As the Summer Solstice is upon us…
Yattendon Estate June 2026 update
Farming
On the farm, crops have welcomed the recent rains. It’s a little too late to make a significant difference to spring crops but will help during the grain fill period over the next few weeks. Crops established in the autumn have a reasonable root structure and have held up well, but spring crops have struggled with little moisture since they were planted and are much thinner with less ears than we’d like. We’ve been able to plant both pollen and nectar and wild bird seed mixtures over the last few weeks, the rain and warmer temperatures will now see these develop quickly ahead of the summer and autumn.
Welcome to our newest commercial tenant
The Cake College is the latest business to collect the keys to one of our commercial units at Frilsham Home Farm and works have started to get the Flour Barn ready to welcome their first customers at the end of the summer.
Previously based in Arborfield, The Cake College offer bread baking and cake decorating classes for all levels of baker. Whether you want to improve your skills as a professional wedding cake maker, make bread on a corporate team building day or have fun cupcake decorating with your child they offer something for everyone in a relaxed, small group setting. Clare and the team have grand plans to turn the Flour Barn in to a beautiful kitchen space and will be a unique addition to the Yattendon Estate group of tenants.
Christmas Trees
Whilst most people aren’t thinking about Christmas trees in June, our team is out in the fields working hard to ensure the trees are growing into the ‘perfect’ shape that everybody wants when December comes round. Now is the time of year that our team of 6 walk amongst 123 acres of trees to carry out ‘leader control’ and ‘bud rubbing’ by hand, whilst the trees are actively growing.
Leader control involves regulating the growth of the tall, central branch that will eventually be the home of the angel or star. Without this control, the tree would become too tall and gappy. Bud rubbing involves snapping off or rubbing away the soft new buds before they harden into woody branches. Our team target any stray shoots that could mean there are more than 3 ‘prongs’ on the end of each branch or any that are growing at the wrong angle. Removing competing buds also ensures energy is pushed back into the tree so it grows fuller and symmetrical.
The trees have come through the winter well and are not affected by the spring heat and drought in the same way as arable crops are because they have a bigger well-established root system. However, some of the late frosts have done damage to newly emerging shoots and needles.
