This MAY have taken too long…
It’s become a roundup of the month at this point...
However, we will get back to the weekly blog posts.
Week commencing 21st April
The biggest development from the week was that lambing had official ended for us, however there were a few more sheep jobs left including worming, dagging and vaccinating the lambs (which was done on our Care Farm Day) before they could be moved to the top field during the Farm School Day.
We also made more progress with log cabin number two, with Boyd preparing and concreting between the two log cabins, and Chris and Hannah putting the conduit around the inside, ready for wiring!
There was lots of excitement during Friskney Farm School with Year 5/6 moving the sheep and checking their predictions (made during the inheritance topic) against the lambs, to see how close they were. In the afternoon, they then did a tour of the site looking at what the young animals might need, making dandelion tea, before coming back for a quiz!
To finish the week, we had Challenge Askefield and everyone was making paper boxes!
Week commencing 28th April
The week started with, you guessed, more log cabin progress! This time Boyd had installed the window in the passageway between the two log cabins. He has done an excellent job! Tuesday started slightly differently to normal, with Chris having to deal with flystrike on one of the ewes and after some trimming and Crovect she was all clear.
Wednesday was our Care Farm Day and it was time to clear to barn, since lambing had finished, and get it set up for its normal weekly use. This meant that the sofas had to come back in and once they were down, they were tested with a sit down and a brew! Another job for the day was to empty the donkey poo barrow, which did not end so well...
Then it was Thursday, which meant Friskney Farm School! This time it was Year 3 and 4s time at the farm and they were in the barn this week as it was lovely and warm. After animal feeding and a discussion regarding the chicks and ducklings, it was time for an exciting paint mixing activity, where they had to fill in the colour wheel by mixing the primary colours. They then had to mix the colours to match a unique one they were given and then come up with a farm themed colour name! In the afternoon they were split into groups and helped to plant up the square foot garden as well as making dandelion tea!
We finished the week with another great Challenge Askefield, where everyone was making wreaths from wooden spoons!
Week commencing 5th May
To start the week, we had the Puddlers back on the farm and enjoying animal feeding and all the exciting activities in and around the barn! In the afternoon, the Toolshed was back open with Ian working on the doll's house (which is really coming along), Stuart working on his planter and Chris and Mark repairing one of the picnic benches (which had seen better days). All in all, it was quite a productive afternoon!
It was a busy Wednesday during this week which started with our Care Farm Day. The big job of the day for Chris and our Care Farm Clients was to get the sheep sprayed with Crovect (to protect against flystrike). The job was quite simple when dealing with the ewes as they went straight into the run without issue however, Buster and Clouseau were not so easily persuaded! After some coaxing and a good chunk of running around, Buster and Clouseau were sprayed as well, and the job was a success. On Wednesday evening, we had the first session of the Youth Club 2.0, we are very grateful to the King Charles III Charitable Trust for the funding to run the Youth Club again this year. The start of the Youth Club also meant the start of our Gravity Racer Project!
Towards the end of the week, we hit a big milestone...
... we had reached Challenge Askefield number 200, and in the same week that Challenge Askefield had started in back in 2021!
We then finished the week with our first Kerry Hill Pop-up Pub night of 2025!
Week commencing 12th May
This week also started with the Puddlers back on the farm. After a great morning of animal feeding, activities and playing, it was time for The Toolshed. This week Chris and Mark were trial building Frances' pergola inside the barn, ready for it to be dropped off on Wednesday. It looked brilliant once it was all together, you can see all the hard work that has gone into it.
Next it was out Care Farm Day, and it was time to get ready for our first Comedy Night of 2025! This meant that the big job for the day was to get the covers back on the white tent and then get the sofas in, ready for the bar to be set up.
Thursday meant it was the Friskney Farm School again with the Year 5 and 6s arriving slightly later in the day after their SATs exams for a day to blown off some steam with games, an obstacle race, bottle rockets and planting silver birch trees. They also got to watch the chickens be released as the bird flu restrictions had finally been eased.
To close out the week we had Challenge Askefield, Farm Club and our first Comedy Night!! Thank you to everyone who came Thank you to everyone who came to our first Comedy Night of 2025 on Saturday, we hope you enjoyed the excellent range of acts. We were certainly in stitches! Hopefully we will see you all soon for the next one in July.
Week commencing 19th May
Since we were quite firmly into May, everything was back into a regular routine including Puddlers being an early highlight of the week! Tuesday afternoon meant it was time for Men’s Shed and Chris and Nick were working to fix the height adjuster on the table saw (which was almost there), and Mark was helping Stuart with making his planter. The lathe was also brought out of the container and put to work whilst Chris began shaping the top for Stuart’s planter.
It was a busy Wednesday again last week, which started with our Care Farm Day. After the animals had been fed, it was time to get the sheep back into the run in order to give the lambs their second dose of Lambivac however they were not so helpful about going into the run. After a brief circle pit attempt and lots of ushering from Chris and our clients, the sheep were finally in the run and ready to be vaccinated. Once the jobs for the day had been finished, Hannah Sharon, Ula and Zephyr went on an outing to Skegness Tesco to take part in their static bike cycle from John O'Groats to Land's End. We covered almost 33 miles between us in half an hour stints! The cycle is aiming to raise £5000 for The Children's Hospital Charity which will fund two VR headsets for The Becton Centre, a state of the art centre for children with serious and complex mental health issues, supported by Sheffield Children's Hospital. It was then back to the farm for Youth Club and the Gravity Racer project!
Then on Thursday, we had the Year 3 and 4s back for the Friskney Farm School. They started the day off with animal feeding and poo picking as normal before coming back into the barn and working on a group impressionist painting in squares of the sweet peas by the polytunnel. The afternoon was focussed on mindfulness with pond dipping, zen garden and guided imagery, and a mindfulness treasure hunt as the main activities.
We then finished the week (and this monthly roundup) with another exciting Challenge Askefield. This week the craft was making mirrors using the wooden spoon handles left over from the wreath challenge.
We hope you have all had a good month and we hope to see you again at The Askefield Project soon!