High Cluniter Smallholding

High Cluniter Smallholding A family run smallholding, focused on sustainability, biodiversity and beautiful produce.
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🐓 A wee change to how we sell our eggs 🐓For over a year now, we’ve been delivering our eggs to regular customers pretty ...
21/08/2026

🐓 A wee change to how we sell our eggs 🐓

For over a year now, we’ve been delivering our eggs to regular customers pretty much every day of the week - and we honestly can’t thank everyone enough for the support ❤️

When we started selling eggs, building up a group of regular customers was a huge thing for our wee smallholding. But somewhere along the way, High Cluniter has got rather busier 🫣

Between the sheep, chickens, bees, rearing pullets, making products, working on the land and everything else we’re trying to build here, we’ve realised that spending so much of the week running around delivering boxes of eggs just isn’t sustainable for us anymore.

So we’re making a wee change 🥰

From 24th August we’ll no longer be offering our usual weekly home deliveries. We’ve contacted our existing customers directly about the change and we’ll be keeping just a tiny number of our weekly longstanding deliveries that fit around our normal routine.

But there’s actually a positive side to this too…

For a long time, almost all of our eggs have gone straight to the same regular customers every week, which has meant we very rarely have any available for anyone new! 🥚

Going forward, whenever we have eggs available, we’ll pop them up here on the page. So hopefully a few more of you will finally get a chance to try them! 🐓❤️

It’s another little change as we figure out how to grow High Cluniter in a way that’s actually sustainable for our family - and we’re incredibly grateful to everyone who has bought a box, recommended us to someone or supported us along the way.

Turns out running a smallholding means occasionally accepting that there simply aren’t enough hours in the day… who knew?! 🫣😂❤️

Yesterday did not quite go to plan…the mission was membrane → insulation → membrane, ready for the concrete floor going ...
21/08/2026

Yesterday did not quite go to plan…the mission was membrane → insulation → membrane, ready for the concrete floor going down today. And technically, we did it. We did it while being randomly battered by some lovely Scottish rain showers 🌧️😭 By the end of the day we were soaked but the layers were down and as dry as possible.

Then at about 7pm came the slight problem… we started properly working through how we were going to get the concrete finished at exactly the right level and realised this pour wasn’t going to be quite as straightforward as we’d hoped. To tie in perfectly with the existing house floor, our finished concrete needs to sit 66mm below the top of the blockwork. Which makes getting a big floor like this level and screeded accurately a bit more challenging.

Calum’s dad - who has given us an unbelievable amount of his time, vast knowledge and hard work throughout this build - was the sensible one and said he just didn’t think it was worth the risk. And he was right.

One of the biggest things we’re learning from building this ourselves is that sometimes you have to know your limits. We’ve been willing to learn, research and have a go at an enormous amount, but this floor is something that can’t be redone. Getting it wrong for the sake of saying we’d done it ourselves just doesn’t make sense. So no concrete today! 😭😂

BUT we’ve been incredibly lucky that a very kind (and much more qualified! 😂) friend has stepped in and is bringing his team along to get it poured and finished properly for us ASAP next week. We are so grateful 🙌

Today isn’t a wasted day either - we’re carrying on with the prep, getting the expansion joints and reinforcement in and making sure absolutely everything is ready for the professionals to work their magic next week.

A little frustrating when we felt SO close to having that floor down, but sometimes the best DIY decision you can make is knowing when not to DIY it 😂

Massive thank you to Calum’s dad for everything he’s done to get us this far, and to the guys stepping in next week to help us get over this rather large milestone 🙌

We’re getting there… one slightly chaotic, rain-soaked lesson at a time 🏡😂

Last night was all about pressure testing the plumbing before we get anywhere near pouring the floor 🔧🏠All the rain this...
20/08/2026

Last night was all about pressure testing the plumbing before we get anywhere near pouring the floor 🔧🏠

All the rain this week has put us a day behind, so our concrete pour has moved to Friday… but actually, that little delay may have done us a favour!

