We left behind 6 months of the wettest weather ever and last week the ground was baked dry after all the amazing recent sunshine we have had. One extreme to the other!

Some of our wheat on the heavier clay drowned and died, but there isn't much we can do about that now; just nurture the surviving crops in the best way we can. Those who follow my news will know what a torrid time Richard was having with cabbage stem flea beetle attack on our oil seed rape. I can now show you the effect that a cabbage stem flea beetle infestation has on a rape crop!

Our rape field after an attack

More...

I moved into my rented house last May, and of course I set about feeding the birds in my new garden straight away. I established some of the familiar faces of the garden bird world within a few months, but it was only at the beginning of this year that I started to see Starlings.  More...

It was a harvest of two halves. A dry spell, followed by three weeks of rain and then the sun came out again. Those three weeks of continuous rain were not happy weeks for farmers and our nerves were shredded as we waited to see what impact the bad weather would have on our crops.

However, we were not as badly affected as other areas of the UK, especially Yorkshire, where one poor farmer had his whole farmyard washed away by torrents of water. More...

We were expecting June to be a scorching month but it’s been surprisingly damp! We can’t complain because it’s kept our crops happy and healthy. So, what’s been going happening on the farm this month?

Mud Glorious Mud at The Cereals Event

On the 17th June Richard headed off to the annual 'Cereals Event' at Boothby Graffoe, just south of Lincoln. This is the main technical event of the year for arable farmers, and the best opportunity to learn about advances in arable farming. More...

Richard finished spring planting yesterday, with the red millet going in well. The canary seed was planted about a month ago but has been struggling in the dry soil conditions.

The beans are looking strong, but they too need a good drink. Richard planted them deeper this year to help the roots find the moisture.

Planting the millet in these very dry conditions is a risk - the seeds need to be deep enough to find moisture, but not too deep or they won't grow at all! More...

NEWS FROM THE FARM

The last few days have been extremely cold on the farm with harsh over-night frosts. At this time of year farm work is very quiet; predictably, the tractors are in shed. But we have been busy doing other things - like improvements and repairs!

This shed is destined to be our new pallet store. As our business grows, space continues to be a major challenge for us. This shed used to house grain storage bins, but we have removed them to create a useable and much-needed pallet store. More...

NEWS FROM THE FARM

As I write this, there have been snow flurries here in the south and the temperature has certainly dropped by a few degrees.

October was a lovely month for us; dry and warm, which meant our cover crops grew really well. Our buckwheat flowered for a long time providing some very welcome late nectar for the bees. However buckwheat doesn't like cold weather and it has started to fall over now. The linseed was somewhat slower to flower so didn't provide much late-season help for the bees.

This was Richard's first home produced cover crop and he is very pleased with the mix ratios of the various plants that he put together. This particular cover crop contained the following: oats, phacelia, linseed, buckwheat and sunflowers. Each element with a specific function, contributing to improved soil quality and stability. More...

Last week Richard attended a really informative meeting held at Rotherfield Farm near Alton, to hear about the conservation work they are doing to help re-establish grey partridge on the farm and increase lapwing numbers which have been in sharp decline over the last decade. The farm is owned by Sir James Scott and has been in the family for the last 200 years. It is a 5,000 acre estate, with arable, forestry and a large dairy.

Grey partridge are one of the 3 main indicators for modern day farming. The other two are brown hares and skylarks. Here on the farm we have hares and skylarks in abundance, but we lost our grey partridge about 5 years ago - so this was a fantastic opportunity for Richard to find out what we can do to help them recover.

Grey Partridge

More...

This year, for the first time in about 5 or 6 years, we have a flock of Golden Plover back on the farm, which is really lovely to see. They are enjoying our over-wintered stubble fields, where they can get stuck into all sorts of worms and invertebrates, and they are also enjoying our grass seed, wild bird cover seed and hedgerow berries. As I am writing this, I am wondering whether the plural is 'plover' or plovers'? One sounds right, the other looks right...need to consult the dictionary!

More...