Last week, we sold three, year old heifers to the Wildlife Trust in Bedfordshire and they are now enjoying life on Flitwick Moor, an intriguing wet woodland nature reserve to the north-east of Flitwick. This is a place where, in the past, peat was cut and iron-rich spring water sold as a blood tonic. The cattle will help to keep […]
I woke up early this morning, thinking to get some paper work done before getting out to use all the light the day can muster. Of course I forgot the weather. It’s raining hard and the forecast suggests that it could continue through to the end of Christmas Eve. I did know this but had […]
Something really exciting happened! The Red Poll Cattle Society’s Chairman visited recently and agreed that although we have, up until now, been unable to claim pedigree status for some of our animals; we can now. And that’s great news. The reason for this (and here I have to suggest that those not of a cattle tendency […]
Two days in the saddle; well ok the tractor seat. Being bounced around, deafened and frustrated by bits falling off and mechanicals failing to work. I’m not a great fixer of engines and the internal fury of my 1974 Leyland tractor holds no particular excitement for me. I know that being male and doing farming (albeit part-time), I’m expected to be able […]
My Dad was fond of telling me that he had never been bored in his life and was always critical of me when, in my teens, I regularly complained of being bored . Either he had never done a boring job or he had a poor memory. Some dull jobs are better than others of […]
Thanks to everyone who ordered beef, we have sold out of everything – good for us but less so for those who missed out. Next availability will be later in the summer so please keep in touch by adding your email address to our mailing list – click here for a form. We are looking […]
For the second time in the last month, I saw a little egret, Egretta garzetta, on the farm this morning. It’s a big white bird and very much a relative of the grey heron which we see pretty regularly around the fields. Although this one, we saw at a distance of several hundred metres, there’s no […]
Taking money, as we do, from the EU through the Countryside Stewardship Scheme, sometimes bothers me. Partly that’s due to a bit of guilt in taking public money for what could be seen as private gain and partly because it’s got to be better not to be so reliant on a grant that inevitably will end at some point. However, […]
Here I go again – droning on about the weather. It’s a cliché I know; but if the weather doesn’t actually rule our lives, it’s a pretty powerful aristocrat. The spring of 2011 was hot and dry around here, which meant our cattle were out on grass without danger of poaching soft ground. However, the grass […]
After a spiritual uplift, something of a downer. Copper’s been off-colour for a while. In fact she’s been looking a bit below par through the autumn. This six – year old cow is one of our favourites. I know, the well-hard farmer’s front breaks up very quickly, but she’s placid and friendly; always one to […]