be replaced. Most of these works cannot be done over the cold, wet winter months, so Autumn will be busy behind the scenes so we can hit the ground running in 2025!
They say that a change is as good as a rest & given that rest isn’t an option we’ll continue to keep you updated with developments coming over the next few months…!
Well, its harvest time and honestly, it’s been a slog! This has not been helped by the combine having mechanical breakdowns causing delays which has been frustrating. Hopefully this is now resolved and we’re almost there now… We’re incredibly grateful for the help we’ve had from our team & some external contractors to get us this far.
The deer and their calves are much bigger than usual at this time of year. This is because we have had much wetter weather and there has been so much more grass of a higher quality for them to graze on. As a result they are really thriving!
We are getting ready for the rut! This involves separating and sorting the girls from the boys and de-antlering to keep everyone safe. The woods are about to get noisy!
It was lovely to see many of you brave the drizzly weather to come to the summer(?!) market here on 14th July. With most stall holders and visitors keeping dry under cover of the roundhouse it didn’t dampen spirits of those who came along & enjoyed this event. Thank you to all visitors who braved the damp, all the stallholders, Jodie from Lincolnshire Makers, and all of the Stourton team who helped to make this event a success. We have two more Artisan markets planned for next year – keep your eyes peeled.
Unfortunately, the sunflowers are suffering: the poor weather this spring & summer (their main growing season) has meant that the plants are currently very small. They are about half the size of last year and they do not appear to want to flower anytime soon. Plus the field they are growing in is very soggy underfoot! So it is with heavy hearts we have had to cancel this popular event. We know that so any of you had already booked your time slots (we have emailed you with refund arrangements) and that many more were looking forward to visiting us.
In the meantime……….
If you’d like to come for a walk in the grounds, follow the way marked trails, try to spot the deer & bring your own picnic in the arboretum we will be opening the gates every Wednesday through August from 10am – 4pm.
There is a car parking machine in the woodland parking area, you can stay as long as you like within these hours & parking is £4 all day, no other charges apply.
A toilet will be open next to the safari tent in the arboretum. Bins will be in the car park and in the arboretum, well behaved dogs on leads are welcome too. Please enjoy the space, tranquillity and respect the venue here. We hope you enjoy this space through the summer holidays and depending how things go we may open more regularly next year…
We are so very excited for this event being held in the Roundhouse on Sunday 8th September. There will be a great selection of high quality local Lincolnshire producers on site sharing their produce, along with some kitchen and related home wares as well as hot food traders to keep visitors refreshed throughout the day.
Keep an eye out on social media to find out which businesses will be on site & who is doing demo’s and talks in the roundhouse… with music playing through-out the day it will be a lovely festival atmosphere and a chance to get some early (Xmas?) shopping done.
With space in the arboretum for families to enjoy & farm safaris on the tractor and trailer this is one event to make sure you attend this year. Shortly farm safari time slots will be made available to pre-book. These are always very popular so make sure you don’t miss out. Some spaces will be bookable on the day by visiting our stand.
Wedding season is in full swing here! So far this year we have hosted three weddings and photos of the beautiful wedding held in the woods at the weekend will follow on social media very shortly!
In the meantime if you’re looking for a venue & want to know more information please browse our recently updated woodland wedding pages for inspiration – before perhaps booking an appointment to see the venue for yourself.
If you have any questions about weddings or events at Stourton please don’t hesitate to contact us.
We’ve been working with other venison producers locally to try and find a way to get venison to market more efficiently and offer a continuous supply of fresh venison all year round.
We currently have plenty of very versatile frying steaks in stock which are perfect to Bbq & slice in a ciabatta sandwich. Venison haunch joints are also in stock – which make for a great Sunday roast or can be sliced into steaks for a crowd! These tender steaks cook very quickly on the BBQ and are a great alternative to beef or lamb if you want to try something new.
A full range of all venison will be available at the Food & Drink Fayre at Stourton Woods on Sunday 8th September.
To place a venison order simply phone or email Tina on 01507 578236 or contact@stourtonestates.co.uk. Orders are collected from the farm office at LN9 5PB or if we are out delivering landscaping products in your area we’ll pop them on the delivery route.
We hosted four groups of year & students from Queen Elizabeth Grammer School, Horncastle in early July. The groups were expertly driven around on the trailer by Dan with our newest team member, placement student Neve sharing how we care for the deer and what crops we grow; the students also enjoyed a visit to the water tower & learnt about the Horncastle flood defence.
