Summing up November...

Gah, the rain. I’d forgotten how muddy and slippy things become over the winter. Last year I spent time desperately digging troughs for the deep puddles to drain off the track, but they’re back with a vengeance.
The track needs a lot of attention, but that really is a big and expensive job – and not one we're responsible for at the end of the day. It’s mistreated regularly, and would be back in the state it is now within a couple of months, so without more control over what happens to it we make do and mend.


Well, despite the weather, it’s all systems go around here at the moment. Hopefully at least some of it will be noticeable in the spring, but as with a lot of the work we’ve done so far, it may be lost in acres of derelict and scruffy land we have no responsibility for.

There’s not only physical work going on though, behind the scenes things are moving apace too, with new possibilities, old uncertainties, and possible directions laid out before us like a Christmas selection box. Steer clear of the nougat cluster and find me a strawberry cream.

Again, who knows what we’ll actually be able to move on with, but it seems the new website has brought a little good fortune and positive thinking for the NUFP – and long may it last.


Throughout my time with the NUFP it’s been a bit of a crazed do-si-do. A few steps forward and a few back – you just have to keep it heading the right way.

That can make planning very hard work. A few things go our way and you feel animated, prepared to take the bull by the horns and get stuck in, only to find someone else has grabbed the bull, mistreated it, and you’re having to convince folk it wasn‘t you.

A convoluted metaphor, but at least it had a farm animal in it.


Anyway, to end, I’d like to thank everyone that donated trees and our regular volunteers who planted them as part of the BBC Breathing Spaces World Record attempt, Tree O’clock – www.bbc.co.uk/breathingplaces/treeoclock.

We planted 25 trees of varying sizes and types in less than a hour, twice as many as we pledged to plant, and now we wait to see what the total figure was across the country.

To put us in our place we hear in Derry they broke the record for 100 people planting trees in an hour – over 26,000 trees! Maybe next year...

Hey, any tree planted is a good thing, and the best time for planting them is last year... so go and stick a conker in a park somewhere.

I'll end with a big thank you for Far Cotton Boxing Club who made sure we stuck to the rules. They're always helpful and John really does good work there – another hidden gem in Northampton.

Jamie

Animals, we're all animals.

The hot weeks of August brought a couple of days when the neighbouring animals were particularly pungent. It felt (smelled) like a real farm for once – precisely the reason we make sure any plans for animal housing is away from the boundaries and peoples gardens.

August saw me looking at sheep – as you do. There are a couple of breeds that would suit us, it’s clear there are some decisions that need to be made before we can think about details though.


I’ll explain why (until the chickens arrived) we didn’t have animals on a permanent basis this year. Theoretically, we do have the minimum required space for us to keep sheep or pigs as long as we brought feed in for them, but we chose not to.

Firstly, the minimum requirements aren’t necessarily the amount of space we’re comfortable with. It may be technically fine for the sheep – we’re talking about an animal that’s prone to have a heart attack just because it’s in a new field after all – but we’d be the owners so we have to do what we feel is best.
And besides, seeing sheep roam across open meadows just looks better than when they’re penned in – even better if that large meadow is fenced properly of course.
The dream of them wandering adds problems as to how people can get close of course, but we’re keen for the place to feel like a farm not a zoo, so we’ll just have to be creative.


The second reason for no animals is the amount of feed we’d need to buy.
Even on good grass five sheep would need an acre to graze during a year – then more feed in the winter. And less grass means more feed you need to buy in... so basically we just don’t have the space or the income yet.


Working out what is and isn’t possible has made me realise how wasteful of space meat production really is.

A single cow also needs an acre, so those beef burgers you chomp through have needed a big chunk of that. Now work out how many cows you might need for your diet every year (including milk), then how many other people eat like that. That’s a lot of land needed just for a big dumb animal to churn up and watch ramblers in. And cows aren't all you're stuffing your face with are they?

Now how much of other types of food could be grown on that same space?

I’m certainly not trying to push vegetarianism here – personally I couldn’t live without meat – but we should probably all eat a little less of the meat stuff. Spend the same amount and get better quality I say.

Here endeth the lesson.


Talking of quality, in July we went to see some pigs kept on the outskirts of Northampton. Only the very faintest hint of a smell on the breeze as we approached, nothing like the industrial farms I’ve been on before, and they were lovely animals.
Clearly well-cared for, living a happy life... and they make delicious sausages – get to the Farmers Market on Northamptons Market Square and you can try some yourself.

They had Old Spot and Tamworths – piglets are a definite attraction. One day, one day...


Our chicken runs took far too patch together and I admit I became a bit picky about the types of chicken I wanted us to have. I still argue I was right in that though – the Columbians have been far less trouble than those loony leghorns, and at the end of the day they’re built for laying... and just look right.

The coops had been sitting empty and in position for a while, but even they'd needed extensions. Will anything we buy ever be right first time?

After some initial fighting, especially from one of the insane leghorns, the thirteen chickens have settled in – we’re just waiting for enough to start laying eggs. One a day isn’t exactly going to feed the customers.
Don’t quote me on this, but I’d guess around Christmas the Columbians will be laying in numbers. Watch, as they let me down with their usual quizzical peck.



