Trenderway Farm

A New Pedigree South Devon Heifer born this morning

2010-04-25T13:35:00.003+01:00

As one Marathon starts another ends!

This morning as we watched the runners gathering for the London Marathon our own marathon calf watch ended. GrannieAnne our "old girl" that had kept us guessing for the last 5 weeks finally calved.

We have been on intensive calf watch for the last 5 days. This means that I have been checking on her at midnight 3am and then first thing in the morning. Last night the clinical signs indicated an immenant birth and I settled to armchair watch. Thats armchair by the Aga and an hourly walk up to the barn. At 3 am I gave up. Local lore is that if it has happened by 3am it won't happen before 6am. This proved true as Jacquie, who got up at 6am to bake fresh bread for our guests' breakfast reported that GrannieAnne was munching away contentedly.

By 8:30 it was all over. A text book calving without any outside assistance or interferance. A lovely heifer calf that we have christened Trenderway Fancy 1 to celebrate the renewal of a good old bloodline.

Saving our Farming Industry

2010-04-25T13:09:00.002+01:00

Yesterday Trenderway played host to Jim Paice the Conservative Spokesman on Farming and Rural Affairs and Sheryll Murray our local SE Cornwall Conservative candidate and we hope our future MP at Westminster.
It was a delight talking to a politician who actually GETS farming. The fresh attitude and perhaps even naivitie that Jacquie and I bring to farming probably plays a large role in shaping our perspectives. We find that a large part of our enthusiasm is dampened by the low quality and high quantity of both compliance and regulation. While we were talking Jim pulls out the a small booklet published by the Conservatives called "A New Age of Agriculture, Our Agenda for British Farming". It more or less addressed most of our concerns. The biggest of which is the observation that its all very well , bringing in regulatory controls to manage Environment, Welfare, Food Safety etc, BUT. Farming has to be the only industry where the cost of inputs appears to have no bearing on the cost of outputs.
Sheryl's passion for the issues that affect our local economy in Sout East Cornwall is undoubted. We have no doubt that she will be as effective in Westminster as she has been over the years that she has been campaigning for local issues.

After a good cup of tea by the Aga, we all went for a farm walk amongst our South Devon herd. Jim complimented us on the cows and was especially impressed by Flete Anne one of our new cows. What a revelation an MP (although as Parliament has been dissolved there are no MPs at the moment) and, we hope, our new AGRICULTURE Minister that actually recognises and appreciates a good cow.

2010-04-21T07:55:00.001+01:00

Latest addition to Jacquie's hen menagerie. This little fellow was rescued from a broodie Buff Orpingten hen, that having sat on a clutch of eggs for the whole 21 days promptly starting squashing them!We were amazed that it survived, as it was prematurely hatched by its clumsy mother. Jacquie put the partially hatched egg in an incubator and the whfarm watched as for 24 hours it went through the motions of hatching, albeit outside the shell of the egg. Yesterday morning it "hatched" and we were still doubtful it would make it.Amazingly, as you can see, its doing really well. Chirping extremely loudly and sharing the nursery with 3 threesome that hatched just before easter.

Spring Evening from Meadow Barn Deck

2010-04-20T11:52:00.000+01:00

The Meadow looked lovely in the evening sun yesterday. We have a large group of geese nesting this year and they are not as noisey as in previous years.

Full Blast Heat at Trenderway

2010-04-03T12:58:00.002+01:00

While it may be somewhat wet this Easter Weekend - our guests are warm and cosy.

The new boiler has been installed and is pumping heat into all parts of the farmhouse. The change was felt instantly and its obvious that the 30 year old plus boiler, which had been gallantly attempting to cope, was due to to be retired.

We have also completed the refurbishment of the shower in Granary. The old shower had been leaking and the damage to the plasterboard and floor was such that we had to rip it out. This gave us a great opportunity to let our imagination run free. We have used old cornish Roof Slates that were half buried in our field to tile the shower and it looks stunning. Guests staying in the Granary will enjoy a Hansgrohe EcoSmart Raindance Air shower. This is one of the best showering experiences available and the EcoSmart makes it guilt free as it's so water efficient.

