Welcome to our July newsletter 

In this newsletter

• Lamb and mutton boxes available to order online now
• The weather
• Lindsay's shepherds update - Meat
• Wildlife - Swifts
• This month OFF the farm - Beavers!
• Turkey update
• Pop-up shop Saturday 6th August
• Farm tours

Lamb and Mutton boxes available to order now

We have our rare breed Oxford Down lamb and Mutton boxes available to order on our website, for collection at the pop-up shop on Saturday 6th August (We are happy to arrange an alternative collection date or can pop it in the freezer if you can't make it)

There will only be one more small batch of lamb and mutton in October and that's it until next year.

We have half lambs or taster boxes available. For full details and to place an order click below to visit the online shop.

We will also have a small amount of individual cuts of both Mutton and Lamb and our new products: Lindsay's version of a mutton merguez sausage plus mutton and mint burgers available on the chill counter. Much product testing has been done and I can confirm they are all delicious!

The weather

Last week as I’m sure you all noticed, we had a few scorching hot days with the temperature reaching 35c. The livestock are quite happy up to 30c but above that it’s important to make sure there’s enough shade. The cattle were moved to a field with a large Oak and had two water troughs rather than one. Cattle quickly become agitated if they run out of water and if they empty a trough, they gather around it, and all want to drink whether they need to or not – think panic buying of toilet roll and you get the idea!

I kept the cows on this field for a week, which meant the grass was insufficient so I fed hay. It was the perfect opportunity to feed some of our super diverse North Meadow hay which is in big square bales and impossible to get out to the cattle through the winter. The aim is that some of the 100 species in the hay will be translocated to our field. I’ll have to wait for a year or five to see if it’s worked. Wouldn’t it be amazing if we had Snake’s Head Fritillaries blooming here as a result? Fortunately, we’ve made lots of hay and so I’d rather use some of this up and preserve the remaining grass until we’re out of this current weather system.

The sheep were given extra room to get under the hedges and also a long bale wagon to get under.

The turkeys rested under the shade of the hogweed and nettles and made dust baths.

Sadly we did lose one nest of Swallow chicks. They were the second brood of the ones nesting in my shed and although I was dousing the roof with a hose to keep them cool, they kept jumping out. Despite me putting them back many times they didn’t make it. In hindsight I should have made them a tray to contain them under the nest where the parents would have kept feeding them. I’m not sure how many of the seven successful first broods are having a second brood yet, I’ll keep an eye and work out which nests are getting regular visits.   

Lindsay's Shepherds update

I’ve spoken previously about wool and briefly about breeding sheep this time I'm going to talk about the meat.

My sheep are Oxford downs. The Oxford Down is on the Rare Breeds Survival Trust's list as a minority breed, meaning there are only in the region of 1500 breeding females in the country. Although it sounds counterintuitive, the best way to prevent a breed from becoming extinct is to eat it. This gives value to the breed and finances the running of the commercial flocks that are vital to their survival.

I am incredibly proud of the way I manage my sheep flock and I am fully responsible for every stage in their life from the very beginning which includes matching the ewe and ram, seeing the lambs born, looking after them every day, through to selecting lambs for retaining for future breeding and lambs for the abattoir, butchering and then selling the lamb. I have learnt how to butcher lamb mainly from YouTube so apologies if your chops are wonky!

This might sound strange to people that something I've cared for I am then able to see leave the farm, but being in complete control is something that's very important to me. My sheep never go to a livestock market to be transported potentially many miles away into a strange environment, they have only ever known myself and Chris and he takes them to the small family run abattoir that we use near Stroud. There they have a very dignified and quiet ending.  Other than growing your own or buying food stuffs directly from the producer there are very few things we eat that have such a short supply chain. This is turn has a positive impact on the environment as the food miles are so few. In the case of our lamb, mutton and beef, it is 30 miles and the turkeys it is zero as all the turkey processes are completed entirely on farm.

I fully agree that we should all be reducing our meat consumption but I'm also very passionate about the fact that we should have fully traceable, seasonal, high quality, high welfare healthy meat. There will always be a demand for meat so we should take some responsibility and choose the best we can.

In 2019 my Lydiard Oxford Down shoulder of lamb won a Great Taste award and was described by the judging panel as "Delicate but with true flavour. Very tender with natural herbaceous notes". Only the top entries are awarded a prize, either 1, 2 or 3 gold stars so we were delighted to get 2 gold stars.

I could talk a lot more on this subject but don’t want to ramble on too much but please feel free to ask me any questions either on email or in person at the pop-up shop.

