May podcast

Spring is on its way

Video podcast for January 2011

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

More snow pictures

We had to clear the drive and the lane so that the feed lorries and gas tanker could get to us. We also had to bring in tankers of water for a couple of days when the pipework froze.

More from December!

Photos of the farm

I have only just realised just how long it is since I have posted pictures of the farm on the blog - haven't felt like taking the camera out in the pouring rain - when it gets better I will update my photo diary!

Water, water everywhere

Well it continues to rain here on the farm, my vegetable garden seems to be growing wildly and as it is the first year that I have grown cabbages, I now understand why they have to be grown so far apart - I'll follow the instructions a little more closely next year. There aren't many birds around - the swifts and housemartins have stopped throwing their chicks out of their nests. I wonder if perhaps they did not think there were enough insects about to feed them all?

We had forty pairs around the house last year - we would be lucky to have ten this year and they seem to be struggling to look after one brood - shows the dramatic impact of the weather. The family of crows seem resilient as usual - every year the pair seem to have three chicks and they are in full voice now on the mornings that it is not raining!!

Potatoes are growing!

We planted the potatoes in April and then we had a very dry spell without rain, but the potatoes are now growing well. Potatoes are planted in rows as you can see on the first picture.

Why do you think there is a pile of stones in the field? well everyone likes to buy perfect round potatoes in the supermarket with a good clean finish to the skin. If a potato grew around a stone in the ground then it would be mis shappen and if it grew too close to the top if the soil it would turn green and be rejected. How do we overcome this? we take the stones out of the soil in the rows and put it in the space between and we have to plant the potatoes at a depth where they don't come into contact with the light.

Its a complicated job!

Walking on a farm

All the posts today have been using photos from an hours walk on the farm. Walking is good for you and look at what you can see around you - nature at its best!

Remember to follow the countryside code when visiting or walking in the countryside for more details follow the link below and find publications in the left-hand side menu

http://www.countrysideaccess.gov.uk/

Clover

The clover is in flower in the field margins! Good to see it fixing nitrogen into the soil!

Bracken - fronds uncurling

Have you ever seen a bracken leaf uncurling? Well down in the wood you can!

There are concerns about the spread of bracken because it contains a chemical, ptaquiloside, that if it enters the water supply could cause digestive problems or even cancer. This chemical is tested for by our water company, Welsh Water, on a routine basis.

It is ok for bracken to be growing in the woods, but it will cause illness in horses and cattle so we need to ensure it does not spread too far into the fields!

Still I think the plant is amazing to see at this time of year!

Oil Seed Rape

We posted pictures of the rape in flower in April, but now, in June, the seed pods are forming and the plant now looks very different! Amazing to see how it capturing solar energy and converts it to oil!

Woodland Flowers

Well the woods have changed again in June - and they are in the pink!

The Foxgloves are in flower and we also have a myriad of other woodland flowers too!

Another source of poultrydiscussion at home!

Blossom everywhere

The farm is alive with blossom - check out these photos!

Medieval Fishpools

Last year we had a local archaelogist visit the farm to look at what we believed were fishpools in the wood, aptly named Fishpool Wood! The report is now on the Historic Herefordshire On-line website - see what they say:

A series of three, probably medieval, fishponds are located within a small valley on the Catley Brook. The woodland was known as Fishpool Coppice on the Castle Frome tithe map of 1841. The three ponds have been created by the construction of three large dams and modification of the valley sides. The top (northernmost) dam (SO 6781 4545) is about 30m long, 10m wide and a maximum of 2.5m high. It is the most rounded of the three dams and the pond is the most silted up, which suggests this pool went out of use prior to the lower two. The middle dam (SO 6785 4540) is 40m long, 10m wide and a maximum of 2.5m high. The bottom dam (SO 6791 4533) is the longest at about 50m long, 10m wide and a maximum of 4m high. A bypass channel, 3m wide and about 0.5m deep, runs along the west side of the ponds. The channel becomes more incised below the bottom dam, where it is 2m deep. A woodbank follows the west side of the fishponds, separating the fishpond area out from the woodland area.The fishponds are likely to have been constructed in the medieval period and been associated with the medieval motte and bailey 800m to the northeast, as they occupy the nearest suitable site to the castle. Their size and the relationship with the woodbank support this interpretation. The lower two dams are still well defined, suggesting use after the medieval period. They have gone out of use by the production of the tithe map in 1841, as the Catley Brook is shown without a broadening in the location of the ponds.The fishponds are in an area of deciduous woodland, a mix of natural regeneration and coppice management. The dams are all breached and the Catley Brook has an incised course through the silted up ponds. (1)

Very exciting - and lots of poultrydiscussion here at Hill Farm as a result.

Mormon connections

We had a steady stream of visitors during April who came to visit the farm and primarily the baptism pond, which is a historic church site. In March 1840, the American missionary Wilford Woodruff came to the farm and after meeting the farmers, John and Jane Benbow, proceeded to convert them and over 600 local people to the Church of the Latter Day Saints. Many were baptised at Hill Farm. The Benbows went over to the US and undertook the trek to Utah, sadly Jane Benbow died on the journey in Nebraska.

We have many visitors from all over the world who come to see the pond and other local LDS historic sites.

More of the story in another poultrydiscussion post!

Its been raining!

We haven't had any rain for at least three weeks and everything was looking very tired! This week two days of rain and everything looks brighter and a little greener. The lilac trees are now out in full bloom as a result!

Another poultrydiscussion!

Cuckoo arrives

This morning the cuckoo was heard for the first time on the farm! Makes you think that spring is well and truly here!

Did you know that there are 127 species of birds in the cuckoo family?
To find out more about cuckoos check out the RSPB website!
http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/c/cuckoo/index.asp

Oak Lore

Sid the woodman says that if "The Oak is out before the Ash then there will be a splash!" Well it certainly has been dry the last few weeks - so we could do with some rain.

The Trafalgar Oaks have been planted! The parish council supplied twenty-five oak trees to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar in 2005.

They will be a sight to behold in a couple of hundred years ...

More woodland flowers

The bluebells are out!