Christmas time

This Christmas time is very different to last christmas - no snow and despite the rain the ground is still very dry with no water yet getting down to the land drains.

Quiet time on the farm

Quiet time on the farm, but it is raining which is great news.

Conservation Grade

Keep an eye out for Conservation Grade products.

Water management video

I have been working with LEAF this week discussing with farmers how the impact of farming on water supplies can be reduced. Check out this video made by Jake Freestone on water management. It brings discussions of scrapes, and swales alive. I will watch the progess with interest.

Silver lapwing award

We were thrilled to be presented with the Silver Lapwing Award by Herefordshire FWAG last week. The award was given for active arable bird conservation on the farm.

Ginger the cat - a new visitor

Another stray cat has turned up on the farm aka known as Ginger. He definitely doesn't trust people

Herefordshire Beacon

Visiting the ancient hill fort high on the Malvern Hills makes you realise that people have been farming in this area for thousands of years.

November podcast

LEAF Presidents Event

This week I have been talking at the LEAF Presidents Event (photo courtesy of LEAF) Check out the review of the event on their blog.

floristically enhanced plots

No rain - pond dry and wheat under stress

Hops over the door

Hops over the door mark a special birthday in the family....

Choir for harvest festival

Very thankful for the harvest

October podcast

September Hops

Church in the woods

This beautiful little church was just around the bend in the road when I travelled through the Yeo Valley - breathtaking

The magnificent Yeo valley - Blagdon Water

Last weekend I visited the Yeo Valley - so beautiful

Green woodpecker on the lawn

Great to be a farmer and to see the busy green woodpecker searching for ants - sorry the picture is a bit grainy ..

12 Days of Christmas

Becketts Farm use YouTube too - another great topic for discussion

Cleeve Nursery

Another great discussion on Cleeve Nursery too. Check out the video

Certainly Wood at the Nuffield Study Group

Been to a Nuffield study weekend on communications and social media and found the talk on Certainly Wood fascinating. Check out the video.

An odd find

This fungus attached to the tree was an amazing find on the farm. It is so intricate and quite beautiful.

Odds and ends

As summer draws to a close - some of my favourite photographs ..

September podcast

Combine has arrived

The wheat has been harvested thanks to a week of fairly good weather. Oats and beans to go!

August Podcast

Busy housemartins

July Podcast

Wild flowers

Dwarf sunflowers coming through

Clover - growing well

Red clover good for bees and adding nitrogen to the soil

Busy bees

Wheat is growing

Wheat is growing fast and we are lucky to have a harvest due in four weeks time when you look at the plight of people in other parts of the world.

June podcast

We are in the Farmers Weekly!

 Check out the article on the farm on Farmers Weekly Interactive

Nuffield at The Three Counties

We manned the Nuffield Scholarship Trust Stand at the Three Counties Show - great fun. Check out Nuffield Scholarships at http://www.nuffieldscholar.org/scholarships.php

The rain brings clover and flowers

The rain brings clover and flowers

Sweet clover

The sweet clover is growing and now in flower

Tidying up the vines

Tidying up the vines can be hard work!

May podcast

The oxide daisies are abundant

The oxide daisies that we have planted have just started to come into flower ... beautiful

Visitors arriving to see the baptismal pond

It is the time of year when we start to get lots of visitors to the pond. They come to visit from all over the world.

Bird walk 2011

The bird walk in Castle Frome this year gave us a chance to walk around a neighbouring farm at 6am. I should have been taking pictures of birds but I just wasn't quick enough ... so I took some photos of some of the other beautiful areas that we were lucky enough to visit.

Cider fruit in blossom

This is not a photo from our farm but Herefordshire and Gloucestershire orchards are full of blossom - just beautiful.

Its raining

After what seems like months of no rain it is finally raining ......

Crows having a chat

I couldn't had sound affects to this photo but the crows were having a good old chin-wag.

I also heard the cuckoo for the first time this morning

Spring flowers

Despite the lack of rainfall in March, the flowers are blooming

Arable reversion

April Podcast

Cowslips are out

Colour appearing

Daffodils in bloom

Medieval Fishpools

More water management videos

Water management video

March 2011 - Hill Farm

Spring is on its way

February 2011 Hill Farm

Permissive bridlepath

Signs are up

Catkins galore

Spring flowers

Spring is coming to the farm and the flowers are beginning to bloom.

Video podcast for January 2011

This is our first attempt at a podcast - a little amateur but we can only get better.

Flowers at Hill Farm 2010

Bees and butterflies at Hill farm 2010

Wind turbine

The wind turbine is up and running - very exciting.