Election Results, Bees

Well, the Farmer & I went to cast our votes at the local chapel vestry on Thursday evening and there were certainly no queues of people waiting to excercise their democratic right.. In fact the turnout, by the time we arrived had been very poor apparently. We are in a strong Plaid Cymru constituency and the Plaid candidate was returned without too much difficulty, though the Labour party did increase its votes, which surprised us.
But, whether we have a hung parliament or a majority rule, as the Farmer says, he will still have to get up to milk the cows and Westminster will continue to creak along.

This afternoon the Farmer went to the annual auction put on by the local bee-keepers. It is a sale of bee colonies, hives and equipment. However, bees are now very expensive, well over £100 for a colony and some go for far more. I think we shall be hoping for swarm to arrive in one of the hives that are placed around the farm. The bee population is suffering badly these days, with disease and predation by wasps. Last summer we lost our one remaining colony to the wasps who get into the hives and it is difficult to prevent them. we had wasp traps out and caught many but they still caused huge problems in the hives. I have found several queen wasps already this year, though they have been very dopey, just emerging from hibernation.
Bumble bees have been very active for many weeks now and in considerable numbers and with so many trees coming into blossom now they are busy lumbering around the flowers in their rather drunken way, but it is still very cold for many of the pollinating insects.

Organic Farm Walk, Guernsey Cows, No Local Abattoirs, Alternative Energy Generation

Today the Farmer & I drove north up to visit a farm near the pretty coastal town of Aberaeron and the blackthorn was in full flower everywhere looking just beautiful.
We went to this particular farm for a meeting of the Milk Academy that is organised by OMScO every couple of months for a number of organic milk producers to meet up and discuss various issues and to look at farms.

I have never attended these meetings before but today I accompanied the Farmer as we were going to go elsewhere afterwards.
There were half a dozen farmers, two chaps from OMScO and me. Very few wives go to any dairy producer meetings, but I always quite enjoy them and it is always fun to look around other farms. I knew most of the farmers today and they are good company. But a group of dairy farmers (and their wives), is surely the only gathering where a man can say 'I do like like the look of your udders!' and no-one bats an eyelid! We were standing in field surrounded by herd of lovely Guernsey cows at the time and yes, they did have good udders. Conformation of udders and backsides is a necessary topic of conversation in certain social situations.

The farm walk was interesting and seeing a herd of Guernsey cows was lovely. They are not very common. We had one Guernsey here when our boys were little, known as Ginger, who milked superbly for many years and produced beautiful calves.
 After viewing the cattle, there was lot of discussion about grass crops and varieties of clover. Clover is the vital ingredient for organic farmers as it fixes nitrogen in the pasture. However, clover is is more temperature sensitive than grass and as a result of the very cold winter and now a cold spring the fields are rather sluggish in their growth and the crop may be very late in coming.
After walking through pastures we we then taken by the farmer whose farm we were visiting, through some beautiful oak woodlands which were just beginning to show signs of bluebells coming into flower. Another couple of weeks and they will be spectacular.
After yesterdays lovely sunshine it was disappointing today to be having to walk around in mist and drizzle and our drive home was through thick mist all along the coast. Not pleasant.

Yestetrday we took one of our Traditional Hereford beef animals to the abattoir near Tregaron. It is a very good small abattoir up in the hills of Ceredigion of a kind that is few and far between unfortunately. It is a pity that we have to make around trip of 40 miles to get to an abattoir; the Farmer's father only had to go about 4 miles, but as most small local abattoirs have been closed down thanks to the burden of paperwork and cost of up-grading to EU standards we have no choice in the matter.
The abattoir we use is very efficient and we will collect our beef in about 3 weeks time when it will have been hung well, butchered, packed and labelled for us.

The Farmer is just off out again to meeting in the village about alternative energy generation, which is something a lot of people locally are doing. We have a number of friends who are 'off grid' and generate all their own power by solar, wind and/or water. If we weren't milking it is something we would seriously consider, but with 7 motors running twice a day to milk the cows our electrity demands are too great. However, we may be able at some time to run the house &cottage off  wind & solar power which would be marvellous.

Transition Movement;Coed Calon Teifi, Re-ruralisation

http://www.coedcalonteifi.org/
Re-ruralisation

Now is the month of Maying, Welsh proverb, Transition Movement

Well, its the beginning of May and cold & damp,but there is a lot of blue sky appearing as I write, so thing's can only get better surely.
Our may trees are not in flower yet though.
The Farmer, however, is very pleased with the rain that we've had over the last couple of days as it is just what his newly sown fields needed and in fact the seeds have already sprouted. If we can now have a few days of sunshine then it will be perfect for the new leys.

I recently came across the following Welsh agricultural proverb in an anthology called 'Wales' by Alice Thomas Ellis,

Janaury will strike down.

February will despoil a giant.

March will slay.

April will flay.

May will raise the heart.

June will make merry door-way.                                 
July, a merry cattle-fold.
August, a merry host.
September rejoices the birds.
October, - cheerful is soscial intercourse.
November begins the lamentation.
December, - beware its anger.

