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08/3/08
Cracks in the ceiling are about to become a euphemism again, at least in this farmhouse. Years of negotiating, well over two, have finally resulted in the insurance company paying something for the Buncefield damage. Our chosen builder is repairing and building on several fronts, and the house is quite a mess, but it is good to dream of what will soon be a comfortable home again.
Unease seems to be surrounding me as I will soon have to start fighting the building and traveller site plans of the East of England Assembly; coping with family change as well as farming and teaching.
Beans have replaced the failed Oilseed rape in New Pond, Merry Corner, Bairns and Gadds Lane. Rushing around on various tractors, the past two weekends, have kept me busy sowing and spraying the beans as well as applying grass weed killers and fungicide to the remaining OSR.
Inspection results for the school were as expected, like the curates egg. Nothing drastic needs to be changed; in fact, much of the Action Plan seems rather cosmetic. Good teaching, in my opinion, is being hampered by some of the many layers of political micromanagement that has infected schools. So we jump through the hoops, knowing that in our professional opinion, our young people would be better served by innovative and exciting teaching dispensed by trusted teachers.
Our local ‘climate’ has experienced a little refreshing ‘winter’ this year. Many more frosty days would be helpful in controlling the plague of rats, but at least we have had enough to weather some of the clay clods in the fields. Unfortunately, we have not had much rain yet, and the dykes were unfilled this February. Changes in our cultivations and an awareness of our ‘carbon footprint’ will, help us manage the different weather that is being predicted for our near future. Hopefully, the politicians will grant us the flexibility from their urban ivory towers to respond to the challenges.
Lorry loads of wheat are leaving the farm at an increasing rate. Our marketing ‘strategy’ is to cool and store the grain, harvested last August, until the following spring. Very careful monitoring is needed to make sure that fungi, insects or rodents do not affect the quality of our breadmaking wheat. Each load that leaves the farm carries an ACCS passport that confirms that we have met the appropriate assurance standards. The farm is inspected each year by an independent inspector, and the next one is due soon.
Old tractors will soon need replacing, and I have been kept mentally exercised trying to work out a strategic plan for this business in the medium future. My preference would be a good second-hand 200hp tractor with a large capacity fertiliser spreader (with variable rate controls); but can I justify it, even with the improved cereal prices?
Yesterday I saw hares ‘boxing’, a red Kite hovering over the park, and several Munjac deer along with the usual countryside residents. Life is definitely quickening as the days lengthen. I seem to feel so much happier when I can get out into the fields away from the office and brown envelopes.
Fertiliser, ordered last June, has yet to be delivered. Each time I nag Andrew, he assures me that our needs will be met, but it is another worry. Tales of shortages and massive price rises are not very comforting.
Yet it is still a wonderful privilege to be able to earn the majority of my living from the soil. Perhaps I moan a little too much!
23/3/08
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Congratulations Ali and Mike!
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Little Adam is a wonderful new member of our family; I am slowly coming to terms with new my grandfather status.
On holiday from school now, but lots of farm work to do once the weather settles down. Very early Easter holiday this year so we should not have been surprised at the ‘daffy’ snow this morning. Even the birds seemed a little surprised, having spent the last few warm weeks singing their courting heads off.
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We have still not received the fertiliser that was ordered from our supplier last June. I have chatted about the situation to Andrew and he seems to have been given conflicting messages by people in his rapidly growing organisation. Little family farms like us (well, the farm is only about a square mile in area), seem to be increasingly unimportant on a global scale. Let us hope that sufficient nutrients will be on the farm when our crops start their rapid spring growth.
Cultivations for the spring beans kept Dad quite busy, and I have included a series of photographs taken a few weeks ago. Our worm population was reduced by the hordes of gulls that seem to arrive as soon as we take a tractor into the fields. Nevertheless, our regular incorporation of organic matter into the soil and careful use of agricultural nutrients and disease and pest control chemicals seems to be maintaining a very healthy population of these subterranean workers.
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Quite what the unelected Eastern Region Council has in store for our farmland has yet to be made clear. Urban sprawl seems to be on their agenda as they strive to provide houses for the un-debated demographic changes that their political masters are imposing on us. Evolutionary change to communities seems, to me, to be much more preferable than the centralist revolution that is being demanded from above.
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Realities, like the regular flooding of the ‘dry valley’ that the regional planners have designated as suitable for travellers and housing, do not penetrate their misguided ‘can do’ approach to environmental destruction.
At last, our post Buncefield repairs have started in the farmhouse. Large amounts of damaged (dusty) ‘daub and wattle’ plaster have been stripped from the walls and ceilings, so the house looks worse at present. Little wonder that I am alone this holiday, camping out in the building site that was once called home.
Pasqual greetings to you all!
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