Rod and Bens

Rod — Tue, 08 May 2012 07:56:12 +0000

The farm is alive again with all the summer migrants here now. Swallows, House Martins, and my favourites the swifts. The swift is a perfect example of nature working tirelessly to create the perfect shape for its purpose. Bickham Farm is blessed to have the perfect spot for them to both hunt and nest. The nesting site is the the real joy, the large barn that was restored last year by Natural England, provides the perfect place for the Swifts to be able to get under the eaves and most importantly then be able to just drop onto the sky when leaving the nest. The Swift can not land on the ground and sadly if they do they are unable to take off making them easy prey for farm pets. I am especially pleased to see the Swifts back this year as last year with the scaffolding up to make the renovations possible, the swifts had to work doubly hard to get to there nest sight. But the desire to reproduce is a strong one and the swifts managed some fantastic high speed manouveres to nest. The insects that these birds require, I fear are not in abundance yet, still cold and large downpours lowers the insect activity. However that rain has been most welcome, but now, we, here in the South West have had enough.We have plants we need to plant, no doubt we will get a window to plant them in soon. Just had confirmation that we will be getting an expert to come and look at the machinary within the old barn, hope to be able to make our own cider and apple juice from horse power this Autumn.

speak soon

Roddy

Farm Update

Rod — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 08:56:20 +0000

New range of soups, cattle out grazing in the fields, the sun getting higher in the sky, spring is here, always a joy. The courgettes that I planted in the greenhouse nearly 6 weeks ago are doing very nicely, by this I mean they have 4 full leaves and are close to flowering. I am hopefull that the first courgettes will coincide with the courgette and tomato soup which starts on the first of May.

We have a pair of nesting Kestrels who have taken up occupancy in one of old Oak trees. Not quite sure whats going on but they are making an absolute racket, either laying the eggs or the eggs have just hatched. Looking forward to seeing them hunting and feeding their young. Ground is being prepared for the leeks and onions and soon we will be planting the carrots and Parsnips, for the winter soups.

Re-Housed

Rod — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 06:10:51 +0000

Re -housed?
I have not written for a while, which is a shame for me, for I like writing, but there is something about physical work that seems to shut down my urge to write. The flip side of that is, whilst doing physical work I normally have my most inspired ideas, but I do not write them down – and so the vicious cycles of life continue.
Another growing year has almost passed – it’s been no more challenging than any before but certainly with its little points of remembrance. The double bank holiday, which so many people enjoyed, I found extraordinarily hard work, and the early part of the year was extremely dry and plants needed watering, to have left them would have been careless. In fact the main challenge this year has been water, we are currently running with about 8 inches less rainfall than last year, and last year we were 10 inches short of the previous average rainfall (recorded for 14 years since being here). The pond has been sucked almost dry, and I have feared having to re-house the fish (not sure if you re-house fish, but anyway, take them to a new pond) – we did have a few significant downpours which must have warmed the fishes’ cockles again – I know fish are cold blooded but I am sure that they smiled as the rain started to fall.
Fish lead me to soup as we started making a Fish Chowder this year with our leeks, onions and potatoes – it’s gone down very well. The haddock comes from the sea off the Cornish coast and is sustainably caught by small day boats – it is then smoked at Tregida Smokehouse. It’s a personal favourite of mine and well worth a try. The new winter range is out now and selling well in the shops, despite the amazing warmth we have been having.
Our beautiful old threshing barn has been restored and looks fantastic. I am now looking forward to getting the large external wheel working and then getting the horse, which will walk round inside, to drive the cider press and the cake crusher. We have put the horse in and walked her round and she was very un-phased by the process, so it’s looking good.
So what’s for sale? I am about to take some Dexters to the butcher – they supply the finest traditional beef available – good sized cuts with little wastage and a fantastic flavour. Meat boxes are available through the website or call me on 01392 833833 – a large box (12kg) is £120 and a small one (6kg) is £60. There are a limited number available.
Turkeys for Christmas – we have our normal Organic Kelly bronze turkeys available at the same price as last year (£11 per kilo) and they are available from 5kg upwards. Please order early, we only have a limited number available, and it’s first come first served.
Finally, I would like to introduce you to a friend of mine, Kate Yells, who is looking for your help. Speak to you soon,
Rod.
Hello, my name is Kate Yells, I am a third year Geography student at the University of Hull and I have been working with Rod and Ben’s Organic Seasonal Produce to carry out research for my final year project. My research is focused on local food networks. It will aim to investigate how these networks are changing the relationships people have with the food they eat. I was wondering if you could please spare 5 minutes of your time and help me? I would be delighted if you could answer the following questionnaire by following the link below. https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/RodandBens
Very many thanks for your time and your help, it is greatly appreciated. Kate Yells

Friendly Giant

Rod — Sat, 23 Apr 2011 06:27:33 +0000

Satisfied?