Yesterday we did a lot of gardening, I was in our big garden putting in shrubs and the Farmer was in the poly-tunnel planting tomatoes, cabbage, lettuce etc. He also sowed  long rows of potatoes outside, though they do very well in the poly-tunnel. Having had both the the chickens and the sheep in the polytunnel over winter the ground has been very well manured and so things should do well.

Yesterday afternoon we went down to the village hall for the monthly get-together at the Transition Cafe, organised by our local transition group, Trawsnewid Calon Teifi (see http://www.teifitransition.org.uk/). It was well attended and we were shown two or three short films about getting the message across that global warming is a serious issue that needs to be addressed by everyone.
('Wake Up, Freak Out' & 'Transition Town, Lewes' can be found on You Tube & the clever satire on carbon off-setting website, http://www.cheatneutral.com/).
 As tends to be the case at these events, it is preaching to the converted, but lively discussion ensues and hopefully people go away and continue the discussion with their friends & acquaintances.

Escapee Beasts, Nettle Soup, Home Brewing.

We had a rude awakening this morning by Elder Son shouting from the milking parlour for the Farmer to get up as the young steers we had moved yesterday had escaped from their field and were now in the garden of the farmhouse! The Farmer leapt out of bed, donned his clothes in double quick time, urged me to do the same and dashed off downstairs. As I joined him, very blearily, with KT in the same state coming over from the cottage where she & Elder Son live, the boisterous beasts were trampling over the daffodils in the back garden and wondering where they could rampage next. Elder Son had come up from the parlour and headed them towards the garden gate while the Farmer had set off down the drive to guide them into their field again. KT & I were strategically positioned to prevent them going down onto the yard. However, being teenage males the steers had other ideas and clambered up the bank at the back of the garden, crashed through a fence and into the field above the house. At least they were now in a field albeit the wrong field. The Farmer & the faithful Molly (our sheepdog) went off  to put the naughty boys back in their rightful place.
How they escaped is a mystery; the gate that they had opened was secure when we left it yesterday. At least they came back to the farm buildings...it could have been a real nightmare if they had turned the other way and ended up on the main road, which has happened in the past and is not something we want to deal with again.

So, after the unexpected early start to the day the dogs & I went off to gather nettles for soup for lunch. I have found a good recipe for nettle soup and it seems such a waste not to use ingredients that are growing so abundantly in our hedgerows.

Lady Ridley's Nettle Soup                                       

1lb potatoes
1/2lb nettles (the young top leaves)
2oz. butter
11/2 pints chicken or vegetable stock
sea salt & black pepper to taste
4 tablespoons sour cream (Optional. Milk or yoghourt will suffice)

Peel & cube the potatoes and cook for 10 minutes in salted water.
Chop the nettles and saute them in the butter and then stew for 5 minutes or so until soft.
Add the potatoes and the stock.
Simmer for 10 minutes and then puree.

This soup is the most gorgeous green in colour and served with fresh wholemeal bread makes a good filling meal.  I have just served this lunch to our Soil Association inspector and  it is always very reassuring when second helpings are asked for.
Nettles are of course very nutritious and grow everywhere though one should not pick them them if they are growing near a busy road-side. From a field hedge or in a wood is ideal.


The Farmer is going to try making nettle beer. He's got very keen again on home-brewing and was delighted to find a stash of demi-johns up in a loft in one of the buildings the other day that had been forgotten.The warmest corner of the kitchen by the Rayburn will be full of bubbling glass jars containing a variety of concoctions that one hope will be drinkable. Its not always guaranteed though!

Blackthorn & Blossom, Soil Association Inspection, Song Thrush Nest Building

The blackthorn is coming into flower now and casting its froth of lace over the grey hedges which are very slowly beginning to show a hint of green.
In our orchards the plum trees are in full blossom though the apple trees are still tight grey buds except, interestingly, the old variety of apple that is known as Marged Nicholas which is local to Carmarthenshire.
The hedge banks along the drive are full of flowers now, violets, wild strawberries, celandines, stitchwort and of course the great golden pennies of dandelions.

Having spent the morning baking, (Welsh cakes & chocolate cake) and then given the Farmer & Elder Son their lunch, I have just come in from doing duty as a gate, as a bunch of young steers were put out onto grass after their long winter in one the cattle sheds. Oh, how they bounced and kicked their heels before settling down to graze on the lovely fresh grass.

The Farmer is very busy getting ready for our Soil Association annual inspection which takes place tomorrow. Although the paperwork is all in order, it does all have to be gone through carefully to make no sure we have no glaring errors or ommissions. As well as the having to comply with the organic standards we also have to make sure that other assurance schemes are adhered to concerning animal welfare and that everything is recorded. We have to have herd health plans, soil management plans, livestock management plans, forage management plans, a risk assessmant plan and a COSH analysis. Most of these are then broken down under many sub-headings. It is very much a case of where one word would do please use 10, and do not use common sense and the knowledge gained by years of experience. And we have to pay for the privilege of an inspection. We don't actually object to the inspection per se, but over the years the amount of paperwork involved has increased and the pettiness of what has to be on paper that is required has become ridiculous. And this is a problem that is not only with the Soil Association but all the other bodies that farmers are required to deal with.deal with. We did choose to join the SA, but many of the other organisations we have no choice over.
Rant over!

