We are very nearly at the end of the log sales season and now only have a very limited amount of kiln dried logs left in stock, so if you need to stock up please get your order in. Sales of logs will restart again towards the end of the summer.
During the next few months, we will be converting timber to logs and then using the kiln to dry these during the warmer months. This significantly reduces the energy used to dry timber for the forthcoming winter season, making economic sense as well as reducing our carbon footprint.
The winter jobs on the estate have continued in earnest! Antony, Dan and Guy have been busy trimming back overhanging branches and trees that are growing a little too close the rides -particularly where the tractor and trailer goes through on the summer deer safaris. They’ve also been attending to any dangerous trees, taking them down as well as clearing fallen timber and storm damage across the estate. We are soon to spread some natural fertilizer (muck spread!) across the parks to give the grazing a boost.
We are so looking forward to the warmer weather, when we can open the estate to visitors again!
If you fancy getting active we have two events for you to try:
Thursday 20th April at 6pm – the Lincoln Orienteering Group are holding a spring series event, open to all where you race against the clock to find the controls hidden across the estate, book your place hereIn May and June our main events program opens up and we are excited to share more information on these and we have tickets on sale to both the Air Ambulance Fundraiser and the Picnic in the Park (with optional camping):
Sunday 7th May – Spring Artisan Market (no advance tickets needed, parking on the day £4 per car) with over 80 talented Lincolnshire creatives, food producers, makers and artists showcasing their goods in and around the roundhouse in the woods
It’s sometimes difficult to remember how our venue looks and the number of options that we have available for your occasion. If you have an event or get together in mind or would like to talk through your ideas we are only too happy to discuss options with you and help you make it happen. We are extremely flexible and have contacts with many high quality local suppliers who love working with us to make your idea a reality. Please just get in touch …..
February on the farm has been a month of muck spreading, training & forward planning!
We’ve been busy spreading farmyard manure on the land which is a great natural fertiliser due to its high organic matter giving nutrients to the upcoming crops as well as being rich in bugs & beasties. In addition, we’ve been using polysulphate fertiliser – a natural mined substance, (ground up rock from under the north sea). This contains four important nutrients for our crops: sulphur, potassium, magnesium & calcium to help them grow strong and healthy. The winter crops are now getting a nitrogen application and in the next week we should have finished ploughing ahead of drilling our spring crops – barley, sugar beet & sunflowers.
Unfortunately due to the widespread frost and freezing conditions that we had in early December 150 acres of sugar beet has suffered devastating frost damage. This has been assessed and is now being ploughed in as it is no longer viable as a crop. Meanwhile the beet that was lifted has caused damage to the tracks around the farm so we are also in the process of re-building these. Not a good beet year all round!
Training has been a key feature this month with both Dan and Guy attending loading shovel training and other refresher courses to ensure farm equipment is handled safely. Oli has been on some courses arranged locally keeping up to date with arable developments, business management and mental health in the workplace. Whilst we are only a small team, farming is often a lonely job, so being aware, spotting any issues and taking a pro-active approach is a good first step to take.
Planning and looking forward we are reviewing our current stewardship schemes and options. We have submitted a Sustainable Farming Incentive scheme application, this scheme aims to help farmers manage land in a way that improves food production and is more environmentally sustainable. We are also reviewing other schemes that we may look to apply for.
We have another month to six weeks to go before coming to the end of winter feeding. On the warmer days the deer calves in the roundhouse have been looking out but there isn’t any fresh pasture available for them just yet! They are mucked out and have a new set of bedding every few weeks and whilst snowdrops have popped up it’s not quite spring-time / turn-out time until April.
We are preparing to sort through the herds and give the pregnant hinds a copper bolus to keep them healthy before calving in May. There are several stretches of deer fencing that need some repair and shortly Charlie Wright from Frontrow Fencing will be on site sorting this out for us… you might even spot some new gates when you visit us next!
With the Christmas break and recent cold weather we’ve had a bit of a rush on our kiln dried logs so we’re currently working to a lead time of 1-2 weeks from placing your order to receiving your delivery – so please don’t let your log stocks run too low as we only have so many days in the week to make log deliveries!
***NEW PRODUCT ALERT – COFFEE LOGS ARE HERE***
We also have a great new product in stock that complements our kiln dried logs really nicely… recycled Coffee Logs. These are, as the name suggests, made from used coffee beans collected from UK coffee shops and made into logs.
They kick out some serious heat and we have found that they are great for getting your log burner hot quickly before putting on a log or two to keep it going steadily. You can order them for delivery with any other bagged product for home delivery within 20 miles of LN9 5PB here.
Click here to find out more and to place your order.
We are delighted to welcome back Julie Pounds to work with us again, not only managing weddings on the estate but also co-ordinating a calendar of monthly events starting in the Spring of this year.
We can now announce the dates of these events, more details will follow in future newsletters as well as on our website but we are really looking forward to a full calendar of larger events as follows, starting in April:
We are taking bookings for 2024 and beyond. We offer a truly unique wedding experience where you can use our infrastructure to build a magical day that is totally personal to you. Using our safari tent, nestled in our arboretum as your day’s base makes for a very special day. You will work with our events coordinator Julie Pounds who will help you to plan and organise your special day.
If you wish to find out more about what a wedding at stourton can offer or would like to come and take a tour of the site then please don’t hesitate to contact us.
We have lots of lovely, healthy, home grown venison in stock for you to enjoy from succulent steaks to slow cooked warming casseroles.
To place your order please phone Tina in the farm office on 01507 578236 from Mon- Thurs 9-4 and she’ll be happy to advise on current cuts in stock and arrange a time for you to collect or FREE delivery if you order any bagged product within 20 mils of LN9 5PB.
Part of our long-term plan is to restore the estate and parkland closer to what it was when the Old Hall was occupied in the late 1800’s. During this time the sweeping park lands would have extended much further into the woodland at the tail end of the lakes that was subsequently planted by the Forestry Commission in the 1960’s. We gained permission to fell this woodland as part of our 5 year Forestry Management Plan and have been carefully taking trees out a little at time, as well as planting new trees across the estate.
Over the last 3 weeks Antony has been putting his updated chainsaw skills to good use and has felled a further ‘chunk’ of woodland so that this area can be re-established as parkland. This timber will be chipped and graded creating our wood chip & play chip supplies ready for the spring landscaping projects that you might have in store…
We are very much in winter mode on the farm. There is the usual tidying up, fence mending and hedge trimming going on. We are also taking the opportunity of the slow season to update our staff’s training.
We can hardly believe it but our original 30 hinds who sprung off the lorry in May 2012 are now over 12 years old! With this is mind we have been keeping a close eye on this herd to make sure that they are still fit & healthy. We have noticed that one or two have lost teeth and struggle to eat enough with the larger group so they are being hand fed separately to ensure they stay strong.
Some of our original hinds have also stopped producing calves and so to keep our breeding hind numbers we have brought in 20 new hinds to supplement our herds. These ladies arrived in early January and, as you can see in the video below, some were a little shy in leaving the trailer, however they soon settled into their new surroundings. For the first day they were in their own enclosure, taking in the lie of the land. On day 2 they met the more established hinds. Despite some initial shyness on behalf of the new arrivals, by the end of the third day they were all munching their sileage together and becoming firm friends!
Thank you very much for taking the time to read our posts. We hope to see you at one of our events in 2023 and/or when we deliver some of our products to you.
Antony & Helen
We want to make sure that you are kept warm and toasty over the Christmas period. Don’t forget to stock up on logs for your fire or log burner.
Our last order date for log orders is Friday 16th December and our last delivery date before Christmas is Tuesday 20th December.
