Last of the summer time

September finally saw what I had been dreading in that the vegetables have suffered as a consequence of having so much to do over the month. The days have become very short compared to the long hot summer days when nighttime never seemed to want to come!
Unfortunately the tomatoes came down with what I think was blight so although we watered well for most of the season it probably lead to the nice humid atmosphere relished by the blighty bug. We have finished most of our bean and pea crops but neglected to save some for next year's crops so that is another lesson we have been shown.
Most of the winter crops have started to grow well outside and on a positive note I have managed to get the first of our winter carrot seeds to germinate before the cold weather comes. Over the next few days I shall plant the last lot so hopefully enabling us to have carrots over winter and up to spring.
The potatoe crops have produced a good 10 bags of potatoes, which should at least keep us going until Christmas but yet again it seems that for our needs I am not planting enough which is strange as we planted a great deal.
I get the feeling that because we eat so much veg instead of fast foods and tinned processed foods that we may never be able to produce enough unless we have whole acres set aside.
Perhaps looking at things now it is not so dreadful a situation as I first thought, as the crops we have lost have been quite minimal in the whole scheme of things. How I wish I could stop being such a perfectionist!
Bonnie's piglets have grown well and we separated her from then late in the month as she was starting to look thin. It does amaze me though how quickly she regains her condition without the piglets taking all the goodness from her. We decided this time to give her a good few months rest as the last thing we need is to have litters being born in the dead of winter, so for now she is in a paddock by herself and seems glad of her own company for now.
Lady our other Large Black is due piglets at some point in October, but we don't have an exact date due to this being her first litter. Based on our experiences with Bonnie it looks only a matter of weeks now and we shall keep a close eye on her for further signs of her nearing farrowing.
The sheep have been sent on their holidays before the ram comes in December. They have gone to a large paddock not far away to enjoy a few acres of virgin grass and it really has helped the ewes to regain their condition after looking after their lambs for the last few months. We are hoping it will also have a good affect on the lambs that have now joined their mums as we intend to start taking around half the lambs to the abattoir in December ready for the festive season. The smaller ones we shall leave until after the New Year so they have a little more time to grow. This year is also a little different as we shall be using a least 2 of the ewes to provide mutton as we kept 2 lambs from last year to become fresh breeding stock. We know that Lilly will be one of the mutton ewes after all her trials during the last two lambing seasons but haven't decided who the other one will be yet.
All the poultry are growing well and should be fit enough to get through the winter but it is starting to get to the point where they will need to be sorted out for who is being kept and who is going in the freezer. Obviously the cockerels will need to be done but we have a fair amount of hens now and perhaps their numbers will need reducing. The young ducks are the same as they are now approaching the point where the drakes are just about recognisable so they will need sorted probably next month.
Lastly the turkeys, it now seems we may have 3 of each or 4 stags and 2 hens. They are getting quite big now and with that quite defensive/ territorial, I don't know which. Especially with the dogs and cat. They just don't seem to like them at all and once one turkey starts to act aggressively the others all want to join in. By aggressive I don't mean anything major, however the opportunity to become something major is a possibility. It is a situation I will need to watch carefully as we did intend to have a breeding pair from them and the rest as Christmas turkeys but they may force a decision for me. Only time will tell.
At this time we are looking forward to the start of the new shooting season and the nearer it comes the more nervous I get. I know both myself and Debbie have put a great deal of work into the birds over the last few months but it will only be when they are driven on a shoot day that we will see for sure how they react. Maybe I shouldn't give up nursing just yet!