All the animals coped well with the snow we had at the beginning of the year but with 25cm of snow it certainly presented problems for us humans keeping the sheep fed with hay as they could not graze.   However, some of the sheep we have at Willows  from the Lancashire fells are very hardy and amazingly worked out that if they scratched down through the snow they can still get to the grass and keep eating.

All of the cattle are indoors at present but the very cold weather continues to presents problems in making sure the water keeps running in the sheds for the animals. The pigs seemed to cope well with the weather and as long as they have plenty of straw in the huts and plenty of food they can stand the cold

 As well as difficulties for the animals, the snow also made it difficult for our customers to get to visit us, but now that the weather has returned to normal for this time of year we are pleased to welcome customer back again. 

Looking forward we have lots of exciting things lined up for our customers in 2010

February Frolics - Lambing
The sheep start lambing in  just over two weeks and we are preparing to bring them inside and  get them settled.  We are putting up  a large lambing marquee and we will create a large yard, covering the floor with straw, with some smaller individual pens so that when the lambs are born we can separate them from the flock and allow the lambs to suckle.

Even though we have kept sheep for many years, Anna and I still get excited about lambing time.  It is extremely hard work with Anna and I covering the lambing throughout the nights, with Tuck taking over at 5.00am We start work again at about 8.30 so for a couple of weeks we survive on about 3 to 4 hours sleep a night!

New activity opening at Easter
We have began work on our new activity for 2010 which will be opening at the start of Easter Eggstravaganza.  It’s still under wraps but what we can tell you is that it features  our new character Captain Chicken and involves children dodging eggs!!!! It will be fantastic fun that will make it even more difficult to get the children to go home at the end of a day of fun at Willows

Willows Farm Shop - update
We are also working on plans to re-organise Willows Farm shop with an exciting new Coffee Shop for our shoppers due to open later in the year.

We attended the Hertfordshire Business Awards at the end of November and while we were disappointed not to win, we were delighted to have been awarded 2nd place in the large business category.  Here’s to taking first place next year!

Santa’s in his Grotto
Santa is now extremely busy in his Grotto, meeting the thousands of children who come to visit him.  This year Santa is giving children the golden key to his Toy Shop where they can choose any gift. Seeing the children’s faces light up as they enter the Toy Shop to choose their gifts makes Christmas one of our favourite times of year.

New Activity for 2010!
While Santa is busy in his Grotto we’ve started work on our new Farm Village activity that opens Easter 2010.  All we can say for now is that its undercover, the kids will love it and will make your visit to Willows Farm Village even more fun and even better value.  We’ll be keeping you updated on its progress and reveal a little more of what it is in our future blogs.

Farming News
We are trying to sell last years wheat but prices are very poor.  We estimate the cost of producing the 2009 crop is approximately £115 to £120 per tonne.  We have been waiting for prices to rise but have finally decided to sell 300 tonnes for Febuary collection at £105 per tonne and will sell  300 tonnes a month for March to June.

Very wet for our cattle
November was the wettest on record with nearly double the rain we normally get.  At this time of year all of the cattle (we have over 200) are kept inside,warm and dry and so we have a daily routine of feeding, bedding and checking these animals.

Update on the sheep
The sheep stay out all winter but as the grass reduces we start to feed hay and a cereal based feed to keep them growing.

The sheep that are due to lamb in Febuary are starting to look bigger now and so plenty of lambs are due to be born to co-inside with our February Frolics event (13th – 21st February 210).

Jersey heifers
We have purchased two 12 month old Jersey heifers (a young cow) and they are very friendly having spent their life at a riding stables.  Out plan is to grow them on and then maybe once they have had a calf we can do some milking demonstartions – look out for them on the farm next spring.

Farm Shop
We are developing our Farm Shop in 2010 and so have been visiting Farm Shops throughout the UK to look at the very best ideas to incorporate into our plans.  The development of the Farm Shop includes a brand new Coffee Shop which we hope will become a destination for locals with a menu featuring the produce and products that are featured in the Farm Shop with a relaxing atmosphere and great service.

With our best wishes for the festive season and a happy new year.

Andrew and Anna
The Farmers at Willows