We will be closed over the Christmas period and won’t be re-starting deliveries until Thursday 5th January, so if you order whilst we are closed this will be the first possible delivery date.
To place your order please click here.
Also this month we have updated the biomass boiler so it now uses spare heat to supply hot water & heating to the farm office – doing our bit to become as sustainable as possible.
Each January, St Barnabas and their wonderful supporters go across the county to collect your Christmas trees and recycle them! All that is asked in return is that you make a suggested donation of £15 to help St Barnabas care for patients living with life-limiting or terminal illness across Lincolnshire.
Their friendly team of Christmas elves will take care of your tree in the most environmentally responsible way, meaning you don’t need to make a trip to the tip or spend time vacuuming needles out of your car.
This year, they are collecting trees from many towns and villages across Lincolnshire including post-codes starting LN9 5 / LN9 6 between the 7th January and 11th January 2023 just click on the link below to arrange:
https://stbarnabashospice.co.uk/tree-cycle/
Thank you so much to all our wonderful visitors who have visited us this year, together we have been able to support a number of charities and local community groups; namely Lincs & Notts Air Ambulance, Lincolnshire Rural Support Network, the DEC fund for ActionAid, L-CAT, St Barnabas Hospice and St Swithin’s Church, Baumber.
Through holding events in our venue at Stourton Woods we have raised a MASSIVE total of over SEVEN AND A HALF THOUSAND pounds, in fact – £7,703.54 to date which is just amazing.
We have supported these charities and organisations as they really are close to our heart; from those who provide a critical life-saving response to those supporting people living through the war in Ukraine as well as those who provide end of life care.
If you have had an accident, felt anxious, watched with horror the impact the war is having in Ukraine or cared for a loved one with a terminal illness, you will understand how much these charities need our support and every little really does help.
Further to our charitable donations we have continued to work with local schools and community groups and we have hosted 6 group visits, subsidised through our farming Higher Level Scheme, with over 150 people coming to learn how we manage the deer and the farm here.
We look forward to being able to donate more next year through our events and open days.
If you’d like to talk to us about organising a group / secondary school visit, please don’t hesitate to contact us.
Talking of recycling… the Treasured Memory Tree which featured at our Enchanted Lights event in November lives on!
Firstly it was moved onto Clays Lane so those visitors to the Walled Garden Baumber will have spotted it on their way in / out. It is now being used AGAIN in the farmers “Christmas Tree Challenge! Can you Beat us? Who wins?” featured on YouTube as a bit of fun before Christmas!
This tree certainly has plenty of stories to tell. It’s last adventure will be via the Treecycle scheme for St Barnabas Hospice.
Due to the wet weather we had during November things have slowed right down on the arable farm. As mentioned last time we have lifted a little more sugar beet, with another lot due to be lifted before we finish for Christmas.
Ken has been busy helping Dan out bagging up products in the log shed amongst other bits and bobs. We have started maintaining some kit in the workshop too.
We’ve also taken the opportunity to update our skills with some training courses; on our telehandler and our mini loading shovel. These day refresher courses demonstrate that we are responsible operators of these machines and are valid for 5 years. Antony is also currently being trained and assessed in felling large trees which is an opportunity for him to update his knowledge and gain advance chain saw handling skills.
We may well make use of the drier frosty conditions to get the last of the spraying for 2022 done. We have an application of grass weed herbicide to make to the oilseed rape to complete before the sprayer can be put away until spring. These frosts will also be of use to apply a little slow release sulphur and potash fertiliser to the oilseed rape.
Over the next few months it will be important to keep pigeons away from the oilseed rape and while doing that ensuring our supplementary feeding buckets around the farm are kept topped up.
As our last event was held in early November we decided to get ahead and make the winter welfare and shelter of our animals our top priority. If you attended the Artisan Markets or any of our events this year you will have seen the round house structure near to the car park. The roundhouse was kitted out with all the essentials including NEW handling gates in the middle making it safer to move the herd around the sections as well as a thick bed of straw, feeding troughs, self-filling water troughs together with fencing and bales around the outside. This gives the calves enough shelter from the cold wind but light enough so they can see out; it’s a rather nice winter home for them! Moving deer is a challenge at the best of times, and Dan & Ken worked hard to make an improved ‘catching pen’ within the deer enclosure before they enter the handling centre… and it worked! In the handling centre the deer are treated with wormer and mineral boluses topped off with a pink tag in their ear so we can track them and comply with our quality farm assurance regulations. They are then moved to their cosy winter home in the roundhouse – and they love it. With the temperature plunging in the last few days, we are really pleased how well they have taken to their new surroundings, they are displaying very calm and contented behaviour.
As a reminder, we are closed from Friday 21st December until Thursday 5th January 2023. We would like to thank all of our visitors, traders, supporters and staff for all of their hard work and support during 2022. We will shortly let you know what our events plans are for 2023. In the meantime we wish you and your loved ones a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Best Wishes
Helen and Antony
Most of October was spent getting everything ready for our Enchanted Lights event this year. The three-evening event was a real success – with tickets selling out even earlier than last year! For those who missed out this year, read on as we have some great news for the event next year….
Firstly we must thank everyone who came and wandered, marveled at the woodland lights, toasted marshmallows, watched LED & fire performances, supported the St Barnabas Hospice wishing fountain, laughed at the Gnome Party Tree, tied ribbon to the Treasured Memory Tree, had a drink from F.A.B or food from our wonderful vendors Curry Jacks, The Roaming Dough, Fleur’s Kitchen, Gourmazin, The Choowee Cookie Company & Delicious Delights Catering.
Without question, a BIG THANKS goes to the extended Stourton Team who worked their socks off to prepare the site and serve our visitors.
We are also delighted to announce that the St Barnabas Hospice Wishing fountain raised £325.00 over the three nights. Thank you to everyone who made a wish and donated to this brilliant charity.
By Saturday night the Treasured Memory Tree looked absolutely beautiful; twinkling with all of our visitors’ special memories captured as a ribbon. Thank you to everyone who contributed and left a special memory.
We’d also like to thank local photographers Anthony Brian & John Aron who attended the event over the weekend and we have created a gallery of all of the great shots that they took. Click here to have a look.
We love seeing your photos on social media, thank you for sharing your own experiences of the event. If you enjoyed it here please leave us a review on Facebook or Google plus, any suggestions for #enchantedlights2023 are welcome!
Christmas Trees – Delivered to your door! Pre-order your Christmas tree now for FREE delivery with your kiln dried logs or landscaping products. Orders will close on Wednesday 23rd November so don’t delay pre-order today!
We have 3 sizes of tree available to order from 5ft through to 7ft 6 and prices start from £37.50
As in previous years we have a beautiful selection of freshly cut Nordmann Fir trees. These premium trees have the added advantage that they hold their needles throughout the festive season and beyond! Pruned and tendered throughout their growing season, they have a lovely conical shape.
Deliveries for Christmas tree orders will take place on Wednesday 30th November, right in time for you to decorate ahead of the festive season. If you don’t decorate until later we would simply advising leaving your tree outdoors in a bucket of water & it will be fresh whenever you decide to unwrap & move indoors…
If you’d just like a tree delivering (without any other product) it is an additional £5 delivery charge within 20 miles of LN9 5PB.
To order your tree simply click here.
Also, we are delighted to be taking part in St Barnabas Hospice Treecycle scheme this year – we will tell you more about how to register your tree for collection (and make a donation to this amazing charity!) in our next blog.
Please phone Tina in the office on 01507 578236 or email contact@stourtonestates.co.uk as we have plenty of steaks, smaller joints, mince, burgers and sausages in stock.
