The r ide we had done on the previous day was over sixteen miles and he did really well. I have a tow rope on the back of my bike, so I was able to pull him along a couple of the shallow inclines, but otherwise the closed walk and cycle path that ran all the way up to Barmouth was quiet and safe. We rang our bells when meeting walkers so we didn’t surpr ise them and apart from the runners with headphones on, everyone said hello.
It was really nice to r ide a track, with no cars and no traffic noise to speak of and feel safe. We stopped a couple of times for a snack and enjoyed the views up the estuary. It also reminded me of the time I led a walk across the farm and a lady with disabilities joined us. She struggled with the stiles and the footpath bridges, because she found it difficult to lif t her leg up enough to cope with the steps.
It was another time in my life when I’d completely missed the fact that something I didn’t think twice about doing, was difficult for someone else. More than that, how do we make things easier for people? Providing safer, quieter walk ing and cycling routes is above my pay grade I’m afraid, but I can and have improved our footpaths here on our farm.
I have replaced almost self-shutting,
or k issing gates now. Herefordshire Council and fitted by us,
all our footpath stiles with Provided by they are an
improvement. They are much easier to navigate, easier for dogs to go through and better for the community too. We have two stiles left, which will be changed in time and one wooden bridge with a stile at each end. I’m not sure how we change that to gates, because as the stile par t is integral to the bridge, cutting the bars out would weaken it, so that isn’t an option either.
It is all part of the change of mindset from ‘get off my farm’, to ‘get on my farm’.
It’s par tly why I wr ite this
column, and occasionally post on social media about some of the things on the farm. I want people to feel engaged in, and responsible with,
the countryside.
It would be nice to monetise some of this, but perhaps that will come in time. The thing is, we must make it easy. Easy to walk or cycle in the countryside. Easy to access some par ts of nature. And easy to meet with, speak to and perhaps buy from farmers.
It is hard not to mention the weather. Again. Drought anyone? Well, that’s the situation we find ourselves in now. The intense heat of mid-July is having an effect and burning up pasture. The fields we cut for silage in mid June have hardly grown back at all and we are going to star t feeding hay outside this week. We are also going to graze our hay meadow again. It’ll be better for the soil, not quite so good for our hay stocks, but it’s easier to buy hay than grass after all.
Regrowth is almost nothing at the moment and
whenever we do get rain, it is probably going to take a few weeks to get back to where it should be. We have had 81mm since the first of March and it is ser iously dry. Fire risk is high too, so I would suggest bonfires are not a good idea until the autumn. I am once again look ing at the concept of willow as a drought buffer in future dry times. All I have to do is to decide where to plant them!
This week will involve weaning the lambs to the best field of grass I’ve got lef t. Or rather herbs. It is alive with butterflies and other insects enjoying the flowering plantain , clover, chicory and grasses. And I will be moving stock to fields with willow branches that I can coppice and feed alongside our dwindling grass stocks. The best thing is that the willow will grow back!
Farming with nature once again. All we’ve got to do is think differently. I used to think willow trees were an absolute nuisance, but they might well save the day. I hope you enjoy the rest of your summer, we all love the sunshine don’t we.
Just a bit of rain would be nice. That would set us up for a really ‘growy’, late autumn and that would be great!
Rich, Risbury 99
Regenerative Farming
LIVE24-SEVEN.COM
BUSINESS ON T H E FA R M
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