As for most farmers it is rather a delayed start to harvest this year, but with the big red CASE combine serviced greased & ready to go we set off just before the weekend into the winter barley that was drilled before the worst of the wet weather in autumn last year. It is fair to say it’s not a bumper yield or crop however with almost 10% of our grain in the shed over just one weekend it’s a great start. There will be a bit of break after we finish this crop as we don’t have any oilseed rape this year and the winter wheat is still a way off being ripe – we need more sunshine please! The core harvest team will be supported by Tom Robinson, Jake Fincham and even multi-job Jamie in his spare time – it’s a case of many ‘hands make light work’ with the harvest challenge this summer…
We have now finished the fencing of our circular deer enclosure system and not only that we can report that the deer enjoyed moving through the new raceways into new fields and fresh pasture – exploring areas they have never seen before!
One positive of the largely wet weather is that it has brought an abundance of grass for the lucky deer to munch on. The hinds are now having a little bit of extra barley in their diets as well as some copper boluses to help boost their nutrition and milk for the calves to keep them strong & healthy. The hinds are now happy to come up to the feeder with their calves in tow which is lovely to see.
The Summer Artisan Market is being held on 14th July. The return of this very popular event will see wonderful food producers, makers, artists and craftsmen displaying their wares in and around the roundhouse. We’ll also be there with our range of delicious freshly frozen venison so you can pick up some quick frying cooking steaks for a great tasting and quick supper later in the day / that week!
This event is more than just a great market, you can really make a day out of it –
There’s no entry fee, just a £5 per car parking charge for the whole day!
To find out more about this super event please click here.
It’s BACK! The sunflowers are growing nicely and we are excited to welcome you to the enjoy our trail.
Arrive at the parking area and take a tractor and trailer ride to our sunflower field. It’s in a different location this year as every year we rotate our crops to ensure good soil health. You can then enjoy our 1km trail through the sunflowers. You can stay as long as you want, taking in their beauty and enjoying some time in the picking area so you have a memento of your visit
Back at the roundhouse Nomad Coffee Company will be serving delicious coffee, tea, cold drinks, cakes and bakes. Wilderness Ways will also be there so you can try your hand at axe throwing.
The cost to attend is £5 per person and this includes parking and 3 sunflowers each to take home with you! So we can manage the flow of traffic and people throughout the day arrival times are bookable on our website. This time refers to the time the tractor and trailer will take you from the parking area to the field.
To book your arrival slot and for more information please click here.
Calling all foodies! We are delighted to host our first Food and Drink Fayre. Local producers will be on site displaying and selling their delicious goods in the roundhouse area.
Throughout the day there will be demonstrations and talks from some of these great producers, there will be farm safaris running and our walking trails are open for you to enjoy.
There is no entry fee for this event, it will be £5 per car to pay on the gate for parking which goes directly towards the upkeep of the grounds and venue here. Parking will be in the field off Clays Lane – it’s a good idea to fill your car & come in groups for a great value for a day out!
We are for once, not hosting but delighted to attend the Louth Food & Drink festival. Our lovingly reared venison will be available to purchase on the day. We hope to see you there!
The whole venison industry is under increasing pressure at the minute as suppliers up & down the country are having to make efficiencies in the cost of producing venison. This is particularly difficult given the investment in fencing and steps we need to take to make a consistently high-quality product and maintain high animal welfare standards. So we are really encouraging people to buy venison from us directly. We are also working with some local restaurants & pubs who have been amazed by the high quality of our farmed venison. If you would learn more about sampling our venison in your local eatery please get in touch with us and we will be happy talk to you about this & how easy it is to create tasty healthy venison meals for your customers!
We have most cuts of venison in stock at the moment. To place a venison order simply phone or email Tina on 01507 578236 or contact@stourtonestates.co.uk. Orders are collected from the farm office at LN9 5PB or if we are out delivering landscaping products in your area we’ll pop them on the delivery route.
We are delighted to welcome Neve who has joined us as part of her placement year studying Agriculture at Harper Adams University. Neve will be with us until June 2025 and will get involved in all aspects of the diverse business we run here at Stourton!
