Not long now until harvest starts in earnest; a very exciting (if a little nerve-wracking) time of year. Our winter oats (seen here) will be the first crop on the farm to be harvested and should be ready towards the end of next week.
Richard has been busy topping tracks and bumble bee strips with his beloved Massey Ferguson 675 which he bought way back in 1984 - making it a grand old 31 years of age!
It’s an average September morning in the Smith farmhouse kitchen in Hampshire: Richard has drained his cup of tea and is pulling on an overcoat; his wife Lesley stacks the dishwasher while her laptop boots up, ready to start her working day; and eight-year-old Eleanor is giving her rescue dog Lily one last pat before school.
It’s like countless scenes playing out in homes around the country but with one big difference. Clearly visible through the large glass double doors that dominate the back wall of the kitchen are a thousand golden sunflowers – and, if it wasn’t for them, the Smiths wouldn’t still be living at Street End Farm.
This year’s harvest of grain for bird feed was truly a bumper crop with record yields recorded across most varieties. All our available barn space is filled to the rafters with grain and every nook and cranny (including a few trailers!) seems to be holding grain of some sort.
It fills my heart with pride to see our Swallows back and swooping over our Really Wild Bird feed production farm. They are miracles of migration. It is very humbling to think that they navigated the 3,000 miles back from South Africa ( via the treacherous Sahara desert ) to Street End Farm, without any need for a post code or a TomTom! Weighing in at a meagre 20g (about the weight of 2 x £1 coins) - I wonder how much they lose during their trip? The coincidental arrival of Eleanor's pony, Megan, and the pile of associated pony dung will create an additional source of airborne insects for the Swallows to replenish their depleted stores. Isn't it amazing to think that Barn Swallows will feed their young about 400 times in a day…that is dedication for you! I can only hope that this summer will be better for them than last - surely it has to be?
Sunflowers make a colourful crop, and one that has helped turn an ailing Hampshire farm into a thriving business. Mike Abram reports
Sunflowers seem an unlikely saviour for an arable farm, even one in the sunnier climes of Hampshire.
But the crop, along with millet, naked oats and, from next year, plain canary, has been central to Richard and Lesley Smith's thriving mail-order bird seed business, which has grown over 300% in the past two years.
Just under four years ago the couple gave themselves five years to turn around Street End Farm in Bishops Waltham. The 144ha (360 acres) farm was struggling along with a sideline business wholesaling poultry corn and birdseed to various outlets.
From there the business expanded into producing a small range of birdseed mixes, which the farm sold wholesale to garden centres. But the farm just wasn't big enough to compete with the major retailers.
"We'd started off by selling hay and straw from the farm," explains Richard. "And then we were asked whether we could do hard feed for horses."
From there the business expanded into producing a small range of birdseed mixes, which the farm sold wholesale to garden centres. But the farm just wasn't big enough to compete with the major retailers.
Naturetrek are only just down the country road from us at Street End Farm. After a visit to us they say.....We at Naturetrek have been really impressed by Richard and Lesley’s hard work for our local wild birds at Street End Farm. It is unsual to find a neighbour with such worthy aims! We also found the bird seed extremely attractive to our birds at Cheriton Mill ... as well as very competitively priced.
