We’re back making ponds again! This will be our fourth man made pond that Chris has excavated on the farm recently, we're all really benefitting the insect life, birdlife, and wildlife too. They're also nice and near each other, so the animals can hop between each pond area (around 300m between each pond, give or take). Our latest pond is to be dug hopefully this week, we’re digging a ditch too - ditches are much more environmentally friendly than piped water courses as the wildlife they can sustain is amazing. We have a piped water course in this field at the moment but the clay drains are not able to take the water that comes down them, so they flood and the crops seem to be getting washed away most years, as you can see by the picture from this week. Check out where the crops begin and the margin...
We all love robins in the UK, don’t we? Some of us love them so much we have a family member named after them, don’t we (Robyn, our daughter!)? Robins were voted our national bird in 1960 and people seem to really love having them in their gardens, even though they’re feisty and bossy little birds. They’re related to the blackbird and the nightingale too, as were classed are members of the thrush family, but now have been reclassified as members of the Old World Flycatcher family – they usually can raise three broods of chicks a year, but some have been known to raise as many as five broods! Robins are territorial and will fight to the death, apparently, they will not enter standard nest boxes, as they like to nest in open-fronted boxes, and mealworms are their favourite food. (Available separately in our shop or on our website too)...
February is almost done and let’s hope that March sees improvements in the weather plus looking forward to the lifting of restrictions throughout the country. We’ve had a busy month here on our farm, making bird foods, making sure the birds and animals were ok during the drop in temperatures and snow, then ending with George spreading fertilizer on the crops that were sown in the Autumn, just before it started to rain and forgot to stop. This week we have had Tommy the tree planter and his assistant here planting over 5km of new hedges, mainly in two places on the farm. We seem to be bucking the trend as everyone seems to be pulling trees out or grubbing hedges out. Chris took me to see the newest hedge, it doesn’t look like much at the moment but it will make a massive difference to the wildlife, birdlife and the...
Wheat Free/No Wheat Wild Bird Food This is one of our most popular wild bird foods, mainly because all the seeds contained in this food are suitable for most of smaller birds that you will see in your garden, and hopefully attract to your feeder. Its loved by blue tits, robins, goldfinches, thrushes, blackbirds and many more (well those are the birds we see eating it in our garden on a regular basis!) Wheat is in lots of cheaper wild bird foods you will see in Budget supermarkets or the Cheaper stores, its primarily used as a filler as it is the cheapest ingredient in most wild bird foods ,although some of the ones I investigated (yes we do look at what competitors are up to!) contain 95% wheat. Some birds will eat wheat and love to do so, including pheasants and pigeons, but they leave a mess and then the...
Once upon a Time there was a farmer who made and sold pigeon corns and decided to try his hand at making wild bird foods, yes that’s us and if you’ve read the ‘About Us’ section on our website then you will know all about how it started and that we began our mixing using a cement mixer ( a clean new one), and how we’ve moved on from there and what we do here on our farm and in the shop and wholesale section too. Deluxe Wild Bird food was the first mix we made, we have refined and tweaked it over the years but its still a great food and fabulous value for money. As people’s interest has increased and more and more seeds are introduced into bird foods to attract different birds to your garden or feeder this entry level bird food is still as popular as it...
It’s been said again and again “What a Year 2020 has been”, well, 2020 is now consigned to the History Books, thankfully, and here’s hoping that 2021 will be the year for recovery both for the economy and our freedom thanks to the vaccine that is being rolled out throughout the UK. Its been an unusual year here on the farm and a year of some firsts too. The weather has not been kind to us or the crops sadly, the drought that arrived with the first lockdown lasted for over three months, during the vital growing season so that our crops didn’t receive the best start which was sadly reflected in our harvest. Then when the rain arrived it was so untimely, right during the harvest and planting time for our Winter crops. It feels like it has rained every day since September, the fields are sodden and will take...
Its December already and the days are quickly ticking away to 2021. We’re working hard in the shop and beavering away making bird foods and packing and dispatching web orders too. We have been advised by the courier that the sheer volume of orders since Black Friday throughout the country has meant that there could be delays in customers receiving parcels. With that in mind we are asking website customers to please place their orders as early as possible to ensure delivery before Christmas. We have a cut off which is Wednesday 16th December and would ask that orders are placed before then if possible. After that date we have been advised that deliveries might not be received until after Christmas. Our shop will be open right up to and including the 24th December but then we will be closed for a well earned rest until Tuesday the 5th January 2021...