Getting warmer at Trenderway - and closing for a short while

2010-02-23T09:04:00.001Z

Not only are the days getting longer and temperatures slowly rising but it will be even warmer at Trenderway this year.

Our new boiler is here - not the biomass solution we are planning to install but an interim conventional boiler that will provide oodles of hot water and plenty of heat for all the new radiators.

What this does mean is that we don't currently have a central heating system, or hot water or even cold water in the guest bedrooms. We don't have a laundry room either and the yard is full of plumbers, builders, vans of various colours and the sound of cement mixers. Making a Trenderway Breakfast in the midst of all this activity is seriously compromised too as we don't know if the Aga will be on.

So we have been obliged to delay our season opening by a little.
Rest assured we will be open for easter when all the improvements and refurbishments, big and small, made over the winter and spring will be there to enjoy. In the meantime if you do miss the Trenderway Experience please do call or email us.

Trenderway Under Snow

2010-01-07T19:27:00.000Z

Where it not so inconvenient the snow would be wonderful.

I take that back. The inconvenience is part of living and working out here. Unlike an office job we can't just call in saying that the car won't start or the roads are too slippy. Our animals have to eat and the jobs list does not get any shorter.

At Trenderway no one missed a beat. Those of our staff stuck because their cars could not handle the condition were picked up with one of the 4x4 vehicles. The rest made it in themselves.

Jobs outside that simply could not be carried out were replaced with indoor maintenance and repairs.

And we have discovered that building sand makes a great gritting material which, when washed out in the thaw, is then nothing more than a soil conditioner.

So the snow is wonderful. It cradles Trenderway in a clean crisp blanket and we just have to work with it as part of Nature's magic.

(It not as poetic, however, for dairy farmers. In many parts of the country the authorities are focused on clearing main routes (commuter routes) and milk tankers are finding it very difficult to collect. The councils' depots are refusing to allow farmers to collect grit themselves and therefore to grit the access routes. One of my new feeds is suggesting that some farmers are already spreading milk on fields as the cows have to be milked and they are running out of storage space.)

A Former Terrorist Speak Out - Islam and the Israeli - Palestinian conflict - MUST WATCH

2009-12-07T16:54:00.001Z

Real Elephants not Just Orange Elephants

2009-11-22T05:37:00.003Z

Trenderway Farm is in India!
For any farmer India has to be heaven on earth. Everything grows and the earth is just bursting with life. So what if the produce is so completely different and the livestock is treated like a god. Coffee grows in the hedgerows, pepper is a wild vine running riot on nutmeg trees and cocoa pods are picked and split so that the flesh around the seeds can be sucked as a snack.
Right now Jacquie and I are sitting on the veranda at Philip Kuttys Farm looking out over the lake, sipping lime juice and just watching the lilies float past. Behind us is a 50 acre farm that we are looking forward to touring later in the day.

Meeting some elephants and getting to rub up against them was unbelievable, we tried to explain that we have our own elephants in England - Orange Elephants as our South Devon Cows are affectionately known.
Our trip is taking us from coast to hill to the backwaters and to the Jungles. We are staying with farmers and homesteads, eating fruit and spices from their own gardens and drinking coffee bought in the local market from other local growers.
On the way back we will be stopping in Mumbai/Bombay for a short while. Just long enough we hope to get a sense of that unique city and to visit the Dahrabi slum and the markets.

India is magical and now I know why everyone told us that once you visit India you are just starting to visit India.

Beef is good for you and good for the environment

2009-10-09T08:30:00.004+01:00

I am getting terribly irritated by the latest wease in the global warming/climate change camps. It appears that the unchallenged and unfounded claims made by green campaigners is that all you need to save the planet is to become a vegetarian.

