Rain Rain Go Away....

I know we needed the rain, but since it's started it hardly seems to have eased up. Fingers crossed it is just April showers as we have to plant up our veg plot. Last years effort was a bit half hearted, due to the early arrival of Baby Ochre, but this year we have good intentions of using all the raised beds as well as the greenhouse. We (that being the Royal we) have managed to plant a few rows of potatoes, but so far that's it! 

Our new lawn mowers have arrived for the Spring / Summer season; 3 sheep and 6 lambs. They have already settled in well, exploring our orchard and the lambs bouncing and skipping around. Puppy Ochre is particularly taken with them, and takes any opportunity to slip out of the office to sit and watch them through the gate.

On the business side for Ochre And Ocre our latest wholesale customer is the very lovely Webbs of Wychbold, and Ryton, the Organic Garden Centre. Both excellent days out, if you are near either we thoroughly recommend popping in.

With no shows this year, it is nice not having to load and unload stock and props, and it does give us more time to forward plan; we have decided on our new Autumn colourway. Weather permitting it would be great to get some shots in the garden, instead of the week before Christmas like we usually do! I just hope we can tear Rachel Spivey away from her summer weddings for a trip to the Malvern Hills one ( hopefully fine) day!

Visitors

We have had lots of visitors to Ochre And Ocre HQ recently; as well as the numerous well wishers for Baby Ochre, there have been some of the winged variety.
We were surprised to come across a swarm of bees that had decided to make their home in the end of a roll of fencing wire in our orchard. Fortunately we have a friendly local beekeeper, who came to investigate. It turns out the bees were probably from one of the pollinating hives on a nearby field of oil seed rape. Unfortunately the Queen Bee was no where in sight, and without their queen the swarm was slowly dying, and there was nothing that could be done to help them. The bees were tipped onto the grass and as the beekeeper rather quaintly put it, they could go back into the life cycle as bird feed. Later on that evening the orchard was filled with 100's of little songbirds eating up the bees.
Apologies for the poor image but Baby Ochre and I were advised to stay well back whilst the bee keeper investigated.

Also recently arrived are our own mini flock of sheep and lambs; whose main employment is to eat the grass in the orchard, thus saving time mowing. (We are very keen for any time saving schemes at the moment!). The lambs are at an age when they are just starting to play independently from their mums, and have spent the first few days roaming their new home, checking out all the places to hide and jump off!

With all the sun and rain we are having at the moment everything seems to be growing very quickly - Baby Ochre is nearly out of his newborn sleepsuits, and our veg plot is quickly filling up with radishes and lettuce. If only our new kitchen extension would grow so quickly!