14th September 2109 marks our third Autumn Festival and this year promises to be bigger and better!
There will be lots of ‘have-a-go’ activities, from bush-craft to axe throwing, mini quad rides, off road 4×4 experiences, forestry, cookery & craft demonstrations.
Fancy a spot of retail therapy? There’ll be a huge variety of top-quality products available from craft stalls, to homeware, clothing, accessories and boutique food producers. Deer Safaris will run throughout the day on the Stourton Estates wheelchair-accessible tractor & trailer. Visitors can see Winston, the resident and very handsome stag with his ladies and their calves in their beautiful parkland surroundings.
Not only is there loads to do and see there’s also a full program of live music entertaining families throughout the day introduced by the colourful Alan Ritson who will be delighted to welcome the following very talented musicians playing in this special setting:
Visitors can enjoy the music from the Safari Clubhouse on site where they can grab a pint or maybe a G&T, relax and enjoy the ambience of the day in this very special venue.
Feeling peckish? There is a wide range of high-quality food on offer from wood fired pizza, steak burgers as well as very tasty vegan street food and for sugar junkies: home-made cakes, luxury marshmallows, fudge, ice-cream and lots more.
Entry costs just £5 per car payable on the gate and the event is open from 10am until 4pm!
The fun doesn’t end at 4pm! From 7pm we are delighted to welcome one of the most sought-after young artists on the acoustic scene: musician Elliott Morris, together with support artists, The Rye Sisters and Itchy Fingers.
Elliott Morris, is originally from West Ashby, just a couple of miles from the estate. Elliott has completed 2 UK tours supporting artists such as Paul Carrack – he has also been joined on stage a number of times by Ed Sheeran!
The gig will take place in the safari tent within the arboretum where guests can relax around our fire pit & enjoy a licensed bar and superb range of quality food from the Willow Bull Steak Shack.
You can book your tickets now by clicking here! Tickets cost £12 (£6 for under 16’s) and are strictly limited so please book in advance to make sure you don’t miss out.
If you would like to make a weekend of it, they are warmly invited to book a pitch to bring their tent, caravan or motorhome. You are welcome to stay on Friday night & Saturday night enjoying both the day time activities and the Elliott Morris Gig without having to drive home! Camping pitches also include free entry to the day event.
If you don’t have their own camping gear or simply fancy glamping for the weekend then bell tents are available sleeping 2, 4 or 6 people. The tents are furnished with air-beds, duvets, pillows and bedding. For the ultimate luxury one very special and cosy bell tent is available to hire featuring an iron bedstead with all bedding supplied and fitted with a log burner.
To find out more or to book your pitch please contact the Stourton Team on 01507 578236 or contact@stourtonestates.co.uk.
Last weekend we welcomed Sophie and Richard to the estate to celebrate their wedding. The weather was kind to them and all of us on the Stourton Team send our congratulations and wish them many happy years together.
The beauty of a wedding here is that you can have your wedding day your way. We have a couple of lovely spots around the estate where you can pitch your marquee and the style you want is completely up to you. Sophie & Richard opted for a beautiful poled marquee pitched in the arboretum overlooking the old hall lawn and deer park beyond, but we’ve also had frame marquees and tipi style marquees. Alternatively you can create a woodland wedding and hire our Safari Tent with all the essentials as part of a package and let use make your dream day come true. Our safari tent can comfortably sit approximately 120 guests, with room to boogie!
The entrance to Sophie & Richard’s marquee (Florida Marquees Yorkshire) was stunning with flowers designed by S&A Floral Designs wedding dressing in the marquee from Save the Date and the bar was run by the brilliant Drinks Now – we loved the sound of the Secret Stourton cocktail! We are now working with a number of preferred suppliers who we can liaise with on your behalf and who know the venue – or you are more than welcome to source your own!
If you would like to talk to us about your big day and what we can offer please simply contact Julie in the office. We’d love to show you around and hear about your ideas for your special day!
Are you getting the BBQ out over the summer? We have lots of delicious Venison in stock in the freezer on the farm for you!
This wonderfully flavoured meat is low in fat & cholesterol and high in protein & iron so super healthy and absolutely delicious.
We have steaks, sausages, burgers and larger cuts too, all in stock
We are open Monday – Friday between 9am & 1pm so you can just pop in, or to make sure you don’t miss out or if you have a very specific order you can contact us to reserve it before collecting!
What is it?
Pine nuggets are large pieces of pine bark that are great for the garden and it is also play registered for safety surfaces.
Why should we choose it?