Timing of these repeated announcements feels like a well thought out ambush, so many of them being made in the midst of summer, the busiest time for farmers who really have had more important things on their mind. Thankfully in, “Reducing Emissions from Livestock”released by the Royal Agricultural Society of England (RASE), Dr David Garwes, maintains that grassland farmers have already made a considerable contribution to food security while at the same time reducing the environmental impact of the stock they carry – and are therefore in a position to continue to make important contributions to the fight against climate change while at the same time helping to feed the British nation.

Dr Garwes also urges consumers not to give up eating red meat while emphasising that more than 60 per cent of British agriculture is grassland based.

At Trenderway Farm our adopted methods are aimed at what we believe is best for the animals and also best for producing superb beef. In doing so we have also adopted a carbon friendly approach. Our cattle is grass fed and grass finished. We have reduced the amount of forage we gather, feeding our cattle on grass in the field as long as we can reducing our dependance on machinary and therefore reducing the amount of fuel we burn. Our feed regime means that our cattle belch and flatulate less than on intensive regimes and what is not used for their own metabolism is then deposited on the ground as natural fertiliser.

A natural cycle, taking its time producing excellent, well flavoured healthy food slowly.

The Eagles are coming

2009-09-10T17:14:00.004+01:00

Ancient Art of Falconry is coming to Trenderway Farm

Phil and Sharon from Ancient Art Falconry from Bodming Moor here in Cornwall will be flying their birds at Trenderway on a regular basis and wonderful sight and one that our guests have been enjoying the as the Birds of Prey have been getting to know our terrain.

Over the next few months we will be setting up courses, experience days and weekends. Phil and Sharon will be sharing the magic of these magnificent birds. Owls, falcons, hawks and of course the handsome Steppe Eagle will all be available to fly.

In the meantime we are enjoying every moment these awesome creatures spend on our arms in the the air above us.

Contact either Phil and Sharon or Jacquie or Yaron to find out more.

Eat what you grow - Beef

2009-09-10T16:58:00.004+01:00

Its been an interesting culinary week.

Sunday dinner was a small family affair to try out the first Trenderway Filet. Cooked to perfection in spite of the group approach and the pressure of eager hungry diners, the meat was superb. Soft to the knife and tender to the mouth and with so much flavour that the superb sauce Jacquie had prepared a brilliant extra rather than a requirement.

I can happily state that if all our produce is of the same standard, Trenderway steaks will require nothing added.

Yesterday evening was just as good. 6 of us round the kitchen table with good food and good drink. We started with our new beef sausages. Made to a recipe from Richard McGoewan at Couch's the sausages were superb. Herby, spicy, the nutmeg just ascending to the nose, the mustard and black pepper warming the palate and the garlic and onion adding just that strong rustic flavour. Fantastic.
These were followed by another superb filet. Even better this time.

Red Arrows over Fowey

2009-08-21T09:39:00.001+01:00

On a grey and windswept day the faithful gathered on the fields overlooking Fowey for the annual Red Arrows display. The wet summer of 2008 left this field so muddy that it became unusable and it was with great anticipation that we approached the venue this year.
A huge cloud hung loomed over the Fowey side of the estuary and though we were bathed in glorious sunshine the first strong gusts were starting to blow.

Everyone looked west and willed the clouds to head north - to no avail. At 1829 the heavens opened up and at 1830, to our sodden delight, the Red Arrows appeared from up the Fowey River.

I was blown away. The horrendous visibility should have muted their display. It didn't. In fact the angry backdrop of dark clouds and pouring rain just made the aerobatics all that more impressive.

The display concluded, the cloud passed over us a magnificent rainbow appeared to the East and the sun started to burn away those last few drops of rain that insisted on adding to our damp enthusiasm.

With a huge roar the Red Arrows re-appeared and proceeded to play with the rainbow for another 5 minutes. Magnificent!!

We will back for more next year.

red arrows over fowey 2009

Beef in the raw

2009-08-18T16:48:00.002+01:00

Its amazing how what 367kg of meat looks like. This is the deadweight of the cow after slaughter and removal of the parts of the carcass that are not eaten.