She has already hit the ground running feeding the red deer and checking the young calves are all fit & healthy running with their Mums. We hope that harvest will be imminent and at that point Neve will become a full-time member of the harvest team corn carting throughout the summer…
We have been busy mowing the trails and generally having a tidy up in preparation for our forthcoming events & open days. It was great to have the Focusability team here for their annual visit, this group has learning difficulties and access requirements so it is lovely to be able to take them on a visit that they wouldn’t normally be able to do.
We’re 90% through calving, the little ones are now active and running with the herd. We will start to give them some barley in July to keep them tame & this also helps us inspect them more easily. They are all out enjoying swimming ponds in this hot weather at the minute. We are in the midst of fencing to make our deer enclosures a circular system to ease movement and around into the handling centre. We have also been busy mowing the parks to control weed growth keeping nettles & thistles in check. Our second cut of silage took place last week in a dry weather window. Thanks to Dan, Neve & Jamie who brought in another 200 bales from the field which are now nicely & stacked ready for winter – a great team effort!
We hope to see you at one of our summer events!
Thank you for your continued support.
Antony & Helen
Our first Wedding of the season was held on May the 4th & the force between them was strong! The sun shone on this really lovely couple who celebrated their love surrounded by their family and friends. Many chose to spend the night under canvas on the old hall lawn and woke up to see the deer in hall park.
With weddings hosted throughout the summer months, if you want to find out more about hosting a wedding or other special occasion here at Stourton please get in touch.
Our venison is going down a storm at the moment! Our steaks were sampled recently by Louth YFC on a farm visit, & our burgers were cooked to perfection at the YFC rally too!
Whilst you could buy burgers ready made from us, why not get the kids involved & make your own? Here’s our very simple and cost effective recipe:
Just order a pack of venison mince, add an egg yolk, season to taste and combine before shaping into pattie shapes and grilling on the BBQ – you can’t beat these for a healthy, quick & simple supper…
We have most cuts in stock at the moment. To place your venison order simply phone or email Tina on 01507 578236 or contact@stourtonestates.co.uk and she will get your order ready for you to arrange collection from the farm at LN9 5PB or if we are out delivering landscaping products in your area we’ll pop them on the delivery route.
It was wonderful to see so many visitors and families taking part in the LWOF Activity Day that we organised & held here on Sunday 12th May. There were so many activities on offer and our visitors wasted no time getting stuck in and trying out new things.
We’d like to thank all of the exhibitors who helped us to showcase the amazing breadth of activities in offer in the Wolds. We’d also like to thank our food and beverage vendors who helped us to keep the crowd well fed and hydrated! Last but not least, our thanks go to Team Stourton who, as ever, helped the day run very smoothly.
Please click here for the full gallery of photos taken on the day!
As part of the LWOF with donations to support LRSN we held a talking walk here at Stourton. The guided walk around the estate took in the woodland, lakes and deer parks and Antony explained to the walkers how we manage the venue and care for our herds of red deer living in the parks. We also explained why we are moving to a regenerative farming system as well as our diversification projects.
Lincolnshire Young Farmers County Rally held on 18th May was very well supported from YFC’s across the county. They competed as clubs against each other in a multitude of activities from tug-of-war to flower arranging and more besides. Congratulations to Harmston YFC who took the win on the day! At night we also hosted the after party.
The YFC rally raised funds for EDAN Lincs Ending Domestic Abuse Now and was sponsored by Irelands Farm Machinery, Kubota & Stewart Trailers.
Josh Addlesee from Corringham YFC was Rally Chairman and did a great job of setting up, running the event and taking down. YFC is a great club to get involved with so if you’re aged between 13-25 do get in touch with Lincolnshire Young Farmers for more information and to find a club local to you.
If you are after a day of self-care and relaxation we are now able to take bookings from our website directly, for this event being held by Nicki Marshall the Somatics Coach here on both Friday 7th & Saturday 8th June.
This calming and relaxing day is designed to introduce you to somatics; a practice which helps you to restore your freedom of movement and calm your nervous system. It really is wonderful and we strongly suggest you come along to see what its about!
The day includes 2 somatic movement sessions, a delicious lunch and time to explore the beautiful surroundings of Stourton woods.
To book your place please click here.
We are so excited to hold our first Food & Drink Fayre at Stourton Woods on Sunday 8th September!
