March 2019 at Stourton

Woodchip!  Woodchip! Get Your Woodchip here!

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!

19^th May 2019 Wolds Walking Festival – Open Day and Deer safaris

As part of our Wolds Walking Festival open day on 19^th 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.

Planning a party and want a unique venue?

Are you planning a celebration and are looking for a unique location?  Whatever your reason to celebrate, whether it’s a 20^th wedding anniversary, a 50^th 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.

On The Farm

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…

Deer Diary

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