This is an attractive alternative to play chip being darker in colour and giving a more natural look to your garden.
How much is it?
Whilst this product is slightly more expensive at £70 per bag it is quality you are paying for this premium product… why not try it and see the difference yourself?
Can I order it?
Yes – click here to order online and and it will be delivered by our transit van on a Tuesday or Thursday direct to your door, free delivery within 20 mils of LN9 5PB
The deer calves are now well settled into their parkland surrounding and are very much enjoying the warmer weather. They seem to spend most of their time playing in their pond. The stags antlers are looking magnificent – they have finished growing and are about to lose their velvet…. Antony will have to be careful now!
Harvest has just started. The new CASE combine is performing brilliantly and there’s plenty of space in the cab for Oli’s Red Bull (other energy drinks are available)!
First to be harvested is the Winter Barley crop, followed by Oilseed Rape and then later in August the wheat crops. Fingers crossed for a dry few weeks and some smooth sailing / combining and corn carting.
Harvest is a hectic time of year on any farm, we have to snatch the harvest hours when the weather permits and the crop is dry enough. This means some pretty unsociable hours for our dedicated team. However it also marks the culmination of our farming year when all of our hard work in planting and tending the crops comes to fruition and is always incredibly satisfying.
Thanks go to Louth Tractors for supplying this incredible 35 foot header combine.
As you can see, it’s all go on the estate at the moment!
Don’t forget our Open day on Sunday 28th July and music festival Beyond the Woods on 9th & 10th August.
We look forward to seeing you soon
Helen & Antony
We started the month of June with a bang with the first ever Pop-Up Pub Night held at our unique converted Water Tower venue.
We were so lucky to have been blessed with perfect weather for this event. The views from the top of the water tower were glorious in the early evening sunshine. The winning quiz team was Clare Halligan-Hoad and her team from Boston College who won a gorgeous ‘Lincolnshire Hamper’ containing a selection of locally sourced produce to share out and enjoy. 
Also, did you spot our ‘non-plastic’ glasses used on the night?
We would like to take the opportunity to thank…….
We hope to run more quirky events like this in future so please keep your eyes peeled!
The weather was not as kind for our Family Camping Weekend & Open Day planned for the weekend of 14th June. Unfortunately, due to the extremely heavy rainfall lots of areas of the estate which were key to the running of the event were so waterlogged that we had to cancel.
Instead we are planning another Open Day on Sunday 28th July from 10am – 4pm. Entry is free so bring your bike, run, jog or wander the estate at your leisure. Or enjoy the surroundings with coffee, homemade cake and a Sunday newspaper. There will also be children’s activities in the safari tent and we will be running Deer Safaris on the day. Our Deer Safaris are very popular so early booking is essential. Please visit this page to book your deer safari slot. You can see how our red deer calves are growing, as well as see the majestic and characterful Stag Winston in his parkland surroundings.
First Wedding in the Arboretum this YearWe would also like to congratulate Adam and Amy who held their wedding ceremony and reception in the arboretum, whilst the weather was a little wet it did not dampen their spirits and we wish them every happiness for their future together.
We have been extremely busy over the last 6 weeks running our educational group visits. Once all are visits are complete we will have hosted 18 diverse groups this year and our visitors have included the WI groups, Brownies and Cubs, Horncastle QEGS, Royal British Legion and Young Farmers, to name but a few.
We’d like to thank you all for booking to come along and have really enjoyed sharing our estate with you.
If you are looking for a venue to hold a group educational visit in 2020 – whether you are a social group, club or charity then please get in touch.
Forthcoming Events
There’s always something to look forward to here at Stourton Estates, here’s a couple more dates for your diary –
Sunday 28th July 10am – 4pm free Open Day in the arboretum
Friday 9th – Sunday 11th August 2019 – Beyond the Woods Festival
JoeFest presents Beyond the Woods – a vibrant, relaxed and family friendly music festival showcasing some of the best music around locally and from further afield, with headliners such as Ten Tonnes and Radio 1’s Scott Mills and Chris Stark. With camping in the deer park, family camping or glamping areas – full details & tickets at www.beyondthewoods.co.uk
14th September 2019 – Celebrate the season at our Autumn Festival and After Party
Come and camp for the weekend or just join us on Saturday from 10am – 4pm to enjoy lots of family fun, activities, stalls, demonstrations and delicious food all wrapped up with some great live music all day. Entry is just £5 per car. The After Party is from 7pm – late with fantastic live music, food and a bar. The Rye Sisters and Itchy Fingers will be playing along with this year’s headline performer Elliott Morris, one of the most sought-after young artists on the acoustic scene, plus he’s a local lad, originally from West Ashby – tickets are available for this gig now. Visit our website to book your tickets.
