Wiltshire Village Meats Farm Diary - April 2009 -

	Wiltshire Village Meats Welfare - - Quality				In association with Walter Rose and son Family Butchers
OCT/NOV 2009 SEP 2009 AUG 2009 JUL 2009 JUN 2009 MAY 2009 APR 2009 MAR 2009 FEB 2009 JAN 2009 DEC 2008 NOV 2008	FARM DIARY THE EVERYDAY STORY OF LIFE ON A WILTSHIRE FARM
	Links to other pages HOME FARM SHOP FARM SHOP - Greeting Cards WALTER ROSE ABOUT OUR FARMING FARM DIARY RECIPES QUESTIONS CONTACT US		April 2009 - Field-measuring, Firing Range and Flag-raising Spring has sprung and all the usual jobs involved in growing crops carry on apace. Fertiliser plans have to be drawn up. The crops have to be walked regularly by the agronomist to look out for weed and pest problems. The cows are enjoying being out to grass. I walked up onto our top fields, Morgans Hill, at the beginning of the month to look for cowslips but was disappointed to only find a few in one sheltered corner. Perhaps the cold weather in February held them back. Much of the farms activity has been concentrated on setting up the field for bringing the pigs back from Soley. Muriel has been marking out the positions of the electric fences for the sow paddocks. This is a slow job involving walking miles up and down the field. However, the weather has been perfect, dry and sunny and the field is full of skylarks singing, wagtails and a few hares so it is pleasant work. The field borders the North Wilts Golf Course so it's quite entertaining watching the motorised golf-bags. Jed, the border-collie thinks they may be some kind of animal and watches them intently. The field is called the Firing Range as that is what it was from the Crimea to the Second World war On Morgans Hill their are concrete blocks which were used to tether barrage balloons, presumably for target practice. As it's the School holidays the children have been enjoying going up to see the little pigs in the huts on the Firing Range. They have also been helping Mum mark out the paddocks. They also took part in a flag-raising ceremony on the water-tanker. The tanker is to ensure adequate water supply to the pigs throughout the day, it can then refill from the mains at night when they are not drinking as much. There is a floating marker showing the level of water in the tanker but it can't be seen clearly across the field. An old Bristol City Football flag was deemed appropriate for the job to make the marker visible from further away.
	For further information on anything on this site please contact Muriel Naughton Email: Naughton@Farming.co.uk