There’ll be more on the chickens and everything else on our main website soon, www.NUFP.org.uk/oakapple, the blog will be added to whenever one of the farm managers has something to say, and the occasional butterfly-like thought that flutters through our heads will appear on our twitter feed. I don’t want to hear anyone complaining we don’t tell you what’s going on!

We’re always happy to hear from anyone passing through though, so get in touch, leave a comment, or visit us on our open days.

Jamie

Fruit and nut case

After all the summer shenanigans we were heading into fruit and nut season.
The nearby pears were looking as gnarled and inedible as usual, and the hazelnuts were stripped by squirrels before they were ready – the floor littered in the shells. The walnut tree resounded to a constant war between those same squirrels, some travelling as far as from the other end of the track to reach it.

With all the rain and then sun it was a great year for plump blackberries. Very tasty, and I'd noticed there were a lot of people collecting in the area. It's shame that so many get so wasted here, but that's all out of our control.
As with all soft fruit, collecting them ourselves to pass on isn't as easy as it would seem. They're an unreliable crop, don't last long, and are incredibly hard to store without processing – so unless there's a ready market, you may as well take what you need and leave the rest for the birds. An awful lot of space needed for very little.

The plums appeared very early on our tree and twenty plums were saved from the wasps and fungus – very tasty. The myriad plum trees across the site came on later, but as in previous years the fungus and rot took hold before they were ready. Such a waste. And such a mess.

An awful lot of apples fell early. We tried clearing them away before the rats had their annual feast, but with most of the site out of our control and overgrown that's a losing battle.
The lack of pruning means fungus takes hold as well, the vast majority would be unsellable.

Then we had a visitor. Someone roamed the site collecting most of the eating apples, even the single tree in our fenced area. It seems they also took a couple of our squashes.
We have our suspicions who it was, particularly as one person boasted about having some apples from the site. It’s a shame they’re like that, but it’ll work against them in the end...


Next… animals.

Jamie

Rotating food

I'll start todays post with a quick bit of latest news: one of the loony leghorns laid our first egg. Probably Dame Margot, who has too much personality. There are extra pages coming to the website soon which will go into the chickens in more detail, so keep an eye out for them at www.NUFP.org.uk


So I was gong to explain about, what we’ll call, the rotation area. It's completely fenced and split into five sections, the first and second sections are mainly grass now, but as with the rest of this area it was rescued from thick brambles last winter.

The grass sections were earmarked for the chickens, but for a while around our open day in Easter we had the lambs running around. As cute as they were, and as helpful at cutting back the grass, I was glad when they went back to their owners. Their insistence on wanting any bit of grass that was beyond a fence – even when they were standing on perfectly good grass – became a little tiresome. Most of the fences on the site aren’t ours, and there’s little we can do about whether they’re sheep proof or not.

Which brings us to the wheat in the section next to them. The wheat… I’ll come back to the wheat.

Oilseed rape was sowed in the fourth section and it did a good enough job. The greenfly had a ball though, with millions taking up residence and sucking the life out of every tip and flower stalk. It was surprising to see only three very lucky ladybirds attacking them though – in fact I haven't seen many all year which is odd.

There was very little actual seed in the end then, which was perhaps a good thing as it's really a weed. Having said that, there were a couple of days in August when the thick aroma of the flowers filled the air – like bluebells, it can be overwhelming and not something I particularly like.

I'm not actually that keen on growing it at all unless we have to, especially as we already have the yellow sunflowers – but you shouldn't grow it on the same land for another 7 years anyway, so it’s a no go next year.


Wheat!! Oh the wheat...

The sunflowers worked brilliantly in section five. A bit taller than expected, variable head sizes, and I'm sure there were far more plants than were put in. Instead of 150, we ended up with more like 250. Oh well, not a bad thing.

Baring in mind they were bought as bird seed from a pet shop we seem to have struck lucky. We were growing the commercial variety rather than the giants that children grow, and I’m surprised they’re not sold more readily for gardeners, they were so easy and yet so impressive.

The large heads were collected before the birds could strip them completely, and the seeds dried and stored. We'll definitely have more next year... and I mean more.



So, the wheat.

We were lucky to be passed on to a contact at RAGT Seeds who was exceptionally helpful. If anyone out there is looking for a farm seed supplier...
They donated a large bag of their organic Paragon wheat to sow – enough for next year as well.

It did really well through to June. Healthy, green, erect, and not a gap to be seen. The sun gradually did it's work, and a golden glow began to form as the stalks dried.

And then it went downhill.

The neighbours sheep broke the gate and decided to have a walk around amongst it. They didn't eat any, just had a wander.
Deaf to the promises they'd be kebabs, they were herded (dragged) back through the gateway and the gate patched up more securely.

With so many tracks now running through the wheat, at least a third had been lost and I couldn't even look at it for a couple of weeks.

And then it got worse.

