Farming Friends

Watch the video clip of the charolais cow calving and the immediate minutes after the birth.

When one of our cows is near to calving, we move the cow into the calving pen so that she has more room away from the other cows.
Up to four hours before the birth, the cow can usually be seen sniffing the ground, moving around in circles and generally becoming restless.
The tail then begins to stick slightly out, before the sacs appear.
After the sacs burst the calves feet appear.
If the calf is correctly positioned, the head appears and the calf is born.
The video clip shows a restless cow, the sacs appearing, the sacs bursting, the feet appearing, then the calf being born very quickly afterwards.
Then it shows the cow licking the calf who is able to lift it’s head after only a few short minutes of life. The calf is soon trying to sit up as the mother continues to lick the calf.
Amazing footage of an amazing event.

I dedicate this article to my mum who loves the auricula and who planted mine in my garden for me over Easter after it had been nursed back to good plant health in my greenhouse.

The primula auricula is a Spring flowering perennial.

It flowers from April-May.

The auricula has clusters of flowers that grow in a range of colours.

This flower grows to a height of approximately 6 inches.

The leaves are a light green colour and have a fleshy texture.

The auricula grows well in light shade and likes moisture retentive soil.

This plant forms clumps and can be divided in early Spring.

The auricula is well suited to being positioned at the front of a border.

• Discard eggs that are damaged, cracked, unusually shaped, have thin shells, are too large, too small or soiled.
• Eggs should not be washed because this removes a protective layer that coats the eggs. Washing eggs can contaminate the eggs as bacteria and disease from the surface can be transferred through the shell to the inside of the eggs.
• Eggs should not be wiped with a damp cloth as this also removes the protective coating and can therefore allow the transfer of disease and infection through the shell.
• If soiled eggs must be used, then these eggs could be incubated separately from clean eggs, to prevent cross contamination.
• If soiled eggs are to be used, then they could be cleaned using a fine sandpaper that gently rubs the soil and debris from the shell without transferring it through the eggshell. Be careful not to rub too hard as this will remove the protective outer layer of the shell.

Brunnera macrophylla is a flowering perennial.

It is a Forget-Me-Not that has large branching sprays of small, pale blue flowers that tower above the leaves.

The flowering period is generally April to June.

The leaves are large and heart shaped. They are rough to the touch and have a green colouring. Some varieties - brunnera macrophylla variegata (like mine) have variegated leaves which have a green and creamy-grey colouring.

It is a ground cover plant that requires well drained soil and grows best in the shade.

Clumps can be divided in the Autumn or Spring.

I have my brunnera growing under the large apple tree that borders my garden and orchard.

When I bought my brunnera a few years ago, I thought that I had lost the plant after the first Winter as it died away, but then in early Spring I was pleased to find that the foliage grew back, so don’t worry if your brunnera seems to die away in the Winter months.

I dedicate this article to my friend Sarah who visited the other day and commented on how pretty the brunnera looked under the old apple tree.

March and April is always potato planting time on our farm. We normally finish planting the seed potatoes by Good Friday so that my husband can participate in the Good Friday tradition in our area - watching the rugby in our local town.

This year the seed potato didn’t arrive on time so the planting was put back a week. Thankfully the weather stayed fine and all the seed potatoes are now in the ground. Let’s hope that the weather is as good to us at harvest time in October!

We are currently having a new grain shed built on the farm. Here is the building story so far.

Levelling the land and adding chalk.

Adding concrete to the footings for the steel girders to be placed on.

Erecting the steel girders.

Concrete walls added.

This is the building story so far. Watch this space for more building news.

I love cooking food with mushrooms added to the dish and although I live in awe of people who go out into the countryside and find themselves edible mushrooms, I worry about identifying them incorrectly.

I usually buy my mushrooms from the shops but this year I am moving one step closer to nature and growing my own mushrooms. Although this sounds impressive, I am cheating as I have bought myself a ‘Growing Mushrooms’ kit from the local garden centre.

On Sunday I set up the box. This involved;

• Opening the packet of mushroom compost and placing it evenly into the polystyrene tray.

• Putting the lid onto the box leaving an air pocket at the top, so that the compost has plenty of air but is kept in the dark.

Then I needed to check every two days that the compost was kept moist.

On Tuesday I opened up the box and watered the compost using a sprayer so that I didn’t soak the compost. I need to keep checking the moisture until day nine or ten.

I will let you know the next stage of the growing process when I have set it up.

I look forward to harvesting edible mushrooms in the near future, hopefully!