This event offers more than just a fabulous market, with a wide selection of quality Lincolnshire food & drink producers showcasing their goods in and around the Roundhouse in the woods, visitors can also really make a day of it with:
So if you are a food or drink business and would like to bring your business and exhibit at this event please click here to complete our application form.
This is a date to reserve in your diary – it promises to be a fabulous event – more detail will follow soon!
We’ve recently had James Dalton here with his chipper tidying up the timber felled in the woods as part of our woodland management plan. With the chipped wood we will be creating some of our landscaping products. The brash also goes through the chipper and we use this lower quality chip as our heating chip for the kiln which will dry our logs that will be ready for autumn. Thank you to GCS Machinery for the hire of the trailer.
Since the last blog we have completed all fertiliser applications around the farm. The spreader is now in the workshop with Ken painstakingly rebuilding the transmission due to some failed bearings. While we have it in pieces we are replacing all bearings and seals. Hopefully it will do a good few seasons now before needing any more attention.
The sprayer has been busy applying fungicides to cereal crops and herbicides to the beet crop. We are relatively happy with the broadleaved weed control within our beet crop now. The next application will be to try and control grass weeds and cereal volunteers in the crop as well as a pass with a tractor mounted hoe to remove weed beet and oxygenate the soil around the growing plants.
Our spring crops have established well, as they move through their growth stages we will soon be applying some T1 fungicides alongside some foliar plant nutrition products as well as herbicides to control broad leaved weeds where required.
As mentioned in the last blog we have some stewardship options to establish, this should be happening within the next few weeks when weather, soil conditions and seed allow. Fingers crossed we keep getting a few warm rains and these will fly out of the ground when we drill them.
Sadly Oli is leaving us after harvest so we are looking to recruit for a working farm manager. This is a key role for us here at Stourton which involves the management of all arable operations. The prospective candidate needs to have an interest in regenerative farming and livestock, be self-motivated with excellent communication & team management skills as well as experience of operating a fleet of modern farm machinery.
If you are interested in this role please contact Robert Bell & Co via landagency@robert-bell.org to register your interest and to receive the full job description.
Our favourite time of year is here! We are delighted to announce that the first deer calf of the season was born on 20th May! Here are a couple of photos, and more will follow as the new young gang grows over the next few weeks,
In preparation for the calves’ arrival we have been managing weeds in the deer parks to optimise the grazing for the feeding mothers. We have been mowing some thistles and nettles but crucially leaving large nettle clumps for the newborns as these are their mums’ favourite spots to hide them from predators.
We have also cut our herbal sileage which is now being baled and then moved to the yard where it will be carefully stored for winter deer food.
April 2024 has been a very busy one at Stourton. There has been lot of behind the scenes preparation for our forthcoming events and things are slowly starting to move on the farm and with the deer.
We are ready to launch the Lincolnshire Wolds Outdoor Festival at Stourton Woods & this event is going to be a smasher!
We have planned so many activities on site for you to have a go at or take part in and the best part is that most FREE OF CHARGE or very heavily subsidised. From bushcraft to seated yoga, storytelling walks to beekeeping, archery & axe throwing and woodland craft activities for our younger visitors there really is something for everyone!
We will also be hosting our famous farm safaris in our accessible tractor and trailer. We recommend that you book in advance to avoid disappointment.
All of our self guided trails are open on the day so you can stretch your legs and enjoy a 1km, 3km or 5km walk. Dogs are more than welcome to join you for the day, all we ask is that you keep them on leads and pick up after them.
Plus, there will be top quality street food vendors on site to keep your energy levels up throughout the day.
Gates are open from 10am until 4pm and there’s a car parking charge of just £5. If you are struggling to get to us or don’t want to drive there are buses to & from the centre of Horncastle to the event and these are free of charge.
For more information about all activities, bookings (where needed) please go to our website:
https://www.stourtonestates.co.uk/product/events/outdoor-festival-activity-day-12th-may-2024/
We are delighted to host this year’s Lincolnshire Young Farmers’ County Rally.
You can come along and support your Lincolnshire YFC’s and cheer them on in the many competitions taking part throughout the day.
This is a fantastic opportunity to get involved & join in the fun with an after party taking place in the roundhouse in the evening. For more information and to book after party tickets please keep an eye on the YFC Lincs facebook page which you can find here.
Enjoy a day with Nicki Marshall, The Somatics Coach for a day of self-care and relaxation.