It’s the time of year for getting out in your garden. Whether you are looking to bark your borders, feed your planters with some rich manure or create a safe base to a play area, we have a range of landscaping products produced on the estate to help you.
This year we have introduced a new product called ‘Premium Pine Nuggets’. This product is play registered and great for decorative covering of larger beds, borders as well as play areas.
All of our landscaping products come in easy to handle 0.7m³ builders’ bags and our prices include free delivery within a 20-mile radius of the farm.
Click here to see the full range.
Undeterred by the wet and cooler than average weather, the deer have been calving in great numbers. There are deer calves galore and all are doing incredibly well running along with their Mums.
We were unsure how such wet weather would affect the calving rates of the deer; however, it seems that rather than putting them off it has spurred them on. It is believed that this is a response to there being lower than usual predator activity during wet weather in the wild.
The deer are very effective at calving and we rarely need to intervene in proceedings. It is a daily delight at this time of year when carrying out our usual daily checks to find out how many new calves have put in an appearance overnight and where they may be hidden!
Come along to our deer safaris on 28th July to see how they are getting on.
As the month of June dawned we were thinking that a spot of rain would be great for our crops which are in their vital growth stages where they are heading and the grain is setting in the ears. We did not however plan for 150 million tonnes of it to fall on us all in one go. In actual fact the land for the most part has stood up well to the deluge and we didn’t suffer from too much standing water. The flood defence system which helps to prevent flooding in Horncastle and along the Bain is situated on our land and has been tested for the first time since it was constructed. It is impressive to see it at full operational capacity and for the most part worked well in keeping Horncastle dryer than in previous heavy rains.
It is currently the ‘calm before the storm’ where we await our crops to mature ahead of our busy harvest season. Where necessary and due to the damper weather we have applied some fungicides to ensure that the crops fulfil their potential from a quality and yield point of view. We hope to be ready to harvest our Oil seed Rape crop towards the end of July – as long as the weather dries up!
We look forward to seeing you soon
Helen & Antony
Open Day & Wolds Walking Festival – A Huge Thank You!
We would like to thank everyone who came along to the ‘Stourton Leg’ of the Wolds Walking Festival on Sunday 19th May. The weather was kind to us and it was lovely to see so many people exploring the estate on our two guided walks and especially so many families. The rock ramble was a great success and kept many little legs entertained hunting for rocks around the arboretum. We managed to raise just over £200 for the Wolds Walking Festival which was fantastic. If you came along and have any photos of the day we’d love you to share them with us on either Facebook or Instagram.
As part of the festival we also held the first deer safaris of the year. The deer looked magnificent and took every opportunity to show off to their visitors, who loved seeing them in their parkland surroundings. It was the first time some of our younger deer have been surveyed by passers-by, but although traditionally nervy, our youngsters took it in their stride.
We served refreshments from our converted horse-box next to our newly sited Safari Tent where walkers rested their legs after walking. This has wonderful views down to the lakes and across the parklands and is in a much more sheltered position. We will use the tent as an ‘outdoor class room’ for school trips, group visits and on open days as a meeting point and ‘refreshment spot’. It is also available for private hire, so if you wish to host a gathering or woodland wedding please don’t hesitate to contact us.
We are holding a number of events this year, so if you missed out on this opportunity to explore the estate please take a look at our events page. We’d love to see you soon!
Reduce, Reuse and Recycle
We are so lucky to work and live where we do and we work very hard across all areas of the estate and our business to ensure that our environmental impact is as low as possible. We do this in a number of ways.
We manage our woodlands carefully and when we do have to fell trees on the estate we put aside the larger ones and convert them into logs with the smaller brash being chipped to produce woodchip. The chip is sometimes used on the estate, or sold to keen gardeners / landscapers and any waste is used to fire our own kiln boiler in which we dry our logs. We also have a continual tree planting programme to replace lost / fallen trees which provide shelter for the deer as well as encouraging wildlife and creating a rich and diverse bio-culture here.
We try to ensure that, as far as possible we and our partners use only compostable or biodegradable carrier bags, napkins, cups, beakers or kitchen ware at our events.
The deer are even roped in! We collect up the deer manure which we sometimes turn into compost or more often spread onto the farmland as a brilliant natural fertiliser, reducing our reliance on chemicals.
If you are visiting the estate we kindly ask that you help us in our efforts by taking any rubbish away with you or that it is put in any of the carefully labelled litter bins provided so that it can be re-cycled appropriately. Thank you in advance for your co-operation!
