A quick catch up on a busy year at Churncote...

What a year I have been having since December 01, 2022 when I last posted a blog. Staff have been coming and going and I have been a jack of all trades. It’s a good job my father brought me up not to expect anyone to do what I wouldn’t do myself.
Well, it’s good to report that on the farm we have finished harvest - a very mixed affair with such a wet July and August. The present heatwave almost makes us forget that.
Oil seed rape has been drilled. I have adopted a Mintill process to try and conserve soil moisture and to reduce the cost of establishment.
The wet weather has meant we have had good grass growth and a large crop of silage has been made to fee the cattle and sheep through the winter months.
Nerves are jangling again because our next TB test is only a fortnight away. At the same time, the vet will take a few random blood samples to check the overall herd health status.
Yet again agriculture is having to face change. What has been known as the basic payment scheme, which is a form of financial support for farmers, is being phased out. This is being replaced by the sustainable farming incentive, a system that appears to have many minefields and booby traps with a very limited financial benefit.
I feel that as a consequence it will make the country more dependent on imports. We are a proud nation and we would like to feed the population with as much home produced food as possible.
In the shop, we are pleased to welcome Tia, a very enthusiastic apprentice butcher.
We’ve said farewell to Jules and Helen, who are both missed, and we have welcomed Izzy, Emily and Val.
Tony our honey supplier has included some information you might be interested in and that I’m happy to pass on.
Why spring and summer honey?

• Bees collect nectar and pollen from a large range of flowers at different times of the year, then turn it into honey in the hives with different sugars, minerals, enzymes etc. All this gives the bees a balanced diet, and for us a huge range of flavours, colours and textures.
• Spring flowers such as dandelion and oil seed rape tend to make honey crystallise (set) very quickly, often within the hive. The bees can only use this by collecting water to dilute it. Set honey spreads better on your toast!
• Summer flowers such as bramble, clover and lime trees have nectar that stays runny for much longer and is more useful to the bees in winter. Runny honey melts into your porridge quicker and is also nice from the spoon!

Why parkland honey?

• Traditional parkland such as Onslow and Loton Park have a wide range of flowering plants: at ground level such as clover and dandelion; at shrub level bramble and hawthorn; and at tree level lime and sweet chestnut.
• These plants are visited by the bees, giving them a much broader diet than they would get from just an arable farmed countryside. The bees are healthier, and so should you be!
• Just to add, two hives next to each other can fly in different directions and get different coloured honey in their hives.
• Different soils, different weather in different years, indeed different colour and behaviour of the bees add to the variety!Oh the joys of beekeeping!

Thanks Tony.
Well, cheers for now
David

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