Weekly Update

• We’re over half way through lambing season: over 90 Lleyn and Black Welsh Mountain lambs have been born so far.
• One of our Berkshire gilts has had a litter of 6 this week. A small litter is not unusual for the first time, but we do hope she produces 10 or more next time.
• At last the grass is beginning to grow. The severe winter has delayed spring growth which has meant that we have used nearly 50% more straw and silage this year than last. All the cows will be turned out to grass in the next two weeks.
• We have hatched our first goose – the youngster is doing well!
• We’re starting to see the blossoms on our strawberry plants – look out for Church Farm strawberries in the café very soon.
• Mutton is now available in the store. Useful information can be found here: http://www.muttonrenaissance.org.uk/

Chicken Keeping: Did you know?

According to recent studies, most of the eggs currently sold in supermarkets are nutritionally inferior to eggs produced by hens raised on pasture. Testing has found that, compared to official nutrient data for commercial eggs, eggs from hens raised on pasture may contain less cholesterol and saturated fat, more vitamin A, more omega-3 essential fatty acids, more vitamin E and beta carotene.

Chicken keeping course
We know that there is growing support for the Church Farm ethos of high animal welfare and an ecologically sensitive food production as there are increasing numbers of people who want to keep chickens at home to produce high quality eggs. On
10th April, 6 local enthusiasts took our beginners’ course in chicken keeping where Angie Cumming our resident poultry breeder offered practical and theoretical advice on topics ranging from handling and taming, to feeding, housing and health.

If you would like to find out more about keeping poultry in your garden, why don’t you join our next course on 20th April or enquire about other forthcoming dates.

Vegetable of the Week: Potato

Here's a quick round-up of which varieties to choose:

All-rounders: King Edward, Maris Piper, Romano and Desirée potatoes are suitable for every type of cooking except for salads and steaming
Baking: Cara, Golden Wonder, Marfona, Estima
Boiling: Cara, Estima, Pink Fir Apple, Saxon, Nadine, Vivaldi, Yukon Gold
Chips: Estima, Maris Piper, Pentland Dell, Sante, King Edward, Golden Wonder
Mashing: King Edward, Pentland Squire, Pentland Dell
Roasting: Cara, Wilja, Pentland Dell
Salad: Charlotte, Ratte, Jersey Royal, Pink Fir Apple, Vales Emerald

“Britain needs one million farmers" say campaigners

Britain's dwindling farm workforce is driving the UK towards monoculture farming and destroying our biodiversity, say campaigners. A report last year, ‘New Blood’, from the Royal Agricultural Society of England (RASE) said the industry needed 60,000 new farmers over the next decade. However, organisers of the Oxford Real Farming Conference, set up earlier this year to challenge conventional thinking on farming, say this figure is inadequate. 'The current thinking is that farming needs to be cheap and monocultured and therefore as simple as possible,' said conference co-organiser Colin Tudge. 'We now have a situation where fewer than one per cent of the population works on the land: that's a precarious position.‘

Read the full article in The Ecologist

Free creative workshops and films for all the family…

Come along to the East Herts Eco Film Fest at Castle Hall in Hertford from 11.30am – 9.30pm on 24th April. Not only will you be able to enjoy award-winning films that bring our planet to life, learn to make your own animated films and artworks of genius from recycled materials, but you’ll also have the opportunity to feed the family with delicious Church Farm refreshments and snacks and listen to Tim’s talk on Agrarian Renaissance. FREE ENTRY.

Figure of the Week: 35

Equipped with binoculars, our team of bird watchers - led by local bird expert Richard Pople - managed to spot 35 different species of birds on 10th April. These included the grey heron, canada goose, mallard, red-legged partridge, pheasant, moorhen, wood pigeon, collared dove, green woodpecker, great spotted woodpecker,pied wagtail, wren, dunnock, robin, blackbird, fieldfare, song thrush, long-tailed tit, blue tit, great tit, tree creeper, magpie, jackdaw, rook, carrion crow, starling, house sparrow, chaffinch, greenfinch, lesser redpoll and yellow hammer.
Migrant birds from Africa such as the garden warbler, black cap, chiffchaff and willow warbler, were also spotted on the Farm indicating that Spring has definitely arrived.

“Really interesting – just didn’t realise there were so
many different species out there, and a lovely walk
with good weather! Nice to meet such lovely people.”

Are you an early bird?
If you fancy enjoying the beautiful birdsong of
spring at dawn, join Richard Pople on 8th May for
a refreshingly early start as he talks about the
early birds. Adults £6.50, Children £3.50.

Did you know?

Meat from grass-fed animals has two to four times more long chain Omega-3 fatty acids than meat from grain-fed animals, which scientists agree is crucial to human health. All Church Farm animals have time to grow and mature naturally with access to grass and herb rich pasture.