May 2024 at Stourton

Our first wedding of the season and the force was strong!

Our first Wedding of the season was held on May the 4th & the force between them was strong! The sun shone on this really lovely couple who celebrated their love surrounded by their family and friends. Many chose to spend the night under canvas on the old hall lawn and woke up to see the deer in hall park.

With weddings hosted throughout the summer months, if you want to find out more about hosting a wedding or other special occasion here at Stourton please get in touch.

Venison – Try something new now the BBQs are out!

Our venison is going down a storm at the moment! Our steaks were sampled recently by Louth YFC on a farm visit, & our burgers were cooked to perfection at the YFC rally too!

stourton estates venison burgerWhilst you could buy burgers ready made from us, why not get the kids involved & make your own? Here’s our very simple and cost effective recipe:

Just order a pack of venison mince, add an egg yolk, season to taste and combine before shaping into pattie shapes and grilling on the BBQ – you can’t beat these for a healthy, quick & simple supper…

We have most cuts in stock at the moment. To place your venison order simply phone or email Tina on 01507 578236 or contact@stourtonestates.co.uk and she will get your order ready for you to arrange collection from the farm at LN9 5PB or if we are out delivering landscaping products in your area we’ll pop them on the delivery route.

Lincolnshire Wolds Outdoor Festival Activity Day

It was wonderful to see so many visitors and families taking part in the LWOF Activity Day that we organised & held here on Sunday 12th May. There were so many activities on offer and our visitors wasted no time getting stuck in and trying out new things.

We’d like to thank all of the exhibitors who helped us to showcase the amazing breadth of activities in offer in the Wolds. We’d also like to thank our food and beverage vendors who helped us to keep the crowd well fed and hydrated! Last but not least, our thanks go to Team Stourton who, as ever, helped the day run very smoothly.

Please click here for the full gallery of photos taken on the day!

 

Lincolnshire Wolds Outdoor Festival Talking Walk

As part of the LWOF with donations to support LRSN we held a talking walk here at Stourton. The guided walk around the estate took in the woodland, lakes and deer parks and Antony explained to the walkers how we manage the venue and care for our herds of red deer living in the parks. We also explained why we are moving to a regenerative farming system as well as our diversification projects.

Lincolnshire Young Farmers County Rally

Lincolnshire Young Farmers County Rally held on 18th May was very well supported from YFC’s across the county. They competed as clubs against each other in a multitude of activities from tug-of-war to flower arranging and more besides. Congratulations to Harmston YFC who took the win on the day! At night we also hosted the after party.

The YFC rally raised funds for EDAN Lincs Ending Domestic Abuse Now and  was sponsored by Irelands Farm Machinery, Kubota & Stewart Trailers.

Josh Addlesee from Corringham YFC was Rally Chairman and did a great job of setting up, running the event and taking down.  YFC is a great club to get involved with so if you’re aged between 13-25 do get in touch with Lincolnshire Young Farmers for more information and to find a club local to you.

 

Book Now! Somatics Self Care DAY – June 7th & 8th

If you are after a day of self-care and relaxation we are now able to take bookings from our website directly, for this event being held by Nicki Marshall the Somatics Coach here on both Friday 7th & Saturday 8th June.

This calming and relaxing day is designed to introduce you to somatics; a practice which helps you to restore your freedom of movement and calm your nervous system. It really is wonderful and we strongly suggest you come along to see what its about!

The day includes 2 somatic movement sessions, a delicious lunch and time to explore the beautiful surroundings of Stourton woods.

To book your place please click here.

 

Food and Drink Fayre – 8th September – Booking Exhibitors now!

We are so excited to hold our first Food & Drink Fayre at Stourton Woods on Sunday 8th September!

This event offers more than just a fabulous market, with a wide selection of quality Lincolnshire food & drink producers showcasing their goods in and around the Roundhouse in the woods, visitors can also really make a day of it with:

  • Demonstrations and Talks being held in the Safari Tent
  • Farm Safaris – on the tractor and trailer around the estate
  • Picnic area and space in the arboretum – for families to enjoy freedom and nature in this enclosed area
  • Waymarked self-guided trails to explore around the beautiful estate – ranging from 1km, 3km & 5km (well behaved dogs on leads are very welcome)

So if you are a food or drink business and would like to bring your business and exhibit at this event please click here to complete our application form.

This is a date to reserve in your diary – it promises to be a fabulous event – more detail will follow soon!

 

On the Estate

We’ve recently had James Dalton here with his chipper tidying up the timber felled in the woods as part of our woodland management plan. With the chipped wood we will be creating some of our landscaping products. The brash also goes through the chipper and we use this lower quality chip as our heating chip for the kiln which will dry our logs that will be ready for autumn. Thank you to GCS Machinery for the hire of the trailer.

 

On the Farm

Since the last blog we have completed all fertiliser applications around the farm. The spreader is now in the workshop with Ken painstakingly rebuilding the transmission due to some failed bearings. While we have it in pieces we are replacing all bearings and seals. Hopefully it will do a good few seasons now before needing any more attention.

The sprayer has been busy applying fungicides to cereal crops and herbicides to the beet crop. We are relatively happy with the broadleaved weed control within our beet crop now. The next application will be to try and control grass weeds and cereal volunteers in the crop as well as a pass with a tractor mounted hoe to remove weed beet and oxygenate the soil around the growing plants.

Our spring crops have established well, as they move through their growth stages we will soon be applying some T1 fungicides alongside some foliar plant nutrition products as well as herbicides to control broad leaved weeds where required.

As mentioned in the last blog we have some stewardship options to establish, this should be happening within the next few weeks when weather, soil conditions and seed allow. Fingers crossed we keep getting a few warm rains and these will fly out of the ground when we drill them.

We are recruiting for a new farm manager!

Sadly Oli is leaving us after harvest so we are looking to recruit for a working farm manager. This is a key role for us here at Stourton which involves the management of all arable operations. The prospective candidate needs to have an interest in regenerative farming and livestock, be self-motivated with excellent communication & team management skills as well as experience of operating a fleet of modern farm machinery.

If you are interested in this role please contact Robert Bell & Co via landagency@robert-bell.org to register your interest and to receive the full job description.

 

Deer Diary

Our favourite time of year is here! We are delighted to announce that the first deer calf of the season was born on 20th May! Here are a couple of photos, and more will follow as the new young gang grows over the next few weeks,

In preparation for the calves’ arrival we have been managing weeds in the deer parks to optimise the grazing for the feeding mothers. We have been mowing some thistles and nettles but crucially leaving large nettle clumps for the newborns as these are their mums’ favourite spots to hide them from predators.

We have also cut our herbal sileage which is now being baled and then moved to the yard where it will be carefully stored for winter deer food.

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Landscaping

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red deer at Stourton Estates

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