Global Wheat Prices
Suddenly, 2011 is off at a gallop, the struggle with the snow and severe frosts in December a distant(ish) memory and Snowdrops are showing shoots through slumbering soil. Once again, …
Oakley: a month in the life of a wheat plant continued
If you walk along the top of Crackle Hill and then downhill towards Polehanger you will notice a big difference between the wheat crops on view from the top of …
Oakley: A Month in the Life of a Wheat Plant
As promised, I am going to try to outline the process that a grain of seed wheat (and the plant that it becomes) is undergoing at the time of any …
Seasonal Conditions and the effects on Yield and Harvesting
It’s Saturday morning,11th September, and it’s not hot; not even warm. What a contrast to the start I made to my article two months ago! Two big events have occurred …
Summer Scrapbook
Rainfall ( lack of ) Everywhere around here is dry. The weather pundits say the first six months of this year are the driest for 80 years or so. The …
Spring-time musings
As I write on March 13th, the influence of the long cold winter is still very evident. There are no daffodils in bloom down our farm drive yet, no leaves …
Weather Perceptions
One bright and breezy day, right at the end of September, someone remarked to me that it was “another beautiful day”; not hot, not cool just a lovely sunny early …
Seasonal Favourites
Which is your favourite season ? Spring with the bursting forth of waking nature and the expectation of the sun on your back in days ahead. Summer with long lazy …
Pesticides: Prevention or Poison?
There is nothing more that we can do now. The rape and winter wheat crops are starting to ripen and lighten in colour and harvest will soon be upon us. …
Rain at Last
I’m writing this on Saturday 6th June and at last we have some desperately needed rain, with more forecast over the next couple of days. We have had some very …