Multicolour farming

The grassland looks beautiful this year, not with grass, but flowers.  A variety of broadleaved plants have seized the opportunity afforded by the limited grass sward to populate the pasture.  Some may call them weeds, but it is a wildlife frenzy out there this year!

Alongside the self-heal and aconites, Lady's smock or Cuckooflower (Cardamine pratensis L.) is out in force on Side Hill, adding a little delicacy to the pasture.  In folklore, this flower is considered highly unlucky, so one to admire from afar!

In the woods next door, an impressive bluebell display is building  - Humbug and I took advantage of this on our way to vote yesterday.Best of all, the kingcups (Caltha palustris L.) are brightening up the river bank, making this one of my favourite times of year.  Without fail, however many floods and frosts are thrown at them, the kingcups return.They may not be exotic or unusual plants, but it is a lot easier to haul water for the pigs and clean out water tanks when there's something pretty to distract you!

A little too basic...

OK, so when I said we were going "back to basics" recently, I wasn't quite meaning this basic:

Early Woman aka Mum was thrilled to find a new penknife whilst out walking our  domesticated wolfhound.  Proof positive that an early, possibly Neolithic Farmer Humph roamed this land.

But, the 'back-to-basics' jinx struck again this week, with Mum's discovery of a hand plough hidden under several decades of brambles.  A one-furrow plough.  So at last count, we have a one furrow, a two-furrow, two three-furrow and a four-furrow;   The Evolution of the Plough, a new exhibit at Lower Dairy Farm.  Join them all together and you could take on a prairie.

 With the Massey 690s still out of action, Dad has worked very hard to complete the ploughing, cultivating and drilling with limited tractor power.  It has been a long time coming, but finally, our last sugar beet crop is in the ground.  Hurrah!Actually, last year was supposed to be the last, but our agronomist bullied Dad into signing the contract for another season.  We like him really, but if he attempts the same this year, I shall be invoicing him for 20 years of tea and cake - and even when you take into account inflation, it's good cake, so he should be very afraid.

For us, sugar beet is a lot of hassle and no longer suited to small acreages like ours.  British Sugar are laughing all the way to the bank with the price they pay, and frankly, the NFU should be ashamed to put their name to the "deals" they "negotiate".  Negotiating with a monopoly is never going to be an easy task, but as one wise farmer put it: "They must drink in the same pub..."

And so, the sugar beet drill will be put to rest.  First looked at in 1982, it had lain unused in a field for so long, sheep had eaten the electric cabling.  A year later, Dad decided to buy it, rewired it and two of the units have lasted without upgrades for thirty years.  Seen here riding off into the sunset for the last time...

Note our state-of-the-art geolocation system: a bag on a pylon.  When the satellites fail, we'll be okay.  I'm off to knap flint tools for my survivalist shelter.

Sunshine in a jar

Just in case the sun goes away again, we've bottled it!  So stock up survivalists, we may not be out of the woods yet!

Lemon Curd, made with our finest eggs, now in the farm shop.

Back to basics

Look!  A three furrow plough.Dad has worked like a demon to complete the ploughing.  With only the Poor Field to go - poor by name, poor by nature, he went back to basics to get through some wet, heavy land without wrecking the tractor.  Apparently, it is better adjusted than the four furrow.  Bonus!

Unfortunately, with the ploughing completed, work stopped to rescue the JCB which was a little stuck in the barn.Time to crack out the shovels and dig for victory, but with our muscles struggling and the tractor unable to pull it out, we needed the big guns...so The Mighty Nuffield swung into action.Which makes you wonder why we use any modern machinery!

After my earlier destructive episode - bringing down the power cables to the farm with the JCB loader, it's safe to say we are being uber-careful as these things tend to come in threes.Perhaps we should offer our first bull calf of 2013 to the Gods, and name it after JCB's founding father, 'Mr Bamford'?

Quite the Bulldozer!

Expedition Equinox

Departing Base Camp at 1400 hours, the intrepid Transition Nayland explorers conquered the elements to reach Destination Lower Dairy Farm.

The urn was on* and a splash of bunting arrayed the Mill House, where the brave Equinox Explorers refuelled on tea and cake (preferred expedition food of Sir Ranulph).

 

There's nothing like a cup of tea to melt the icicles in the relative warmth of a barn!  A trip to see the calves, and our hardy explorers were back on the road, joined by Humbug, our resident Husky, for their return to Base Camp.

Woolly hats off to Transition Nayland for persevering so merrily in the lovely conditions!

We had great fun hosting our first event in the Mill House.  For us, it is lovely to be able to share what we are doing on the farm and our barn restoration progress.  There is a lot of work ahead of us, but the Mill House has come a long way in the last eighteen months.

Thanks to Transition Nayland for a lovely afternoon!

*Yes, I love tea urns so much, I take pictures of them.  Go ahead, judge me.

Blame it on the weather girls

It's still too wet to plough, and we're playing a waiting game.  Making that wait bearable, our newest heifer.  A full house of girls so far in 2013.  Bingo!Cattle are excellent weather forecasters.  By now, we'd expect every weak ray of sunshine to have the cows lining up at the gate, bawling to be let out to our green and pleasant farm.  But they're fine and peaceful in the barn thank you very much.  The lambs may be gambolling at Wiston, but our bovine weather girls are telling us we're not out of the woods yet.

We are extremely lucky to be in a good position.  Don't get me wrong, we'd rather have the cows out, but last year's weather provided us with enough hay, straw and silage to keep the cows in the luxury to which they have become accustomed.  However, across Britain, the story is one of farming in crisis.  A perfect storm of weather, disease and market prices are having devastating consequences for farmers.  In their own words, it is "a bitter irony" that the Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution are sending supermarket vouchers to farmers in need.  There are rich farmers, and there are poor farmers, just as in any industry.  No-one is enjoying the increasing "recession-busting" cuts, but I cannot urge you strongly enough to Buy British and show your support for British Agriculture.

Back to one 'Great British Farmer proud to produce Great British Food' (he likes that title).  When Farmer Humph is not weather-watching or trying out the plough, he's busy splitting one of the Massey 690s.  This is his second in a year, and Grease Monkey Humph is a mechanical genius...which is just as well, because he's got to resplit the other one!So, if there are any Massey engineers out there, who fancy a country jaunt this weekend...may we recommend the Transition Nayland Equinox Walk.  Click here for more information...toolkit provided.

Triple 'B'

Every mother appreciates an audience when giving birth....but learning the facts of life can be a little much for the weak of heart.In the past week, the youngsters have learnt a lot as three calves joined the herd.  First to arrive, Bathsheba:

Followed by a Mother's Day surprise with unusual ears:It being the year of 'B', we couldn't name her 'Foxy' or 'Photoshop Gone Wrong'.  Fortunately, Blossom  was the name picked using our random number generator (...Humph picking a number between 1 and 13.  Took several attempts and explanation that 14 was not a valid choice).  Congratulations to Lesley Parkins and Douglas Fryer for a very apt name!

And finally, a first-time calf for a giant heifer:

We welcome Betsy to the world!  A good, strong name for a sizeable calf, suggested by Sue Fuller.  Betsy, born in a snowstorm, has decided that she will only sit in patches of snow.

More calves to worry Farmer Humph at the end of March!

One Man and His Digger

...making Water Lane a less Watery Lane.

Bravo Farmer Humph!  We will not be defeated by the rain.