Somatics is a gentle movement practice that is suitable for all ages, you do not need to be flexible or fit to take part.
You will take part in 2 somatic movement sessions and enjoy a delicious lunch provided by Holly’s Garden Kitchen. There will be built in time-out to explore the beautiful estate at Stourton Woods too! No experience is necessary to enjoy these days.
Contact Nicki at hello@thesomaticscoach.co.uk to book your place or for more information.
Did you know that most of our landscaping products are made from timber from the estate or other local Lincolnshire woodlands? We have a great range of products available to spruce up your garden or make your play area safe.
For your convenience we bag these up in builders bags and we deliver direct to your door (20 miles radius of LN9 5PB) in our transit van with a mini crane and very friendly driver! You can order these online here.
What a busy time it is on this side of the business at the minute! With the deer now enjoying the grass and space frolicking in the deer parks, we have cleaned out the roundhouse & pressure washed the concrete base to make it event ready – certainly no mean feat!
Antony has also planted another 500 of mixed species native trees, (alder, oak, hazel & silver birch) to thicken up belts of woodland and replace any that haven’t made it through the winter & recent weather. We have a further 25 pot grown trees from Crowders Nursery to be planted around the roundhouse and then we are done for this year – hopefully the wetter ground will help these get away.
Some of the grass around the arboretum, old hall lawn and car parking area has had it’s first couple of mows and is starting to look a little more managed. We always leave large sections of grass un-mown for the wildlife and to encourage wild flowers – in fact Jim from Wilderness ways found at least 30 different species suitable for foraging in one small section of the arboretum – you can learn more about this at one of his sessions at the Outdoor Festival Activity Day!
Our first wedding this season is almost here on 4th May. In preparation the safari tent has had a thorough spring clean both inside and out. The internal floor has been re-treated, the internal doors and furniture has all have a lick of paint and we are pleased to say it is now looking in tip-top condition for all celebrations and events taking place here this year.
We love hosting weddings here in our special woodland venue. If you would like to find out more about a Stourton Woods wedding the please don’t hesitate to contact us.
Since the last farm blog we have been able to make a good amount of progress. All of our spring wheat, spring barley, sunflowers, and sugar beet is now in the ground. Conditions have been incredibly tricky and we have had to be extremely patient while some of the land has dried sufficiently to drill in good order. Even then there are certain areas we have had to go round which are too wet to travel or too wet and heavy to create a suitable ‘seedbed’.
All round a very challenging spring to get things right. However on the plus side, thanks to some incredibly hard work from Ken and Dan we are almost ‘back on track’ albeit with crops established a month after we would ideally do so.
Next on our agenda is to get some fertiliser applied to all of our spring sown crops. This will be in the form of a ‘compound’ fertiliser containing Nitrogen, Phosphate, Potassium and Sulphur. This product allows us to apply all key crop nutrients in one pass, saving time in what is a very tricky and late season. While the April showers have frustrated at times we are hopeful they continue a little to allow the fertiliser to be dissolved in order that the crops can access it.
The sprayer will soon be very busy with fungicide applications to the winter cereals. We have already applied our ‘T1’ (first fungicide) to our winter barley crop which will give us around 3 weeks of disease protection before we have to apply a second fungicide to take us through the key growth and development stages of the crop. Other job the sprayer has on at the moment include applying herbicides to the sugar beet crop and the final small dose of nitrogen to the earlier drilled (October) winter wheat crops.
We will also need to catch up on a few other jobs such as re marking footpaths, repairing tracks, and general farm maintenance. On top of this we have a few areas to establish stewardship options, but have a bit of time flexibility on these. Never a dull moment here on the farm though!!
So the deer are out in the parks, however they look rather shabby at this time of year! As they lose their winter coats and then roll around in mud, swim in ponds – take it from us they are very happy animals they just look very scruffy!
We are working to create a circular system to link up all the deer parks so that we can move them into the handling centre and onto fresh pasture around the estate more easily. This means some forestry work to create race-ways around the back of the woodland and then fencing and gates so it is all go with this too at the minute.
With the incredibly wet weather our forage crop that has been growing quite happily for a couple of years, has taken a bit of a hit. Our forage crop is important as we mow and bale it to produce silage that keeps the deer fed and nourished over the winter months. To help restore the health of our forage crop Jamie has spent a couple of days (!) aerating this field with a spiky roller and has re-seeded parts of it with an herbal mix.