In the next couple of weeks we will be re-stocking the freezers with lots more including casserole & braising steak so there’ll be plenty for you to order over the festive season. We will put a post out on Facebook and Instagram letting you know when it has arrived and is ready to order, so keep your eyes peeled!
If you want a particular cut / size of joint over the Christmas or New Year period then please get in touch contact the office and let us know so Tina can add it to the Christmas order list and make sure you have it in plenty of time.
Since the last blog we have finished all of our autumn sowing (all bar 18acres of beans) with wheats and barleys all up and looking well.
With such an open back end to the year, autumn sowing has been relatively straightforward. The one downside to making the best of the weather window that we had is that we have nudged drilling dates forward compared to the last few years and there is noticeably more grass weeds emerging with the crop. All being well some herbicide top-ups will curtail some of the population but as far as ‘cultural controls’ go there really is no substitute for delaying sowing until the second half of October. The risk of doing this is quite large, once the weather turns these days it tends to stay in a certain pattern for a period of time. Some of our heavier land would not be in suitable condition to sow now, so on balance we are pleased to have pushed on when we did.
Attentions now turn, as mentioned to monitoring crops for any herbicide top-up requirements. Any trace element requirements, particularly on the lighter of our land and just monitoring the general condition of all crops entering winter.
We are due any time to lift our next lot of sugar beet, hopefully we can have a period of slightly settled weather so it doesn’t cause too much soil damage. All sugar beet land will now be followed by spring barley.
Ken has turned his hand to the various workshop jobs required. The latest being to change bearings on the tractor mower we use for around the farm, and repairing our old flat roll. Attention will then shift onto the main arable farming machinery, ensuring it is all in good condition and ready to go when next needed.
Since the weather has broken, a few wet patches have appeared so we will do some investigative work with the digger and make good any field drains that require repairing. As well as this, we have started our winter wild bird feeding programme.
We take a seed mix and place it in dedicated feeding buckets around the farm, an important source of food for a plethora of small farmland birds to help them through the winter.
It’s all gone very quiet; it’s much calmer out in the deer paddocks and there’s much less roaring….so we think that the boys’ excitement has died down for another year and that the rut is over! We will move the stags out of their enclosures with the hinds at the end of November. If the boys have done a good job we look forward to welcoming some new deer calves to the estate in late spring/early summer.
In the meantime, we will move the deer calves in late November/December to their winter home of the Roundhouse. This covered area provides then with that extra bit of warmth they need over the winter months and makes feeding them their winter menu of sileage, supplemented with a small amount of home-grown barley, and keeping an eye on their health much easier. Before moving them they will all be given mineral tablets to help keep them healthy.
As our last event of the year is now complete, we are moving into ‘winter mode’! We use the winter months to make any repairs, refurbishments and improvements to the grounds and to the safari tent venue. This also gives our deer herd the chance of a bit of peace and quiet in their Roundhouse. We use this time to plan our events for 2023 and look forward to re-opening in the Spring time.
Once again a great big thank you to everyone in any way involved in the Enchanted Lights event. We will let you know what to expect for an events calendar for 2023 in the Spring. In the meantime don’t forget to pre-order your Christmas tree and get another job ticked off ready for the festive season!
Helen & Antony
We are delighted to announce that our popular Enchanted Lights event will take place on 3rd, 4th and 5th November this year.
Last year this event was very popular and spaces booked up quickly so don’t delay! Book now
Our Enchanted Lights event is a truly magical evening. We create a beautifully lit trail around the trees and grounds of the arboretum (just under 1km long). When you come you will experience:
Refreshments will be on offer all evening. Purchase marshmallows to toast on the specially designed mini fire-pits under the stars on the Old Hall Lawn and then at the end of the trail enjoy locally produced food from street food vendors around the fire-pit.
Our Safari tent bar will be open……perhaps indulge in a Baileys hot chocolate, mulled wine or locally brewed beer from Ferry Ales Brewery whilst you warm up around the log burner!
There are two slots each evening:
– 5pm – 7pm
– 7pm – 9pm
Plus, a one-way system will be in place to ensure it is an enjoyable experience for all our visitors.
This is a lovely alternative evening’s entertainment to a traditional bonfire or fireworks night and is perfect for smaller children and dog owners (well-behaved dogs on leads are welcome!).
This is an event not to be missed.
Please take advantage of this opportunity to buy your tickets early and bring your friends / family as we have sold out in previous years. For more information or to buy tickets please click here.
We had some great feedback from our Sunflowers event. We were tagged into some lovely pictures on Facebook adn Instagram. We loved this video courtesy of Ashley Moat. Sunflower Video Thank you!
Even though the event could only take place over a couple of weekends we were delighted by the number of visitors and more importantly we raised a huge amount of money. We were proud to donate £1,854 to DEC Humanitarian Appeal to help the people suffering in Ukraine. We’d like to thank each and every visitor and donor who helped to make this possible.
Not content with raising lots of money for charity, our sunflowers also starred in the Lincoln Cathedral Flower Festival. We supplied sunflowers to Woodhall Spa Flower Club who made a number of fabulous exhibits in the Cloisters of Lincoln Cathedral. The flower festival celebrated the life and works of St Hugh of Lincoln, as well as many other notable visionaries who’s “ideas and actions have shaped the world we live in and changed our lives”. The Woodhall Spa Flower Club beautifully captured the agricultural revolution in their stunning arrangements. We were proud that our sunflowers were part of this.
We’re hoping the sunflower seeds will soon be ready to harvest both to be used to crush and create sunflower oil and to be re-sown elsewhere on the farm as part of our crop rotation for our event next year…!
Our last wedding this year was held on Saturday 20th August and we heard from one of the guests who came along:
“We attended our friends’ wedding at Stourton Estates and really think its the nicest wedding we’ve ever been to. Such a beautiful natural environment.”
We now only have one date remaining for 2023 and are taking bookings for 2024 so if you’d like to hold your reception in the beautiful grounds of the estate and safari tent here please get in touch…
On Sunday the 18th September we hosted our second Artisan Market with Lincolnshire Makers. We are delighted that this event was enjoyed by so many people and that around 80 different local businesses attending as stall holders had the opportunity to share their work and talents with so many visitors.
For this event, and knowing how many visitors to anticipate following the success of the first event in June, we managed to be much better organized. We put in place better car parking arrangements, and signage as well as more food vendors. We know we can always improve things and amongst other tweaks for future events we will be looking to add more toilets!
Thank you to all the stall holders and visitors, as well as Team Stourton, who did a great job both in the lead up and on the day itself, to ensure that it was a success.
We’ve created a picture gallery of some photos kindly taken by Anthony Brian Photography on the day. Click here to have a look.
Summer drought was extremely challenging here, we spent a lot of time ensuring the herds had plenty of shade, water and most problematic of all food! We actually fed them hay during the hottest weeks when the grass died off – certainly not ideal during the summer. However, with the recent rain we are pleased the enclosures are green once again and they have some proper grass to eat before winter!
We’ve spent the last few weeks separating the herds ready for the rut, weaning the calves, giving them a copper bolus to keep them healthy and de-antlering the stags for their own safety – and ours!
We are nearly ready for Winston and Nelson to join their ladies for the rut – and they are ready!
If you live nearby you will hear the occasional roar in the months to come – it is nothing to worry about, the stags are just asserting their dominance in the herd!
The kiln has been up and running through the summer to prepare a shed full of dry timber ready to keep our customers supplied with quality kiln dried logs through the winter.
Demand has been strong this year and so we would encourage customers to get stocked up, we’ve removed the limit on the number of logs you can buy to help get prepared for the winter. At the minute stocks are good but we can’t guarantee a continual supply all the way through the winter if demand stays at current levels.
