A Morning on the Farm

A chance to look round an organic farm, just a few miles away?  Oooh, yes please!

Five hundred acres.  That used to count as a big farm, but in these days of agri-business, many are easily double that acreage.  Here are sheep, cattle, oats and grassland – grassland that includes flower-rich meadows too.

We saw sheep, fed exclusively on the rich grassland which farmer Mark works hard to keep in good heart.  Without good rich friable soil, no farm can function well.  They’ve just finished lambing, and mothers and lambs foraged contentedly in the fields.

That good soil, full of organic matter and worms and grubs as well to keep the birds happy.

Oat fields are divided by traditional dry-stone walls, and by hedging, deliberately little-pruned, and with wide margins before the crop is planted to give abundant wildlife corridors.

Wide margins for flowers and wildlife to enjoy.

There’s a small lake, home to oyster catchers which nest there.

A distant view of the small lake.

Curlews and lapwings enjoy the site too, and Mark’s meadows are not cut for their sweet flower-rich hay until after July 15th each year, when ground-nesting birds have finished rearing their young.

We enjoyed a sheep-dog show.  Eleven year old Jess was pleased to demonstrate her skill, as she dashed round in a wide circle, quickly bringing the sheep together into a compact group.  It was good to see her eagerness, her enthusiasm for a job she does so well.

Finally, cattle.  Mark brought us down quickly to the bottom of their field.  The cows have recently calved, and are extremely protective.  Best let them approach us.  And they were curious, but ran (yes, ran) down the hill to get into the next-door field, as their calves, in some cases only a day old easily kept up with them.

And that was it.  Apart from greeting the last-born lamb, only a day old.  Her inexperienced mum had only had the one baby.  Next year, she’ll probably have the more usual twins.

A happy morning.

Click on any image to view full size.

Author: margaret21

I'm retired and living in North Yorkshire, where I walk as often as I can, write, volunteer, and travel as often as I can.

24 thoughts on “A Morning on the Farm”

  2. Really lovely set of photos, the visual definition of bucolic. I’d forgotten how lovely a field of oats looks, somehow not so uniform and regimental as rows of the modern wheat varieties.

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  4. What a wonderful day! I love seeing a sheepdog at work–they just know what to do and do it so efficiently. And you visited at the perfect time to see all those sweet babies. . . .

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  8. Heartening to read about a farmer who takes wild plants, birds and other species into account. The baby animals in your lovely photos are most endearing.

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  10. Aw! Lambs and calves are so helpless and adorable, aren’t they? We came across a couple of youngsters on the slopes of Sao Jorge. Mam was very placid but we kept well away 🙂 🙂

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  12. I love seeing places where those in charge value the land and its resources as much as the livelihood they gain from working it. And your pictures are beautiful also!

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