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4/4/08
Carla Sarkozy, a recent state visitor from France, has lit up the political scene with her elegance and assuredly respectful performance. It seems ridiculous that a finely tuned ‘wooing’ by her president husband is needed to show is that this country has done much that has been good for the world. Having spent the last ten years of their rule destroying and denigrating England, it must have been tough for our Scottish politicos to listen to listen to praise. Attention will have to be paid to the widening discrepancies between laws in the countries that make up the United Kingdom. Very soon the Boston Tea Party cry will go up that England should have no taxation without representation. Eventually the politicians from Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales will realise the moral bankruptcy of them voting on laws that do not apply to their own constituents, but those taxpayers in a ‘foreign’ land.
My Easter holidays from school have been spent on some intensive farming. I must admit that my back has not been used to so much tractor work, and I now need no makeup, or funny walk, to act the role of the country bumpkin. Stores of milling wheat have been loaded onto the waiting lorries at the rate of at least 100tonnes per day. Stringent controls of our store have, thankfully, seen our wheat making the grade for use in human consumption. Every load carries our unique ACCS (assurance) number, a long with a declaration about mycotoxin appraisals and storage conditions. Drivers are not allowed to tip their loads unless this paperwork is in order; so we have to be very vigilant.
Yesterday I applied some fertiliser to the oilseed rape and winter wheat. Our order has not yet been completely delivered, but there was sufficient to give all of our needy crops a little boost for the spring growth that will determine how many ears of seed each plant can carry.
Urgent applications of grass weed control chemicals were finally applied at the weekend. Sunday, as seems increasingly usual, was a very energetic day trying to make the most of the good weather conditions. Our sprayer can only be used to apply chemicals properly when temperature, wind speed and moisture all meet the tight constraints. Much tearing of hair the past few weeks waiting for things to come right; however, the crops now look fairly good, apart from some unfortunate patches of poor germination.
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Unkind fly-tippers tried to block the gateway into Agnells, making it difficult for the sprayer to pass on its legitimate way. Council officials were called to the scene and we discussed what measures need to be taken to control this increasing menace. Happily, Derek, who celebrated his 50th year working for us this week, managed to dig me a way through with the old MF30 tractor. People seem to have no respect for our countryside, or right to work, perhaps that is why the unelected Quango’s want to cover us with caravans and concrete; food security will become a priority when we have lost the land and the skills to feed this rapidly filling little island.
6/4/08
Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, apologies for using an Anglo-Saxon nomenclature yesterday; thank you to the kind person who pointed out my error.
Little Adam is doing well and Mike and Ali are settling down to the profound roller-coaster ride that is parenthood. Our Park has been augmented with three cherry tree saplings to mark the addition to the family. Very pleasurable work to be able to record family landmarks with plantings which hopefully (compulsory purchase orders allowing) will enhance our immediate landscape for future generations. Each tree in this corner of the Park has a story: a poplar planted when Mike was born; a walnut planted by my grandfather; chestnut trees planted by my father; ash trees by me; and so on.
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Having planted the trees in very warm spring sunshine yesterday, I was surprised to see the shroud of late snow this morning. Urgent excavations of my ‘wardrobe’ were necessary, to unearth suitable winter clothes before I could venture out into the sub-zero temperatures.
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Recently, Derek celebrated his fiftieth year working for the family. The changes that he has seen in farming over this long period do not seem to have scarred him too much as these pictures show. Strangely old-fashioned, I fear, to be able to have had a ‘job for life’.
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Bean seedlings have emerged in Gadds Lane and Merry Corner. Unfortunately the cold northerly wind has ‘nipped’ a few leaf edges but the strong little plants appear to be sufficiently ‘winter hardened’ to withstand a short return to proper winter weather. The rest to the crops look a little better after the ‘tender loving care’ that I showered on them with sprayer and fertiliser spinner, last week.
Young leverets and rabbits, visible from the tractor as I passed across the fields, are another sign of spring. Our closely monitored wildlife seems to be revelling in all of the ‘environmental’ areas that we still set aside for their wellbeing despite the rapidly rising wheat prices and the removal of the requirement to ‘set-aside’ a certain percentage of our land. Urban investors may not be as keen to maintain, voluntarily, this balance as they look for a return on their speculative investment into farmland.
Having land prices distorted by the ‘dumping’ of recent large city financial bonuses does little, in my opinion, to produce a sustainable British Agriculture that will be capable of supplying our food needs into an uncertain future of demographic and climate change.
Easter holidays from school are coming to an end and I have to go back for two days of INSET. At least, I have been able to catch up with some farm-work, but I have not had much rest or recuperation. Life moves on with an increasing pace; I never believed this ‘truth’ when I was young, but it is very evident now. Perhaps I should just get on with what I want to do now, instead of fretting about an uncertain future; the cherry trees can do that for me.
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