Farmer George's Diary: April, Spring Sowing & Slug Battles
Coppet Hill's Monthly Blog
What a wonderful spring we have had! The blossom has not had a single frost to kill it, it is warm and sunny and even a cuckoo has been heard in the Vale.
If it hadn’t been for one day’s rain, April would have been a very dry month with just over 2 inches of rain – One and a half fell on one day! As it was, rainfall was average. At least this means the soil is returning to ‘normal’. It is still very wet down under when it comes to banging in fence posts.
April was a very busy month on the farm: with March’s dry spell going into April we were able to work ground in preparation for drilling (sowing).
Those fields that had failed winter wheat (due to the very wet winter) we were able to spring tine prior to the Direct Drill coming in. The tines were able to break the crust on the surface and create a fine tilth for the seeds. On the other hand we had fields which were full of old grass which we had to break up. Adrian brought in his discs which cut up the top two inches of soil and after a couple of days he power-harrowed it for us, again creating a fine tilth for the seed. The weather was perfect and we had some lovely seedbeds.
As a trial, one of the fields which had been in winter bird food and will be so again this year we just drilled into the ground with no further preparation. If our soil structure is improving , there is no reason why this should not be successful but much depends on the weather. Planting in this manner saves a large amount of fuel as well as preserving moisture in the ground – really important in a dry year.
Growing crops in this minimal tillage way does have its issues! Slugs are the bain of our lives. Because we don’t plough, there is a large amount of trash (old previous crop residues) left on the surface of the ground. This is ideal living for slugs so that when the next crop germinates, they are there to eat it off. Direct drilling also aids them because the slits which we make for the seed become slug highways! To cap it all, the field in which we hope to have the sunflowers was found to have a mass of leather jackets; these are the grub larvae of crane flies (daddy long legs). They have a voracious appetite and eat anything just germinating. There is little we can do (i.e. no spray/chemical) so all we can do is roll the seedbed with a heavy roller to make their movement through the soil as hard as possible (no, it doesn’t crush them sadly).
So what have we been sowing? The main area is for winter bird food: this is a mixture of grains such as barley and millet, brassicas like radish and kale and others including phacelia and sunflowers. We have also sown some legume fallow – clover, vetch and trefoil and finally some pollen and nectar mix for the pollinators to benefit over the summer months. This last will include clover, vetch and trefoil but also a range of wild flowers such as knap weed and oxeye daisy
Thanks to the wonderful weather, we have everything sown that we require – even a small area of flax as a part of our ongoing support for ‘Raise the Roof’ in Bridport.
As April progressed and the weather warmed, the number of walkers coming through the farm increased, which is lovely to see. All are most welcome BUT please remember to leave gates as you find them and if in doubt, SHUT THE GATE.
Our lovely Exmoor ponies took advantage of an open gate to make a break for freedom. Luckily they were seen quickly and we were able to corral them back into their fields. They shouldn’t be too stressed as they have the run of about 50 acres right now!
The warmer weather has got flowers into bloom and trees into bud but what I did not expect was to see a bat flying around outside a hay barn at midday. It was clearly hungry and feeding on the newly hatched insects.
Over Easter we had our first glampers of the year. The units are warm and cosy inside: even in the sunny weather, it is still very cold in the early mornings. However, the weather has brought us a good number of camping bookings and this coming weekend, we will have several pitches booked. We are ahead of last year for our overall bookings which is most encouraging.
The result is a determination to get everything ready. Last year’s architect students left us a number of ‘constructions’. This one is being turned into an outside kitchen at Pond Hideaway. At the same time, we took one down to the scrape (very small pond) in Monarch’s Wood as a bird hide. By now all the pitches are stocked, benches out in place and signs erected: we are ready!
We like to celebrate the spring and the amazing bluebells in our woods by organising a walk. This year Martin Maudsley led our group through the wood telling stories as we went. Afterwards we all had a wonderful lunch in the Barn at Purcombe – with more stories and songs. Thank you Martin.
Looking ahead we have our Open Farm Sunday event on Sunday 8th June. This is will be the third year we will have run it with the Marshwood Vale Farmers’ Cluster and the Melplash Agricultural Society. It will be held at Home Farm, Sadborow, Thorncombe TA20 4PW. Do join us for the full day of farming activities on this leading organic dairy farm. There will be lots to see and do. Local food will be on sale but do feel free to bring your own picnic – we will have a safe dedicated area for that as well. It will run from 10am to 4pm
I hope to see you there!