Pop-Up Pub Night – Saturday 1st June – last few tickets available to book now!
We still have a few tickets left for our Pop –Up Pub night at the Water Tower. Your ticket not only gains entry but also entitles you to a complimentary arrival drink as well as your quiz sheet so hurry – these are selling fast so please don’t miss out on what will be a great night in a truly unique location.
Family Camping Weekend: 14th-16th June 2019 – book your pitch now!
Calling all campers! The family camping weekend is fast approaching. Don’t miss out on this great, fun filled, family focussed weekend. To find out more about what we have in store for you and to buy tickets please click here.
Welcome to a brand new team member!
We would like to congratulate our Farm Manager Oli and his lovely wife Chloe on the safe arrival of baby number three. Orla swells the Smith Family ranks to 5 and joins her two older brothers in keeping Mum and Dad on their toes for years to come. Congratulations!
On the Farm
Well… it is still rather dry but we have at least had a useful amount of rain to keep crops going for the time being. All drilling is now complete with our wild bird seed and nectar flower mixes having been sown last week; there was a decent amount of soil moisture so hopefully they will establish well for the coming year.
Sugar beet is now up and growing strongly, with the recent rains there has been an enormous flush of weed growth which we are currently contending with! A pass with a laser guided steerage hoe is planned imminently, the main aim for us is to deal with a very high level of ‘weedy beet’ (beet plants which have grown from seed shed in previous years) in some of our fields, as well as reducing the overall weed burden. This will be followed up by a rogueing gang to pull out any remaining plants to stop them shading and competing for nutrients with our sugar beet plants. The final application of nitrogen fertiliser is currently being applied to the sugar beet. Anyone who wishes to read about growing sugar beet (in a great amount of detail!) can find the information here.
Elsewhere on the farm oilseed rape crops are coming out of flower and setting pods nicely, in the wheat crops anything that isn’t wheat is now rearing its ugly head above the crop. We have a smattering of volunteer barley in the wheat following barley as well as a small amount of blackgrass in a couple of places as well. The wheat is due the next fungicide anytime, this is applied to protect the crops’ ‘flag leaf’. This leaf is at the top of the plant and is the last to emerge before the ear (seed head) and contributes up to 50% of the yield building potential in the crop; hence the need to protect it from disease. Spring barley has just had its first fungicide and trace element mix, as well as a herbicide in places to tidy up a bit of weed growth. Useful growth guides for our combinable crops can be found here.
Over the next month or so as we see the crops through their final phases of rapid growth and into grain fill, we will start looking towards harvest. Grain stores will be emptied and thoroughly cleaned. Harvesting and cultivation equipment will be checked over. This year we will be taking our trailers to go through a HGV style MOT test to make sure they are in good order to be out on the public highway. This will be amongst the first of a number of changes we intend to make this year in order to ensure we are operating as safely as we can.
Let’s hope that this continued dry weather won’t mean it’s tipping it down at the Lincolnshire show next month!!
Deer Diary
As we mentioned above the deer are now firmly established in their parkland setting for the duration of the summer and hopefully a few Autumn months. The youngsters, despite being a little reticent about leaving the safety and security of their crew yard winter abode, have taken to park life very well and are enjoying life in the sunshine and in their new swimming pond.
We are patiently awaiting the birth of our first calf of the season – any day now!!
We have a number of opportunities across the year to see our deer in their natural surroundings on one of our Deer Safaris. You can book your safaris here for 26th May as part of the Walled Garden Baumber’s Charity Garden Fete and Fun Dog show
We will also be running deer safaris throughout the weekend 14th-16th June as part of the Family Camping weekend – another reason to get your pitch booked now!
We can now say that ‘Open Season’ is officially underway and we look forward to welcoming as many of you as possible to our events. We enjoy sharing the estate we love and live on with you.
Helen and Antony
We are gearing up for our events this year starting on Sunday May 19th – our open day with guided and self-guided walks supporting the Wolds Walking Festival as well as some deer safaris on the tractor & trailer and light refreshments!
Some of our events are ticketed so please don’t forget to buy tickets for these forthcoming events:
Come and join us as we open the Water Tower just outside the village of Baumber! We have carefully restored this historic tower with windows and a Victorian spiral staircase. The staircase leads up to the old tank at the top, this has been boarded out for you to enjoy panoramic views over the beautiful Lincolnshire Wolds and River Bain Valley.
