When your business is Farming & Gelato, nothing grabs your attention quite as much as the weather forecast - hours and hours poring over multiple different meteorological applications to try and decipher the most positive looking forecast - "mine says only 20% rain on Saturday, and yours says 60%...?" We've all been there. But for the odd warm sunny day, March has been rather dreary at times, so let's hope that the medium-term forecast at the time of writing is wrong, and there actually is some half decent weather on the way!
Aside from the reams and reams of statistical evidence to suggest that people do actually prefer ice cream on a warm sunny day, the early season weather has somewhat altered the seasonal norms on the farming side, as well. February/March is the time when we would ordinarily turn the cows out to graze during the day, but with the wetness of the ground, and the slowness of growth in the grass, we are still waiting for the opportunity to do so.
This keeps us in a winter routine for far longer than we would like, which increases the frequency of tasks that we would normally liked to have moved past by this point in the year - such as mucking out, slurry pumping etc! But alas we carry on, and with the opportunity to get on top of other jobs such as fencing, etc. there is always something else that can be achieved.
P.S - When we do eventually get to turning the cows out for 2023, we will broadcast and post in all the usual places, as we know how much appreciation you have to see the cows entering fresh pastures for the first time this year, leaping and bounding around as they do.
Our cows are free-range, and graze outdoors for a minimum of 180 days a year - we are hugely passionate about the benefits of a grass-fed diet, which we believe is a huge contributor to the creamy taste of our milk and gelato
Gelato Updates
Moving into April & May we will be extending our weekly opening hours for Gelato. We will be open from Wednesday-Sunday (12-5pm). We will also be open EVERY DAY during the school Easter & Half Term holidays, as well as Bank Holidays. Note that as an exception, we will be CLOSED on Easter Sunday.
Easter gives us chance to crack open the boxes of Creme Eggs and Mini Eggs for their solitary annual appearance - not so loved by the production team for the gooey and sticky residues that they leave behind during production, but nonetheless very popular with customers! This year, we will have a fair selection available in scoops (on certain days) and in 500ml takeaways, whilst stocks last.
Many customers will be aware that last year we started to supply our gelato to Gloucester Services, initially on the Southbound side of the motorway. We are pleased to say that we will also be available in the farm shop on the Northbound carriageway from (hopefully) the middle of April - a real honour and privilege for us to be listed alongside the wonderful array of other local and small businesses and suppliers.
We have a new bench in the farmyard, kindly donated by the family of William (Bill) Banks, who was the family's herdsman for 35 years, initially moving across from Long Newnton to Elmore when Jim moved over in 1970. Our current incumbent, Mike, has been with us for just over 5 years, so a little way for him to go to top Bill's tenure. Mike and his long term partner, Vicky, tied the knot at the end of February, so our congratulations to them on their marriage!
That's all for this month! We hope you all have a very blessed Easter and we look forward to seeing you at the farm sometime soon, hopefully with some glorious spring sunshine to mark the occasion, and the sight of the cows in the nearby fields, greeting you as you arrive.
