Welcome to our November newsletter 

Still time to order

We still have our fresh turkeys available to pre-order online for collection from Park Farm on Thursday 22nd December and Friday 23rd December 10am - 6pm. Two sizes have now sold out and the smaller ones are limited so it's recommended you don't delay in ordering.

We also have 3 collection points if you aren't local to us in Swindon.

• Lawn Farm Shop, Milton Lilbourne, Pewsey - Collection from 10am on Thursday 22nd December (Please check shop opening hours)

• Conygree Farm, Aldsworth, Cheltenham - Collection on Friday 23rd December between 10am and 1pm

• Andy will be at The Aquatic Habitat, Shurdington, Gloucester on Thursday 22nd December between 10am and 11am 

Full details are on the online shop including prices, size guides, availability, and collection details    

Collection from the farm will again be a drive through event but with the option to pop into the barn for a mulled wine and minced pie and browse our pop-up shop. We will have cheeses, our own beef in the freezer, milk, milkshakes and butter, bakery goods, a small selection of veg, jams and chutneys and more! Plus Woollen hand knitted hats and gifts made from our own sheep's wool and handmade seaglass jewellery made by our Christmas Elf!

Wearing a t-shirt in the middle of November! It doesn’t seem right, the last 2 days have been glorious and felt more like September. The ground is dry and the cows are still out eating 2 round bales a day and an acre of the spring like grass.

While walking back from the cows this morning (14th Nov) I saw no fewer than 6 dragon flies and a few days back as I walked past the stone wall on the farm drive I noticed a butterfly, I very nearly didn't give it a second glance assuming it was a Small Tortoise Shell but the colour wasn't right.

On closer inspection I recognised it as a Wall Brown, as species I have only ever seen at the coast although there are a few colonies on the Wiltshire Downs and Cotswolds. It used to be a common butterfly but it has decreased by 86% since 1976 and is now listed as endangered by Butterfly Conservation. It's also a UK BAP priority species, which means its threatened and in need of conservation action.

Ironically seeing one this late in the year may not be a good thing. Belgium scientists have discovered that one reason for the butterflies' decline is climate change, they should have 2 generations a year but increasingly the caterpillars produced by the 2nd generation butterflies are turning into a 3rd generation rather than waiting to the following spring, this means there is no time or food for their eggs to develop and there are fewer to keep the species alive until the spring.

This butterfly probably would have blown in from the downs so I can't claim it's a resident here but it was brilliant to see, I wonder if I will ever see another?

It takes the farm butterfly list to a very respectable 27, not bad considering we have no woodland big enough for the woodland species. We have 57 in the UK.

Turkeys

On a more serious note, the UK poultry industry has now had to house all birds. Mine came in a week early as I was concerned about avian influenza in Lydiard Park and the surrounding area. I reduced the ranging area in stages and this has proved very successful, as when the day came for them to remain inside completely they were not too fussed. I’m disappointed though, there’s nothing better than letting the turkeys out first thing on a cold crispy morning, watching them run half flying at the same time to the trees and begin to forage the fruit which has fallen through the night. Turkeys squabbling over crab apples is a highlight, a turkey will pick up the crab apple and dash off across the paddock quickly followed by half a dozen others all desperate to wrestle it off him. It's like watching playground rugby. But there’s none of that this year, I can't even collect the apples and throw them in for fear of contamination. Strict biosecurity is the best way to keep them safe so that’s what we’re doing.

Our turkeys are lucky that they get go out into the outside world a lot earlier than most free-range turkeys. Usually from 4 weeks if the weather allows it. For the standard free-range turkeys that only have to spend half their life outside they may have only just ventured out before the housing order came into force.

All turkey farmers are working extra hard this year to keep the fresh turkeys that are needed as safe as possible for Christmas so please continue to support your local turkey farm wherever you are.

This means farmers increasing biosecurity but also processing them as early as possible - but still keeping them fresh for Christmas.

This can take several different approaches, some have chosen to freeze then defrost, others to chill as cold as possible without freezing.