It’s been a while since I posted a blog, life just seems to get in the way doesn’t it? We had our Pumpkin picking last month which was really successful and people really enjoyed visiting our farm to Pick their own pumpkins, as it was our first year and a trial really, we had underestimated just how popular the event would be and amazingly, we sold out on our first weekend. We had so much positive feedback from the event that we have decided to do it all again next year, only this time we will be planting more pumpkins to hopefully keep up with demand, and Covid permitting, we will be able to offer more than just pumpkin picking. Many of you will also know that I have acquired two donkeys, Tom and Jerry, who are settling into farm life really well and are enjoying their new life immensely. They’re...
Wow. Just wow. We are absolutely overwhelmed with the people that came out to come pumpkin picking today! We lost count of how many smiling kiddies and laughing parents we saw who had ‘only come for one’ and left with half a dozen! Chris grew varieties of pumpkins that would be accessible to all ages, from the tiny mini ones for younger years, to the beautiful sleek white ones for displays, and the massive ones for everyone – because who doesn’t love a huge pumpkin? All our family unit are involved. Chris and George were sorting the car parking and helping as much as possible, I was on the patch explaining the varieties, Robyn was on the till (and entertaining children in muddy puddles) and Lydia was jumping between every group where help was needed. It’s so lovely for our family unit to help so many other family units. In the...
Spooky Halloween is almost upon us and this year we’re involved with it more than usual. You might remember that back in April, during lockdown, Chris planted a field with Pumpkins, we have lots of types planted, original orange ones, small bobbly ones and even a few white pumpkins. Well they’ve grown and grown and its almost time for them to be picked. We had planned a Spooky spectacular in the pumpkin patch, but sadly coronavirus has meant that our extravagant plans have been reined in a little - but the Pick Your Own Pumpkins is still going to be running! It’s from the 17th to the 30tht. All you have to do is come along as a family, or on your own, stick to the guidelines of parking and walking to the Pumpkin Patch and you’re then free to walk among the pumpkins and select your very own pumpkin fresh...
I know it sounds corny, but as a child I always wanted a donkey and it has taken until now to achieve my ambition. I bought a painting of 2 donkeys when I was in my twenties and it is my favourite painting and my prized possession, my children would argue otherwise but I’m not so sure. It happened by chance that Tom and Gerry (already named) came into our lives but we couldn’t be happier to give them a lovely, stable (sorry) and happy forever home. These lovely young men were rescued by two amazing ladies and then they offered to let me have them after they have looked after them for about 6 months. They come as a pair and won’t be separated; I think they even both try to eat the same blades of grass they are so close together all the time. They didn’t have the best...
Harvest is almost at an end; the weather over the weekend and continuing today has been fantastic. We’ve taken full advantage of the dry weather and high temperatures and have finished cutting the oats yesterday and then moved straight on to cutting our fields of Spring Barley. This should be completed today after a marathon few days but its amazing how much you can complete when you have dry days in succession. Once the contracted combine leaves us to move on to another customer we will clear the fields, bale or chop the straw and then cultivate the land ready to sow next years crops, it all sound so simple and hopefully it will be if the decent weather continues for the next few weeks. On another note, our newest crop is doing well, the pumpkins are ripening and growing ready for ‘Pick Your Own Halloween Pumpkin’ which is a first...
August is well through and we will be starting to harvest soon in what has been the most unusual year for everyone in the country, if not the World. The weather has been challenging to say the least and our crops will be reflecting that, our oilseed rape crop is almost non existent after the 14 week drought during the growing season which has also contributed to the very short straw on the wheat and barley crops. On the plus side our newest crop of pumpkins seems to be growing very well as they were planted later, and their growing season is a later one, so the rain arrived in good time to save them. We’re really looking forward to harvesting them in late October ready for all your Halloween pumpkins so please keep an eye on our Facebook page for updates. The birdlife has had an amazing year, I have...