We look forwards to seeing you in a couple of weeks!
Antony & Helen
Did you know that we sell wood chippings specifically for play areas? It’s perfect for laying underneath your swing sets in the garden or for larger commercial outdoor play areas.
There are no additives or waste products used in the production process – simply pure roundwood logs grown and sourced from our own woodlands. The chip is than graded, screened and tested to be fully compliant with British Safety Standard Ref BSEN 1177.
To place your order and to work out how much chip you need for your chosen area (the depth you lay is very important!) please visit our website.
We recently attended an event organised by ELDC in Woodhall Spa where many local businesses shared their leaflets and we heard presentations from Visit Lincolnshire, Destination Lincolnshire and the Arts Council who are all working hard to promote & encourage visitors to Lincolnshire. It was lovely to meet other local businesses and share what’s going on here this year.
If you’d like to spread the word and have a supply of our leaflets to share with your guests / visitors please get in touch & we will happily send you some!
Our first event this year is on 12th May and is the Activity Day as part of the Lincolnshire Wolds Outdoor Festival being held at Stourton Woods.
Find out about Beekeeping, Gliding, maybe have a go at a taster session of Seated Yoga. There’s also Archery, Knife, Axe throwing and Crossbow, Sound Bath, Bushcraft, Foraging, Football, Tennis, Walking Netball, Woodland Activities, Storytelling Walks, guided rambles and much more… There will be something for everyone here with many activities provided free of charge, subsidised or at highly reduced cost to ensure maximum participation!
There is no entry fee just £5 per car for parking for and you can enjoy the whole day here.
We are running our famous farm safaris on the day. We recommend you book in advance as these are very popular. You can do this by clicking here.
With inflation still rising, albeit more slowly, we have held our venison prices from 2023 into 2024. If you’re looking for an alternative joint for the family a haunch joint is a great option – you might even find it cheaper per kg than English lamb! Plus with our 10% discount on selection packs still on this month whilst stocks last – it’s a great opportunity to fill up your freezer and enjoy some lovingly reared healthy venison.
To place your order please call us at the office (Mon-thurs 9-4) on 01507 578236.
With the wedding and events season just around the corner we are praying for some dry weather so the estate trails are not so waterlogged & muddy – we soon need to start mowing them! We are also having a proper spring clean of the safari tent both inside and out as well as cleaning and treating benches, putting up the festoon lights and getting everything that was safely stored away over the winter out again. Our first wedding is taking place here on Saturday 4th May. We don’t want to give too much away but we can’t wait to share some images from this couple’s celebration with you.
When you next visit Stourton Woods you will notice some changes – we finally have a new entranceway welcoming you into the arboretum which we’re rather pleased with. The wood clad shipping containers which serve as an impromptu office on open days now have a portico roof giving shelter as well as leading you into our woodland venue.
When you visit, you might also see evidence of timber operations in Lodge wood that are set to take place shortly. This is the last part of our 10 year woodland management plan to restore the parkland. As you might expect, nothing is wasted here – the timber will soon be chipped for landscaping products and to fire our kiln to produce kiln dried logs this summer ready for the log season starting in the Autumn.
Just as we take delivery and finish installation of all the very smart gates around the roundhouse, the deer are ready to be released! Typical! Dotty does keep managing to evade the gates though….hopefully the young ones aren’t learning too much from her!
The calves will move from the roundhouse into the lush green grass in the deer enclosures in early April, all being well. Before then we will busy copper treating the hinds before calving begins in May. The copper bolus ensures the hinds have all of the valuable nutrients they need as they calve and then feed their young, as well as ensuring the calves are healthy and strong at birth.
We look forwards to sharing our April news with you next month and then being able to open up for the summer season!
Antony & Helen
We’re feeling that spring is just around the corner and we are fully stocked up with bark, woodchip and playchip ready for all your gardening projects.
Woodchip is incredibly versatile. From keeping your borders tidy and suppressing weeds to laying a chicken run, or drying out a wet area such as a gateway or pathway this product is ideal.
To see our range of landscaping products and to place an order, please click here.
Thanks to all our customers who have ordered kiln dried logs, however unfortunately we are now OUT OF STOCK (Tina will be in touch with you directly if you have been on our waiting list).
We won’t have any more logs to deliver now. We anticipate that log deliveries will start again in September. We do have kindling and Willowglow briquettes available to order.