We pressure tested everything last night and found one leaky seal 😬 Thankfully it was found now, the seal has been replaced and everything was then tested again before it disappears forever underneath the floor 😅

Definitely one of those jobs that doesn’t look particularly exciting in photos, but is so important - once that concrete is down, we really don’t want to be trying to get anywhere near these pipes again! 😂

Today is a big push 💪🏼

Membrane ➡️ insulation ➡️ membrane, with all the little fiddly job in between, and then, all going to plan, concrete floor tomorrow! 🤩🙌🏼

It feels like we’ve been looking at foundations, blocks, pipes and hardcore forever, so getting an actual floor down is going to feel like a pretty huge milestone! 🏠

It’s been a big week for the two youngest employees at the smallholding…back to school! And somehow, another summer has ...
19/08/2026

It’s been a big week for the two youngest employees at the smallholding…back to school!

And somehow, another summer has disappeared in a blur of sheep, bees, chickens, house building, muddy clothes, days out and approximately 4,000 snacks 😂

Sometimes I look at social media and wonder if we should be doing more of the perfectly organised bits of childhood. The beautiful packed lunches, immaculate clothes, perfectly planned days and everything ready the night before. That is… definitely not us 🫣😂

Life here can be chaotic. Plans occasionally have to change because a sheep needs us. We can be halfway out the door when an animal decides now is the perfect time to cause a problem. Deliveries arrive, bees swarm, fences need fixed and there is almost always something that needs doing.

And while we hope they’ll grow up knowing just how lucky they were to have this childhood, we’re also very aware that there will probably be times when having parents who decided to build a smallholding is really quite annoying 😂

But they’ve spent their summer outside, getting dirty, helping with animals, watching our house slowly come out of the ground, having adventures and being right in the middle of this slightly mad life we’re creating. This week it’s been time to brush off the mud, find all the school uniforms and head back to school.

Amongst all the chaos, these two beautiful little people keep flourishing, and we are so excited to see everything they both achieve this year 🧡

*Edit - all now sold! Thank you so much as always 🥰*Our very first High Cluniter honey is finally ready! 🐝🍯💛We honestly ...
18/08/2026

*Edit - all now sold! Thank you so much as always 🥰*

Our very first High Cluniter honey is finally ready! 🐝🍯💛

We honestly weren’t sure we’d get any honey at all this year. Between starting with our first colony, artificial swarms, actual swarms, catching swarms from trees and generally learning a LOT about bees very quickly… it has been quite the first season! 😂🐝

So this first little harvest feels pretty special ✨

The vast majority of the jars had actually been reserved before we even had them completely ready, which has absolutely blown us away. Thank you so much to everyone who has asked for one and supported our first year of beekeeping 😊

🍯 Scottish Wildflower Honey
🐝 Harvested here at High Cluniter Smallholding, Argyll
⚖️ 320g jars – £8.50 each

If you already have a jar reserved, we’ll be in touch to arrange collection/delivery 😊

We can’t believe it but already we only have 3 jars left from this first batch, so rather than opening a big order list, these will simply be first come, first served. Once these are gone, that’s us for this harvest! 🍯

This was always going to be a modest first crop while we concentrated on building our colonies up and making sure the bees had plenty for themselves. The colonies and their health always come first. We’re heading towards winter with four colonies now, though, so all being well we’re hoping next summer’s honey harvest will be a very different story! 🐝

For now, we’re just ridiculously proud that something our bees collected from the flowers around our little patch of Argyll has ended up in these jars 🥹💛

Three jars left – message us if you’d like one 🍯 If any of the pre orders fall through, we will post later in the week with extra availability ✨

House update! 🏠We haven’t shared much of the house build lately… partly because we’ve been too busy actually doing it, a...
15/08/2026

House update! 🏠

We haven’t shared much of the house build lately… partly because we’ve been too busy actually doing it, and partly because we’re never quite sure how much of our DIY building adventures the internet needs to see 😂🫣

Because, just to be clear… we are absolutely not expert builders 🤣

We are very much learning as we go, asking approximately 400 questions, chatGPTing things, getting advice from people who actually know what they’re doing, occasionally standing staring at something wondering what on earth comes next… and then cracking on anyway 😂

But somehow, bit by bit, we’re getting there! Since our last proper update we’ve gone from groundwork…

➡️ Foundations in
➡️ Blockwork done
➡️ Hardcore brought in (SO. MUCH. HARDCORE. 😵‍💫)
➡️ Bathroom plumbing laid
➡️ Blinding sand in
➡️ And today it’s all been whacked down and is finally starting to look like something!