Rod — Sat, 23 Apr 2011 06:25:45 +0000

The food giants have announced there profits, 3.9 billion pounds. I can not even concieve this quantity of money. But I was struck by the irony of the statement whilst watching the news. On the one hand The Giant was telling us how profitable its market place was, on the other was a report that another 1000 dairy cows were being sold because the farmers can not make any money. Sure its fine to make a profit but would not the message be so much stronger if the Giant could of said we made 3.8 billion and all of our suppliers are tucked up in bed knowing they also have made a profit, that there businesses were sustainable and that they could see a future. These Giants are less than friendly and battling with them is a mugs game.

Rod — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 06:13:53 +0000

Spot the Difference

Rod — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 17:06:26 +0000

Spot the difference
It’s been an amazing spring, tasks which I normally rush around to do, I have been able to undertake at a leisurely pace. The threat of rain is normally so great at this time of the year that you are tearing around trying to get the best conditions you can in the time allocated, before the next downpour alters the conditions of the soil once again. The rainfall in March was a mere 1.15 inches – this is very low, but the soil still has plenty of moisture in it, due in most part to the terrific condition that the soil is in! After 13 years of piling on organic matter, the soil has reserves, but I wouldn’t be a farmer if I didn’t say that a nice drop of rain would be great. So a very dry spring, unusually warm days, the Ash before the Oak, does this mean we are in for a soak? To be continued……
The potatoes have planted well, and are just about to show themselves above the ground, but we could still get a frost so I need to be careful and keep them banked up. I prepared the ground for the potatoes with my new plough, it’s new to me, but it’s actually quite old, but it’s perfect for what I need. It’s a three furrow reversible plough – my last plough was a ‘run round’ plough, which meant that it only had three sets of ploughs – this one has six. One of the best features of the new plough is that at the end of each row I can spin the plough over and head back the way I came, turning the soil in the same direction. With my old plough – as suggests the name – I had to ‘run round’ to the other end of the field and plough in a different direction. It’s taken me a few acres to get my new plough to work to the best of its ability. I have a very soft spot for the plough and many childhood memories flood back when I am out on the fields ploughing. I used to run across the field from our house and find the tractor that was working in the field, and sit in the cab with the driver mesmerised, watching the soil turnover and the seagulls stealing the worms. The noise and smell that the soil makes as the shiny metal pulls through this strange medium transfixes me as much now as it did when I was a child. Now it’s my tractor and my plough – what a feeling!
The plough provides you with a clean start or at least a well setup plough does. My plough was rusty and “rusty boards give trashy surface”- in other words the soil does not invert properly and you end up with quite a lot of rubbish on the surface, which is hard to deal with later on. After what seemed like an eternity, the boards shined up and the plough started to leave a clean top with all the weeds buried below.
The Jackdaws continue to plague me, but the spring planted broad beans have been protected by the most recent arrival on the farm, the scarecrow. It’s not my best, but is proving effective, allowing the broad beans to pop their first leaves up without an industrial beak wrenching them out into the open – but its looks will not fool them for long. The picture should allow you to play spot the difference and if you’re feeling creative you can caption the photo on our facebook page.
At the start of next month we will begin sympathetically restoring our old threshing barn, thanks to the grant from Natural England. I have been dreaming about this project for some time, and if anyone is interested in seeing the works please contact me. Once completed, I will have a farm walk and we can take a closer look at the work that has been carried out.
Our new organic summer season soup range will be launching the first week of May. We have got an exciting line up for you this year, with lots of new recipes. We have created a Smoked Haddock Chowder, working with Tregida Smokehouse – a multi award-winning, family run, traditional Cornish smokehouse. The haddock, which is line caught off the Cornish coastline by small day boats, is landed in Looe, and then collected fresh from the town’s Fish Market. Tregida, which over the years has gone out of its way to preserve traditional smoking methods, uses sea salt and oak to give the fish a deep smoked, authentic flavour. We then poach it together with onions, potatoes and parsley from the farm. We also have new Spanish Courgette & Tomato soup and Cucumber & Dill soup, which have had some great feedback. Our old favourites, the award winning Pea & Mint and Gazpacho will also be back!
I started this business with a close friend on a stall in front of our village shop, selling vegetables to a local audience. I have missed the interaction of meeting my customers, and have decided to start selling vegetables from a trailer on the back of the tractor in front of the village shop, with my daughter Ella from June. If you live locally, it would be good to see you, 10am – 2pm every Saturday in front of Kennford Shop – we’ll have the freshest, tastiest seasonal vegetables available.
Food from the soil nothing more nothing less.
All the best
Rod