Don’t miss out! Click here to order your kiln dried logs for winter.
A fair bit of time has elapsed since the last time we published the blog, in that time we’ve been a little occupied on the farm to say the least!
Harvest kicked off in the middle of July with winter barley and didn’t really let up until we finished in the 3rd week of august. It was one of the earliest, shortest and most straightforward harvests we have known. The majority of grain was cut dry, yields were variable but we have achieved a pleasing overall average. Given the lack of rainfall, the very sandy areas of the farm performed very poorly, this was offset by the more ‘bodied’ land performing very well.
Having said we have finished harvest, we are actually still waiting for our sunflower crop to ripen. We expect to cut these on a good day some time in October.
Alongside harvest the team have been keeping up with drilling oilseed rape and cover crops, as well as cultivations ahead of our autumn sown cereals and beans. As always it has been a mammoth effort for all involved to get to this stage, massive thanks go to Ken, Dan, Dan the man, James, Mark, Archie and Ed for their efforts.
Our attention has now turned to sowing our winter crops, winter barley is largely finished, rolled and has had a pre-emergence herbicide applied. As this goes to press we are starting in earnest on our wheat. We will start on our fields which are cleaner of blackgrass before moving onto the more ‘at risk fields’ as we move into October.
While this is all going on we will be monitoring for slug activity and applying molluscicide pellets in areas where the slugs are hollowing grain or grazing emerged crop. Grass weed levels are being monitored in the oilseed rape, with a likely application of herbicide to be made to take out any cereal volunteers and blackgrass within the next couple of weeks. We are also looking to make a start to our sugar beet lifting campaign this week, hopefully the dry weather won’t have affected yields too badly here…. Time will tell.
We’ve still plenty to do but we are making good progress and have to be pleased with how things have gone and are going thus far.
We have some great ideas for more exciting things coming soon – so watch this space and our social media channels for updates…
Don’t forget your tickets to our last big event this year – Enchanted Lights 3-5th November.
Best wishes
Antony & Helen
Come and enjoy a walk through our field of sunflowers for Ukraine on a Sunday! We have created a trail through the field approximately 1km in length for you to walk through enjoy them whilst they are in bloom and take some wonderful photos along the way. There is also a designated ‘picking area’ of the field where you can cut your stems to take home.
There is no charge for the sunflower trail, however as Sunflowers are the National Flower for Ukraine we wanted to support the people of Ukraine and are asking that visitors make a voluntary donation directly through JustGiving to the DEC Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal – Stourton Woods Sunflower Trail.
Since we announced this event on Facebook (and given the amount of interest this generated!) to ensure this is a safe and enjoyable experience for everyone we are asking visitors to book online arrival times for the sunflower trail. Time slots are currently available from 10am – 2pm on Sunday 24th July and Sunday 31st July via our website. Whilst there is no charge for the sunflower trail, the normal £4 parking charge is in place for all visitors to Stourton Woods. This charge helps towards the ongoing maintenance of the estate.
Remember you are very welcome to stay all day – on these Sundays we are extending our opening time to 5pm so that all visitors have plenty of time to:
Come along and enjoy a 4×4 off road experience with the L-CAT (Lincolnshire Community Assistance Team) and help them raise much needed funds.
The vehicles will travel around 2 and 1/2 miles on private land across the estate and you will learn more about some of the challenges the team faces when they are out ‘on call’ attending to incidents.
Rides in one of 4 off-road vehicles will be available to book on the day directly with Kath from the L-CAT team charged at £3 per person or £10 for a group of 4.
Enjoy a 4×4 off-road experience at Stourton Woods on Sunday 31st July running from 10am – 4pm!
What great support there was for local Lincolnshire makers and producers Artisan Market held in the Roundhouse! It was super to see so many people come and enjoy the fantastic array of goods on offer at the artisan market here on Sunday 26th June. There was a great write up in the local press too .
Whilst it was wonderful that it was so well attended, we have received feedback from several people who didn’t have such a great experience due to such a large volume of people coming along so whilst we had no idea what to expect in terms of visitor numbers this first time around we are making the following changes to our next Artisan Market on Sunday 18th September:
We hope that these changes will improve the experience for everyone who comes along and dare we say get ahead with some seasonal shopping ahead of December! We hope that people recognise we are a small and dedicated team that work extremely hard to put on high quality events here.
This was an energetic event with around 100 keen mountain bikers racing around the course designed by Kev Smith and his team around the estate. The weather was kind, warm and sunny but not too hot or wet and the competitors put themselves through their paces around the course. Having tested it out on a family bike ride (not racing!) we thought it was a very keen course with plenty of interest through woodland and parkland with great challenges in places – you’re very welcome to give it a go yourself if you want to bring your bike along to one of our open days! Well done to all of those who took part in the race.
It is so lovely to see how the safari tent and arboretum is transformed into an idyllic wedding venue by couples holding their special day here. With a little bit of natural foliage and decoration, the beauty of our rustic and relaxed wedding venue really shines through and guests are continually taken aback by how magical wedding receptions are in the grounds.
We send our huge Congratulations to Lucy and Will as well as Garance and Ben who I know have very happy memories or their weddings here.
All weddings and receptions are totally different and unique to the couples who work alongside our Wedding Co-Ordinator Julie Pounds who has such a close attention to detail which means their day goes smoothly and as they have planned.
If you’d like to hold your reception or party here in the grounds please do get in touch and we will be happy to work with you to create your own happy memories.
Kiln dried logs will be back in stock early August for delivery ready for the Autumn. Unfortunately, like everyone else we have been massively impacted by the increase in costs of production and so unfortunately these will also be going up in price. We do try to reduce the impact of increasing prices by using our own timber from ongoing woodland management plans here, however we do also have to buy in timber from other local woodlands to ensure we can meet our customers’ requirements and the cost of drying, delivery and labour also gives significant challenges. Very soon we will be in a position to kiln dry and bag up our high quality split and graded mixed hardwood timber and confirm the price of our kiln dried logs for delivery. If you would like to be notified when these are available please do email contact@stourtonestates.co.uk and we will get in touch with you directly.
We are pleased to report that calving has finished and we have over 100 healthy calves frolicking in the sunshine! The dry weather is giving us a bit of an issue though as we don’t have very much grazing available so one herd currently has a bale of silage (in July!). We are now busy mowing the thistles in the enclosures as these are no longer needed to protect the newborns 
and so they are kept a little more under control.
You may have seen that we closed the estate to visitors on Sunday 17th July to keep the deer protected from the extreme heat weather conditions that were forecast. Our deer are lucky to have ‘swimming ponds’ in the parks and a woodland enclosure so by moving them into these areas they have a much better chance of keeping cool. Normally the deer are unaffected by people and actually quite interested in any activity on the estate, however in the heat they are best left to their own devices rather than running around the enclosures when they see a person! Unfortunately this meant we took the decision to shut for the day and keep them calm and undisturbed.
Oli and the farming team have started harvest here at Stourton so he is a little busy at present. We will update you with our farming news at our earliest opportunity…which will probably mean that it has rained!
We are now well into our wedding season at Stourton. The fantastic thing about our venue is that there are no limitations. Each and every wedding hosted at Stourton is unique to the couple, whether that’s the wedding styling, the entertainment, the catering and various camping options. This is all backed up by a team of people our end helping you to ensure that the day runs without a hitch (well, other than actually getting hitched!).
We have had some lovely feedback from a couple for whom we recently hosted their big day that we wanted to share with you.
“Thank you so much for everything you have done for us for our amazing wedding day. It was perfect with all your planning and ensuring everything ran smoothly on the day! We couldn’t of done it without you!…………… The [guests] loved the ceremony and the venue and fell in love themselves with it all.”
