Sunday 31st July 2011

Bailing Today

The sun was shining and a warm wind was blowing, so it was all hands on deck at Grange Farm to bale up the hay which had been cut a couple of days earlier. Tim was rowing-up ( gathering together the cut hay ready for the baler). Alan gives Sarah a “helping hand” onto the trailer – easier for some than others !! - where she and Arthur will line up the bales which are loaded by Ewan driving the tractor and grab which follows Tony’s baler round the field. Alan will take the full load back to the farmyard to store for winter feed, then return for the next load...and so on until all the fields are empty. Hopefully the forecast for the coming week is correct and it remains dry. Tony was baling. You can just see the square bales coming off the end of the baler.

Saturday 30th July 2011

An Empty Field

An empty field – Kevin secures the last of the bales of hay made at Blansby this Summer.   Hay cutting started yesterday at Grange Farm.   Let’s hope the forecasters have got the weather right.

Saturday 2nd July 2011

All go at Blansby

It has been all systems go at Blansby for the past few days – sunrise until sunset   Kevin and Johnny have been cutting and baling for silage.   The bales are wrapped in the field ready to be stored back at the farm for winter feed.   As I was taking photos of them loading the bales for the Farm Diary the North York Moors Railway steam train came puffing along the track which runs through our land on its route from Grosmont to Pickering – so I just “snapped”.
 
Now it’s fingers crossed that the weather holds whilst Kevin and Johnny go up to Levisham to repeat the process there.

Saturday 7th May 2011

RSPB volunteer returns

Our RSPB volunteer was back again at Blansby, bright and early.

The following were spotted or heard:

Blackbird, rook, magpie, yellow hammer, starling, wood pigeon, chaffinch, skylark, lapwing, blue tit, willow warbler, carrion crow, heron, pheasant, dunnock, corn bunting, swallow, whitethroat (he was very pleased with this), goldfinch, house sparrow, jackdaw, long tailed tit, blackcap, chiffchaff, pied wagtail, linnet, great tit, wood warbler (again he was very pleased with this).

Saturday 23rd April 2011

RSPB volunteer visit

Today we had our first visit at Blansby   from one of the volunteers under the RSPB Volunteer and Farmer Alliance scheme.

As we have now been running environmental conservation schemes for some years at both Blansby and Grange Farm (currently the Higher Level Stewardship Scheme), which include creating skylark plots and planting wild bird seed mixtures,  we asked the RSPB if this year they would arrange a series of visits to Blansby.   These farmland bird surveys are carried out by an RSPB volunteer and the results are presented on a map showing where the birds of conservation concern are found on the farm.   This is complemented by a comprehensive species list of all the birds seen or heard during the course of the surveys, and a report providing more detailed information on some of the rarer species seen.

For those bird lovers amongst you the following were seen or heard in an early morning walk around the farm:

Tawny owl, pied wagtail, goldfinch, chiffchaff, house sparrow, skylark, herring gull, swallow, chaffinch, tree sparrow, yellow hammer, corn bunting, willow warbler, great tit, blue tit, dunnock, blackbird, red legged partridge, wheatear (he was very excited about this), jackdaw, rook, carrion crow, pheasant, wood pigeon.

Wednesday 16th March 2011

Lambs coming thick and fast

The Mule ewes started to lamb last Saturday and the lambs have been coming thick and fast ever since.  No sooner is a pen emptied than there is another waiting to take the space.  We have had some super lambs of varying sizes and colours but as long as they are healthy and suckling it doesn't matter.  Last night saw a trip to the vets with a ewe who needed to have a Ceasarian section as she had a huge lamb and no room.  The result was a gimmer lamb weighing 8.15kg and mother and baby are both doing well.  The reverse side of the coin is a tiny little lamb who was born 3 days earlier and is probably only a quarter of the size - but at this stage it is health not necessarily size that matters.

Wednesday 23rd February 2011

Latest litter of Tamworth piglets

Yesterday saw us weaning our latest litters of Tamworth piglets.  The ginger people soon made friends with each other and settled into their new home.

