Farming Friends

Cats greet each other by touching and rubbing faces.

They will also greet humans they trust by;

• Getting on their hind legs and trying to make their face reach the person’s face or hand.
• Rubbing themselves against a person’s leg.
• Rolling on the floor with their legs stretched out and their tummy exposed.

Medlars are large shrubs or small trees.

The leaves are long, dark green and turn red in Autumn.

They are deciduous (shed their leaves annually).

Medlars produce a five petalled white flower in late Spring.

They bear fruit which has a matt brown coloured skin.

The fruit is spherical in shape but has the appearance of being slightly hollow.

Medlar fruit are very hard and acidic when unripe.

They can be picked in late Autumn and then they are usually stored until they are ripe.

The fruit can be eaten raw but only when they have ripened and softened.

When the softening process starts in October/November the skin becomes wrinkled and turns dark brown.

When ripened the inside of the fruit turns to fruit pulp.

The inside is edible and the skin and stone are not to be eaten.

Medlar fruit can be used to make medlar jam, jelly, wine or cheese.

Oilseed rape is grown for the oil extracted from it’s black seeds.

It can be used as a break crop in a rotation mainly based on cereals.

Oilseed rape can be Spring sown but it is mainly Autumn sown.

Autumn sown rape has a higher yield and oil content.

This crop is harvested with a combine harvester and yields 1.5 tonnes of seed per acre.

The crushing process to extract the oil is very specialised.

The oil is used in the manufacture of margarine and cooking oils.

This oil is believed to be even healthier than olive oil in the human diet.

It is also used to manufacture other products such as paint, lubricating oil and detergents.

Oilseed rape is becoming increasingly important in the manufacture of biodiesel as mineral oil reserves become depleted.

The byproduct of the processing is rapeseed meal and this is used in animal feed concentrates.

Wheat is a cereal crop which typically yields 3.5 tonnes per acre.

An ear of wheat contains an average of 54 grains.

Wheat is a popular crop because it is used to make bread, breakfast cereals and biscuits.

It is also used as animal feed for pigs and poultry.

Wheat grows well on a wide variety of soils, but it is particularly suited to clay soils.

It grows well in clay soil because the clay contains many nutrients and preserves moisture for the crop.

The stems and leaves are called straw and are used for animal bedding.

Wheat varieties are classified as either hard or soft.

Soft Wheat

• Soft wheat has a lower protein content.
• It contain more carbohydrate.
• Soft wheat can grow in a colder climate.
• Most wheat varieties grown in Britain are soft.

Hard Wheat

• Grown in warmer climates.
• Hard wheat has a higher protein content.
• It contains less carbohydrate.
• Hard wheat is added to soft wheat to make bread.

Duchy Originals Garden Organic For Schools website is an excellent resource for teachers and schools running their own gardening clubs.

The website includes lots of useful information, facts, advice and resources for teachers relating to vegetable gardening and shows how vegetable gardening activities can easily fit into the national curriculum.

The website can also be used by children as there are great facts for children to read and lots of interactive games and quizzes for children to have a go at.

As a teacher who has started a gardening club with children at school myself, I would highly recommend this site for the useful advice and information that it provides.

Haymaking is the traditional way of storing grass.

June/July is when the hay is made.

The hay must be turned each day for approximately six days before it is dry.

It is usually collected in bales and stored in a barn.

Successful haymaking is dependent on fine weather because the grass must be dried to about 18% moisture content.

Damp hay will go mouldy and cannot be eaten by animals.

One tonne of fresh grass will produce 250kg of hay.

Silage is grass that has been preserved by pickling rather than drying. This pickling process is similar to pickling onions.

To make silage

1. The grass is cut and left to wilt.
2. It is then collected using a forage harvester or collected in bales.
3. The 500kg bales are then wrapped in polythene.

Storing silage in airtight conditions allows the bacteria to grow.

The natural acids (mainly lactic acid) produced by the bacteria living on the grass are used to prevent deterioration and these acids give the silage its sweet smell.

Silage is more palatable to cows than hay.

The grass is cut at an earlier stage of growth than hay therefore it contains more nutrients which helps to produce more milk and meat.

Silage making is less dependent on the weather and is becoming increasingly popular.

Harvesting silage starts in May and the same field of grass may be cut up to four times in one season.