Manor Farm Newsletter

January 2008

January on the farm is mostly spent looking after all the animals over wintering indoors. Cows and their offspring need feeding twice daily and strawing down a couple of times per week. The sheep are also in and add to the routine.

We have been busy planting some hedgerow trees. These used to be a striking feature of the countryside but many have been lost over the years as a result of neglect or diseases such as Dutch elm. We have planted a selection of sweet chestnut and walnut that used to be fairly common in hedgerows in Leicestershire.

On the farm we have planted some winter-sown barley, oats and wheat. These are all in short supply and not enough is being grown in the UK to feed the dairy cows entering organic management let alone all those animals already under organic management. There is a big problem with the imbalance of demand and supply in the organic cereal market.

One of the methods of hedgerow maintenance we use is hedge laying. Some of which is part funded by DEFRA’s Environmental Stewardship Schemes. This involves trimming and then thinning out the hedge before partly cutting through the base and bending it over. This can provide a stock proof barrier and also provides a different type of habitat preferred by some bird species.

The ewes are all in the shed eating through their winter ration of hay and oats. The day they were brought in the man arrived to scan them to determine how many lambs each is having. This makes management much easier and enables us to group them and feed them appropriately. Of the 173 scanned 4 are barren, 46 having a single lamb, 106 having twins and 17 are due to have triplets. We also have 36 to lamb in mid February which were to far in lamb to find out how many each is having. They use a system very similar to that used on humans except he can do 200 in an hour.

Having had very little rain for the last 6 weeks it suddenly decided to arrive all in one afternoon, as a result the back field was being enjoyed by a number of ducks and seagulls as the brook over flowed. Our 7 pet ducks found it a wonderful opportunity for a good dabble in the paddock.

In the farm shop Sam is busy making eccles cakes. They continue to be popular even after Christmas. Karl is including in his range lighter breads in January like mini focaccias excellent with soup or cheese and croissants, great for breakfast. Mutton from the farm, venison from the SSSI Castle Donington deer park and pheasants from next door Whatton estate are all available and make a seasonal change at this time of year.