We hosted another wedding last weekend ( see the images in the gallery below). Amy & Dan had chosen a London bus as their preferred method of guest transport so we were busy trimming some trees around the entrances and roadways ensuring that this fantastic vehicle can fit through! Nothing is too much trouble for us here!
On 19th May we hosted a Well-being day in the Safari Tent at Stourton Wood to raise funds for two important local charities. We are absolutely delighted to tell you that we have raised a massive £3,024.53 which has been split between Lincolnshire Rural Support Network and the Lincs and Notts Air Ambulance. The audience learnt a lot more about the vital roles these charities play in our community and we are so pleased to contribute much needed funds to make a difference to their operations.
This was only possible with the generous sponsorship support from Forrester Boyd Accountants, the Woldmarsh buying group and Wilkin Chapman solicitors. Thanks to all the speakers who so kindly gave their time to share valuable information about improving mental and physical wellbeing as well as how what you eat positively impacts your day to day life. Special thanks also goes to Amy Jobe, Emma Middleton, Nicola Carr and Helen Strawson who spent a great deal of their own time organising this event. We hope that everyone who attended enjoyed their day here.
We are really enjoying hosting guests every Sunday from 10am – 4pm for our open days. Our ‘kids go free’ special offer on deer safaris, available until the end of June, is proving very popular. If you want to book a place on one of safaris please click here. They run at 11am, 2pm and at other times in between subject to demand.
As its calving season we have so many little deer calves running about. As they are still so small and mothers are still calving we don’t want to disturb them so the deer safaris won’t go into the calving enclosures, but if you walk one of the routes you may ‘spot’ one / two!
As well as deer safaris you, your family and your well behaved dogs can take in the beautiful woodland, lakes and countryside on offer here. There is a range of trails on offer to explore of differing lengths. Plus refreshments are available on the day.
Please follow signs to STOURTON WOODS on roadside or follow map/directions online here https://www.stourtonestates.co.uk/contact-us/where-to-find-us/
Or use What3Words reference: ///headsets.straws.paradise
Stourton Estates has teamed up with the Lincolnshire Makers group, a collective of over 800 local Lincolnshire creatives, artists and food producers; to bring you our first Summer Artisan Market being held at Stourton Woods, Baumber on Sunday 26th June, from 10am – 4pm!
Over 50 local businesses will showcase their wares at the event, taking place in the shelter of the Roundhouse in the woods which is surrounded by parklands of red deer and their newly born deer calves. The Roundhouse, provides shelter for the deer from the elements during the winter months.
Expect a huge range of items on offer from cakes to candles, jewellery to jams, honey to homewares, cheese to ceramics, doughnuts to dog treats, fudge to flowers at Stourton Woods on Sunday 26th June!
Local guitar duo Nigel and Teri will entertain visitors throughout the event, plus locally sourced food and culinary delights served by SEASON Street Food and The Peel Wood Fired Kitchen making delicious fresh pizzas. Picnic benches will be dotted throughout the grounds for you to soak in the atmosphere or enjoy a walk around the estate grounds!
Deer safaris will run throughout the day (which are wheelchair accessible) and kids ride free! These can be booked online in advance on our website. The event is dog friendly and entry is free, although a small car parking fee will apply – every penny of which is reinvested into the grounds maintenance.
With such an array of Lincolnshire creatives, food producers, makers and artists together in a beautiful setting this is an event not to be missed!
Following the success of last year’s mountain bike event: Mud, Sweat & Gears; Focus rides are back with their Mountain Bike Cross Country Series round 4 to Stourton Woods on Sunday 3rd July 2022.
Book your places via their online Rider HQ website. There are various categories which you can enter plus it’s open to age 7+ as long as you can ride a bike confidently off-road. Why not make a weekend of it? Camping on site is also available over the weekend…. what are you waiting for?
Click here to book your space.
As usual we will be open in Sundays in July and August. However we are bringing you something a little different to add to your day’s enjoyment…… watch this space!
Get out your tent, hook up your caravan and get yourself down to the woods the first weekend of the school holidays to chill, out, escape technology and have some family time together at our open camping weekend. This is taking place in the shelter of the arboretum so limited pitches are available – don’t miss out book now!
https://www.stourtonestates.co.uk/product/events/open-camping-weekend-22nd-24th-july-2022/
As this blog goes to press we are now in the middle of June and time is going by at an alarming rate of knots! We have now closed the gate on the winter barley and winter oilseed rape crops until any pre-harvest desiccation treatments. The final fungicide application on the winter wheat to protect against diseases of the ‘ear’ (seed bearing head) is imminent.
This growing season has again shown us some extremes. The extreme dry has made our crops move rapidly through their growth stages, to the point where their development is around 10 days ahead of where we would usually expect them to be. The recent cooler weather will have helped steady things down a little but we could still be due a slightly early start to harvest as a result. At this stage our autumn/winter sown crops do seem to have a reasonable amount of potential but there’s still plenty mother nature could do to throw a spanner in the works!!
On our spring crops our spring barley will soon receive its final fungicide application as well followed by the same on our spring oats in around 10-14 days. The sugar beet has received what I hope will be the final broadleaved weed herbicide application though we may need to tidy a few bits and pieces up. Our focus on the sugar beet will then turn to fungicide and trace element applications.
Elsewhere on the farm we are about to start re-roofing our main general storage building. The asbestos sheets have been on since the shed was built in the 1960s and have started to become porous. These will be replaced by fibre cement panels, we hope they give us as much wear as the ones they are replacing!
Next on the agenda is to get everything ready for the upcoming harvest and cultivation season. We will be going through all of the machinery to renew all wearing parts and to check they are in generally good condition. We also have all of the grain stores to get cleaned and ready to receive the new seasons crop.
We are in the thick of calving time here. The hinds are all coping very well and make for great, natural mums. They are very good at hiding the calves from prey in long nettle patches and tucked near fences so we have to work extra hard to keep an eye on which have calved and make sure that we at least glimpse their calves to perform a health check.
Ant has been back to school and has passed his annual quality assurance test in Deer Management. This course ensures that we are fully up to date and compliant with the careful and considerate management of our deer herd.
The stags are still growing their antlers – they grow so quickly at this time of year you can see the changes from day to day. Winston is still ahead of Nelson, although the younger stag is catching up quickly! We may have a new head stag this Autumn…?!
For us, April was spent busily preparing for the Activity Day, which we hosted on Saturday 30th April. It was an absolute pleasure to welcome so many people back to the estate to mark the beginning of the Lincolnshire Wolds Outdoor Festival. We were even lucky enough to enjoy the sunshine on the day! We’ve had lots of positive feedback from the event.
If you’d like to add your own opinions to the feedback we have already received then please complete the survey by following this link.
https://wh1.snapsurveys.com/s.asp?k=164941050324
All completed responses received by 30th June 2022 will have the opportunity to be entered into a free prize draw to win a Lincolnshire Food Hamper worth £100.
We’d like to thank the steering group behind the festival for choosing us to kick-off proceedings this year, and as ever, all of our team who worked their socks off to get everything ready for the event and last but by no means least all the visitors who came along.
A selection of photos taken from the day is below.
As the Outdoor Festival continues there is the opportunity to book onto several guided walks of different lengths that take in the estate and the surrounding areas. There’s even a night walk to enjoy, starting at 8.30pm. The details for the walks are below. Please book your place on them by emailing the relevant walk leader.
