Farm Blog
New arrivals
April 17th, 2012
With the arrival of some warmer weather all of the cows are now back out at grass. Numbers have been increasing as we have had several calves born in the last week or so including the latest addition in the picture above. It is a heifer (female) calf and was only minutes old when the photo was taken and her mum , April, is licking her to clean her up and dry her. April is our oldest cow and will be 16 in July this year and has had 12 previous calves.
At last a new post!
October 20th, 2011
Apologies for the lack of updates about what we have been upto on the farm but we have been busy getting the harvest in, then getting the ground prepared for the next crop, and then sowing it.
For us harvest starts with silage which is grass that is rolled up into big bales and then wrapped in airtight plastic to preserve it for use as feed for the cattle over winter. Then we cut a small area of grass which is turned over a few times over 3 or 4 days to dry out and then baled up as hay to feed to the horses.
Our busiest spell is when the combine harvester comes out and we start cutting Oilseed Rape. The plants that have bright yellow flowers in April and May yield small black seeds that contain oil which can be used in many things from cooking to biodiesel as well as having a number of industrial uses.
After the Oilseed Rape is finished we start on our main crop which is wheat, the type that we grow is ideal for use in cereal and biscuit production which there is a good market for in this area, much of ours goes in to making weetabix. Once the combine has harvested the grain, we bale a lot of the straw for bedding the animals on. Any thats not needed is chopped and incorporated back into the soil to help the next crop.
After harvest the ground is cultivated and then the next crop is sown. The pictures above show the seed drill in the last field having nearly finished. After we have sown the seeds we roll the fields to firm up the seed bed to help the plants germinate. All we need then is some rain so that they can grow well.
We now have a few weeks a little bit quieter before the Christmas rush, so hopefully I will be able to keep you updated as we prepare to get the cattle and pigs in for winter and start to tackle some winter projects.
First calves of the Year
March 7th, 2011
We have had two new arrivals on the farm in the past week or so, with the first calves of the year being born. They will stay with their mums for about six months before being weaned. Now we just need some warmer drier weather and it will feel like spring has finally arrived.
Cattle in the Frost
December 10th, 2010
With the onset of the colder weather our cattle that are outside need some extra food to supplement the grass. They get a mixture of barley straw and wholecrop silage.
When the turkeys are all out of the yards in mid December the cattle will come inside for the winter.
Let Plucking Commence!
December 1st, 2010
With Christmas only 24 days away, we have started on the turkeys.
This is guaranteed to mean that some cattle will get out, and true to form they once again disrupted the proceedings this morning!
MacMillan Coffee Morning
September 29th, 2010
In spite of bad weather we had great support for our MacMillan Coffee morning and raised £140 for this worthy cause.
Many thanks to all who supported us.
Harvest Gets going Again
September 2nd, 2010
Slow progress in the wheat in the first half of August, was followed by a complete halt for a week, during which time we had over 4 1/2 inches of rain. Thankfully the combine got going again on Monday, although the ground is very soft and Richard occasionally finds himself “ploughing” instead of combining. At long last the crops are coming in dry enough to go straight into store and, with the good weather set to continue, we hope to get the straw baled for the turkey bedding over the weekend.
Combining Starts …….. and Stops!
July 31st, 2010
Well, we started on the oilseed rape yesterday afternoon, but we’d only got about 9 tonnes off and the heavens opened! Not even had time to take a photo for this blog. More rain overnight means we’re unlikely to get going again today.
Accidents Happen
July 22nd, 2010
Our student worker got a bit too close to the edge of a ditch when out topping the headlands. Luckily he wasn’t hurt and only a few scratches on our new tractor.
Turkeys On The Move
July 21st, 2010
The Christmas turkeys are now 6 weeks old and have been moved into our large, light & airy yards, where they are protected from the extremes of weather …. and foxes!
They will live here for the rest of the year with 24 hour access to food and water and clean straw will be added 2 or 3 times a week to ensure they are on a clean dry surface. The stacks of bales also give them somewhere to roost and something to peck and play with.