Willowglow briquettes are made from 100% British Willow with only 8% moisture content. They burn with a long-lasting heat output with no additives or chemicals. Each pack contains 7 full size briquette and they are packed in re-cycled plastic. They are easy to modify in size to fit any Multifuel Stove, Open Fire, Firepit or BBQ free from spitting or sparking. This is the perfect product to use all year round.
To place an order please click here or you can get in touch with Tina (Mon-thurs 9-4) on 01507 578236.
Now is the time to stock up on delicious healthy and lovingly reared venison. We ensure our deer are managed to the highest standards and we offer a consistently high-quality product in terms of taste and texture, which – if you have ever eaten wild venison you will know cannot be guaranteed! In fact, we have recently passed our quality assurance audit by SAI global assured venison with flying colours so you know you are eating meat that is not only extremely tasty but has also had the best care and attention.
We have a number of mixed selection packs available containing casserole steak, mince and frying steaks…on which we are offering a 10% discount so that you can enjoy delicious meals as well keeping your freezer stocked up.
Please phone Tina to place your order and arrange collection from Top Yard Farm LN9 5PB or home delivery can be arranged FOC with any other log / landscaping product.
We have a full programme of events for your diaries this year, more details will be on our website and socials soon, in the meantime SAVE THE DATES!
The theme of the past month is yet again weather issues. We had a nice settled period at the end of January/beginning of February which as mentioned in the previous blog post allowed us to get on with a little more drilling. Since the beginning of February however the great British weather has continued to delight with more rain! The wheat we drilled in January is largely now emerged but is struggling in a couple of areas due to waterlogging or slower draining parts of fields. However we are mostly happy with the progress of this late sown wheat to date, especially given the weather we have had.
You may remember previous mention of the Horncastle Flood Alleviation Scheme on our and a neighbours land. This has been busy (and operating correctly now) on a number of occasions this winter. When it was constructed we were told that the modelling was for it to come into operation once every 5 years. Since September, it has come into operation on 7 occasions! Since its ‘opening’ in 2018 it has come into operation on around 20 occasions!
There appears now to be some drier weather in the forecast, all being well this will allow us to make progress out on the land. We have a field to plough ahead of sowing sugar beet, as well as possibly one ahead of spring barley. The rest of the fields will either be lightly cultivated and then sown, or direct drilled depending on conditions. Before that though we need to get some fertiliser put on the autumn/winter sown crops. This will consist of a couple of separate applications in order to provide the crops with fresh phosphate, nitrogen, and sulphur. Here is a brief guide from Yara outlining some of the considerations we have in managing nutrition of our crops heading into spring.
In the more immediate future we are busy creating another SFI application to improve our environmental offering on the farm alongside our productive farming. We have now successfully transitioned between our 14 year old Environmental Stewardship agreement to a new Countryside Stewardship agreement, the SFI (sustainable farming incentive) will run alongside and complement the ‘CS’. We have always been very environmentally minded here at Stourton, and these new schemes are a fantastic way for us to extend what we already do and farm in a more sustainable way.
One of the more exciting things that has happened in February has been the interviewing of candidates from Harper Adams University for a year-long placement starting this July. This role will be a very broad one, encompassing all aspects of the business here at Stourton. We will do a full introduction of the successful candidate in July.
New gates are being installed shortly around the roundhouse and it will be soon looking GrATE!! Having feed barriers will make daily feeding much more efficient and less troublesome for the deer as we won’t have to go into their segments to feed them… although Dotty (our 3 year old hand reared calf) might not be happy. She was moved into the roundhouse in early January with the calves and has relished the opportunity to trot in & out of the whenever she feels on any particular day. Last week she managed to escape the deer enclosure entirely and was wandering about in our garden until she was tempted back across the arboretum following Antony with a bucket of barley!!
Whilst the ground in the parks is still fairly sodden and muddy conditions are challenging so we (or Jamie!) has taken the opportunity to clean the feeding tractor (see the before & after images on whatsapp) so hopefully it won’t get in quite the same state again for quite some time! On the plus side we can see the grass in the parks greening up as we look ahead to deer turn out in April, all being well.
The continuation of wet weather and storm damage is really delaying a lot of winter tidying jobs as it is very easy to make more of a mess! However, we have removed many fallen branches and some dangerous trees and hope to have moved the brash from deer enclosure no.10 so that we can move the deer around the parks once they are all out of the roundhouse.