Wildlife 

Many people think you’ve got to trek to far off places to witness amazing wildlife, I’ve friends that have been to the Arctic to see polar bears, while others might go to Africa on safari or to New Zealand to watch whales. Well, I had an amazing wildlife experience the other week and I didn’t have to travel far to see it, in fact, you’ve guessed it… it was right here on the farm! I moved the cattle after breakfast into a new patch of grazing and as normal, a cloud of insects get driven up into the air. Normally this is closely followed by Swallows picking off the tasty morsels but this particular day something pretty special happened. Swifts which usually feed high up began to descend over the cattle, rapidly increasing in numbers and getting lower with every pass. These were joined by House Martins and Swallows until the air was full of miniature fighter planes, skimming between the cows, feasting on the bountiful prey. The unique part of this spectacle was the inclusion of Swifts. Their 40cm wingspan and stunning adaptations for life in the air is awesome to witness when they fly so close to your head that you can hear the air rush past. Anyway, I’m sure you get the idea – it was very exciting and caused by some cool breezy weather which must have been unfavourable for feeding until I opened the supermarket door for them.  Swifts are now on the red list for birds of conservation concern because of a catastrophic drop in numbers, they’ve decreased by 58% since 1995. I’m not sure what has caused this decline but we can help them by adding Swift bricks into new buildings and not blocking up nesting sites in old ones. Swifts commonly nest in stone tiled roofs, nesting in small gaps within a roof space. Gardening or farming in ways which promote insects must also be an important part of helping them also to fledge as many young as possible. Swifts can be viewed entering buildings in Wootton Bassett while queuing for your chips at the China Chef and I’m sure they must nest in some of the old buildings in Lydiard too.

This month off the farm

The farm is managed by Derek Gow and his main farming output now is Water Voles! Yes, believe it or not, breeding Water Voles is a thing. He’s bred over 30,000 of them and they’re relocated all over the country to re-introduction projects for areas where they’re locally extinct.

He now also has holding facilities for Beavers which are removed from areas of lowland Scotland, where they are plentiful and not always welcomed by farmers and brought back for medical checks. When ready they are then released into one of many fenced Beaver enclosures which are being built.

Beavers were the main theme of the conference and one of the speakers was a German Beaver expert who explained the multiple benefits of returning them back to our landscape after a 400 year gap. Beavers can effectively store water in catchments, which reduce flood peaks significantly and Beaver wetlands are spectacular for biodiversity.

Derek has a larger than life personality and is famous for being permanently incensed by the slow speed of bureaucracy especially when it comes to releasing Beavers into the wild, which is illegal. Currently they can only be released into high specification expensive enclosures.

Turkey update

The turkeys are now 6 weeks old and moved into the first half of the big shed 2 weeks ago and now have access to paddock 1 which is 200 sqm of turkey paradise. Its dense cover of hogweed (similar to cow parsley) gives them cover from above and therefore the confidence to explore in the shade.

Over the next few weeks they will peck and trample this vegetation before going into the next paddocks and finally the fruit orchard which is brimming with apples from 12 different varieties plus plums and damsons they will be able to feast on any windfalls.

We have Whitethroats (a small bird in the Warbler family) nesting in the turkey paddocks which feed off all the insects. These will be fledging about now. I enjoy watching the young work up and down the fencing eating the spiders.

Pop-up farm shop - Saturday 6th August 10am - noon

Our next pop-up Shop is on the 6th of August. We have Oxford Down lamb boxes and mutton selection boxes available to order via the website for collection at the shop.

We will also have our own take on a Merguez sausage made with our delicious mutton and mutton & mint burgers. For anyone who just wants a smaller amount, both lamb and mutton will be on the chill counter as long as we haven’t already sold out.

There will be one more small batch of lamb and mutton in October and that’s the last until next year.

Frozen beef will be available to pre-order on the Andy Rumming’s Beef website also for collection at the shop.

One range of products we stock at the shop that rarely get a mention, but we must shout about are our British grown grains and pulses. These are supplied by Hodmedods, a firm that champion and support British farmers to grow more pulses. We stock carlin peas (similar to chickpeas) and fava beans, both tinned and dried, as well as vaal dahl, emmer grain and fava bean snacks – don’t worry we have loads of recipe cards to go with them! 

Farm tours

As well as our periodic public farm tours you can now book your very own for your family or club!

We offer tailor made tours to fit with your specific interests (cows, sheep, ecology, hedgerows, birds…) for small groups or a family but can also cater for groups of up to 20 people.
Tours start from the main farm area, where we have parking and toilets, and take between 1 and a half and 2 and a half hours taking in cows, sheep and as much of the farm’s habitats and wildlife as possible, ending with tea and coffee in the barn. Tours are led by me but can also include a local expert naturalist if participants want an extra level of knowledge.