More excitingly (!) we have also installed a quirky bar on the ground floor! From this we will serve local Lincolnshire ales from Ferry Ales Brewery at Fiskerton as well as Prosecco and soft drinks.
A pub quiz hosted by John Marshall (him off the radio…) starts at 7.30pm. We welcome teams to take part and enjoy the evening at this unique venue.
The Willow Bull Steak Shack will be serving delicious steak, venison burgers and hot-dogs as well as tasty vegetarian fayre. These will be available alongside the tower for punters to enjoy over the course of the evening.
We will be open from 6pm – 10pm. Due to very limited space this event is strictly for ticket holders only. Don’t miss out! Tickets are £5 per person and can be bought online here. Your ticket includes a free drink on arrival!
Do you have children who would like to experience camping for the first time? Or, maybe you are family of seasoned campers? Either way this is one weekend not to miss!
Come and stay in the camping field which is secluded and enclosed. Children have a degree of freedom here – enjoying simple pleasures such as den-making, playing on a small pirate ship climbing frame and a very popular sand-pit. Perfect conditions for special family time with children playing whilst parents unwind & relax! Plus there are loads of optional extras to enjoy over the weekend.
Food, drinks and essentials like running water and portable loos are on site throughout the weekend. This is an ideal opportunity to get closer to nature and enjoy some family time together!
Click here to find out more and to book your place.
We had the pleasure of attending the Countryside Lincs event on Sunday 14th April at the Lincolnshire Showground. It was great to meet so many of you and to talk to you about everything that we do here on the estate. We hope you and/or your little ones enjoyed completing the fun activities we had on the stand.
We are delighted to announce that we are advertising with Lincoln Mums this year. Lincoln Mums is a website which helps ‘mums’ – or those with children, to make the most of liv ing in Lincoln, with up-to-date, useful and practical information about events, activities, food and drink news, advice and discounts as well as shopping information. A wide range of discounts are available to Lincoln Mums card holders. We are offering cardholders the benefit of 10% off our deer safaris throughout the year. To find out more or to sign up for a card please click here.
Who on earth thought it was a good idea to mention Brexit in the last blog post…??! We promise not to mention it again!
We have now completed our spring seeding campaign. The remainder of our Barley was sown into relatively good, but rapidly drying seedbeds; most of this has now emerged.
Following on from our spring barley sowing we moved into drilling our sugar beet. This is sown using a ‘precision drill’, which differs from a conventional seed drill in that it sows individual seeds a precise distance apart in each row. Our sugar beet is sown at 17.5cm spacing (just shy of 7 inches for those of a more traditional persuasion!) The beet has just started to emerge, although it hasn’t been helped by the cool conditions we have experienced of late. Our oilseed rape is just coming into flower. Though it hasn’t particularly enjoyed the recent frosts, hopefully they haven’t been severe enough to cause too much damage.
We have recently completed an application of phosphate and potassium fertilisers on all winter and spring cereals, which they will use as they rapidly move through their growth stages. The winter wheat has received its main dressing of nitrogen fertiliser with just a small balance to apply. Plans are now being made for a fungicide application to protect against diseases such as septoria tritici, yellow and brown rust as well as any nutritional needs the crop may have. All spring crops are due their second and final dose of nitrogen any time now, and will be monitored for weed emergence and also the presence of any disease. Further reading on crop nutrition is available here for those who are interested.
Moving through April into May, the sprayer will be busy applying plant protection products to all of our crops. Our wild bird seed mixes will be sown in the next month; these will provide an overwinter food-source for all manner of farmland birds. As well as these our nectar flower mixes will be sown; these boost the availability of essential food sources for a range of nectar feeding insects including bees and butterflies. The land for these is currently being ploughed.
We hope for conditions to be a little less dry as the next blog post comes along, the situation on some of our lighter soils could soon be a little desperate. We may even have to resort to singing or some sort of rain dance. I will apologise in advance if I’ve not been careful what I wish for and the bank holiday ends up a washout, but farmers in the east of the country will certainly be glad of a little rain soon (we don’t want for much)!
We have a confession to make. Last month we promised a special ‘turnout tour’ to allow you to witness the deer frolicking into the parkland for Spring. Unfortunately the lovely weather we experienced in the last week of March meant that we needed to get them out early to enjoy the space outdoors once again and to feel the sun on their backs. As a result there was no time to plan and invite people to this event, so we apologise to anyone who was looking forward to that.
In all honesty the turn out took three days, with some of our nervier calves being quite reticent to leave the safety of the crew yard, so the tour would have meant you booking some time off work and sleeping in the yard which is not quite so exciting!