We went to view the carcass at the butcher's this morning. The carcass looked superb and to be honest we are excited at the prospect of eating our own meat. Owing to the age of the cow we will hang her for at least 3 weeks before butchery.

The good news is that the grade was excellent, whats known as an R4L in the trade. This means good conformation and just about the right amount of fat. This cow would have been on a predominantly grass diet throughout her life, this shows in the colour of the fat which is a rich creamy colour. More on why this is so important later...

The line that had to be crossed

2009-08-12T16:37:00.001+01:00

We knew that we would have to cross this bridge and yesterday we did.
Fancy, our 4 year old barren heifer was delivered to our local abattoir. This was a first twice over for Jacquie and me. First time taking one of our cows to slaughter and first visit to an abbatoir. It was a fairly clinical affair, the only indication of the buildings' purpose being the branded articulated lorries outside.
We left the cow in the lairage in a large pen with fresh straw, ready for processing the following morning.
By now its just meat on a hook and that is how we have to think about it. Our casual urban insulation from the realities of the meat on our plate has been stripped away. For myself, rather than becoming overly sentimental this has just cemented a respect for the creature that we raised and killed in order to provide food. I expect that we will enjoy both the meat that we eat and the commercial dividend of that which we sell in a few weeks time.

In a few days time we will visit the butcher, find out what grade the carcass made and start making decisions on what cuts to produce.

The Alpacas have arrived!

2009-07-02T08:26:00.002+01:00

After the fox attack we had to get protection for our birds - the Alpacas.

More later

Turning the cows out for the summer

2009-05-15T09:34:00.002+01:00

Yesterday was a big day. I guess for the more experienced livestock farmer this is just another season, but being our first it has its significance!
Preparing your animals for turn out is complicated, in fact it feels very complicated. We had three separate groups. Our mothers with calves who were wintered in the shed, the young bulls who we weaned off their mothers early winter and had to be kept away from females and indoors who were in another part of the shed, AND the heifers and open cows who spent the winter on the hill. Incidentally the girls who spent the winter out look much better than those who spent it under shelter.
The last few weeks have been spent;

introducing all three groups to electric fencing
getting them used to moving between different areas in the farm
worming all three groups
introducing the non mothers to the mothers (a little bit of physical assertion determining Top Cow ensued - briefly)
Vaccinating (yesterday) - cows get routinely vaccinated for, Blackleg - a horribly aggressive Clostridial infection that can appear from nowhere, Bovine Viral Diarrhoea which affects the unborn calf and Leptospirosis which can cause abortions and sickly calves amongst other issues.

Having run the first round of vaccinations we turned the herd out into its newly prepared field that had been divided into small paddocks. The grass looks wonderful, lush green and full of buttercups and the cows dived straight in to their first meal of fresh summer grass, it was a pleasure to watch. We will be moving them onto fresh grass every day to 2 days, and will be adjusting the size of the paddocks as we go along trying to ensure an even grazing pattern.

DEFRA continues in its quest for Trust...

2009-05-10T13:58:00.002+01:00

Once again DEFRA proves that it can be trusted. Having announced earlier this year that UK stocks of Bluetongue vaccine were to be sold to Europe and that new stock would have to be purchased at full market price. Prompting many of us to order early. DEFRA have now announced that they will be dumping stock in the UK at 50% discount. Once again our politicians prove that the rules that apply to ordinary businesses do not apply to this government.
Where any business organisation to announce a stock clearance with all stock to be cleared, and any future stock to be sold at a higher price...only to then halve the price of that product. Trading Standards would have a field day. Especially if this were a market defining retailer.
However DEFRA feels that it can drive sales of Bluetongue vaccine on the back of an announcement that prices will increase, only to cut prices when it finds that the former strategy has cleared the shelves.The ethical sales strategy would have been to discount to clear.The result of this exercise is that responsible farmers that have already ordered their vaccine are being penalised.

read more | digg story

Michelle Obama's organic garden angers Big Agra

2009-04-30T14:23:00.001+01:00

You got to love this. Only in the USA could lobbyists be so blatant to condemn an organic garden. Read onMichelle Obama's decision to make her new White House vegetable garden entirely organic has angered America's powerful agribusiness lobby who are urging the First Lady to consider the use of appropriate "crop protection products".

read more | digg story

First Blossom from our Apples

2009-04-16T21:02:00.003+01:00

Brownlees Russet. First to show a blossom!

