City Boys on Farm, Organic Milk Advertising Campaign,

Well, our visit by urban youth went very well...here they are all kitted out in brand new wellies & waterproofs being introduced to our dairy herd.
For 15yr old boys who had never been on a farm before & had no idea about where their food comes from the whole day was a revelation which can be summed up when on being shown the different plants that grow in a grazing pasture one boy said 'But clover is like butter!'
It was a very good day for them & for us. For children like these who have been removed from mainstream schooling because of behavioural problems due to appalling social & domestic & health  problems, visits to places like Penyrallt are very important in giving them another view of the world and other peoples lives which might just light a small glimmer of hope for their futures. These boys are also incredibly fortunate in having a wonderful teacher who is willing, determined & able to give them time & energy in bringing them to us.
(www.countryside-alliance.org/campaigns-education)

A week after the boys from Cardiff visited us we had two days when groups of 6-7yr olds from Gorseinon  near Swansea came to see the farm. The first day was very wet but the children carried on despite getting soaked and had wonderful time. They were fascinated by our Friesian bull who was respectfully observed from behind a strong gate and surprisingly interested when the Farmer demonstrated spinning wool with a drop spindle. The idea that from a heap of rather smelly wool straight of the sheep's back a yarn could be spun out to be knitted up into clothes really intrigued them, though of course none of them were wearing wool.

Last evening the Farmer & I attended a meeting with board members of OMSCo, the organic milk co-operative that buys our milk. It waas very interesting. Britain still lags behind the rest of the world (!) in its sales of organic milk but a big new advertising campaign has just been launched which hopefully will have an impact on public awareness of the value of  organic milk. (www.organicmilk.co.uk). The campaign involves huge posters on the underground, on hoardings alongside motorways, Twitter, Facebook and websites. It will be interesting in six months time to hear how effective it has been, meanwhile the Farmer & I along with our fellow organic dairy producers will continue to produce our lovely wholesome NATURAL milk.

The puppies are thriving, growing apace & very sweet & very naughty. As you see, they have already in true Labrador style found out how to open a bag of dog food!
Of the 8, 7  have lovely busy homes to go to, just one dear little chocolate dog puppy left to find a home for.