We hope you’ve enjoyed our latest news post. Remember our open day on Sunday 19th May – we’d love to see you here!
We hope you have a very Happy Easter!
Helen & Antony
Although you wouldn’t know it as you look out of the window today, spring is fast approaching! You may have started thinking about garden and outdoor projects that need completing so we thought we’d tell you about our landscaping products and how they might be able to help you.
We are lucky enough to have a lot of woodland here at Stourton Estates and this takes some careful management. Each year we look to coppice and thin out areas of the wood, removing dying or diseased trees allowing healthy trees the space to thrive and creating gaps for the woodland floor plants and animal habitats to develop.
In turn, this woodland management allows us to develop a whole range of logs, bio fuels and landscaping products to sell on to our customers.
We produce a range of woodchip based products on the estate. One of our most popular products is our Garden Bark Chippings. Our garden bark chippings are so versatile. They are ideal for covering beds and garden landscaping. Adding a couple of inches of bark chippings to your beds helps the soil to retain moisture and keep cool; and by blocking sunlight provides very effective weed control. Plus on flower beds they provide an excellent base for paths and the floor of chicken runs and are great for soaking up moisture and drying up wet pathways and gateways.
We also produce Play Chippings which are ideal for use under playground equipment, whether in the garden at home, in an educational setting or leisure facility. Our play chip is produced to BSEN1177 standard which means that the soft round wood used in the production process has been screened and tested to provide impact absorption, crucially without any spiky bits! If you need to work out how much you need we have produced a very handy wood chip calculator which can be found on the play chippings page.
Our chippings come in 0.7m³ builders’ bags or, depending on how much you need, loose loads. Delivery of these products is free within a 20mile radius of our address.
We also have a new smaller bag of kiln dried woodchip, these are bagged in 15kg or 75 litre bags for easy handling and storage. They are made from pure pine chip which is then graded to 10-30mm in size. As they are kiln dried not only is the water content less than 15% but they also contain no dust, fungal spores or additives. This makes them ideal for landscaping your garden, creating a safe play surface (BSEN 1177) or laying for a chicken run / bedding.
These bags are not only smaller but also heat sealed so can be left outside without the product degrading. In order to qualify for free delivery you need to live within 20 miles from the farm at Baumber and with a minimum quantity of 10 bags – try them out!
As part of our Wolds Walking Festival open day on 19th May we will be running some deer safaris. You will get to see our beautiful red deer herd in their woodland surroundings and may even catch a glimpse of an early calf!
These deer safaris need to be booked in advance of the day and these are now live on our website so you can book now! If you don’t already, please like and follow our Facebook and Instagram pages so you don’t miss out.
Are you planning a celebration and are looking for a unique location? Whatever your reason to celebrate, whether it’s a 20th wedding anniversary, a 50th birthday party or ‘just because’; we can help you to make it a really special occasion.
At Stourton Estates you can tailor make your celebration to suit your requirements. We have various spots around the estate on which you can pitch a marquee or tipi, or you can hire our safari tent. If you would like to find out more about what we can offer as a party venue please call Julie at the estate office who can talk through the options with you.
Since our last blog post thankfully we haven’t suffered another ‘beast from the east’ but have been visited by storms Freya and Gareth. Despite the strong winds thankfully we haven’t suffered too much damage to trees, buildings or fences!
We have sown 120 out of 150ha of spring barley into largely good conditions; very unusual for late February/early March. Spring barley differs from its’ winter cousin in that it has no vernalisation requirement (vernalisation is the induction of a plants’ flowering process by exposure to a period of cold). We use spring barley in our crop rotation to reduce our reliance on chemical weed control as well as spreading our workload between autumn and spring. Leaving stubbles or lightly worked ground over winter also provides refuge and a food-source for wildlife – which we see a lot of here.
Our remaining sugar beet has now been lifted and is awaiting delivery into the processing factory at Newark. The land is being ploughed in preparation for spring barley sowing as we speak. A couple of our tractors have broken down lately but local machinery dealers, Chandlers and Louth Tractors have got us back up and running quickly, so thanks to them.
Next on the agenda is to complete our spring barley sowing and then move on to sugar beet drilling as we reach the end of the month.
Autumn sown crops continue to be monitored for developing disease, weed or pest problems. Both the wheat and the oilseed rape are due an application of trace and major nutrient elements (tailored plant feed) to ensure they are in the best condition as they begin to grow away through the spring.
