Silage, seals, sharks and sheep on a Sunday

Silage has been baled, thanks to a helpful nearby farmer with a huge tractor and baler, and here in this photograph being wrapped by Farmer and his brace of (much smaller) tractors.

This year we made silage in a far smaller field than last year so the number of bales is half the amount. This is an expected outcome, as we manage our fields in a traditional system, using the old fallow method to rest the fields one year in four, and hopefully create a more natural balance. The fields are not all the same size - so the yields will always be different! We don't use artificial fertiliser so rely on FYM from in-wintering our cows to feed the soil fertilitiy. From a flowers point of view though, the yield is huge, as the bio-diversity of these fields seem to improve year on year.

The silage is now wrapped and safe from the weather. The ends of the plastic wrap are tucked in to keep it airtight so that it can start to do the heating up and fermenting necessary to pickle the cut forage. At the end of every winter we have piles of silage wrap and farm plastic waiting for collection, to go off to Solway Recycling (who turn them into picnic benches).

Next task for Farmer is to take each bale back up to the stack yard before the bale starts softening. The Cheviots gimmers are let into this field to nibble the 'aftermath' - the sweet grass that comes after the silage is cut. Lamb sales in other parts of the country bring our attention to our own lambs and when to gather. The lorry is booked to take our lambs on the 21st September to Oban.

The heather has been vivid again this summer. Across the burn from the Treshnish farm steading is this pretty bank of heather. We fenced the sheep out of this area about 8 years ago, and it has taken all this time for the heather to recover, and for this young rowan to take seed.

A Sunday morning walk along through the Black Park and down to the shore on the northern side of the Point. Heather, late flowering birds foot trefoil, devils bit scabious and harebell in one of our in bye fields.

In the Black Park, huge clumps of knapweed.

...and colourful devils bit scabious with the yellow of hawksbit.

Walking along the northern shore, we can hear seals calling. There are 5 lying in the sun at low tide on the rocks - we don't see them here that often. A basking shark slowly cruises past a few metres off shore, and gannets drop like missiles into the water. Rocky outcrops with ungrazed wild flowers. Bees buzzing in the sunshine. One of those magical walks.

And a bowl of salad leaves from the garden with edible flowers to accompany a sunny Sunday lunch out of doors when we get home!

We love the Salen Show

Thursday the 12th, and it is Salen Show day. It was a perfect day, bright, slightly breezy and not too hot for the animals. As usual alot of work had gone in to getting everything organised. It is such a picturesque location near Aros Bridge, where the river comes into a sandy bay, overlooked by the ruined Aros Castle on its cliff.

Hands handled.

Preened, dyed, brushed, judged and awarded.

The Mull and Iona Pipe Band piped. Ewen and Allan Stewart (Comrie) lent their lorry as a stage for the sound system for the Show Dance.

The Produce Tent produced.

Vegetables transformed.

The Young handler handled. In the end Alice did not go to the Show. We chose Brownie (the Zwartble) instead as he is easier to handle. Pet lambs are always noisy, and the journey from the farm to the show ground was hilariously loud. Farmer doesn't have a 4x4 or the usual farmer's pickup, so Brownie travelled with us in the van, well within earshot. Daughter (the Young Handler) had ensured a thick bed of paper and straw in a large pet crate made him comfortable, but he baa-ed at the top of his voice ALL the way and ALL the way home (having come second last in his class).

Jan settles in

It doesn't take long for a bond to form between Farmer and Dog. Jan has a sweet willing nature and in the fortnight she has been with us, she has learned the importance of close contact. And Cap has learned to share.

The Black Park is one of our species rich fields. It is closed off from grazing from April until end of August, to allow the wonderful variety of flowers to set seed. The yellow rattle seed heads have changed colour now and rattle loudly as you walk through them. When we started farming organically we had a little yellow rattle in the silage fields, and it spread very successfully over the years. depleting the grass as it went along. At one time we were quite worried about yields and so I started researching into organic methods of controlling yellow rattle, but the only references to it that I could find were about how to encourage it as it was so beneficial to enhancing wild flower meadows! At that point, we gave in to the notion of letting nature take its course. And the result all these years later is this incredibly colourful grassland, abundant with many many different wild flowers.

