JANUARY and February is supposedly a quiet time for farmers.

Unfortunately I am not finding this to be the case. 

It is definitely a time for different jobs, but I still seem to be flat out with an ever expanding ‘to-do’ list.

The recent cold snap has been long overdue and will hopefully have killed off some of the bugs in the fields and in the barns. It acts as a natural disinfectant for farmers and is great to have. It did also bring with it some frozen water-pipes and icy surfaces adding some extra time to the morning feeding. 

The cattle also ask for extra thick bedding at this time of year. There is little point feeding them expensive feed if we don’t keep them warm, as they end up losing any weight gain through heat loss from their body.

Demand for log deliveries has been crazy for the last three weeks. To the point that any spare time and all weekends have been devoted to splitting logs to keep up with the deliveries going out. We are also looking ahead to next year’s logs and picking and felling trees now to give them the time to ‘season’ for next winter. It is important to carry this out now before the woodland floor vegetation grows, such as stinging nettles and brambles which would make this so much harder.
 
We will then bring the wood up to the farm in ten foot lengths for seasoning and split it when it is ready to go. Storing it in these lengths is also good for security as a ten foot tree trunk is much harder to steal than a heap of logs.

Our farm buildings are very ‘traditional’, which is great when we want to hire out the farm for a wedding in the summer because it is beautiful when it is dry and the sun is shining. However at this time of year we realise how little concrete we have. Mud seems to travel all around the farm on the tractor tyres, and there’s no way of avoiding it. It is definitely wellies all the time, even to walk across to the farmyard.

I am feeling positive for the turn of the season as we have had a full display of snowdrops and the daffodils are beginning to show as well.

We will be taking our hog roast to Badbury Rings point to point races on Sunday, February 26. If you are there please come and say hello to the team and ask us any questions you may have.