We hosted a day of basket making last Sunday in our wood, led by Bedford tutor, Ed Burnett. The sun shone, the wood was lovely, all was mellow and some lovely baskets got made. Thanks to Ed for great clarity, patience and good humour! Here are a couple of pictures of the day; we’ll get more on our […]
Turns out I was wrong about the supply of barn swallows and house martins in a post last week. I had thought we’d exhausted this year’s batch and with it the warmer days of summer.After some significant amount of walking about after calves, I managed to get all the herd into our field called ‘Wassledine’. They had […]
I think we may be approaching some state of readiness for the coming cold and damp. Actually it’s pretty cool and wet this morning but clearly only the very first hint of autumn is upon us so far. Our readiness amounts to having the cattle shed clear, grass cutting pretty much done, hay and straw safely in […]
We are very pleased to welcome Ed Burnett back to the farm on 22 September to run a day of basket making. Many of those who came to Ed’s course in May wanted to come back and do more and several others couldn’t make that day, so here’s another chance. If you’ve never done anything […]
Martin Hazell will be back with us on Saturday 14 September, this time to pass on some of his amazing skills in carving wooden spoons. Spoon carving is one of the easiest ways to dabble in green woodworking – it requires few specialist tools and no workshop; you can do it pretty much anywhere and there are […]
Jane was at the Forest Centre in Marston Moretaine again today and it was another busy one – a minibeast safari. She went out this morning fretting about the weather – apparently sweep nets don’t do a very good job of catching bugs in long, wet grass, and bashing trees that are dripping with rain yield […]
It’s been a while coming, but we are very pleased to let you know that we will soon have fresh beef to sell once again, produced from the Wassledine herd of Red Poll cattle. After almost three months out on the grass the herd is looking great – glossy and gleaming, especially after recent rain. […]
A strangely murky, grey, May day last Tuesday; the Chilterns invisible, usually a sign of bad winter weather on the way. The greyness served to highlight the intensity of green – the only other colour on offer today. The view from the barn is in green and white. Two grass fields in the foreground, huge arable fields in the distance, separated by […]
Whilst making a hurdle in the barn yesterday, I became aware of the wonderful screeching of swifts; a sound I’ve been waiting to hear for a fortnight or so and probably missing since their disappearance last August. Sticking my head into the brilliant sunshine and looking straight up, there, at around 100 feet, were a gang of thirty swirling, […]
We’ve been very busy since February and particularly in April and May, making structures for gardeners – obelisks, cloches, hurdles. At the same time, demand for hazel bean poles and pea sticks has been very strong and we’ve just about sold all our stock this spring.I think Monty Don may be behind the increase in […]