Strawberries & Pets on the Farm

Gale force winds have battered us for the past few days and show no sign of abating as yet.I have been out to the plots but have forgotten the camera most days.
Photo op for the new pet cage which Zwena has put out in the field next to the plots. The lambs and ducklings are in there now and the hens have a big new area near the tea rooms to make it easier for everyone to see all of the animals,needless to say there are usually lots of volunteers to feed the lambs!
Bottle feeding over and they bury their heads in the bucket of feed regardless of who is looking at them!
In the next pen are the ducks and ducklings, I think the Silkie helped in hatching so has come out with her foster babies.
It has not been all fun and games however! I had planted out the Mange Tout on Thurs, nice strong plants about 5 to 6 ins high. I covered them with branches, netting and used an organic slug blocker but this is what met me on Sat!Some have literally disappeared completely and these little stumps are what is left of others.
Mange Tout woz here!
The strawberry bed was covered with fleece cloches since it got its cleaning a few weeks ago, I also gave the bed a dressing of potash at the time.
We had weeks of dry weather and I removed the cloches last week and watered each plant individually through the opening in the weed membrane, needless to say it started raining that day and has continued almost every day since!
I was amazed at the amount of fruit which had set on the plants and it looks like we are in for a bumper harvest.
I used the slug blocker around the bed,netting to keep the birds off and we can just keep our fingers crossed now that the predators leave enough for us.
The raised bed is too high for the usual cloche hoops, I used my trusty flexible plumbing pipes.I broke some bamboo canes and hammered them into the ground, the pipes then fitted down over them to make quite large hoops for the netting.

Close up of the fruit, I think there is a definite red tint to one berry!
Calabrese plants have been moved out to their bed complete with cabbage collars, I did not have the collars the day I put them out and got them the next day. I hope the cabbage root fly did not strike in the meantime!
Only leeks and sweet peppers left on bedroom windowsill now, 6 different varieties of tomatos all potted on and moved down to the plastic greenhouse which I am keeping my fingers crossed will stay standing in these gale force winds!
3 hens are laying daily now and are the source of endless amusement!