Farming Friends

The Year runs from September 2007 to July 2008 and during that time, there’ll be exciting opportunities for children to:

The Farming Friends website can help to deliver these opportunities to children and schools and this is why Farming Friends has registered it’s support of the campaign and now features on the Year Of Food And Farming Megamap. The Megamap will build up a picture of all the activity that is happening during the Year of Food and Farming. If you are involved in teaching, farming, catering, food production, or horticulture, then you may be able to offer support. So register your support today and help children and schools learn about food and farming.

During the dog chasing my hen and guinea fowl incident on Tuesday, one of the offending dog walkers claimed that there was nothing to worry about when her dog chased my poultry as they were only hens and we were going to eat them anyway.

I personally feel that the dog walkers comment on Tuesday was both disrespectful and unjustified not to mention the fact that the behaviour of her animal was inappropriate and unlawful. The Countryside Code states that, “By law, you must control your dog so that it does not disturb or scare farm animals or wildlife.” Being chased, pinned down and having your feathers pulled out would frighten any human, (if we had feathers, that is!) let alone a bird.

Since this incident I have been wondering just how many people have the same attitude as the dog walker.  (more…)

This is very worrying news for farmers like ourselves. Not only are we having to deal with ruined potato crops and the difficult harvest brought on by the recent floods and bad weather but now the threat of disease is once more a burden facing farmers.

A ban has been placed on the movement of livestock and farmers are being asked to inspect their livestock closely.

Lets hope that this is an isolated outbreak and that livestock farmer’s including ourselves are not affected by this disease.

Visit Defra for more information about foot and mouth.

Read the Farmer’s Weekly report on the foot and mouth outbreak.

Prince Charles will be the patron of The Year Of Food And Farming initiative.

The Year Of Food And Farming scheme is looking for individuals or organisations to give their support. If you are involved in teaching, farming, catering, food production, or horticulture, then you may be able to offer support. I aim to give my support and hope that you can too.

More information can be found on the Year Of Food And Farming website and the Farming and Countryside Education (FACE) website in the Links section of this website.

Did you know that today is world milk day?

World Milk Day has been celebrated for the last 6 years and began in 2001. The Food And Agriculture Organisation Of The United Nations set up World Milk Day so that countries around the world could promote milk and celebrate on the same day. On the FAO website it states, “The Day provides an opportunity to focus attention on milk and to publicise activities connected with milk and the milk industry. The fact that many countries choose to do this on the same day lends additional importance to individual national celebrations and shows that milk is a global food.”

So let’s raise a glass, milk of course, to World Milk Day.

I have just found out that it is Be Nice To Nettles Week from the 16th - 27th May.

I have lots of nettles on and around my farm and I am becoming very familiar with this less than well loved plant. As the guinea fowl like to lay their eggs in large patches of nettles I am all too familar with the stinging nettle. Yesterday my sister and her three year old came to visit and as we strolled through the overgrown part of my vegetable garden, my nephew stung himself on the nettles. Whilst he has now acquainted himself with the stinging nettle, I’m not sure that he will want to take part in the Be Nice To Nettles Week.

Normally my husband and I fight a losing battle against the nettle, as I try to dig them up and he dashes about spraying them only to find that they reappear with renewed vigour the following year. So instead of out and out attack we thought that we would be more subtle in our approach to ridding our land of the nettle. We thought that we would try eating them!

I have read a few times about nettle soup and only the other day my husband and I discussed trying to make nettle soup. My only reservation, apart from the obvious stinging problem, is which types of nettles should we be using as my farm has a number of varieties;

• Common / Stinging nettles.
• White dead nettles.
• Red dead nettles.
• Annual / Small nettles.

I have yet to find the answer to this but I will endeavour to find out and let you know.

I’m not sure that using nettles in a soup is classed as being nice to nettles but having read Joanna’s recipe, I will give it a go. I’ll let you know our verdict!!

If you, like me are wondering about how we can be nice to nettles, then click on this link to find out more about Be Nice To Nettles Week.

Click on the image below to visit Amazon.co.uk to find out more about this book or visit one of the Farming Friends Bookshops.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yorkshire Forward is the Regional Development Agency charged with improving the Yorkshire and Humber economy in Great Britain.

In October 2006 Yorkshire Forward launched “a project to give farmers in North Yorkshire and the Humber the tools they need to create an online business. Farmers from rural areas of the region will get the opportunity to learn how to use the internet to generate extra income for their business. The project will teach rural farmers and farming families how to turn their hobbies, interests and passions into a thriving business idea.”

The project is called Farmers On The Web.  Farmers who enroll on this project will receive;

• Business support.
• Mentoring and advice for 12 months.
• 24 hours access to an online forum.
• Access to IT equipment - computer, digital camera, software, printer, and recording equipment.
• Training in the use of the IT equipment.
• Workshops tailored to the needs of the farmer’s and their online business ventures.
• Training and guidance on how to set up a website for an online business venture.

The cost of the project is an initial fee of £99 and then payments of £10 per week.

This is a great opportunity, so if you are a farmer in North Yorkshire and the Humber looking to diversify or supplement your income, then the Farmers On The Web project maybe for you. For more information visit Yorkshire Forward or Farmers On The Web.