Tuesday 15th February 2011

Excitement on Grange Farm

There has been great excitement amongst the Grange Farm team today.  The fodderbeet that we grow to feed to the sheep over winter was field bound during the snowy weather and like many other growers of beet crops ours suffered from frost damage.  This means that once it is lifted out of the ground it only has a few days in which to be used before it starts to rot and go mushy, the result being having to lift it by hand and believe me when I say that kicking fodderbeet is a highly over-rated pastime.

Our contractor (who was due to come and lift the crop the day it snowed in November with a large machine which will lift six rows at a time and a hopper that holds 30 tonnes) was consulted and as he would have been able to lift 4 days requirement in 10 minutes we went back to the kicking and so back to the start of the tale.  Our excitement was due to having found and bought a machine which lifts one row at a time and only holds about 2 tonnes in its hopper so we can lift enough for 3 or 4 days at a time without waste.  The beet lifter arrived today and went straight into action doing a clean and tidy job - no more sore toes, and no more kicking beet whilst in bed!

The Mule ewes which are due to lamb next month are also grazing the fodderbeet at the moment and are seen waiting for normal service to resume once the harvester has done its job for the day.

Saturday 13th November 2010

Lambing time has arrived

Lambing time is upon us again at Grange Farm.  The Dorset ewes were brought into the shed on Tueday as they are due to start lambing today, they thought otherwise and started on Wednesday.  Our night lamber Chrissie is not due to start until Monday so Arthur and Sarah have been splitting the night shift between them in addition to their daytime work, and are increasingly looking forward to seeing Chrissie again.  The start of the lambing has gone well though and today we turned the first ones out of their individual pens and moved them across the yard into a larger pen where others will join them as the days go by.  Dorset lambs are full of character and also very inquisitive, this one is clearly not camera shy!

Thursday 4th November 2010

Checking over the cows and their calves

Tuesday was the day for scanning the Galloway cows to see if they were all in calf and as e5we get the cattle in we like to do more than one job, so at the same time we checked the calves over before weaning them off the cows and taking them to Blansby where they will remain.  The cows showed some reluctance to enter the "doctors surgery" for inspection but patience and time saw all the cows through the system with a 100% success rate.  We all hope that this will continue through to the spring of next year when they are due to calve although problems can sometimes occur.

The downside to weaning calves is the fact that both mother and child can make a terrific amount of noise for a number of days, but it is a job that has to be done in order for mum to recover condition before having her next calf.  To prevent them going looking for each other over this period we keep them inside to "take the blare off them" before turning them out again.  Life can't be too bad as the cows looked pretty content this morning and were quiet last night but I imagine they will be looking forward to being back in their field with a feeder full of hay - lots of happy swishing tails!

Friday 8th October 2010

Arrival of the plum pudding piglets

After what has seemed like a very long wait we have seen the birth of our first plum pudding piglets.  Mum is a Berkshire and Dad is a Tamworth and there seemed to be much reluctance to the match but nature has taken its course and the result is 13 spotted piglets, predominantly ginger with black spots although there is a pink one with both ginger and black spots.  This match gives fantastic tasting pork so keep a look out in the shops in about six months time.  The piglets are pictured here with mum just six hours after being born.

Tuesday 21st September 2010

5 week birthday for the puppies

The puppies are now 5 weeks old and here's some pictures of them on their first venture out into the farmyard. Mum Liz has done a fantastic job but is now happy to get a break when they go out to play. We will be keeping one to train and work on the farm and the others be found a new home, hopefully going to work somewhere as mum and dad are both great workder. Its great to see them bounding and playing in the yard, it will be sad to see them go.

Thursday 19th August 2010

Liz's puppies

We now have 5 new additions to the farm as Arthur's (our Shepherd) dog Liz has 5 puppies yesterday morning. Father of the pups is also one of Arthur's working collies, Ben. Mum and pups are all doing well and below is a couple of pictures of them just 1 day old.

Tuesday 15th May 2010

Trainee Mickey steps up to help

We are a Shepherd down at the moment due to sickness. This puts pressure on the farm and Tim is filling in for him plus everyone else chipping in whenever needed. This also means Arthurs dogs are having a well deserved break. The farms trainee sheepdog Mickey was quick to step up to the mark and below is a picture of him returning from the fields after a hard days work.