11th May: a 9 mile walk starting at 10am from Stourton Woods – to book email Geoff Newmarch – geoffreynewmarch1@gmail.com
11th May: a 3 mile walk starting at 8.30pm from Stourton Woods – to book email Geoff Newmarch – geoffreynewmarch1@gmail.com
18th May: a 9 mile walk starting at 10am from Stourton Woods – to book email Tony Dean – a.dean3@live.co.uk
25th May: a 9 mile walk starting at 10am from Stourton Woods, to book email Alex Russell – azze32@hotmail.com
We will host the first of two Artisan Markets on 26th June. You can come along and see a wide selection of Lincolnshire based creatives, food producers, makers and artists showcase their goods. We will host this event in and around the roundhouse in Stourton Woods.
During the day the wider estate will also be open so you can enjoy a walk, spot the deer, enjoy the woodlands, parkland and lakes as well as having the opportunity to go on a deer safari.
A small parking charge applies (this goes towards maintenance of the grounds), however entry to the venue is free.
We hope to see you here!
If you would like to exhibit at either or both of these markets, please complete the online application form here.
On 1st May we hosted our first of our Sunday open days. We were delighted with the turn out and hope that many more of you will take the opportunity to come and visit us between now and September.
We have put way markers in place indicating the various walking routes around the estate and some of our unique log benches for you to stop and take a breather ‘en route’.
We’d also like to thank GRS Signs in Louth for producing our new car park sign and map for us in double quick time and to such a high standard.
After feedback from the open Sundays we are going to make the first deer safari of the day at 11am bookable. You can do this from Sunday 8th May up to the end of June online here. There will be another safari at 2pm and further safaris in between subject to demand.
There is no entry fee as such for our Sunday open days. There is a small car park charge of £4 which goes towards the maintenance and upkeep of the estate. Dogs on leads are also more than welcome to come and enjoy a day out with you too!
Whether you are looking to refresh an existing play area in your garden or commercial play area or are creating a brand new one then look no further than our play chip.
Our play chippings are produced from graded soft roundwood and has been screened, tested and is fully compliant with British Safety Standard Ref BSEN 1177: for Impact Absorbing Playground Surfacing when used to the recommended depth. So it is ideal to lay in your play areas whether in your garden or for commercial use.
There are no additives or waste products used in the production process – simply pure roundwood logs grown and sourced from our own woodlands.
Our play chip bags contain high quality chip in 0.7 cubic metre bags so one bag covers approximately 4 square metres at the recommended depth.
The recommendation is that a depth of between 150-300mm should be used if you are intending to use this as a play surface. If you Take a look at our play chip calculator to see how much you will need for the area you wish to cover.
Delivery is free up to 20 miles from our farm in Lincolnshire. If you live further away please get in touch to discuss a delivery price.
If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to contact us to discuss your requirements.
So much time and effort has been put into preparing for our open season with the Activity Day and Sunday open days. We have been cleaning the roundhouse area from deer so that we can provide a clean, undercover area for exhibitors. We cleaned the safari tent and set it up to show how it could look as a wedding venue. Ground preparation has involved weeding, mowing, trimming, filling in holes, re-planing the car park, installing way markers, siting benches around the walking routes and large lake, putting up festoon lighting, cordoning off unsafe areas and tree trimming! This list is still a work in progress, and much like the Forth Road Bridge, is never finished!
Our next large estate project is tackling drainage issue at the bottom of the lake and woods so that the boardwalk and/or wellies are not needed!
Since the last blog we have finished off sowing our sugar beet into largely good but dry and drying conditions. The old crop sugar beet was delivered into Newark beet factory with a day to spare, many thanks to Andrew Read and his team for their excellent service in delivering our beet again.
As has become fairly predictable over the past few years April has been an extremely dry month. This is not helpful in both spring crop establishment and also for fertiliser availability to the crops. Thankfully the majority of our spring crops were sown into a nice amount of moisture so have established well. However the dry weather has been seriously taking its toll on the development of our spring barley crop in particular. Surprisingly but rather pleasingly, our autumn sown crops have not suffered too badly thus far with a recent 5mm of rain hopefully sufficient to perk everything up and increase the availability of applied crop nutrients.
We are now entering a crucial phase for most crops as we look to protect them from any diseases and tidy up any broadleaved weed issues that have arisen. It is a particularly busy time of year for the crop sprayer, always trying to juggle timing applications according to growth stage against the challenges of the weather in order to make best use of the products we apply.
All applications of nitrogen fertiliser are now being finished off, with an application of a slow release sulphur and potash fertiliser to be made to the sugar beet. Attentions then move towards establishment of our rotational over winter bird feed plots which will be going in imminently.
Our hinds (the ladies) have been in calf since autumn and will soon be ready to give birth. Luckily, red deer, unlike sheep and cows, are very independent in this process, rarely requiring much input from us. To prepare for this exciting time of year we will be splitting them into separate enclosures so that they have some space and privacy. Deer are very adept at keeping their calves well hidden following birth so we will need to keep a keen eye on the long grass and nettle patches. As soon as we have any news for you we will share some calf photos.
It’s fair to say that we have missed having visitors to the Estate and Woods in the last couple of years. We have spent much of March planning and gearing up for a number of exciting opportunities to come and visit us again. Have a look below to see what we have on offer!
We are have been very busy gearing up for 30th April which sees the first event on the estate this year. We are very pleased to organise this Activity Day to launch the Outdoor Festival at Stourton Woods which gives a wide range of businesses the opportunity to exhibit and share their activities right here! The Lincolnshire Wolds has a full schedule of events with a whole range of activities on offer for the duration of the festival and to see more of what’s on offer and to book your place(s) please click here.
There is so much going on at our Activity Day, it’s not to be missed! There are lots of activities to try and experiences to enjoy. Here’s a brief list of what’s on offer:
With so much to get involved with we suggest you wear sensible shoes and clothing.
You are welcome to bring your own picnics but there will be some delicious refreshments on offer throughout the day too.Early birds can get a bacon and egg roll from Amy Jobe’s Lincoln Russet who will later be serving expertly cooked beef and venison burgers. Delicious sweet and savoury crepes (with gluten free and vegan options available) will also be on offer provided by Fleurs Kitchen.
To enable as many people to enjoy the event as possible a minibus will be running from Horncastle directly to Stourton Woods (and back!) at hourly intervals through the day.
There are also other walks taking place across the estate throughout May:
11th May: a 9 mile walk starting at 10am from Stourton Woods – to book email Geoff Newmarch – geoffreynewmarch1@gmail.com
11th May: a 3 mile walk starting at 8.30pm from Stourton Woods – to book email Geoff Newmarch – geoffreynewmarch1@gmail.com
18th May: a 9 mile walk starting at 10am from Stourton Woods – to book email Tony Dean – a.dean3@live.co.uk
25th May: a 9 mile walk starting at 10am from Stourton Woods, to book email Alex Russell – azze32@hotmail.com
We will be open for visitors to explore the estate at their leisure from 10am – 4pm every Sunday (May – September 2022). No need to book. Just turn up at your leisure!This is a great opportunity to walk miles of trails across the estate, bring your bike and cycle, run – or just relax and see the red deer in the normally private parkland, woodland and lakes.
Refreshments will be on offer and there are fully flushing toilet facilities within the grounds!
Deer safaris will be running throughout the day which are wheelchair accessible.
We are looking forward to welcoming you to our working family farm – well behaved dogs on leads are also very welcome.
A small car parking fee applies (every penny of which is re-invested into the grounds to maintain and keep it open for you to enjoy).
Join us in raising funds for the Lincs & Notts Air Ambulance and LRSN (Lincolnshire Rural Support Network) with a day concentrating on good physical and mental health. Focus your mind on what’s important and energise your body!