And more fresh blossom

2009-04-16T21:02:00.002+01:00

Upton Pine showing nicely and
Cornish Aromatic....just starting to show

Hard-up shoppers abandon organic and fair trade goods

2009-04-02T08:07:00.002+01:00

The Times has commissioned research that show consumers abandoning the "Organic" label in their droves, down by a 1/3rd in the last 12 months. They are transferring their ethical and health concerns to buying food with good provenance. Under economic pressure consumers are making their own decisions and not relying on certified branding schemes like the Organic label.These attitudes strengthen our own thinking that consumers are smart enough to make their own decisions about the source and production of their food and the minority that are also willing to pay more will reward producers who share this information honestly.
Unfortunately the "organic" space has become too crowded and competitive with highly prescriptive certification bodies dictating to farmers in order to get their approval. At the same time organic products compete in a global arena with lower cost imports driving down the prices paid to farmers. This means that the significantly higher costs of Organic production do not command the appropriate premium and when the costs of inputs skyrocket they get stuck. Witness the application for feed exemptions by britains organic dairy farmers this year because the cost of organic cattle feed is so expensive.
So is the way forward based on better communication between farmer and consumer, with the farmer gaining his consumers' trust without the need for a 3rd party certification?

read more | digg story

That Burger You're Eating Is Mostly Corn

2009-03-20T16:28:00.002Z

By tracing the unique chemical signature of corn, scientists in the USA have shown that most of the meat in American fast food is raised on corn

read more | digg story

Suckling Success

2009-02-22T18:15:00.000Z

Sharing experience of giving birth
Something profound must have been exchanged as shortly afterwards successful and enthusiastic suckling commenced

Cows like doing it at 2am

2009-02-22T11:33:00.003Z

Snoozing in the arm chair in front of the TV waiting for my shift, I somehow woke up at 2am exactly, and made my way to our cowshed to find "Pammy" with the water bag hanging out and the tips of the calf's fore hoofs just visible.
A relief after Spring's early presentation on Thursday. Then all we could see was one hoof after continuous pushing and had become very worried that the calf was not positioned correctly. Being newbies we seem to keep expecting the worse!
Our decision to call on our good neighbour Henry (incidentally he produces the best Strawberries in Cornwall and sells them at his gate just a mile south of Pelynt) was absolutely correct. Although Spring was positioned correctly, her mother was not pushing hard enough and we needed Henry's guidance and experience to help her deliver.
We hoped that this would be our final lesson and the next time we could do it ourselves.
So when Pammy started delivering at 2am, we knew that it was time to put all that observation and advice to the test.

I have to tell you that its not as "ickky" having your hand up a cows behind as you might expect. On a cold night at least your hands warm up quickly swiftly followed by your body from the hard physical effort of providing tension to help the cow when pushing. Although both feet were presenting I could only get the the calving ropes over one foot, and concerned that I was not crossing the feet and head I had to get my hand well inside to identify the head and other foot. After a few minutes of hard work we got the second foot sufficiently exposed to attach the second rope. Sorry no pictures everyone was working, no one to hold the camera this time.
The hardest work was keeping hold of the ropes as my hands and arms were generously lubricated with gel, which had transferred itself to the ropes.
At this point it was simply a case of finding the grip to supplement mother's pushing with a little extra tension and within a few minutes, as the pictures show the calf was born.
Mother adopted the calf succesfully, but with 40 minutes having passed and the calf still not on its feet we decided a little encouragement was needed. Its fortunate that we handle our animals every day and they have grown to trust us.

