Harry, as we have named him, arrived at Cotswold Honeydale Farm on a grey, rainy day in March and we’ve not even started sowing the fields yet. He’ll be spending the next few months in the bar. But we’re very pleased to have him, as you can see from Sam’s smile!

Most farmers require maximum capacity combining, but since we will be growing research plots for our seed mixtures, we needed a combine capable of dealing with small areas. So when we saw this one advertised on EBay, we couldn’t resist having it transported up from Dorset.

‘I got a brand new combine harvester and I’ll give you the key.’ That song charted back in the record breaking hot summer of 1976. So here’s hoping for some sunshine soon, and a good growing season.

 

The volunteers were marshalled by the Wychwood Project, a group that encourages people to understand, conserve and restore the rich mosaic of landscapes and wildlife habitats in what was formerly the Cotswold’s Forest - the ancient Royal Hunting Forest of Wychwood, within the boundaries of which Honeydale Farm firmly lies.

In medieval times, this was a place where deer were reserved for the King’s use and at Domesday in 1086, the Royal Forest of Wychwood covered much of what is now West Oxfordshire, stretching from the River Glyme to the east, the River Windrush to the south west, the smaller Sars Brook to the north and a section of the Thames to the south. This area would have also included meadows, cultivated open fields, heaths and downs and was one of the most wooded Forests in England. It fell into a gradual decline following the Tudor period, exacerbated by the Napoleonic wars, when timber was in demand for the navy.

The Wychwood Project, which covers all or part of 41 modern day parishes, from Taynton to Woodstock and from just south of Chipping Norton down to Northmoor, aims to enhance the environmental, cultural and historical features of the landscape, working closely with local communities.

As such, its supporters were very enthusiastic about our tree planting and turned out at Honeydale in force. It was a cold but clear day and it was truly heartening to see people of all ages, from all walks of life and from all over the Cotswolds, as well as further far afield such as High Wycombe and Leicestershire, working together. We had it all done within four hours, planting 2000 saplings including alder, hazel, field maple, willow, dogwood and sweet chestnut, which will later be harvested for firewood and to provide poles for hedge laying.

As modern agricultural practices take much of the blame for the 50% decline in farmland birds, we are putting into place our plans to ensure we provide a little piece of bird heaven at Honeydale Farm!

In addition to all of the planting we have done, which in time should provide fabulous nesting sites and food supplies for the birds, the new habitats that will be created by our flood alleviation work, the supplementary feeding, plus the insect attracting seed mixtures due to be sown in the spring, we have just finished installing cosy bird boxes around the farm.

We have chosen the very long lasting Schwegler Woodcrete nest boxes. They come with a 25 year guarantee and are very solid indeed. We bought several different types to appeal to a wide variety of birds from sparrow terraces, swallow bowls, tit boxes to wren balls, an amazing array of luxury bird homes! We have put most of them around the farm buildings so that we can enjoy watching any inhabitants as they come and go. We inherited 7 feral farm cats when we bought the farm so with some expert advice from Louise Spicer of the Wychwood Project's Bird Aid programme, we had to try and ensure all the nest sites are safe from their attention.

Schwegler advice is that no minimum distance is required between birds. Two species can breed next to each other on the same tree. Depending on the site, (the more natural the better) and the amount of pests, up to 15 nest boxes per acre can be installed in woods, gardens etc.

We are determined to give the birds every chance to start their breeding season well fed and in good health and by providing just a bit of extra housing for some of them we hope to give plenty of them the opportunity to rear a succession of large broods of chicks. If, as we hope, we eventually end up with twice the number of birds on the farm, back to the pre war numbers once seen, can you imagine what double the volume of birdsong will sound like ?!

- Celene Wilkinson

To reduce this wastage we’ve cut back the amount of seed sown to just under a kilo every few days until the temperatures drop and we have evidence that more of the seed is being consumed in the feeding locations.

But if we have If we have more nights like we’ve had these past couple of weeks, with temperatures falling to -1°C, the farmland birds around Honeydale will be more and more in need of the extra food.

Successful shelter-belt establishment

The shelterbelt on the northern edge of the farm has established well, with a uniform covering along the entire length. We are expecting some barley volunteers in the establishment phase, but this should not be a long-term issue and we’re looking forward to seeing the wild flowers in the spring.

Sainfoin

The Sainfoin in the polytunnel has slowed down its growth for the winter but we have generally seen a good take of plants. However there does seem to be some difference in the growth habit with the majority growing to a low height, with a large basal rosette of leaves. A few have a much more upright growth habit and it’s generally these that have flowered this summer.

The usual management technique is to cut or lightly graze a crop of Sainfoin at the end of the first year of establishment to encourage new growth and remove any dead or dying leaves. We have seen some evidence of down mildew on a few plants, which will also be removed during cutting. An Allen Sythe was used to cut the crop at approximately 7 cm, after which the cuttings were removed. We have carried out similar management on a small patch of Sainfoin outside the poly tunnel.

Wild Flowers

The wild flowers were also cut back in a similar manner to the Sainfoin after they had finished flowering in October. Since this was carried out we have some of the species, notably Wild Carrot, Autumn Hawkbit and Ragged Robin, putting up new flower heads. It shows that the cutting rather than decreasing the flowering ability has actually increased the amount of flowers produced by the plant - the Wild Carrot produced 2 flower heads this summer and after cutting in October it now has 17!

Satisfied Sheep!

The sheep have temporarily gone from the Honeydale pasture to allow the grassland a period of rest and recovery which will provide an ‘early bite’ of fresh growth in the spring. It also helps to reduce the worm burden in the soil by stopping the input of worms in the animal faeces for a period.