Take time out of your day-to-day pressures and take part in sessions on overall wellbeing and nutrition. Learn more about the critical work LRSN do on a day to day basis, the importance of good posture & physical exercise plus how good nutrition plays such a crucial role in our lives.
Leave feeling energised and refreshed – ready to make some simple changes to your daily routine and improve your overall wellbeing!
To book your place please click here.
Dan and Guy have been busy tidying and removing cut timber from one of the woodland areas and taking it up to the farm to convert into our logs. They are currently in the kiln being dried for our last batch of logs this season. They have also finished planting the last remaining native trees around the roundhouse – we just hope the deer don’t eat them!
Our Landscaping Products have been flying out the shed. The team has been busy drying, grading and bagging our range of products ready for the spring rush.
As we write this news story, the snow is falling, however spring is/will be upon is very soon and our attention moves to sprucing up our gardens and outdoor areas for the summer. We have a large range of landscaping products available to order, with delivery to your door.
We recommend some Garden Bark Chippings. This product is so versatile. It’s great for tidying up your beds, in chicken runs and for foot path areas. Prices for a 0.7 cubic meter builders bag start at £65 with discounts available on orders of 2 or more.
Delivery is free within a 20 mile radius (by road) of our farm in Baumber, Lincolnshire. If you live outside of the free delivery area please contact us to discuss your delivery.
A fair bit has been going on since the last blog to say the least! As discussed last time, we have applied our first ‘dressing’ of nitrogen fertiliser to our winter cereal crops and two onto our winter oilseed rape crop.
The final field of sugar beet for the ‘2021 harvest’ was eventually lifted having been in the ground for a record-breaking (for this farm and not in a good way) 363 days. This is now sat on the pad awaiting delivery, let’s hope we can get it delivered to the factory before it closes next week.
Our spring drilling campaign has so far gone smoothly, with all of the barley and the vast majority of the oats now sown. We have also managed to drill a couple of smaller and slightly awkward fields of sugar beet. Mother nature has now intervened with snow of all things, which will hopefully disappear and allow us to get finished up.
Next on the agenda will be nitrogen fertiliser applications to all of the spring crops as well as the second applications to winter cereals. Our thoughts will then turn to some weed control and working out our fungicide strategy as the season progresses to keep the crops free of disease.
With the weather turning warmer this month the deer calves were released early from the warmth of the roundhouse and they can be seen frolicking in the woods enjoying their new found freedom! They’re still having a top up of silage as the grass isn’t growing quickly enough to keep them full up…
Since they moved out the team have then spent some time clearing out the roundhouse removing temporary fencing and straw and clearing it ready for the summer season here where it will double as a shelter for events days. Whilst there are still some bales in the car-park it is looking tidy and we’re seeing the first signs of buds and spring colours in the grounds on the estate.
Both main stags Wilson & Nelson have shed their antlers – a real weight off their minds quite literally – they very conveniently left them near the gateway for Antony to collect so we didn’t have to hunt too far!
Proud to Support St Barnabas Hospice
Following our Enchanted Lights event in November where we had a donation ‘Wishing Fountain’ we were absolutely delighted to present St Barnabas Hospice with a cheque for £322.56p.
St Barnabas Hospice is the leading charity in Lincolnshire providing palliative and end-of-life care to adults living with a life-limiting or terminal illness. They do incredible work and we are very proud to have supported them. Please visit their website to donate or for fundraising ideas.
Outdoor Festival Activity Day – Volunteers Needed!
If you’d like the opportunity to help out for a couple of hours or 3 at the Launch of the Outdoor Festival to be held here on 30th April please do get in touch! We are looking for people to support various aspects of the co-ordination of the day including meeting and greeting and more generally supporting festival activity providers and visitors. If you’d like to get involved an essential Site Tour and Briefing Session will be held on Wednesday 27th April from 10am – 12 midday which you will also need to attend ahead of the event on 30th April. To register your interest please email contact@stourtonestates.co.uk and we will get in touch with more details.
We’ll be open EVERY SUNDAY from May – September!
We are very excited to announce that we will be open every Sunday from May – September 2022. You can come and come and enjoy our beautiful parkland and deer park at your leisure.
Red Deer safaris will be on offer together with self-guided walks around woodlands and lakes, with plenty of space for children and dogs to explore. The open days will be supported by an ever-changing high quality local food vendor on site serving drinks and refreshments, with flushing toilets available here too!
Lovingly reared home-grown venison will be available to purchase for you to cook at home with a selection of tried-and-tested recipes for inspiration.
In order to maintain the grounds to a high standard, a small car parking charge will be in place; every penny of which will be re-invested to improve and manage the site.
No need to book – you’re free to simply turn up and enjoy what’s on offer here.
Venison – Recipe of the Month – Lasagne!
Lasagne is such a great family favourite and perfect crowd pleaser for the hungry masses! It’s great to make in advance to pop in the oven when you need it. Why not give your lasagne a new twist by using venison mince instead of beef? Venison mince is full of flavour and a healthier option as the fat levels are lower than beef or pork. The cooking process is as simple as with other minces so the swap is easy to make!
Click here for our tried, tested and family approved Venison Lasagne recipe.
Also, if you are already planning your Easter Feast and would like to make venison the centrepiece please place your order now. Our venison joints are always very popular at this time of year and we don’t want you to miss out.
To place your order simply click here. We have a good range of frozen venison in stock with more cuts available soon! Delivery is free within a 20 mile radius of the farm (by road) when you spend £25 or more.
On The Estate
Guy is very excited as we are replacing our more weathered transit with a more shiny (second-hand one!) into our delivery fleet. To make the trek to Bath to collect the new Transit van during half term week (!) more palatable for our younger members of Team Stourton we had an overnight stay and trip to the Roman Baths. If you haven’t been to Bath it’s a great place to visit!
The new van is not yet on the road as it requires some modifications. We are fitting a mini crane so larger and bulk deliveries of logs are easy to load and unload as well as getting some branding applied. We will take some photos when it’s ready for the road.
On the Farm
After an incredibly dry and mild winter, the storms of February certainly changed things a little. Thankfully we suffered minimal damage on the farm but the recent rainfall has shown up a few wet areas that may need some attention.
Our thoughts now move towards applications of nitrogen fertiliser to our winter crops as well as the sowing of our spring crops. We are currently waiting for delivery of sewage sludge for application ahead of our spring crops. This is a great source of crop nutrients as well as being a useful addition of ‘organic matter’ to our soils.
We are in unprecedented times as far as agricultural markets are concerned. As mentioned previously our fertiliser prices are sky high (directly linked to gas/energy prices). This has been accentuated by Russia’s disgraceful recent decision to invade Ukraine. Our thoughts are very much with the people of Ukraine at this time. I, for one can’t begin to comprehend what they are going through right now, it is deeply unsettling.
The Ukraine and Russia are both very important exporters of wheat and maize onto the world market. There is an estimated 15 million tonnes of wheat and 12 million tonnes of maize still to leave the black sea ports this season. As things stand this is highly unlikely to happen in the short term and has made markets incredibly nervous about tightness in global supply.
In other news we have been building a new farm chemical store/sprayer filling area in the yard. This project is coming along nicely now and will be a welcome addition to ease spraying logistics in the spring.
Deer Diary
It’s been a busy few weeks in the deer parks. All our deer have now been wormed and topped up with vital minerals in anticipation of the forthcoming calving season. May seems a long way away but it will be here before we know it!
The calves are all under cover in the new deer shed enjoying their luxury accommodation. However that said, they will be more than happy to be turned out onto the spring grass next month.
The recent storms have caused us quite a few headaches and a serious amount of additional work repairing fences which have been squashed by falling trees and branches. We are shortly to begin our parkland maintenance works – harrowing, re-seeding and leveling the pasture to ensure it is in the best condition for turn out.
