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April 2010 Update
An inquisitive Clare
Well March is over and we have survived the worst and coldest winter for many a long year. As novice Oxfordshire farmers we were really concerned for the animals during the snow, in particular our Dexter cattle. We were advised by DEFRA that this British Native species does not require any shelter apart from a tree or two. Sure enough, six inches of snow and the herd hunkered down in the lee of a bank, sheltering them from the prevailing. Happy as larry and no sign of weight loss, in fact they looked remarkably healthy. Of course with little grazing available, we put them on supplemental diet of hay and cow nuts. Despite the weather now being significantly more clement, we still have them on supplemental feed as the grazing is still poor. Note to self - get the soil sampled and decide on a grass management programme.
Five pure bred Tamworth pigs
Likewise the Tamworth and Oxford Sandy and Black pigs simply spent more time in their warm huts burrowed snugly in the straw. Even a litter of 12 piglets born just before the snow, came through completely unscathed. Our Tamworth boar "Thriller" has continued to keep his four wives happy. We prefer to keep a boar, at some considerable expense, rather than use artificial insemination [AI]. In a commercial environment, each sow would be served and provide 3 liters every 12 months. My target is much less intensive, two litters every 16 months is our aim. This gives each gilt or sow the chance to lead a normal life in between farrowings and build up her strength again.
A fine Red Sussex cockerel
Even our Sussex chickens, despite being a little confused by the snow, adjusted and we only had to make sure that they had ad lib food.
One of the major advantages of the cold winter is that many a pest will suffer a setback. For example one of the reasons that the UK has seen a growth in the tree disease honey fungus, has been the warm winters of the last two decades. Similary rodents [rabbits etc.] will continue breeding in a mild winter.
As I am sure you aware, rodent control is an ongoing part of any farm activity and we have installed a colony of feral cats as just one part of the farm programme. These ferals are given to us by the Cat Protection League and are rehomed by them from areas where they cause nuisance [for example a housing estate] to farms like us where they can become "working cats". We currently have six and they are beautiful, no problem at all as they keep well out of the way of humans, so much so that one rarely sees them - hence no photographs yet. Our own two domestic cats Phoebe and Kaspar seem not to be affected by the ferals all of whom have been neutered before we have them, by the Cat Protection vets. They do not rehome any cat unless it has been so treated.They become our responsibility, so we feed them and if ill we will take them to the vet.
Even our Sussex chickens, despite being a little confused by the snow, adjusted well and we only had to make sure that they had ad lib food. One of the major advantages of the cold winter is that many a pest will suffer a setback. For example the UK has seen a growth in the tree disease honey fungus, because of the warm winters of the last few decades. Similary rodents [rabbits etc.] will continue breeding in a mild winter.
As I am sure you aware, rodent control is an ongoing part of any farm activity and we have installed a colony of feral cats as just one part of the farm programme. These ferals are given to us by the Cat Protection League and are rehomed by them from areas where they cause nuisance [for example a housing estate] to farms like us where they can become "working cats". We currently have six and they are beautiful, no problem at all as they keep well out of the way of humans, so much so that one rarely sees them - hence no photographs yet.
Our own two domestic cats Phoebe and Kaspar seem not to be affected by the ferals all of whom have been neutered before we have them, by the Cat Protection vets. They do not rehome any cat unless it has been so treated.They become our responsibility, so we feed them and if ill we will take them to the vet.
The plans we have for 2010 include:
- Rationalising our chicken strategy. We started with rescued battery hens and broilers for the table. The disadvantage of this meant different feeding regimes leading to fenced areas to keep them apart. Our focus now ill be on the dual purpose Sussex, and in particular, the White Sussex and the Buff Sussex. Both are extremely hansome, large birds with reasonable laying capabilitiy. Once we have established our dual purpose strategy we can open up all the chickens so that they have free range over the farm as a whole. Incidentally one of our cockerels thinks he is a pig and has taken up residence in one of the pig arks with his porcine chums. So funny.
- Rationalising our pigs. We started by trying all the rare breed pigs and now have focussed on two. The Tamworth and the Oxford Sandy and Black. With just one Tamworth boar - the mighty Thriller, we will keep him with Tabatha our Tamworth gilt and Oriane the Oxford Sandy and Black gilt. This will provide us with delightful little squealers a couple of times a year.
Slowly the farm is integrating into the kitchen way of life. It has been a long two year process as, a "field to fork" regime is unknown to most chefs. It needs a passion for produce, far above that of most chefs who readily state a partiality to locally sourced sustainable food that is not always born out in practice. Fallowfields Country Houe Hotel is into this in a much more sincere and deeper way and it is just beginning to show itself in our food in a way that is so gratifying.This is real food with real taste, produced with love, in as sustainable manner possible.
With kind regards, Anthony