Moving sheep every other day might seem like a lot of work , but compare that to the alternative. Were we to be feeding them grain, or si lage to aid them in conception, that would add cost and time. Whereas all I have to do is move an electr ic fence. Yes, it does take time, but with our relatively small field size and fairly compliant sheep, it shouldn’t be too much work .
Our cattle are on dai ly moves. I need 3 wi res to keep sheep where I want them, but one wire is suf f icient for the cattle, so moving them doesn’t take long at all. They look forward to seeing me in the morning and are grateful for the fresh grass every day. They also have a mouthful of hay in the form of a small bale too. The late rains have brought lush grass, so the dry hay helps their rumen function and they sometimes clear that before the fresh break of grass.
The dry, warm weather has provided near per fect drilling conditions
farmers are very happy with the soils their arable crops have been drilled into and my local friends have echoed this sentiment. ‘Well sown, half grown’, as the saying goes, so af ter last season’s dreadful planting conditions my arable farming peers will be very pleased.
I f there is a slight negative it is that the soils are almost too dry for lif ting potatoes. Now, potatoes are a crop I don’ t k now a huge amount about, but I am rel iably informed that the very dry conditions we have had and the resulting f ine soil means that it is proving hard to keep enough soil on the webbing of the harvester s to stop the potatoes f rom bruising. In fact one fr iend said he was having to go a bi t
faster too. Many videos on social media show
I have been doing some harvesting by hand though. There are bags of damsons in the freezer, and of course some in Kilner jars with gin. There are quite a few tubs with
black ber ries too, which go rather well in
blackber ry and apple crumble, my favourite pudding! Of course, I picked the apples too. We have quite a few eating f rui t
trees, as well as a good selection of
Bramleys. They are about the best cook ing apple, in my opinion anyway. And of cour se I have picked a fair amount of mushrooms this autumn too.
We have a couple of quince trees at the bottom of the f ield by the house. I intend on mak ing some quince jelly to sit in the cupboard with the crab apple jelly I made a few weeks ago. I ’m look ing forward to trying it, but it was quite a lot of work for only nine jars! I also found a recipe for a quince liqueur in one of my grandmother ’s old recipe book s, so I might try that too!
Our autumn cows have f inished calving, so dad is pleased about that. All in all I think I will still take this year over last. Apparently we had more sunshine this spr ing than all of last summer. Sunshine is energy and energy dr ives the system, so that’s good enough for me. As the year rolls on towards the next one, I look forward to more dry warm days, because I am sure the rain will come when it’s ready. So make the best of it, get outside and enjoy the autumn colours!
than usual on the
harvester that the tractor dr ivers with the trailers were having a job to keep up wi th him! Whatever we think about our modern food system, and i t’s long term sustainability, you have to marvel at the ability of that system to keep us fed. I of ten wonder how many of us would enjoy doing al l the work that we now do wi th petrol, diesel and machines.
Rich, Risbury 107
Regenerative Farming
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BUSINESS ON T H E FA R M
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