As you can see had she decided to nudge me, hard headed as I am, there would be no competition.

Trenderway Spring arrives - our first calf of 2009

2009-02-19T19:56:00.001Z

We keep being told that South Devons do most of the work themselves. However this one was not interested in pushing. When only one foot appeared and then disappeared we called in reinforcements - Henry our neighbour.
He located the other foot and we attached the calving ropes.

With a small constant pull applied, the mother got back to pushing and the head appeared. It looks gruesome but this is a very healthy calf - and its a she! A great result as this means we have another breeding "unit".

Her arrival, not quite spring time, but the first day this year where it felt like spring was near meant that Jacquie christened her Spring.

Mother and daughter are happy. The mother got up pretty swiftly and started licking her calf. Very shortly after the calf started suckling, rather a humourous affair as the instinct to suckle is strong but not recognition as to which end of the mother contains the milk.

A Sad day in Trenderway

2009-02-05T13:19:00.003Z

From Trenderway Cows

Even before we left Trenderway we had been concerned about 403, a cow we nicknamed Mama. She was our first pregnant cow, purchased from the Trewint Herd in calf and calving in October with a lively little bull calf we nicknamed Joe. ( as in Joe Bloggs because he had no name)

Mama had been off colour since last week. We had the vet in on Wednesday and he gave her a 3 day course of antibiotics and an anti inflammatory. She perked up almost immediately and we thought that it was a simple chill. By Sunday she was badly off colour and that evening we called the duty vet out again. Another course of same treatment was prescribed. This time she did not improve and it was strongly suspected that she might have a foriegn body such as a wire in her reticulum. Apparently this is a known problem stemming from the wire in the tyres used to hold down silage clamps, which could have been picked up at any time by the cow. A check with a magnet being introduced into the reticulum on Wednesday ruled that out and the vet more or less said that we should call it a day. We were not willing to give up quite yet, and with the wealth of livestock and veterinary knowledge available from delegates here at PASA we came up with an initial approach.

John, back at base, has been trying to get Mama's rumen working again with electrolytes and lactobacillus.

Unfortunately, none of this worked and late this morning Mama died.

As one of our neighbours warned us "when you have livestock, you have deadstock" we should just shrug this off, learn the lessons and move on. However its not that easy and all of us have been left saddened by Mama's death.

Joe will have to be weaned off 6 months early and we will need to learn the lessons from the post mortem.

Welcome to the realities of the natural world - this is farming.

Snow stops play

2009-02-03T13:14:00.002Z

Yesterday was chaos. We stood in a queue for hours in the chaos that was Terminal 5 waiting to talk to a British Airways ticketing agent, hoping that we could get onto the 1705 flight to Philadelphia.

Eventually we made it - and I will blog more about this when I have calmed down. Having stayed last night in Glen Mills with our friends Sarah and Jim, this afternoon we are braving two snow storms to travel 150 miles to Penn State University for the PASA Conference. Should be interesting. At least here the country has not shut down, it takes more than a few inches of snow to shut the American economy.

Trenderway Farm orchard Planting day 3

2009-01-17T19:30:00.000Z

Saturday morning and we were surprised by the clear blue skies and soft breeze. It was not going to stay that nice so everyone piled in to their jobs determined to make the best of the day. Our dour expectations were fully justified. The rain held off, for which we were all grateful, however the wind picked up through out the morning until is was blowing us across the field as we worked, although you could say it was gently assisting us in the right direction.
Just after lunch Sue, Trenderway's housekeeper, came to visit with her grandchildren who all planted a tree each.
Jacquie showed them the graft onto the root stock and explained how carefully each tree had to planted, with the roots gently surrounded with earth and graft kept about 4 inches above the soil.
Perhaps the most unusual picture of the day is that of Ben, our farmhand, throwing himself enthusiastically into the job of hammering the stakes into the ground. Usually camera shy we managed to snap him while he was unable to twist away. The implement in his hands is actually rather heavy and takes a certain knack to use effectively.