Wednesday 5th May 2010

Day of the Dorset Sheep sale

The day of the annual Dorset Sheep sale in Exeter dawned bright and clear. Tim and Arthur our head shepherd were there to purchase replacement tups and ewe lambs for our Dorset flock. Prices were extremely high due to a nationwide shortage of breeding stock but they were delighted to get all the lots they had marked up, which included a fine tup bred in Ireland, Ballytaggart Navana. Unfortunately many other buyers there noted his quality and we had to pay top price of the day to ensure his return to Yorkshire.  At 2,800gns, Tim nicknamed him Goldenballs. Seen below with a couple of his pals.

Tuesday 13th April 2010

Ella and Tosca give birth

Three generations together - grandmother Beauty (white cow), and mother Ginger's Beauty (black cow) with her 2- week old Riggit Galloway Calf.

18 hours old, and ready to go! This is Ella's daughter - a Riggit Galloway

and weighing in at approx. 22kg. is Tosca's baby girl - a Belted Galloway - just 3 hours old

Isn't Nature amazing!

Tuesday 13th April 2010

John Craven and Country File pay a visit

John Craven and the Country File team visited Grange Farm last week to film Gareth Barlow meeting his  'farming hero' our very own Tim Wilson!

Gareth, who doesn't come from a farming background, has started his chosen career  with a few sheep and uses Tim as his role model.

Meet him on Country File, BBC 1 on Sunday 18 April

Tuesday 23rd March 2010

New pig shed is taking shape

The new pig shed is coming on apace and the concrete floors and block walls are being installed. Our horsey friends have got their eyes on it for an indoor arena!

Monday 15th March 2010

Lambing is still going strong

It is all go on the Farm with the baby lambs arriving in abundance. Lambing started on Wednesday 10th March and so far we have had approximately 90 Lambs born. We are expecting on average another 500 to be born over the next 3 weeks.

Arthur our Shepherd is rushed off his feet, he’s working long hours but states it is his favourite part of the job. Arthur’s wife, Lesley has come out of retirement to help us on the farm, it is all hands on deck with Lambing at the moment but afterwards Lesley will be staying with us to help out with the Livestock and some gardening.

Friday 19th February 2010

Nine new bouncing Tamworth piglets

Births: - On Thursday 18th February to Primrose and Turpin nine beautiful bouncing boys and girls. Mother and babies are doing well.

Primrose and Turpin are part of our high health Tamworth which we established at Grange Farm last year. The photo's below were taken when the piglets were 1 day old.

Thursday 4th February 2010

Snow causing a few problems

Luckily all the ground works for the new pig shed were completed  before the snow came in December. This is being erected at Blandsby Park Farm where due to its location has been plagued by problems with  the recent snow and at times has only been passable by tractor.

Fabrication of the steelwork was carried on indoors, then finally as the snow thawed, work on the site recommenced. The final roof section of the shed can be seen been hoisted into position.

Monday 7th September 2009

Hens provide for Moxon Street

Today we have sent our first eggs from the farm hens to the shop in Moxon Street.  Whilst the hens have been starting to lay we have been enjoying fabulous fresh eggs.  I like to think the hens are happy, especially when they follow me round the field waiting for their corn to scratch at on an afternoon.  The weather does not put them off either – if they are sheltering in their sheds they soon come running when they hear me in the field.

I think it is fair to say that summer has been very hit and miss, although we are further forward with harvest this year than we were last.  Sunday saw us start to cut the Spring Barley at Grange Farm, but three times round the field and rain stopped the combine.  We are hoping for a few dry days in a row so we can finish this and also cut the oats at Blansby which are also ready, perhaps by this time next week we will only have the peas left to harvest.

The heather moor where we graze the Scotch Blackface and Swaledale sheep has slowly been turning purple.  In a good year the whole moor is ablaze with the vividly flowering heather – this pic was taken one bright morning (before it rained!) and shows some of the splendid view which we so often take for granted.

Amongst everything else which is going on at the farm we are having some of the traditional dry stone walls rebuilt and repaired. This wall forms the boundary to some land which was purchased at the start of last year.  Over the years the wall has been allowed to fall into disrepair and the decision was made to return a number of walls around the farm to their original glory.  This is the first of those walls and leads on to the moor.

