As we neared the end of the first week of September an increasing feeling of panic was setting in as we had not done any combining at all.
Thoughts were returning to the situation that faced us last year, when we eventually finished harvesting in November and failed to get our winter oats crops sown until February of this year.
But we need not have worried, as we have just had one of the best late summer / early autumn periods for some years.
Combining started here on September 7 and we managed to harvest all 145 acres of cereals by September 24.
We then had the opportunity to plough cultivate and sow 100 acres of winter oats and triticale and managed to get all the work finished by October 8.
As I write, the first of the fields to be sown are emerging and will hopefully be well established before the onset of winter.
The fine spell of weather has also had other benefits, such as a very successful Steam Fair, which was held here on September 19 and 20. This was in total contrast to last year when the event had to be cancelled because of a waterlogged field.
We have also managed to spread most of the compost that we had in store, predominantly on the fields that we grow cereals on, plus some of the fields that we have been mowing for hay and silage during the summer months.
This is carried out to try and maintain the balance of nutrients in the soil because any harvesting operation takes off nutrients such as phosphates and potash, and, because we are organic, it is difficult to maintain an adequate level of nutrients within the soil, as we cannot use any artificial fertilisers to boost any deficiencies.
Lambs are finishing well at the moment and several have been sold through our own shop, to Waitrose and through the local market at Ruthin.
I recently attended the annual organic conference in Aberystwyth organised by the Organic Centre Wales.
A sizeable number of delegates were present and it was refreshing to see several new faces.
There were a number of representatives from the Welsh Assembly Government (including an address by the minister, Elin Jones) and they took part in a discussion on various issues such as Glasdir, for which they should be commended.
This was both informative and slightly alarming as we try and look to the future, the only definite to come out of the discussion at the moment is that we face several changes, but no one can talk of specific effects on our businesses, which makes planning and budgeting for the future very difficult.
There will be two levels of Glasdir and until the WAG know how many people are going to apply for the first level, they will not know how much money will be left in the pot for the second level or the targeted scheme.
The second level of the scheme will also require a certain number of points to be scored in order to qualify for the higher level.
Someone suggested that most farms will receive similar grant aid as they do now, but there will also be some big winners and some big losers. I think I can guess where we will come! Happy days!