Blog
At Gower Fresh we love the benefits of living and working on Gower. You have access to such incredible, picturesque, dreamlike setting that makes you escape and forget all the stress and busyness of life. It’s not surprising that Gower Peninsula (Welsh: Penrhyn Gwyr) was the first place in Britain to be designated as an ‘Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty‘ (AONB) by the Countryside Agency on behalf of the UK government, and is one of only five within Wales.
One of my favoured thing to do is go out for a run or a swim early in the morning. It’s so revitalising and refreshing. I just came back from the beach with my dog Dave, it was a lovely fresh morning, great for a run down the Gower. My work can be very tiring and demanding looking after the Christmas tree farm, especially at Christmas, which wasn’t too long ago. It feels like I still need time to recharge and relax after a very successful but stressful season. I’m mindful of the need to stay fit and positive, so I always try to find the time, even if I haven’t got the energy or motivation, to take a break from it all, and exercise or simply get away from the farm for few hours. I find that running, swimming and yoga (Hotpod Yoga Swansea) are my way to stay positive, be more efficient, stay fit and healthy. Running around the Gower is also very inspiring for me. It’s when I come up with many great ideas for the farm or find solutions to some problems. Living and working on Gower is great for that, it’s such a stress relief.
Tommorow, 10th of February, at Caswell bay, early in the morning I am joining the Gower Bluetits Group, a band of women and a few men hopefully, that swim free, no wetsuits, all year around. I do this usually alone, so it’s great to meet a like-minded bunch and have fun together. The benefits of swimming in such conditions are amazing and it’s a common practice in many countries, as opposed to us wimps in the UK, lol. So looking forward to this and been promised cake afterwards.
Back to the farm, it’s been an indifferent week weather wise, basically cold and wet, but you still need to get out and keep working, the trees need it. They are slowly but surely getting pruned. We have been working on some lovely Korean Firs this week, which are such beautiful trees and always in high demand.
On Thursday we visited the Birmingham NEC for the annual Christmas Fair. This is where we can buy lots of merchandise for the shop, grotto and Winter Wonderland. We saw some amazing new products, which we shall be stocking for Christmas and events through the year. I was especially excited about the Harry Potter merchandise. We will be also stocking for Halloween, which will be twice as good as last year. At the moment we are preparing the ground to plant the pumpkins, some varieties are set to be huge in size, so bring a trailer for them!
The reindeer are doing well, they loved the snow, just basically eating lots now. Calving time is fast approaching and we will be holding an open day in June, when all are welcomed to come and see the next generation of flyers. I recently did an interview about the situation of Scandinavian reindeer and Gower reindeer for Radio Wales. Tune in on Sunday, when it will be aired, 10th of February, in the morning.
That’s all for now, please, comment, leave ideas of what you would like to talk about, other topics regarding the farm.
Have a great weekend, namaste, as we say in yoga.
Rob and Dave