Jan.

Black Park August colour. The Black Park is one of the fields you drive through to get to the 4 Haunn Cottages, site of one of the nesting pairs of corn crake that we have enjoyed here this summer. For details of what they are doing just now look at TreshnishBirdlog.

One man and his new dog, walking obediently behind him.

Rolling fleeces picking blackcurrants

A huge fleece held up by Farmer in the doorway to the cattle shed.

The shearers finished off the last few ewes on Friday, so that is a big part of the summer sheep work done. The lambs were given a treatment against fly strike and they are all now reunited and back to the hill. Some years the shearers have come with someone prepared to roll the fleeces as they are dropped from the shearing trailer by the shearers. This year, at short notice, they were left in a heap, on a tarpaulin (to keep them clean) to be rolled at a later date. A job to add to Farmer's list.

The rolling trailer.

But this morning Farmer decided he needed to get it over and done with - so he reversed the tractor and trailer into the cattle shed, and used the trailer as a rolling table. With the wind up radio blaring and sheep dogs at his feet, he began to roll. Some time later he was joined by a willing young assistant who picked up the loose fleeces off the floor and handed them over to Farmer to roll, until the pile was gone. Each bundle was then stuffed into a huge wool bag, and sewn up with a huge needle.

Fleece number 301 - the last one of the day.

The shorn sheep are let back into the field where their lambs are noisely bleating and mothering up commences. Several hours later, when the field quietens down, you know the mothering up is mostly done and that it is safe to open the hill park gate and left the hill sheep drift slowly out on the hill again. Open that gate too soon, and they will mis-mother which you don't want.

Meanwhile a race is on in the garden to pick the heavily laden blackcurrant and gooseberry bushes before the cheeky blackbirds and sparrows get them all. The berries are perfectly ripe and very sweet. And for the first time in our life with this garden we have a rabbit or two - I think they are living under the old caravan, which incidentally is very good for starting seeds off in, in a cold spring - no slugs or snails, and lots of gathered sun warmth.

Time does not stand still on a farm, and living on an island means you have to think ahead, so even though it is only days since Fly died, we had to start looking for a replacement, as being the only sheepdog on the farm was too unfair a responsibility for Cap. At the end of the gathering for shearing he was totally whacked. Adverts in the Scottish Farmer have never been successful for us, as it arrives here late on a Friday, and by the time you have rung up about a dog, it has just been driven out of their yard.

So the obvious place to look is the internet, and that is what we did. In fact, we went back to the person we bought Fly from in the first place. A very long day trip took us there and back, it was one of those totally clear sunny bright days when the landscape shines in the strong positive light of sun, blue sky and white puffy clouds. Scotland looking absolutely Sunday best. Even waiting for the ferry at 6.15am was a joy. We had several bitches to choose from, and came home on the last boat with a lovely natured one called Jan. So a new chapter begins.

And here are the pet lambs, rushing in for their evening handful of nuts.

We have been seeing good numbers of basking sharks in the bay, sightings we never tire of.

Shearing time again

It has been a while since the last blog. Farmer and family took a holiday. Calmac excelled themselves on our journey to Barra. The usual boat was in dock being repaired, and the replacement boat was not very big and did not ride a stormy Minch at all well. The crossing which usually arrives about 8.30pm finally arrived at half past midnight and an estimated 90% of the passengers were sick. So it was not a pleasant trip in any way - to say the least.

This photo is of the sea the next day, when it was slightly calmer. A Barra lady who had been on the ferry with us, commented when we met in Castlebay a few days later that it was like childbirth - you soon forget, and certainly it was great to be on Barra again! The weather this time was not that good but we managed to dodge the rain and find a beach out of the wind everyday. Farmer donned wetsuit and jumped off Eoligarry jetty as often as he could into those sandy turquoise waters.

Interestingly and not surprisingly, given the ferry situation, the island seemed a lot quieter this year than last. But also, last year there were alot of touring campervans, with pitches ringing the machair on the airport beach Traigh Mhor. The machair has been fenced off this year here, because it is obviously a delicate eco system and was being damaged.

