Some of our rare breed sheep starting work grazing a Site of Special Scientific Interest on the Magnesian Limestone escarpment in Durham. In this group there are 3 different breeds Hebridean, Manx Loaghtan and Shetland.

The relatively mild weather so far this winter means that there has been more grazing than usual on most sites with the stock taking a little longer to clear it. After a hectic morning yesterday most of the stock is in place for the second half of the winter grazing programme. There will be another rush at the end of february / beginning of March when all the hay meadows get a final graze off before the broadleaved plants emerge in the spring.

Happy New Year to everyone.

All the animals have come through the Xmas break well and despite a very blustery day today are ready to get on with the second half of the winter grazing programme. With the run up to Xmas being so mild there is still a lot of grazing out there and the animals are taking longer than usual to chomp through it, though i have to say it is a much better situation than having to deal with all the snow last year...........lets hope it stays away for a bit longer yet!

The sheep have been up grazing on Holy island again this autumn. There have been more of them there this year and so they have cleared it of quicker. That was the hope as the snow did cause some disruption last year!

They have made a good job clearing off the rough and have taken out both the michelmas daisy and the piri piri, both invasive species, that were inside the fenced off area.

All this lovely autumn weather is great apart from the fact that the cows at Silverlink seem to prefer snoozing to munching. Never mind I think I would prefer for the weather to stay warm and sunny for a bit longer!

 The goats arrived at our trial grazing site on the whin grassland last week in glorious sunshine. Maisie, George, Ollie and Thistle have a shelter there ready for when the weather changes which I am sure they have much appreciated over the last few days!

Once they decided to come out of the trailer it was time for a quick assessment of where they were

before getting stuck in to some tasty brambles. They will stay on site until xmas when they will have a break and if all goes to plan return next spring. The idea is that over time they will remove keep down the amount of scrub that is spreading over the grassland.

Shearling lamb

It is that time of year when we have some shearling lamb available for sale. They come as half lamb packs @£65 each.
Each pack comprises of 2 leg joints (shank end and chump end), 2 shoulder joints boned and rolled, approx 12 chops, 3 chump chops and 2x 500g packs of mince.
All have been grazing extensively on nature reserves and semi-natural grasslands for the past 18 months.

They are available collection only from:
Scotts the Butcher 
Dobbies garden centre         
Ponteland
Newcastle Upon Tyne
NE20 9BT

or
Ouseburn Farm
Ouseburn Road,
Newcastle Upon Tyne,
Tyne And Wear
NE1 2PA

To order or for more information please email: flexigraze@northwt.org.uk