Burrow Farm

10/08/2022

Public
We have had a lot of Swallows and House Martins this year. I think they like the hot weather. I see a lot swooping around the farm early in the early morning and again in late evening, high in the sky. We now have a few second broods this August with a couple of nests in the old stables, one in the garden shed and one each in the field shelters, which are in the photographs.

08/08/2022

Two more baby goats have joined us. Here is a photo of the three kids with Copper on the top step. Then Dave below Copper with the pale coloured twins Don and Des. All enjoying a hot sunbathing afternoon of 25c.

10/07/2022

Last weekend we collected a baby Golden Guernsey Goat from near Exeter, Devon. He is three months old and has settled in well sharing a paddock with Copper who should be a good companion . We have called him Davy, after Davy Crockett. We are returning in two weeks time to collect twin Golden Guernsey boys from the same farmstead.

31/05/2022

We have one pure bred Golden Guernsey called Copper and two who were crossed with a Boar, Ginny and Geoffrey, who are untrainable on a lead, unlike Copper who is a gentleman.

Breed of the Week

The first reference to Golden Guernsey goats is in an island Guide Book of 1826. The breed is adaptable to free range or stall feeding and has an affectionate and docile nature making it a good household goat. It has a moderate milk yield, producing around 2 to 3 litres (4 or 5 pints) per day. The Golden Guernsey is an efficient producer when its lower food intake is considered. Milk usually has a high butterfat and protein content and so is good for making yoghurt or cheese.

https://www.rbst.org.uk/golden-guernsey

31/05/2022

19/02/2022

Storm 'Eunice' has actually done us a favour! We have a very large Ash tree growing in the bank between two fields and for the last two years we have been thinking it needs to go as it is dying from Ash dieback, so we had a quote from some Tree Surgeons of £1000. Eunice kindly decided to blow it down for us in exactly the right place and all we now have to do is chop it up and clear the debris. Eunice also blew down the garden fence, which needs renewing!

16/01/2022

Burrow Farm's garden snowdrops are showing through the earth and many are already in flower, along with a few Hellebores. The evenings are getting lighter and also the mornings are beginning to draw out, spring is nearly here.

Snowdrop Valley is back for 2022! 🎉

Wheddon Cross will be welcoming visitors to Snowdrop Valley from 1st February to 27th February 2022, weather and Covid rules permitting. Come and see this spectacular display of snowdrops in the woodland valley. The land is privately owned, opening up for visitors to view this beautiful natural attraction.

For more information please see:
https://www.visit-exmoor.co.uk/snowdrop-valley-is-back-for-2022
Exmoor National Park I Exmoor Magazine

📸 Leanna Coles (right and bottom left images) and ENPA (top left image).

07/12/2021

I thought you might like to read this piece of Exmoor history which was recently discovered.

28/09/2021

Our holiday guest Andy took this photo yesterday of Ginny one of our goats and as soon as he showed it to me on his phone I said where was her body. It looked as though she had shrunk! 🤔

04/08/2021

Sorry in advance for the quality of the photo, but I could not get near the ducks without frightening them. Last weekend I brought home 3 more Indian Runner ducks, which I bought from a poultry and duck breeder in Wiveliscombe. One is fawn and white and the other two are silver. When you hold them their wings have some blue in them and remind me of fish scales. I am keeping them separate for a few weeks before I introduced them to the other Indian Runner ducks.

28/06/2021

We had some lovely guests from the Midlands come to stay with us recently and Norma particularly loved donkeys. She told us she sponsored a donkey at the Isle of Wight donkey sanctuary, so I suggested she took Enzo our minature donkey for a walk.

11/06/2021

My new rock garden has some admirers. Rommy and Gordon have decided they like helping in the garden and being a bit higher they get good views. I just need the plants to grow and fill in the gaps to stop Rommy sleeping on them.

09/06/2021

I thought you might like to see how well the Orchids are doing this year in our 'bog' field. This is a very wet field of about 5 acres which is in a valley and has a stream flowing through it. For the last three years I have started planting some trees and all the oaks that have ben planted are from acorns found on Burrow Farm. Last autumn I bought 20 Goat's Willow saplings and planted them in the very wet areas in the hope they will help dry up the ground as they love water.

28/04/2021

18/01/2021

Each winter, especially when it is very wet Bessie, one of our goats always gets cracks between her hooves and the she ends up with an infection. We are trying out a pair of boots called Neopaws, which is usually for dogs. She seems very happy with her boots, which stay on and do not twist round her hooves, so hopefully no mud, means no infection.