Outside one of my kitchen windows we have a song thrush nesting behind a thick curtain of ivy that drapes over a wall. The thrushes have been very busy and bustling bringing nesting materials for the last couple of days. They arrive with enormous beakfuls of moss and then dive behind the ivy where a lot of activity ensues as they weave the moss into their beautiful nest. It will be lined with mud and will be very snug for the rearing of another generation of thrushes. We won't take closer look at the nest until the end of the summer when we can be sure that we won't disturb the birds.
We were watching some goldfinches this morning while having elevenses. They were feasting on some dandelions that I had intended to remove from the terrace at the back of the house. I shall have to leave them now for a while.

Last Lambs, Persephone Books, Farmhouse Cheese-making

This morning I walked the dogs out to the letter box and on the way back came through the field where the sheep are at present and discovered that the last of the ewes had lambed producing a pair of very healthy twins, probably only an hour or so before I found them.They were sticking close to their mum who was very protective of them. She was stamping her feet at the labradors who were very unimpressed and not particularly interested in her or the lambs. They know better than to even contemplate looking at the sheep.

This morning in the post came that bi-annual treat, the Persephone Books newsletter. I love Persephone Books (http://www.persephonebooks.co.uk/) and through them have discovered such lovely reads as 'Miss Pettigrew lives for A Day' by Winifred Watson, 'A House in the Country' by Jocelyn Playfair and 'The Making of a Marchioness' by Frances Hodgeson Burnett amongst many others.
The reprinted books on housekeeping are wonderful, such as 'How to Run Your Home Without Help' by Kay Smallshaw, giving a glimpse into a time when having to manage without 'staff' was a real challenge. Now we do it without thinking and I think methods of housekeeping have changed hugely because of the advent of washing machines, refridgerators and vacuum cleaners. How many people scald milk jugs now or beat carpets?

One of my favourite books, not published by Persephone and out of print, is 'Farmhouse Fare' which was published by the Farmers Weekly originally in the 1930's. It is a collection of the most marvellous recipes sent in to the Farmer's Weekly by farmers wives from all over the country. Many of the recipes we would  no longer would consider making, such as rook pie or lambs-tail pie*. The Farmer says that's because no-one is hungry now. However, I use some of these old recipes quite often, particlarly cakes & puddings and over the past couple of days the Farmer has been using the recipes for making cheese. We have experimented with cheese making before with no great success I  must admit, but the Farmer decided to have another go at it so we now have several rounds of a cheddar type sitting maturing in the larder.

* Lambs tails; Younger Son has eaten them out in New Zealand, deep-fried I think. He said they were disgusting!

Piglets, The Loneliness of the Tractor Driver, Transatlantic Flights Visible Once More

KT & Elder Son have acquired two of the naughty Saddleback piglings we met on the road the other evening. They are about the same size as their corgi, Cadi and move like greased lightning. They were very suspicious of the labradors and rushed in to a corner to hide, though their curiosity soon got the better of them and there was a lot of grunting conversation about them. They have been named Pandora & Percy and should prove great fun to have on the yard. They will be allowed to roam around the fenced of area of the yard as soon as they are big enough not to escape through the bars of the gates, which won't be too long. Meanwhile they are in a large airy pen with lots of straw and  spend a lot of time making nests and burrowing.
We have had pigs before though not for a few years now, and they are great entertainment. We never have have more than two or three and they do well having a very easy happy life.
Having visited a commercial pig unit in Brittany and being quite shocked & horrified by it, we would never keep pigs in confined spaces with no access to the outdoors and natural light.

The Farmer has been very busy with field work while this lovely weather continues and has been out till dark these last few evenings rolling the fields preparatory to sowing grass seed which was delivered today.
It is long and lonely work sitting in a tractor for hours on end just driving round and round the fields in ever decreasing circles, but it has to be done. Thank goodness for tractor cabs with radios fitted.
I walked up to see how the job was progressing last night about 7 o'clock and it was a beautiful  but cold evening and the Farmer didn't come back to the house till after 9pm having been in the field since about 5.30pm. It is very tiring work and a degree of precision is needed even when towing a roller as every inch of the field needs to be flattened to make good seed bed.

Well, British airspace is open again and we are back to cross-hatched skies once more. For all those people around the world who are trying to get home and now have to wait for the backlog of passengers to be dealt with it must be nightmare and very worrying having to pay exorbitant prices for accommodation until such time as they can get a flight.
As a result of the flight ban I have an extra booking in the cottage from today by a family who had intended flying off somewhere for afew days but had thier flight cancelled so decided to take a break in the UK instead
I'm sure they are not the only ones to have made a decision to holiday at home which is very good news for the British tourist industry.