August has been a very chaotic month here on the farm and also stressful at times due to our ‘wonderful’ British weather! In the last week alone, we have seen sunshine, wind, rain, hail, and thunder and lightning!! This has led to challenging conditions with several of our machines getting bogged down in wet patches in the fields and needing pulling out. I am ashamed to admit, I got stuck twice in one day in my tractor last week!!!
There has also been a lot of worry due to the uncertainty of whether we could get our crops harvested before they perished. This has been UK wide, with daily write ups in the farming media pages and even Jeremy Clarkson & Kaleb Cooper voicing their concerns about the challenges of the 2023 harvest.
Not to be deterred, we have cracked on, and our two John Deere combines have been nibbling away at the crops at every given opportunity. Thankfully, we have managed to achieve a lot during the dry spells, and have harvested all of our winter barley, oilseed rape and beans, and as I write, the lads are out working late harvesting some more of our wheat crop. It is often assumed that harvesting the grain is the end of the process, however there is one more stage for us. Back at the farm, Martin and Judith have been working tirelessly, putting all the grain we have harvested through the grain dryer, to make sure it is at the optimum moisture level to be stored. This is a lengthy process, but without it, our grain would spoil and be unsellable. Once it is dried, it is then put into storage and the temperature and moisture levels checked twice weekly until it is sold.
As well as combining for ourselves, we have also been working for other local farmers’ harvesting their crops and drilling next year’s oil seed rape which I am told every farmer likes to have in the ground before September! Our oilseed rape is also in, and fingers crossed, the fields surrounding the farm will be a sea of yellow flowers next spring! Wheat is the next crop to be drilled, and it won’t be long until we are out working ground and ploughing the fields again, but first we need to finish harvesting!
A fun job we have had this week was at Broom House Farm at Witton Gilbert doing their whole crop silage. This will be fed to their sheep and cattle over the winter months. For anyone who has not visited them, they have a fabulous farm shop and café and it is well worth the trip! We also sell their wonderful gammons, sausages, sausage meat, bacon and festive stuffings at Christmas, which can be ordered on our website alongside your turkey!
Speaking of turkeys, we opened our order books a few weeks ago, and we have been amazed at how many orders we have received to date. I don’t think we have ever had so many in August! We only sell a limited number of birds per year, so please do get your order in to prevent disappointment. Our collection points are the same as last year, and any orders made in the next 4 weeks, will be at 2022 prices. Orders can be made on our website, but should you have any issues, please do not hesitate to give Tanza a call on 07736 018822 or pop her an email: tanza@drydenfarms.co.uk .
We have started doing lamb boxes again this year, and what a hit they have been! We have sold two batches over the last month and received superb feedback about them – Thank you 🙂 . It is so lovely to hear, and to know that rearing our lambs slowly and in a more sustainable way is worth it. Lamb that is produced for supermarkets is raised intensively and quickly, often resulting in poor flavour and texture, something we do not want to compromise on. Due to their popularity, we will be continuing to sell these over the next few months. Please do contact us if you require further information or to place an order.
We must apologise to all of our egg customers, that our girls have not been laying very well the last few weeks. They have started their molt which is quite draining for them, because they need a huge amount of protein to make new feathers. This results in them being unable to lay eggs at the same time. They are however starting to lay again, and our new hens who joined the flock a couple of months ago are also laying their first eggs too, so hopefully we will be able to offer lots of free-range eggs for sale again in the next few weeks.
Until next month. Wishing everyone all the best,
Martin, Judith, Richard, Tanza & George