We have also started to plan our programme of work to spring clean and refresh the safari tent ready for weddings and events starting in early May so that it looks in tip top condition.
So, in summary, whilst we are not yet busy with events we are being kept very busy behind the scenes in preparation!
We’re getting towards end of our log season. We have a freshly dried batch coming out of kiln shortly and then another at the end of February. These will be the last bags of the season so if you’d like some please either place your order online here or phone Tina in our office on 01507 578236 between 9am-4pm on Monday to Thursday.. Don’t miss out!
It’s still the weather for comfort food and nothing beats a lasagne on a cold, rainy day. You can use some of our delicious venison mince as an alternative to pork and beef in your lasagne recipe. Take a look at our venison lasagne recipe here.
If you’re sticking to a healthy eating plan for January then look no further than venison as a great source of protein. It’s incredibly low in fat, and its levels of saturated fat are much lower than in other red meats like beef. It also contains minerals that are good for our health, including iron, phosphorus, potassium, and zinc as well as vitamins B6 and B12, riboflavin, niacin, and thiamine*.
As well as mince, we have a fresh supply of various cuts of venison in our freezer ready for you.
If you’d like to order some please phone Tina in our office on 01507 578236 between 9am-4pm on Monday to Thursday.
We’re working on our programme of events for 2024 and will confirm events and dates ASAP. A couple are definitely in the diary and we can tell you about now. The first is the Lincolnshire Wolds Outdoor Festival Activity Day which we are organising . This will be held at Stourton Woods on Sunday 12th May. This will be a great event with plenty of have-a-go activities on offer… you’ll find out more about exactly what in the next few weeks.
The Lincolnshire Young Farmers Club will be holding their county rally here on Saturday 18th May, so if you’re a member of YFC we will look forward to welcoming you here then!
In the meantime keep your eyes peeled on our social media channels and/or sign up for our newsletter to make sure you’re among the first to find out what are plans are.
Like the rest of the UK we have been rather battered by the recent (10!) storms. This has added to our usual winter workload on the estate and clearing up debris, branches and trees is a constant job at the moment. We’re looking forward to some spring-like settled weather soon….please!
Perhaps unsurprisingly I will start this blog mentioning the weather! We have had 10 named storms during the current ‘cropping year’; Agnes in September 2023, Babet in October, Ciaran and Debi in November, Elin, Fergus and Gerrit in December, and Henk, Isha and Jocelyn in January 2024. As mentioned in previous blogs this has made things incredibly tricky to manage on farm.
We have however now had some more settled weather and have been able to lift some more sugar beet…. There is a ‘but’ here though! Having lifted some, we were then ‘frozen out’ (the beet lifting machine couldn’t penetrate the frozen ground) for a week. The low temperatures have caused some damage to the roots but all being well the beet still in the ground will be ok until it is lifted and delivered.
This week we have started sowing a little more wheat, we are ploughing and ‘combi-drilling’ for this. Combi drilling is basically working the land and sowing in the same pass. On our better land up around the Caistor high street this is a useful practice to establish a little more wheat to take the emphasis off growing a large acreage of spring barley. As we move to our more difficult land towards Hatton we will require a lot more patience to establish crops in good conditions!
We are currently reviewing our farming practices, we are looking to move in a more ‘regenerative’ direction. Watch this space as this develops!
With all the rain at the beginning of January the ground underfoot for the deer has been a little challenging. The hinds have coped well with the wet weather but are certainly happier on the drier ground now that we have moved them.
As it’s their first winter, our summer-born calves are kept in the roundhouse during the coldest months to acclimatise them to the cold and wet weather. The calves have settled well into roundhouse living and are enjoying sheltering there over the winter.
Some of your may remember Dotty, our deer calf that we had to hand-rear back in 2021 after being rejected by her mother. This year it is possible that Dotty is in calf for the first time, however it’s still early stages in the hinds’ pregnancies and as yet we cannot tell if she’s pregnant or not! We are delighted to report that she is just as friendly as ever though and loves nothing more than to come over for a ‘chat’ when we go into the enclosures to feed them.
Reared here on the farm, professionally butchered & packaged for us by local butchers and labelled here, we deliver direct to your door in our veni-van across Lincolnshire, freshly frozen venison is also available for delivery nationwide!
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