August 21st 2009

Making the most of the dry weather

Time seems to pass so quickly and while only the day to day jobs seemed to be happening while we waited for a number of fine dry days in order to make hay and start to cut the corn, we have now had a dry spell and everything seems to have happened at once. 

Harvest has commenced and hay making has finished with the last of the bales still to be brought in to the sheds for storage.  This will provide winter fodder for the ewes when they are in lamb and have lambed.  

Last week we collected three 12 week old Tamworth gilts which now gives us seven females to start our new high health herd of pedigree Tamworth pigs at Levisham.  There are a number of different female lines and ours include Lucky Lass, Ruby, Princess and Maple.  Whilst the new arrivals are  too young to undergo the vaccination programme which will help us achieve our high health status, the four older gilts and our new boar will start this in September/October.   The boar is Stoneymoor Golden Ranger 4, and was the breed champion at the Royal Show in July.  The aim of the vaccination is to eradicate a number of common diseases amongst pigs and all new stock joining the herd will undergo this programme.  Any progeny should then be disease free as they will have received immunity from their parents.

The chicks which we hatched out at the beginning of July are now seven weeks old and have moved accommodation.  They are now in one of the large chicken houses and are running around outside quite happily.  Welsummers are a breed that are prone to feather pecking as we found out to our dismay, and hence we have a number of bare backed chicks in the group.  Despite this the chicks have grown well and we will soon have to sex them to find out how many hens and how many cockerels there are.

July 3rd 2009

Its all go on Grange Farm

The last few weeks on the farm have been particularly busy.  In addition to the Riggit Galloway bulls we have also purchased a Belted Galloway bull to serve the heifers bought in Scotland last year.  Huntfield Julius is 3 ½  and has come to us from near Dumfries.  It is hoped that we will commence calving the Belties towards the end of March next year.

The end of June also saw us finish shearing the sheep.  Approximately 1200 sheep, including 700 Mule ewes and 450 North Country Blackface and Swaledale ewes were clipped over two days.  The fleeces have now all been delivered to the British Wool Marketing Board where it will be sorted, graded and marketed according to type and quality.

Our 450 Dorset ewes were shorn at the beginning of the month and the rams have now been turned in with them in order for lambing to commence at the end of November.

We have just finished making silage to feed to the livestock over the winter months.  The beautiful weather over the last week has enabled a good, high yielding crop to be harvested, giving us a high quality feed for the cattle and sheep.

Our last entry noted the acquisition of 150 Welsummer eggs which we have had incubated and hatched.  Three weeks on we now have 81 beautiful Welsummer chicks shown here at just one day old.

June 12th - July 31st 2009

Perfect weather for bailing

The sun was shining and a warm wind was blowing, so it was all hands on deck at Grange Farm to bale up the hay which had been cut a couple of days earlier.

Tim was rowing-up ( gathering together the cut hay ready for the baler).

Tony was baling.   You can just see the square bales coming off the end of the baler.

Alan gives Sarah a “helping hand” onto the trailer – easier for some than others !! -  where she and Arthur will line up the bales which are loaded by Ewan driving the tractor and grab which follows Tony’s baler round the field.  Alan will take the full load back to the farmyard to store for winter feed, then return for the next load.

......and so on until all the fields are empty.   Hopefully the forecast for the coming week is correct and it remains dry.
 

July 30th 2009

Empty fields at Blansby

An empty field – Kevin secures the last of the bales of hay made at Blansby this Summer.   Hay cutting started yesterday at Grange Farm.   Let’s hope the forecasters have got the weather right.

July 2nd 2009

Working round the clock

It has been all systems go at Blansby for the past few days – sunrise until sunset   Kevin and Johnny have been cutting and baling for silage.   The bales are wrapped in the field ready to be stored back at the farm for winter feed.   As I was taking photos of them loading the bales for the Farm Diary the North York Moors Railway steam train came puffing along the track which runs through our land on its route from Grosmont to Pickering – so I just “snapped”.
 
Now it’s fingers crossed that the weather holds whilst Kevin and Johnny go up to Levisham to repeat the process there.