We’d like to take the opportunity to welcome a new member to our office team! Tina started with us at the beginning of the year bringing with her a whole heap of experience and is making great progress in learning the ropes….there are quite a few ropes! Tina at the moment is focusing on the co-ordination of log and landscaping orders and is taking the heady task of learning which villages are within the 20 mile free delivery radius in her stride.
We know what you are thinking…. where’s Julie gone? Well, have no fear, Julie is still with us and is going to focus on co-ordinating weddings and private events, an ever growing area of our offering, which also allows her the flexibility to work from home.
We’re planning our programme of events and open days for 2022 with the aim of being open far more regularly than ever before so WATCH THIS SPACE for more details.
Our first event, and marking the launch of the Lincs Wolds Outdoor Festival, is the Outdoor Festival Activity Day on Saturday 30th April. There will be lots of activities and demonstrations on offer including:
We will let you know more information nearer the time, for now it is a date for your diary!
Whilst it’s not been extremely cold lately we are v busy with log orders. Therefore we are restricting orders to max 2 bags per customer at the moment, We would also advise early ordering as current lead time is 1 week from order to delivery.
To place your order please follow this link.
For those of you who’s new year’s resolution was to try to eat more healthily, have you thought about trying our delicious venison? Low in fat & cholesterol and high in protein & iron our wonderfully flavoured venison is reared in the tranquil surroundings of the estate and woodland.
So whether it sausages, mince, steaks or haunch joints, our full range of venison is in stock in our freezers now. We can deliver directly to your door* and delivery is FREE if you’re within a 20 mile radius by road of the farm.
To see our full range and to place your order please click here.
*£25 minimum spend required
We are really pleased to announce that we will be working with Ferry Ales Brewery, a family owned craft brewery who will be providing the bar for all our weddings and private events. Ferry Ales Brewery make such a great bar partner, offering locally made beer, lager and cider on tap with the opportunity for couples to brand their own beer as an optional extra! We’ve also found that many are looking for their guests to enjoy a cocktail and we can now offer (through FAB) a range of cocktails perfect for celebrating with! Cheers!
We’re delighted to be showing our venue to so many couples who are looking for a woodland wedding venue to hold their special day. There are still a limited number of dates available in 2022 and we are now taking bookings for 2023. If you would like to find out more about our venue and wedding hire options please don’t hesitate to get in touch.
The team have been spending January, traditionally a very quiet month, converting timber to logs. They’ve been keeping the kiln going non-stop in order to keep up with customer demand. The added benefit of excess heat from the kiln is that we divert that heat to keep the farm office warm, nothing goes to waste here. Please keep your log orders coming!
The herds are being moved around to maximise the grazing potential and are being treated and separated to get us ready for the last couple of wintery months and to make sure that everything is in place, both literally and nutritionally, before we begin calving season in late spring.
We also thought you’d appreciate a Dotty update. She is still going strong and still proving to be quite the character. She hasn’t lost her interest in us and still loves a fuss every feeding time.
Well, we’re now well through January. Thankfully the days are now drawing out at a rapid rate of knots.
As mentioned before, on the arable farm we use the winter months as time to recharge our batteries. However we still seem to have plenty going on at the moment!! As I write we are lifting a little more sugar beet, we have a lot more left in the ground than we usually would at this time of year. This is down to a combination of things but largely due to British Sugar opening later than usual and the processing factory having some enormous problems this season. It has been incredibly frustrating for growers and hauliers alike who bear the brunt of the risk involved in not being able to deliver our beet in a timely manner.
Elsewhere on the farm, we have been soil sampling to test for nutrient contents ahead of applying sewage cake. This is applied for a number of reasons but is a really useful import of ‘organic matter’ allowing us to store that carbon in our soils.
With the dry conditions we have also been applying a few ‘top up’ grass seed herbicides to our winter cereals where required, as well as on our oilseed rape crops.
We will soon be applying a sulphur and potash containing fertiliser to all of our winter crops to supply their seasons needs for those two crop nutrients before moving on to nitrogen applications in February. Nitrogen fertiliser is certainly focusing the mind this year as we are currently paying up to 3 times more than the usual cost of this incredibly important crop nutrient.
Please pop the Outdoor Festival Activity Day in your diary and we look forward to seeing you later in 2022.
Antony & Helen
On Saturday 4th December we held our winter open day. Under the new shelter of the roundhouse visitors came to choose or pick up their pre-ordered trees, purchase venison to stock up the freezer and enjoy festive refreshments from The Lunch Wagen. We also ran festive deer safaris and around 20 of the deer calves born this summer were getting acclimatized to their new surroundings in the roundhouse for our visitors to see. They generally behaved very well! Despite the slightly grotty weather we were delighted to see some friendly faces join us for an hour or two.
As ever, a huge thank you to all who attended, well done to the The Lunch Wagen keeping up with demand for hot chocolates and to our fabulous Stourton team who helped to set up and attended on the day to ensure everything ran smoothly. We look forward to holding many more open days from late spring time in the New Year. Keep your eyes peeled for news about these next year.
Christmas Trees: We have a few beautiful Nordmann Fir trees left following our open day. If you’d like to come and choose or collect your tree (which you can pre-order online) you can come to the barn at the farm yard (LN9 5BP) between 10am – 12pm on Saturday (11th) and Sunday (12th) December. We highly recommend pre-ordering to avoid disappointment or a wasted trip.
Venison: It is lovely to enjoy venison over the festive season and into the New Year, our fresh venison boxes are already SOLD OUT for December delivery and will be shipped to customers from Thursday 16th December.
If you’d prefer to ‘click and collect’ from our selection of frozen venison our veni-van will be stationed down Clays Lane at the A158 entrance on Friday 17th December 11-2 from which you can collect your order. Please place your orders online prior to coming to see us.
If you wish to place an order for frozen venison for home delivery (free within 20 miles by road of the farm postcode) our last delivery date is 22nd December and we won’t be making any further deliveries until Thursday 6th January.
Logs: Our last order date for logs is Friday 17th December with spaces already filling up fast for our last delivery date on 22nd December.
Our office and farm staff are very ready to take a well deserved break so we will be closed throughout the festive season from 23rd December – 6th January.
As we head towards Christmas on the arable farm thoughts turn towards the team having a little well-earned time off with family.
With two pretty significant storms in quick succession we have been extremely fortunate to escape any major damage. We can cope with an odd wet patch showing itself as the land reaches field capacity (full saturation point!).
Crops are generally looking well heading into the winter. Winter oilseed rape crops are a little patchier than I would like but the winter barley and winter wheats are pleasing across the board. Our winter beans have largely all emerged, and we should be seeing them all clearly in rows within the next ten day, a huge improvement on last year which saw one field emerging towards the end of January having been sown in the first week of November!!
We are hoping to lift another 10ha approximately of sugar beet before we finish for Christmas which will be stored on our ‘pad’ until delivery into the factory is possible.
I will take this opportunity to again thank every member of our team for their hard work this year.
With the dip in temperatures and threat of another storm the deer calves have been road testing the new roundhouse for their winter quarters and it looks like they are settling in nicely. The roundhouse is designed to protect them from the worst of the weather whilst maintaining a lovely calm environment within the natural shelter of the woodland. Before the calves go into the roundhouse they are given a copper bolus, wormer and a unique tag identifier before going to enjoy the new roundhouse’s facilities over the winter months.
Finally we would like to take this opportunity to thank you for continuing to support us through what has been one of the toughest of years. From all of the team here, we hope that you and your loved ones have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Antony and Helen
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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