We have decided to extend our game hanging period. This means the turkeys are killed, plucked and hung in one of our 2 large chillers. Here they are hung like we do every year for the flavour and texture to improve. This year we will hang them for longer but at a cooler temperature enabling us to start several days earlier and then butchering them just before collection to ensure you get the same great quality and very fresh Lydiard Turkey.

We actually thought about this strategy way back in the spring as we guessed avian flu may rumble on all summer so we had the chicks earlier than normal so they will still be the same age at processing.

Pop-up Farm Shop - Saturday 10th December 10am - Noon

We will have all the usual goodies including our new range of cheeses. Lindsay is quadrupling the order as they proved so popular last month and are so tasty!

We won't have any fresh meat available but do have nearly the full range of our 100% pasture fed beef in the freezer and will have some fantastic special offers.

Fresh veg, bakery goods including lardy cakes, jams, chutneys and jellies including Rosemary's pear and rosemary Jelly (All from Rosemary's garden in Brinkworth) which is a great British alternative to cranberry sauce for your Christmas turkey, milk and milkshakes, butter, eggs and more!

Plus Wool and hand knitted items from our own Oxford Down sheep flock.

Lindsay’s Shepherds update

The video shows my oldest sheep (12 years) affectionately known at Fatty coming over to see what I have in my pocket for her!

Not much has been happening with the sheep over the last month. Bob, the Pregnancy scanning man, is visiting next week to see many lambs to expect from February 2023. Fingers crossed for plenty as it has been a challenging year with the heat and subsequent drought.

They are now enjoying the flush of grass which has happened because of the warm wet weather. It's very strange to be walking through thick, lush grass that is normally what they have in the summer. As much as it's good for them to be getting good nutrition whilst in lamb the lamb actually does 75% of it's growing in the last 6 weeks of pregnancy so currently it's just the ewes getting chubbier! Ideally you don't want ewes too fat for lambing as this can cause other issues.

Wildlife

The cows have been attracting lots of birds recently, the short grass they create and the dung they leave creates lots of feeding opportunities for flocks of Starlings, Black Headed Gulls, Meadow Pipits, Jackdaws and Pied Wagtails. This morning as the cows waited for me to move the fence a Sparrow Hawk came low over the field before lifting over the line of cows ready to launch an attack on the unsuspecting birds quietly feeding – I didn’t see from where I was if Starling was on the Hawks lunch menu.

The high light of the month though was having a close but brief view of a Water rail. These secretive birds spend most of their time deep in cover but this one walked between 2 patches of reed bed right in front of my armchair viewpoint while I was tucking into a slab of fruit cake. I had thought the farm pond looked like suitable habitat, but I never expected to see one.

Best of all though the Water rail is one of only a few birds that we get here that my brother has never seen at his farm, I like to remind him of this as often as possible.

This month off the farm

Somehow, I got selected to go on a two day training course and it seemed like too good an opportunity to turn down. Just Farmers is a small not for profit organisation that aim to help farmers have a voice. They train farmers from all sectors to know what to expect from the press and how to effectively communicate in what should be a mutually beneficial partnership. They can then link media enquiries to trained farmers to give interviews. On our first day we got to work with a journalist who writes about food for many of the famous glossy magazines and the editor of the Farmers Guardian - the leading farmers newspaper. The second day was at St. Werburghs city farm. I’d never visited a city farm before, so it was fascinating to hear what they do. It's far less about food production and more about nurturing people. A wide range of people are helped, some just need space to be outside doing something physical to lift their spirits, while others have very complex needs and have one to one carers while at the farm. The farm has goat, sheep, poultry and sometimes pigs, all used to go into the food chain. They are cared for by the service users and jobs are shared out depending on the client's ability.

What struck me was the patience and care the staff had for the clients, many of whom have very complex needs. The farm also has a commercially run poly-tunnel called Propagation Place which grows fantastic looking plug plants for nationwide delivery. This helps finance the farm which for the last few years has been perilously short of funding.

I don’t go to towns much and if I do it's normally the touristy smart bit but having spent 2 days in Bristol around Lawrence Hill and St Werburghs it makes you realise how important urban green spaces are to the locals and how lucky we are to be surrounded by green space – although I think a little of Bristol’s spectacular street art in Lydiard would look amazing!