And the next week feels like a pretty exciting one 🤩

Tuesday: membrane → insulation → membrane
Thursday: concrete floor hopefully being poured! 🎉🙌

There’s something about getting that floor in that feels like a massive milestone. Up until now there has been an awful lot of digging, stone, pipes, blocks and mud… but we’re finally getting to the point where it feels like an actual house might eventually appear here 😂

Doing so much of this ourselves definitely means everything takes longer. We make mistakes, we learn, we change plans, we ask for help and then we learn some more. But there’s also something pretty special about looking back through these photos and realising just how much we’ve actually done with our own hands.

Even the kids have been drafted into the workforce 😂🛠️

We’ve still got a long way to go - this extension is only stage one of our slightly ridiculous house plan 🫣 - but for now we’re celebrating the little wins.

Next milestone: A floor and officially being out of the ground! 🤩🏠

One photo. Three days. A slightly ridiculous number of jobs 🤣You know it’s been a busy weekend when Monday rolls around ...
10/08/2026

One photo. Three days. A slightly ridiculous number of jobs 🤣

You know it’s been a busy weekend when Monday rolls around and you realise you took precisely one photo the entire time… and this was it 😂🌳 One of the smaller fallen trees we had to clear from the new paddock fence line. The other was roughly twice the size 🥴🫣

People often ask what we get up to at the weekend… here’s a weekend in the life of us at the moment! 😆

Friday evening was spent putting in strainers for the new paddock and tackling the fallen trees that were lying exactly where our new fence needed to go. Because apparently putting up a fence would have been far too straightforward🤣

Saturday was house-build day 🏠

We finished filling between the blockwork with concrete and started filling the floor area with hardcore… only to realise the hardcore we already had wasn’t quite up to the job 🫣 So more has been ordered and is arriving today! We also got the floor insulation ordered and, somehow, all of that managed to take the ENTIRE day. House building has a remarkable ability to make a full day’s work sound like three sentences 😂

Then came Sunday - Smallholding Day 🐑🐓🐝

With tupping getting closer, the sheep all had their pre-tupping MOTs - feet, teeth and body condition checked, eyes checked for signs of anaemia, and everyone given their six-monthly mineral bolus.

We finished another side of the new paddock fencing and set up electric fencing around the remaining sides. The girls shelter was mucked out and freshly bedded before they were moved into their new paddock with fresh water, feed and a mineral lick.

Then the boys got the same treatment - shelter mucked out, fresh bedding, new paddock, fresh water, feed and lick 🐑🌱

Next up, the chickens 🐓 Their coop got a proper deep clean along with all the feeders and drinkers.

Then all four bee colonies were inspected, reduced, treated for varroa and fed as we start getting them prepared for the months ahead 🐝

And because apparently we hadn’t done quite enough bee-related jobs… we also jarred up the last of this year’s honey harvest! 🍯🥹

Somewhere amongst all of that we made up bags of our wool & straw mulch for a customer, collected eggs and did all the usual feeding, watering and everyday jobs that still need done regardless 😅

So there we have it.

Tree clearing. Fencing. House building. Sheep MOTs. Mucking out. Paddock moves. Chicken cleaning. Beekeeping. Honey jarring. Mulch orders. And all the usual smallholding chaos in between.

One photo 🤣

Sometimes smallholding life isn’t particularly Instagrammable because you’re far too busy actually living it to remember to document it.
But starting a new week absolutely shattered and looking back at everything we managed to get done… it feels pretty good 🥰🙌

Now, if anyone needs us today, Calum will be at his full time job and I’ll be embracing the last week of the summer holidays with the kids whilst also waiting for a lorry full of hardcore to arrive so we can start all over again 🤣🏠

It’s funny how quickly the seasons change on a smallholding.It feels like only yesterday we were anxiously waiting for t...
07/08/2026

It’s funny how quickly the seasons change on a smallholding.