This time next month we will probably maybe be in a brave new world having brexited… or not! Time will tell…
Our deer calves are inside – keeping out of the cold, wet and windy weather. It won’t be long before they are back outside enjoying the new spring grass and having more space to roam in. Do you want to see them being ‘turned out’? This magical event only happens once a year so keep an eye on social media to find out details of when & where…
We hope you’ve enjoyed out latest news post. Remember to save the dates for our 2019 events. We’d love to see you here!
Helen & Antony
Happy Valentine’s Day from all of us at Stourton Estates. We expect a few of you may have popped the question so congratulations to all those newly engaged couples out there.
If you are looking for a wedding venue with a difference then take a look at us. At Stourton Estates you can build your own unique wedding day and we provide some beautiful scenic views to create the perfect setting for your special day. Whether you want a small, intimate occasion or a large, lavish day we can help you to achieve it.
The great thing about holding your wedding reception at Stourton Estates is that you can have the day you truly want with as much or as little support from us as you like. You can choose from a variety of locations across the estate for your marquee or tipi setting. We have beautiful lake and deer park views from our Old Hall Lawn site or you can be nestled within the woodland of our arboretum. We also have our very own safari style marquee, beautifully converted water tower and camping field.
We don’t only host weddings. Whatever your event or special celebration we can cater for your needs and create you a bespoke package.
If you would like more information on our venue hire then please contact Julie Pounds in the estate office who will be only too happy to talk you through what we can offer and book a time in for you to come and take a look for yourself.
We are delighted to now be able to announce our calendar of events for 2019. Keep an eye on our website, Facebook or Instagram for more news about each event and for more information about how you can purchase tickets. All our events are dog friendly so please feel free to bring your well-behaved dog with you.
Sunday 19th May- Wolds Walking Festival & Open Day
This year’s events begin on Sunday 19th May with our Lincolnshire Wolds Walking Festival Open Day. We will be hosting a number of different walks, both guided and self-guided across the estate as well as putting on refreshments.
Saturday 1st June – Pop-Up Pub Night
On Saturday 1st June we are very excited to announce our first ever Pop-Up Pub Night in our converted Water Tower pub. We will be serving local ales, and delicious Lincolnshire food as well as hosting a pub quiz.
Friday 14th – Sunday 16th June – Family Camping Weekend
At our ever-popular family camping weekend you will be able to enjoy a circus skills school and Tony Buter’s Animal Encounters in our camping field along with some evening entertainment – possibly even some dance classes too! Perfect for ‘new’ and seasoned campers and caravanners alike.
Friday 9th – Sunday 11th August – JoeFest presents Beyond the Woods
This music festival will be showcasing some of the best music around and from further afield, with camping available – full details & tickets at www.joefest.co.uk
14th September – Autumn Festival and After Party
This will be the third year of running this special event. On the Saturday we will celebrate the season with fabulous stalls, crafts, demonstrations, workshops, activities and locally produced food and drinks. As well as live music throughout the day and our wonderful headline act, Elliott Morris, at the After Party in the evening. Camping will be available for both the Friday and Saturday nights.
20th October – Pumpkin Sunday Funday
We will be hosting our Pumpkin Sunday Funday with Deer Rut Safaris and activities for the whole family to enjoy in our arboretum.
Friday 1st & Saturday 2nd November – Enchanted Woodland Light Show
This event was so popular last year that we simply had to run it again. Come and enjoy a magical light show within the arboretum. It’s a great (and quiet) alternative to a firework display so is perfect for children and dogs! We will be serving food and refreshments for you to enjoy as you walk around the spectacular show of lights.
Saturday 7th December – Christmas at Stourton Estates
Come and enjoy a festive deer safari, browse our selection of freshly cut Christmas trees and enjoy refreshments.
There is a joke between farming folk that all arable farmers are on holiday between October and March… in fairness both Ken and Oli have taken holidays during this time but it’s not all they do honestly!
There is a lot of maintenance going on behind the scenes; we currently have our plough and our fertiliser spreader in pieces being repaired for the spring campaign. We are also busy at this time of year scaring pigeons away from the growing oilseed rape crop and monitoring all crops coming into the spring.
Over the next couple of weeks we will be applying our first application of nitrogen fertiliser to the winter crops. We have some ploughing to complete in readiness for next years’ sugar beet crop. With around 160 hectares of spring barley and 80 hectares of sugar beet to drill, we have a busy 8 weeks ahead of us. We hope to make a start drilling barley in early March.
In the last newsletter we were loading out sugar beet for delivery to British Sugar in Newark. We delivered 1000 tonnes during January and are now waiting to lift our final 12 hectares which will be delivered into the beet factory at Newark in the middle of March, this field will then be drilled with spring barley.
