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, though always missing our cows, I am so relieved that we are no longer dairy farming, and struggling with frozen water pipes, (150 cows producing …
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 Crackle Hill, which are more advanced than the crops in the fields between the track and Nuns Wood, together with those ahead and beyond around …
Oakley: a month in the life of a wheat plant continued Read More »
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 particular issue over the coming year. Please understand that I am not an agronomist so my explanations may not be perfect! An arable farming year …
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 since last I wrote, in the personal, local context. The terrible floods in Pakistan and Niger, for instance, are another matter and in another league. …
Seasonal Conditions and the effects on Yield and Harvesting Read More »
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 country is split at the moment with rain in the north and west but it is hot and dry in the south east. Even so …
Arable crop farming is by its very nature, seasonal and annually repetitive. I have now been compiling this diary for more than a year and should really be looking back to make sure that I don’t go over the same things as last year. But of course that is inevitable in the general sense. The …
Hands up who likes filling in forms? April / May is full of it for businesses. To start with there are the usual year end Tax Returns. I always get anxious when dealing with statutory bodies that make a thing of penalties being imposed if deadlines are missed; or that errors might lead to inspections. …
Easter will long be gone when you read this but, as I write, it is Good Friday and it is damp and cold. Last episode I confidently predicted spring, triggered by the annual appearance of our nesting duck. Since then our Chestnut tree leaves have just broken their sticky buds and the Wheatear has appeared …
This post discusses some of the major changes to farming in Meppershall between 1959 and 2009. 1959 – 1984 [listitems is_numeric=”no”] The demise of a significant greenhouse industry in the village. The rise of chilled transport and the introduction of perishable produce from southern Europe. The move away from traditional mixed farming, with each farm …
It is with considerable relief that I can report what you will have already been noticing on either side of the road as you drive out of the village and down the hill towards Shefford. The wheat is ‘ up ‘ and showing well in drilled rows! You might be surprised that I mention this …