It feels like only yesterday we were anxiously waiting for the first flowers to bloom so the bees would have something to forage, watching our ewes grow heavier by the day, and counting down the weeks until spring lambs arrived.

Now here we are in August. The final honey harvest has been completed, the jars are filling up, and our bees are beginning their preparations for winter. 2026’s lambs are all grown up and now all have their own little roles within the flock.

As one chapter closes, another quietly begins…

Our attention now turns back to the sheep as we start preparing them for tupping in September. Before breeding, the sheep are flushed - a farming term for increasing their nutrition and energy intake to help them reach the best possible body condition. Well-conditioned ewes and tups generally have better fertility and the best chance of producing healthy, thriving lambs.

With only a relatively small amount of grazing available, flushing on our smallholding means supplementing with extra feed alongside the grass. It’s one of those behind-the-scenes jobs that most people never see, but it’s an important investment in next year’s lambing season.

Running a smallholding is funny like that. Just as one project starts to slow down, another is already waiting around the corner. There isn’t really an “off season” - just different jobs, different challenges, and different things to look forward to.

And if all goes to plan… in around six months’ time our fields will once again be filled with tiny wobbly legs, zoomies, and plenty of sleepless nights 🥹🐑

Who’s excited for High Cluniter Smallholding’s February 2027 lambs already? 🤍

Ps - how cute were baby Norrie (photo 1) and baby Nessa and Nash (photos 2 and 3)?! 🥹

🐝 A little peek inside one of our hives…At first glance this brood store frame might just look like lots of different co...
06/08/2026

🐝 A little peek inside one of our hives…

At first glance this brood store frame might just look like lots of different coloured cells, but it’s actually packed with clues about how the colony is doing.

🍯 The bright white capped cells are sealed honey. Once the honey has ripened and the moisture content is low enough, the bees cap it with wax to keep it fresh.

🌼 The open cells filled with yellow, orange and even darker colours are pollen. Different flowers produce different coloured pollen, and it’s the bees’ main source of protein for raising healthy brood.

It’s amazing how much information you can read from just a single frame!

🐝 A little bee update from us…

This weekend we’ll be harvesting the last of the honey from our original hive (who is now referred to as the OG hive 😆) marking the end of this year’s honey harvest.

Our two smaller colonies have now been reduced down for winter and have started their varroa treatment. Varroa are tiny parasitic mites that feed on developing bees and, if left untreated, can weaken or even destroy a colony over winter. Treating them now helps ensure healthy winter bees are raised ready for next spring.

Once we’ve finished harvesting the final honey this weekend, our two stronger hives will also begin their varroa treatment before being reduced down ready for winter.

Although it feels strange talking about winter in August, beekeeping is always one season ahead! Everything we do now is to give the bees the very best chance of coming through the winter healthy and strong. 🐝❄️

We’ve had lots of interest in our honey. This will ready within the next week or 2 depending on when our new labels arrive - we can’t wait to share it with you all! 🤩

Exciting news! 🎉If you missed out on our last batch of young hens… this could be your chance! 🤩We’ve been offered the op...
04/08/2026

Exciting news! 🎉

If you missed out on our last batch of young hens… this could be your chance! 🤩

We’ve been offered the opportunity to bring in another small batch of pullets, who would then be ready for their new homes from mid-September at around 16-17 weeks of age 🏡

These girls would be:

🐓 Fully vaccinated
🐓 Professionally sexed
🐓 Handled with lots of love and care
🐓 Just a few weeks away from starting to lay

Before we confirm numbers, we’d love to get an idea of interest! 💛

If you’ve been thinking about adding a few hens to your flock, or you’re looking to start keeping chickens, let us know in the comments or send us a message.

There’s absolutely no commitment at this stage - we’re simply seeing how much interest there is before accepting the girls.

We’re really excited about the possibility of helping even more people start (or grow!) their own little flock this autumn 🥰

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