July 2023 at Stourton

Sunflowers Galore!

July has been all about the sunflowers for us. We have been patiently waiting for them to flower, worrying that they might not be at their brightest fullest bloom for the planned weekends.  Then it rained torrentially and we unfortunately had to cancel the first event on 23^rd due to conditions in the field. However, Sunday 30^th proved to be a great success and we saw many people stream through our gates.

As the weather still looked a bit iffy we changed plans to make sure that refreshments, children’s activities, information and goodies were available undercover in the round house. A tractor and trailer shuttle ride then took people from the roundhouse directly to the field where they could take in the trail through the flowers and take some stems from the dedicated picking area.

Thank you to everyone who came along and also to those of you who shared you experiences, photos and lovely comments with us on social media. It means a lot to us to that people take the time to let us know what a great time they’ve had with us.

“Stunning , thank you so much for sharing your beautiful sunflowers with us”

“It was wonderful – thank you”

“Wow!  it was stunning, Thankyou!”

August Bank Holiday Weekend Camping & Water Tower Pub Night

Our next event to look forward to is our August Bank Holiday Camping weekend with additional pop-up pub night at our water tower!

Camping is available from £20 per pitch per night for the weekend (Fri- Sun inclusive) in our sheltered arboretum and whilst we don’t have electric hook up, water, fully flushing loos and waste disposal facilities are available on site as well as a communal fire pit in the evenings. You will also get a complimentary tractor and trailer ride up to the pop-up pub night at the water tower on Sunday 27^th.

Our pop-up pub night on Sunday 27^th August is open to anyone who wants to come along, not just our campers and there’s no need to book. Our water tower has been sensitively restored and a trip up the Victorian spiral staircase offers beautiful views across the Lincolnshire Wolds and river Bain valley. On the ground floor is a quirky bar from where we will serve local ales as well as wine and soft drinks.  There’ll also be a BBQ, live music and even a quiz.

For more information about this event and to book camping pitches please visit our website.

Date for your Dairy: Our Next Artisan Market – 17^th September 2023

Sunday 17^th September sees the return of our very popular Artisan Market, in conjunction with Lincolnshire Makers. The market brings some of Lincolnshire’s best artisan producers together to showcase their wares. So from top quality food and drink to gift items, home accessories and jewellery the market has it all.

However, it’s not just a market, it is a whole day out. Being held here means that you can:

• wander the market,
• enjoy some lunch or a treat from one of many (and even more than last time) food vendors,
• take in a deer safari (book here),
• enjoy a wander around one of our way-marked trails including the gnome trail which is great for little ones.
• Live music will be playing all day around the event and quiet picnic spots are available in the arboretum.
• Well behaved dogs on leads are more than welcome to come along and enjoy the day too.

Here are some comments after our Spring Artisan Market:

“Me and my little boy came from Birmingham to see my Parents and we visited the event. Absolutely brilliant, everyone was so lovely, fab deer safari. We will definitely be back!!”

“Great event, great organisation, great artisan producers, great craftspersons, great food, so yes great!”

“Great Day out we bought lots of lovely things, Stourton Venison, Antlers, some great Candles from Lincolnshire Wolds Living, fantastic Halloumi from Blue Sky Cheese, Rapeseed Oil from R G Taylor & Sons to name but a few. Event was very well organised look forward to visiting again”

Make a note of this date in your diary – it’s not to be missed. To find out more please click here.

On the Farm

Well, what has happened to the weather? The rain and generally cooler conditions are really delaying our harvest. We did manage to briefly get going into some oilseed rape but the showers and lack of drying sunshine means that it is, so far, very slow going. Fingers crossed for a dryer spell soon.

Deer Diary

Work has been underway to fence our last deer enclosure. The (not so) small job of removing overhanging branches along the fence line involved a father & son chain saw & digger effort. Once the last enclosure is complete we will be able to move deer into the handling centre much more easily rather than moving then back through 4 separate fields!!

We are delighted to now have around 100 healthy deer calves running with the herd and enjoying the lush green grass that is growing in this warm wet summer. You can see our lovely deer herd by booking a deer safari on Sunday 17^th September at our Artisan Market. Click here to book your place.