The spring barley we grow is all for malting, we are very proud to be part of the Molson Coors growers group supplying barley to be used in beers such as Doom Bar and Carling.
Hopefully when our next newsletter is released we will be making good progress with our spring campaign. Let’s hope we don’t receive another ‘beast from the east’ in the meantime…
At Stourton Estates we de-antler our male Red Deer once a year, usually at the end of August. We do this once the antler growth stage is complete and there is no longer a functional nerve or blood supply. The removal process is quick and painless. The main reason we de-antler our boys is to protect the deer from injuring each other whilst out grazing and to prevent them getting themselves in antler related predicaments. It’s easy to get a set of antlers stuck in fencing, this causes the deer to panic and try to escape which in turn can cause the deer serious injury. It also protects us as their handlers should any deer require veterinary attention etc.
We do leave the antlers on our main stags Winston and Jack and allow them to shed theirs naturally. Our antlers have been used for a range of amazing projects – some people have purchased them for dog chews, some are used to create whistles, hand notches for sticks and some clever people have used them for interior design and lamp projects.
This fine set of antlers are very well travelled. They have been ‘on the road’ for 4 months with Emily Barratt, the designer, to Everyman Theatre in Cheltenham, for two productions by Hammerpuzzle Theatre of The Velveteen Rabbit and The Old Curiosity Shop.
The antlers formed part of a set used for both productions with a dream like hanging ceiling of props creating a different effect for each production where “Everything is meticulously executed from the music which carries the mood to the lighting and simple but effective use of props”. What an adventure they’ve had!!
Please put our events in your diaries as we would love to see you. If you ever have any questions about any of our events, products, or information about hosting a party within the estate please don’t hesitate to get in touch.
Helen & Antony
x
A very belated ‘Happy New Year’ from all of us at Stourton Estates. We hope that 2019 is treating you well so far and that you are keeping on top of those resolutions. We have a new year’s resolution to share with you! We always have so much happening on the estate; from ’behind the scenes’ work to prepare our logs and landscaping products, preparing for our events, woodland management, deer husbandry, farm work, school trips, (the list is endless) and we want to get better at sharing all this exciting stuff with you, hence our first blog post! So our resolution is that we will aim to post at least once a month to share the goings-on on the estate!
We are currently very busy reviewing and reflecting on all the activities and events we held on the estate last year and putting the finishing touches to our event calendar for 2019. This will soon be ready to share with you. Keep a look out on Facebook/Instagram and the website as we announce our events. Also please feel free to join our mailing list. We send regular emails containing information about events and how to book etc. If you want to start receiving these emails simply email us via our contact form on site and we will add you to our mailing list.
We purposely keep our events calendar clear until early spring as we take the time to carry out work on the estate. As our events grow in number and popularity we are making strides to improve the facilities on the estate to make sure that access for our visitors is as easy as possible and that their needs are catered for when they are here. In the last few months we have created a purpose built car parking area in the woods which is properly surfaced to hard standing.
Last year we also invested in a Safari tent as a semi-permanent structure to provide cover for event visitors. So far the Safari tent has hosted numerous school visits, acted as a cafe, bar and an area for stall holders at our Autumn Festival. We have decided that the tent would be even more useful and brilliant if it was sited differently, so ground works are currently underway to prepare the area for the tent’s new home where it will have a wooden floor as well as fabulous views down to the deer parks and lakes beyond. This Safari tent is available to hire for private parties and weddings and will be in situ from May 2019. Please contact us for more information.
Winter is traditionally a quiet time on the farm as the drilled crops for 2019 grow through. So far winter has been mild and the crops are looking very well. This doesn’t mean however that work is not constantly ongoing. We have been busy harvesting our sugar beet crop which is currently stored and in the yard and is being transported to British Sugar at Newark where is will be turned into a whole range of sugar products, the most famous being the Silver Spoon brand.
The Red Deer are still enjoying life outdoors in our beautiful parkland surroundings. If the weather gets too chilly the calves born last year will come into the crew yard to give them a bit more shelter over the winter. Hopefully the hinds are pregnant from the rut in the autumn & now carrying their calves to be born in May / June. The hinds and stags will stay outside in the natural shelter of the woodland whilst the weather is cold – however being from the Highlands in Scotland they are well used to a far harsher climate than we have in Lincolnshire!
We hope you’ve enjoyed our first blog post. Please keep checking back with us as the year goes on for more information about our events, products and estate life. Plus you can always follow us on Facebook and Instagram.
Helen and Antony x
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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