From the Farm

By Lisa Leigh Martin

It’s the beginning of the New Year and time for New Year’s resolutions. If you’re like me, you spend several weeks of December thinking of resolutions or goals for the next year; both for your personal life and professional life.

We have several New Year’s resolutions for our farm this year. One such resolution, is to further understand how we can utilise the wool taken from our sheep every year at shearing time. We have a small flock that stays on the farm yearround; a number of Zwarbles and some Mule sheep (A lovely mix of Mule and the French breed, Charollais). Understanding the benefits and uses of their wool is priority one for me and my good friend, Paula, who lives down the road.

As you may have read, the wool market has been in a free fall (drop!) the past five years. There are many reasons for this, all exacerbated by Covid-19, such as: the growth in demand and production of synthetic fibres, fewer players in the industry supply chain, Brexit uncertainty and the US-China trade war. Many farmers could not afford to transport their wool for sale as the prices fell so low. Some had to burn the wool as it costs to store. That was not an easy decision to make in the face of so much uncertainty during these times. In an effort to become greener and more environmentally friendly, we would like to turn our attention further and further away from synthetic fibres for our clothing and other such products. Perhaps, in 2022 begin to seek out ways in which you can buy more environmentally friendly clothing and home items using natural products. We hope to be able to bring a few products to market and will keep you posted! Life on the farm in January is quieter; we turn out attention to everything that needs repairing or fixing. We do also pray for some frosts to kill the bugs and any diseases trying to creep up within the crops. We love a bit of sunshine and rain and welcome the colder nights. January is also the time where we start spreading slurry in preparation for the silage or hay that will be taken later in the year. That is why frost is so useful, because it means the fields will be firmer.

We hope very much you have a wonderful start to your new year, full of fresh ideas and hope for the coming year. There’s plenty of British produce in season to pick from this January such as: Apples, Beetroot, Brussels Sprouts, Carrots, Celeriac, Celery, Kale, Leeks, Mushrooms, Onions, Parsnips, Red Cabbage, Salsify, Savoy Cabbage, Spring Greens, Spring Onions, Squash, Swedes, Turnips, and White Cabbage. Happy New Year everyone!