Trenderway Orchard - Planting day one

2009-01-16T18:32:00.000Z

Day one of the planting schedule completed and it looks great. We lost count but we think that we planted about 240 trees today.

Trenderway Orchard - the first tree is planted

2009-01-16T18:27:00.000Z

Everyone wanted to get involved with planting the very first Apple Tree. This one is a Court Pendu Plat - we don't have a picture yet of course, but you can see one here

Trenderway Orchard - Planting starts

2009-01-16T18:19:00.000Z

The first holes are dug out along the lanes we measured weeks ago.
Stakes are hammered into the ground to support our fragile trees - probably a little overprotective. However there is no history of Apple growing here on Trenderway Farm and with the SW prevailing winds occassionaly getting rather strong we decided to adopt the safer options.
A sophisticated root dip is prepared. This is actually quite an interesting bit of science. Its a rootdip from a company called Plant Health Care and is intended to boost the mycorrhizal on the apple trees' roots. It contains five superior species of endo- and ectomycorrhizal fungi that will colonize the roots and a whole load of other good stuff. You can find out more here. This is the US site, if any readers are interested in the products for use here in the UK you should contact PHC via their UK website

Trenderway Orchards - the trees arrive

2009-01-15T17:58:00.000Z

Jacquie and I were really excited this morning as we anticipated the call from the haulier. The truck was too big to get down our lane so we needed to meet it at the top of the lane, conveniently at the entrance to Beef Park, our orchard field.
The trees arrived bare root, in bundles of five with the roots bagged to protect them.

The most important step we have to take was to move them all to a more sheltered part of the hedge as we were expecting 50-60mph winds on Thursday night.

Our new pole

2009-01-14T17:53:00.000Z

Now thats what you call Hardware. Western Power arrived this morning to replace our leaning electricity pole. Or rather they put the replacement in its place ready for changeover day next week. This impressive piece of kit is a Mercedes Unimog with a rather special arm on its back. It drills, it lifts, it holds telegraph poles straight while they are being bedded in. The driver can even manage the tyre pressure from within the cab to reduce the ground pressure of the wheels.

The drill in the arm in the picture is the ground anchor for the stay wire for the post. They drill it in, at an angle and leave it behind.

Benn nearly gets it

2009-01-09T08:27:00.002Z

Our favourite politician, Hilary Benn, grabs an opportunity to show his "support" for farmers by backing a call for country of origin labelling on food. As usual he does not quite get it and does not go far enough as he only backs a voluntary code where a compulsory code is what we need.

As British farmers work hard to support the provenance story being demanded by UK consumers AND most other European comsumers too, current legislation allows for huge aberations with, for example, meat origins not requiring the animal to have spent its entire life in the designated origin.
See the NFU report here

Oxford Farming Conference 2009 - DEFRA secretary Hilary Benn talks bovine TB

2009-01-09T08:24:00.002Z

Defending the indefensible. Benn rolls out his the same old defense of his decisions last year regarding Bovine TB. Unfortunately analysis of these "decisive actions" reveals their true worthlessness as classic political spin. Take a look at the highly factual, objective and informative NFU TB Factsheet here

We said it was freezing

2009-01-07T17:46:00.000Z

We said it was freezing yesterday. You can see the frost on the water tanks coming from the condensation from our boiler!

Temperature Plummets

2009-01-06T14:17:00.002Z

This morning we woke up to sub zero temperatures, it was -3C outside. The indoor troughs have frozen over, the troughs in the field have almost an inch of ice covering them. The fields, on which we have avoided driving for the past 3 months because they were so wet, are hard with the freeze. We put our older cows out for the morning, to enjoy a little sun and so that they can drink. While the field troughs did have a layer of ice on the surface the pipes feeding them are not exposed and have not frozen, so there we have a good supply.

