Getting Stuck In

Originally published in Esk Valley News

http://www.eskvalleynews.co.uk/

Have you thought of having a go at keeping livestock? When I was asked to write these articles they were intended to share our experience of starting a farm from scratch. Then last month I had pictures of big machines at work, just a bit off topic!

If you are interested in producing a small amount of food for the table you will find chickens and/or pigs can provide a good start. You will be able to taste the difference!

To start with think through how your stock will fit in to your life. Can you provide adequate time, space and housing for them? What happens if you go away on business or on holiday? Chickens can absorb more time than you may imagine, but do not have the administration associated with bigger beasts (more than 50 birds, the rules change and you are a chicken farmer).

Fancy keeping pigs? You know they grow to be big, and noisy? And you know that you would need a County Parish Holding Number, plus a herd number? Do you have a large enough area and suitable shelter? The DEFRA website was updated recently and information for pig keepers is much improved.

We bought three recently weaned gilts (young females) to start with. The plan was to grow them while they tackled the weeds in some of our field corners, and eventually kill one for the freezer. Choosing which to take was easy as Number Nine began to bully the other two and reached bacon weight first. 12 and 13 (their ear tag numbers) have thrived since and had their first litters in February this year. Now ten boars are ready to be sent to Glaves at Brompton to be transformed into tasty pork pies, while we keep the gilts on and prepare them for the meat boxes we plan to sell direct to customers.

Choosing a breed of animal is an important step. All animals respond to how they are treated, but some will be more prone to be frisky than others. Tamworth pigs certainly have a reputation, and are perhaps best left until you have more experience and good fences! I would recommend looking into rare breed stock. Keeping a rare, registered, animal is a good way to prevent extinction of the less commercial breeds and you will probably be buying from a fellow smallholder. The Rare Breed Survival Trust website (www.rbst.org.uk) is a good place to start looking before moving on to the various breed societies.

So, think, have I got the room in my life, have I got the physical space, can I manage the documentation and will I be able to afford it (pigs need feed from BATA  etc)?

I would be happy to answer questions (if I can!) about starting with pigs. Please send an email to: petermawson@highfarndale.co.uk

It's Actually Summer!

Originally published in Esk Valley News

http://www.eskvalleynews.co.uk/

It is wonderful working in a t-shirt from first to last thing. I do keep asking myself how long the dry spell will last and how many jobs it is possible to tick off the list while it lasts.

I have been working on raised vegetable beds: the wooden frames are built and now I am filling them up with top soil. Our (rather large) heap of soil came from the back of the house as we dug down to remove the earth off the exterior walls. There are plenty of surprises therein including cutlery, broken glass and pottery, scrap metal as well as the ubiquitous bale band.

Nicola and I were lucky enough to be asked to help out the Rare Breed Survival Trust (RBST) at the Great Yorkshire Show. This comprised, mostly, of preventing enthusiastic children from getting too close to a Gloucester cow and her calf and talking with potential members. It also resulted in quite the coincidental meeting. A lady approached me to enquire about rare pigs, describing a situation in the 1970’s when she worked on a farm in Glaisdale. It quickly became apparent Sue was referring to Giles and Mary at Bank House. I still have their book at my bedside; that night I flicked forwards through the pages to find a story about the bolting horse and a noisy brush harrow!

In the afternoon at the Great Yorkshire we had chance to look around. It was great to see people we’ve bought stock from doing well with top prizes in both the cattle and sheep classes. In particular, Dave and Debbie Wardell from Pickering always have a fine Whitefaced Woodland tup on show. We have been mulling over which breed of cattle to concentrate on for some time now. The Belted Galloway regularly tops our wish list, so it was useful to talk with the Breed Secretary, Ian Sutherland, and meet some of the breeders and their cows. It is absolutely vital for us that the breed we choose can live out year round, thrive on our upland grass and mother healthy calves. In that respect we also took in the views of the Angus representative, but Belties remain favourite.

Just as I apply the finishing touches to this article Strickland’s of Hutton le Hole have arrived to rake and bale 11 acres of traditional hay meadow. The grass was cut on Wednesday and has been left to dry, in part so it reaches the correct moisture level for hay, but that delay allows some seed to drop off and enhance the sward. The job involves a lot of large machines driving through 12 foot gates with stone posts so time for me to run out and have a look…

You Had To Have Vision

Originally published in Esk Valley News

http://www.eskvalleynews.co.uk/

We liked the idea of buying a house/farm in the country, shifting our focus from London after living and working there for 29 years between us. Finding the right place is a challenge; prices in the south are ridiculous and the threat of a new railway or road being built close by is real. As a kid from Stockton I had been on many trips around the North York Moors, whether it was across the A171 to Whitby or looking for sticklebacks at Sheeps Wash. Later on I spent many happy days out walking, achieving Duke of Edinburgh awards with friends.

We did consider properties in the Dales and higher in Northumberland. But buying a house on the Moors, with its warmer sandstone buildings, proximity to the coast and transport links won through. We still had to find the right place of course...

At one viewing we engaged a surveyor to help with a valuation. We moved on but a couple of months later the same surveyor called me with the details of a farm we ‘would either love or hate'. Step forward nearly three years and hopefully the house restoration is sympathetic to the original and the land is clear and month by month better organised for livestock.

Before we signed on the dotted line I was well aware that hill farming was not a path paved with gold. In fact the surveyor who prepared our valuation said in disbelief ‘you don’t want to be a hill farmer do you?’ The answer in my head was ‘not solely, no’, but that knowledge of the industry still makes the conditions people consider to be normal eye opening. Instead of describing the state of the house it is probably best to say that we now enjoy central heating, clean water and damp free living. I will add that I do not miss living in the caravan we used during the renovation, although it had a shower, which was a step up on the house!

At the end of the transaction, many phone calls and a meeting in a pub car park more akin to a Bond movie we secured 42 acres, the house and a mix of sheds/outbuildings. The parcel of land varies in quality (it is all grade 3) from the traditional hay meadows by the River Dove to the acidic soils by the moor wall. We quickly fenced the area immediately around the house and yard and arranged with a neighbour to allow access for his cattle to graze the lengthening show of summer grass. That was the start of a relationship with John that endures to this day, based on a great deal of back scratching and a healthy amount of banter.

I recall one sunny afternoon standing with John taking in our view of the dale. I asked him to tell me again who lived in which house, who farmed where and so on. He happily started to point out the family farms and then reached a small cottage across the valley ‘don’t know them, they’re incomers!” Smiling, I turned to him and said ‘what, like us?’ He looked at me and slowly realised I was pulling his leg. Hopefully, as we’ve mucked in to help, worked hard on ‘the spot’ we have eroded the incomer tag a little. It is transparent to me that country folk that visit the dale from further field still regard us as incomers. I always wait for the reaction when I answer the inevitable question ‘where did you come from’ and I say ‘London’. If I had a softer skin I might take it to heart, but I also know that I was born further north and am thereby more northern!

We finally got around to buying our own sheep in September 2012 having taken the time to understand which breed would fit our circumstances and deliver the best value. We eventually chose a rare breed. There was a degree of cynicism with the mention of rare breed, but we were sure that we needed an element of uniqueness to offset our small scale. Now we are often asked why the Whitefaced Woodland is rare; it is big, hardy, milky and has textile quality wool. Our first lambing proved to be difficult with some of the shearling flock not taking to motherhood. I am told that professionals have struggled with first time mothers this year too. But, we have fostered lambs on and learned a great many lessons, taking advice where it was offered so we will be better placed to do it all again next year.