Rain storms hit it hard, and the strong wind ripped through those tracks flattening yet more. It was now a matter of salvaging what we had. A couple more weeks of sun was needed to finish it off, but it rained and rained.

And then suddenly... it was gone. The lot. Flattened. Every stalk systematically snapped and the grain taken.

A list of suspects was built up, but conclusive evidence was lacking. Was it the deer? A roaming dog? Rats? Rabbits? Squirrels? Humans? Wildebeest?
There'd been some large footprints nearby – jokingly described as bear tracks at the time – but now suspicions turned to badgers.
They're known for trampling wheat and eating it at times, but had they taken a liking to ours?

We were never to find out. My money would be on a combination of animals, all doing their share. Gang culture is alive and well in the wild.

With no wheat there’d be no grinding it into flour, so that demonstration would have to be sidelined for another year.
There‘s no such thing as a failure though. If anything, the experience is a lesson about farming – you can lose an entire crop quite easily, and that’s the bulk of your income gone for the year. Food production is a risky business, and not one that should be taken as casually for granted as we often treat it.


The plan for next year and beyond then is to rotate these sections so we make the most of the nutrients in the soil and show how rotation works on real farms. The wheat needs lots of nitrogen, the rapeseed less, the sunflowers aren’t that fussed, and the chickens are adding plenty to start the process all over again.

It isn’t as easy as that of course, and you need to make the most of the land during the winter months too. By having area one as permanent grazing for the chickens we’re part of the way there.

Ideally we’d have winter wheat instead of sowing it in spring, giving it a head-start next year – but we have the ‘bully’ chickens ripping up the grass in area two and adding a little goodness to the soil.
Doing a similar job are field beans in area four, which add nitrogen and can be pulled out in the spring ready for the sunflowers.

Field beans are an odd crop, they’re not really eaten in this country with much of it going into animal fee – but we grow an awful lot of the stuff and yet most people wouldn’t have heard of it.


It’ll be interesting to see what improves and what doesn’t, and who knows, we may get a chance to grind some of our own wheat.

Fingers crossed.

Jamie

Buildings

With a new supply of wood from Apex Scaffolding we can finally move on with some of the much needed buildings on the site.

Our plans for them went on hold during the summer. We held back as we didn't want to begin work we'd soon have to move again – but as our attempts to resolve the stalemate over the land was answered by the developers playing silly games (ruining an excellent deal for them I might add), we're going ahead with what's possible again.

Hanging around waiting for donated goods can be a bit frustrating, but you can't complain, we're lucky to get them and certainly very grateful.

It has meant the reorganisation of the NUFP and Sisyphean paperwork could be completed though, and there's a pretty good plan for the farm over 2010 – whatever happens.


I'll mention here how there are never enough volunteers when you need them, and too many when you don't – which is why I'm so grateful to those committed volunteers who keep coming back. It's one of those things where the more you put in the more you get out of it, so if you're at all interested please do get in touch – but we need people who get on with things.

There are opportunities for physical work, joining a committee, fundraising, PR, and helping with events.
I do have to make the statutory statement that there are no paid workers with the NUFP and that the NUFP has no intention of creating a contract or contract of employment with any of its volunteers at any time in the future – which is a bit stern, but necessary.


The dullest job is almost certainly filling the raised beds.

Originally the area was to be a quiet spot for any ill animals – out the way from visitors – but, with too little land coming into our hands that we could use to graze animals on generally, we quickly rearranged the current plans so it became our market garden.

It wasn't long before we realised the developers of the neighbouring housing had used the area as a dumping ground for rubble, sand, and rubbish. Add to that the previous occupants remnants, fly-tipped rubbish, and down-and-out refuse we find across the whole site, it didn't look likely we could plant directly into the soil. The regular discovery of broken glass made it clear we certainly couldn't.

Cleaning the soil out as best we could, we took a leaf from urban farming in Cuba and created an example of what they call agroponicos (or organoponicos if you‘re being particularly green). There’ll be more on that on our website soon via the Oakapple farm pages.

The beds were made from scaffolding boards donated by Apex Scaffolding (a big thank you again to them), and knocked together in an afternoon by a fantastic group from the University of Northampton.

They've been slowly filled with a mix of soil, manure, and rotted compost and as an experiment we quickly added a large number of turnips. Around 90 survived the dry spell, and next year we’re hoping to have various crops growing. Bulk is the key word though, we’re a farm not an allotment, so while there’ll be a selection of crops, not so many that we only have a six or seven of each.

Next time I'll explain what we grew this year in our rotation area.

Jamie

First things first...

Hello, and welcome to the first post on the new farm managers blog for Oakapple Farm in Northampton.

As we're all volunteers there are three farm managers, and all three of us will be leaving regular posts explaining what's happening on the farm.

Over the next few weeks I’ll be adding my thoughts on the last year of work and hopefully you’ll grow to understand the lay of the land, before we begin updating on the latest that's happening from our intriguing project.

Keep coming back, and well see where things take us.


And of course you can find out more details about what we do from our website www.NUFP.org.uk

Jamie