Today is the day we started work on drilling the trenchs for our new 3 phase power supply and the freeze could not have come at a better time. Although we will need warmer weather when pointing the walls in the new Utilities Room and pouring concrete

Its now about 1430 and the temperature has risen to a balmy 0C. Its absolutely beautiful with clear blue skies and superb visibility, the cows have been brought in and are bedded down for the night.

2009 is starting fast

2009-01-04T21:37:00.002Z

Sunday evening, 4th January and I am contemplating the start of 2009 and the multitude of activities we have to complete in the next two weeks. Our apple trees arrive on the 15th and our new 3 phase power supply is being switched over on the 20th.
However on the 14th Western Power will be laying the new supply cable, which means that in between then and now we have to have cut the trenches and laid the conduits over about 300m of meadow, hedges, concrete hard standings, concrete barn floor and an old piggery floor. All this while the daily chores and scheduled maintenance tasks are kept in hand.

Its a New Year and the adventure is not slowing down.

Trenderway Orchard - The Beginning

2008-12-26T18:15:00.000Z

Boxing Day 2008 and we have finally got the new orchard laid out. All 4 acres or so with space for about 600 trees.
The sticks in the image are bamboo poles marking lanes running down the slope which are spaced 6m wide. The trees arrive 15th January and will be planted 3m apart.
January 2009 is going to be a big month.

This little exercise took us 3 days - although the first day was spent with alot of corrections and much discussion. The last 10 rows were laid in just 2 hours!

Exchange rates and British Farmers

2008-12-12T10:33:00.001Z

FWI correspondant reviews the situation as the pound drops against the Euro

Quads and new drivers

2008-08-15T18:10:00.001+01:00

So this is what happens when our visitors enjoy riding our ATV a little too much.

Poor Gigi... now she knows what makes the quad stop and what makes it go faster, next time she sees a stretch of water approaching fast, she will push/squeeze the right bits.

Not to worry, the cavalry arrived and pulled them out, nothing damaged apart from everyone's sides, which were sore from laughing too much.

We towed the quad out and having given every bit a good coating of oil are letting the engine drain out over the weekend.

Trenderway Farm joins the jet set

2008-08-04T19:07:00.001+01:00

or at least the helicopter set.
Monday evening we had our first helicopter land at Trenderway. Part of the surprise birthday celebrations for one of our guests it added real zest to our day and reminded Jacquie and me why we do this farming and hospitality stuff.

We had been planning this for days. The weather kept us on our toes, raining all day and then clearing up for the few hours needed to make this little event superb.

In the morning we provided coded directions for the individual concerned which she had to use while her husband drove. The directions brought her to Castle Air near Liskeard where the helicopter in the photo took her for a tour of our area. She actually landed in Cows Field amongst the bales, some of which I had stacked to create a windbreak which also hid a suprise picnic and some very old, Cornwall based friends that the birthday girl had not seen for several years.

We had a lot of fun preparing the picnic, canapes where provided by Richard at Couch's in Polperro and the "champagne" was Camel Valley's cornish sparkling wine supplied by our neighbours Castang Wines.

A wonderfull time was had by all, and the evening ended with a sumptuous feast at The Well House in St Keyne.

Our first harvest at Trenderway

2008-07-20T22:37:00.001+01:00

It may only be grass, but it was our first harvest. After several weeks of waiting, the right weather arrived and stayed long enough to make silage. We had Stone Field cut on the Wednesday afternoon, and spread on the Thursday afternoon. Friday was grey, and full of light drizzle, so even though the grass started wilting it was still to wet for good silage and we postponed baling.

Saturday morning was bright and breezy so we rowed the grass before and let the wind blow through it.

We started baling after lunch and got a chain going taking the bales to the store.

The South Devon Herd Arrive

2008-06-24T16:00:00.000+01:00

Monday 23rd June: South Devon Cattle return to Trenderway Farm.
The first of our South Devons are off loaded into their new home. "Pretty brown cows" as my mother called them.