Although we are growing thousands of hazel trees in our new woodland eco project, as well as oak, holly, rowan, beech and many more trees it was the hazel trees we were originally determined to plant. Whilst I appreciate that tree growing isn’t a short term hobby and many of the trees we have planted will take more than our lifetimes to look like the forests I had romantically envisaged before planting, I appreciate that some of our trees are looking rather more interesting these days rather than just a few leaves on a stalk inside the protective biodegradable tubing . This clear tubing is used to protect and nurture the baby trees from the elements, and hopefully speed up their growth.Chris planted some hazel trees in some spare rough ground near our house many years ago but these were eaten by deer and died sadly but he had also planted...
In agriculture, cover crops are plants that are planted to cover the soil rather than for the purpose of being harvested. Cover crops manage soil erosion, soil fertility, soil quality, water, weeds, pests, diseases, biodiversity and wildlife in an agroecosystem—an ecological system managed and shaped by humans. This is the dictionary definition and I hope to explain a bit further what they are and how we use them on our farm. We have planted a cover crop in place of our failed oilseed rape crops in some of our fields. Many of you will remember during the lockdown I posted photos of what should have been flourishing crops, but they were sadly droughted off, as were many of our crops during the longest ever drought known in this area. It was too late to plant the same crop again so Chris decided on this specific mixture of cover crop and planted...
I’ve been trying to find somewhere cool for the last couple of days as the heat has been rather enjoyable, but at times a little too much if you’re trying to work! Its fine if you are on the beach or relaxing but not so much fun in our dusty farmyard. The dogs have been walked early morning and, in the evening, other than that they have been flopped out in the cool passageway trying to enjoy some cool breeze through the back door. Tonight, we went in the pickup to inspect the new hay crop, yes grass is considered a crop, which the dogs really enjoyed, trying (and failing) to cock their legs on each and every bale in the field! They will be kept away from the pumpkins when they’re ready for picking I can assure you all! Amazingly this year our hay crop was cut and turned, then...
The last few weeks have been an utter whirlwind. People may be beginning to return to a new normal, slowly; however my family bubble are adapting and changing to what could be a new normal for us. The main difference in our ‘normal’ has been the recent focus on the production of environmentally friendly soap – and not of the hand sanitiser variety! For around 2 years now Chris has been discussing how exciting and what a nice project it would be to make our own soaps from the ‘leftover’ oil that we have on the farm. This has always been on the backburner, until our youngest, Robyn (pictured), came home for isolation and sprang into action to use our rapeseed oils!! It has been a real family effort too, Lydia helped Robyn with her first batch, I’ve been helping her with all her marketing (god help me!!) and...
Another week at home for all of us, although it isn't out of the ordinary for us! From all of us at Laverock Hall, we hope you are coping well and beginning to see the bright side of lockdown. Chris has been waiting with bated breath for a delivery that has arrived this morning, and it has created some palpable excitement within the house (as can be seen from Walter, pictured). This is our first and only delivery of pumpkin seeds from the USA! Walter isn’t too sure yet, however the seed packets themselves became a perfect blanket for his fluffy legs, and I’m certain he’ll enjoy a frolic in a new crop! This year, we are hoping to open a pick your own pumpkins to the public, and the final piece of our puzzle has finally arrived – hurrah!! The next step in the process is just to pray for a...
No, he’s not praying, but multi-tasking. We were off on our walk on Easter Sunday, another lovely day during these strangest of times, and Chris decided he needed to check the newly sown crops to see if they had germinated. I hate to say it, but we could do with a good shower of rain to set them off. This time when it rains, I hope it remembers when to stop, unlike last Autumn/Winter when we seemed to have rain every day from September. The dogs follow Chris everywhere and only seem to obey me when he’s not around, other than that I’m relegated – they both adore him which I think the picture shows, plus the fact that mobile phones can find you anywhere…. There is no escape! We walked miles and saw lots of wildlife and birdlife too, the hedges are in bloom and nature seems to be carrying...
This is all becoming second nature to us all now, distancing, and stepping back when someone moves near to us. What a strange situation we are all in, but it seems to work whilst it’s sunny, however I’m not so sure about people being happy to queue for a long time when it is raining or much colder than the lovely temperatures we are experiencing now. Our shop is still open, and our customers have been great waiting outside until they can either come in or pay in the office one person at a time. We have found that the contactless payment has been a godsend to lots of people as handling cash is obviously a concern. Our staff have been wearing gloves, so we are happy to accept either form of payment. The dry weather has enabled Chris and George, plus our contractor who sows the corn, to finish the...