Round the island we saw several crofts where, over the winter, crofters have created a simple camp area for campers and caravanners, and it would be great if caravanners/campervanners could embrace the idea of still coming to the island despite the machair being fenced off. In using these on-croft facilities instead of seeking the free camping dream site, they will contribute to the local economy and enjoy more contact with their friendly hosts!

We heard tales of campervanners allegedly boasting how little money they had spent whilst in the Outer Isles, and if true, this is a great shame. Any visitors to the islands, whether on bicycles (plenty of those hardy folk cycling up the island chain in the wind and rain), staying in holiday cottages or in campervans, can benefit the island in more ways than one, by supporting the great facilities on offer and the friendly local shops, craft shops, pubs and cafes.

Okay gentle rant over now and back to the matters at hand. Shearing time. We get home and check the phone...Messages from the shearers saying can they come tomorrow..... What? *!*.....talk about short notice, and the holiday bags not even unpacked. But totally our fault for taking the holiday notion so seriously we didn't leave him a mobile number. So there ensued lots of phone calls to see if we could get organised in time. We couldn't and so alternative day would be arranged. Weather mixed and showery. Happily though as I write, sheep are in the cattle shed, keeping dry and waiting for the shearers to arrive at lunchtime - a result of neighbourly help for which we are very grateful, exhausted sheepdogs and good weather at the right time.

On a sad note, we lost Fly this week. She had to be put to sleep. She came to Treshnish in 2002, so she leaves a big gap. Here she is, last summer, pictured second from the right with her head down looking as shy as she often did. She was a loyal 'colleague'.

Farmer got a ride in a helicopter this week as he showed the pilot which areas of bracken needed treatment. This is the south side of the headland looking towards Rum in the cloud. And the second one of Calgary beach as he flew over from Bennan, peaty brown water coming into the turquoise bay.

Sunshine, Sawfly and Sharks

Sunday morning on Calgary Beach - as you can see it was mobbed. The Friends of Calgary Bay were doing some beach cleaning, and strimming/cutting thistles and we went down to help for a while before Farmer came home to watch the football. (As it turned out he should have stayed on the beach).

The machair at Calgary is flowering beautifully this summer - there have been less sheep grazing here and consequently everything has had a chance to get ahead. The Lady's Bedstraw and Wild Thyme are flourishing, in purple and pale yellow drifts. On the hill behind you can see the fence line - left of which is grazed by sheep and right of which is not.

People say we have only had 8 days rain in 6 months. We don't have a rain gauge so can only try and think back, but it certainly has been dry and calm for most of the time. Alot of the burns have run dry on the hill and we have to be careful to make sure the burns are still running in the fields where the animals are. Our cottage water supplies are holding up well, and our guests are being mindful, so we haven't been in the unfortunate situation some places have found themselves in, of having to cancel bookings as they have run out completely.

Farmer is using some of his time for routine maintenance. The wooden rails in the new fank (has it really been there for 10 years?) need treating, and he has been painting them with a mixture of used tractor oil and creosote - a pungent mixture which turns the silvered wood dark brown. It will have weathered in nicely before the next time we need to use the fank.

We are still seeing lots of Basking Sharks in between Treshnish headland and Calgary Bay, which is always a privilege. And almost every day too!

A Small White Orchid in the Haunn field. There are lots this year.

And in the veg garden, a naked gooseberry bush - victim to attack from gooseberry sawfly, which thrives in our garden. It seems to make little difference to the yield, but this leaf-less look does make it alot easier for our garden resident birds to see where the fruits are. So we battle to pick them before the birds get them!

I won't be posting for a while as it is time for a little break. Back in a couple of weeks....

Happy Cows, Basking Sharks and a fire on Coll

Farmer went to check his cows in the field below the Treshnish Cottages this afternoon. Contentedly sitting in the species rich grassland, in the bright sunlight. Just out from the boathouse rocks was a huge Basking Shark.

There have been lots of sightings over the last 10 days or so, just off shore, and easy to spot.

We could also see a fire burning on Coll. Muirburn stops mid April, so we assumed this was an accidental fire - clouds of smoke billowing above the low lying land. It looked fairly menacing.