April 2008 Archives

A couple more photos of the miniature pigs which I’ve blogged about before.

Depending on your perspective, right now you’re probably either saying “Aggghhh, how cute” or ‘That would be just right for one serving!”

The BBC gives some more background here.

An egg that takes two hours to boil? Surely not. Well, actually yes - it's an ostriche's.

I like country post offices and I like dogs and I like beer. So this story works on a number of levels for me!

The dog got named, you'll be pleased to hear.

The lovely black lab, seen here with young Evie, ended up as Duffy.

What a motley crew.

This is me and four of the five reprobates I’m covering the Young Farmers convention in Blackpool this weekend with.

With the exception of two of us, all of us are too old to qualify as “young” farmers – 26 being the upper age limit for being a member of this organisation.

I’m considerably older than that, but at least I’m not as old as our photographer, Jonathan (he’s obviously not in the photo, because he’s taking it!) who’s positively ancient.

Since I posted about the North Pole farmer earlier, I've been sent an update on his progress.

A campaign to celebrate cherries - I like the sound of that.

Northumberland-based farmer Jamie Wood is right now on the race of a lifetime to the North Pole braving blowing snow and a wind chill factor that has sent temperatures plummeting to minus 30 degrees centigrade.

Jamie and his Polar Warriors team mates Angus King from Yorkshire and Paul Moxham left the start line on 21st April – 100 years to the day after the American Frederick Cook controversially claimed he conquered the North Pole for the first time.

The challenge was to complete a 350 nautical mile race against eight other teams to the finish line at the magnetic North Pole; a journey which was expected to take between 12 and 14 days depending upon the weather conditions and the team’s speed.

Back at home in the UK, Jamie helps to run two family farms in the foothills of the Cheviots. His trek is raising money for the Great North Air Ambulance which he feels provides a vital service in his community in rural Northumberland.

And if want to move seamlessly from the North Pole to the South Pole, here's the story of a land agent's epic adventure.

It's that time of year again.

Young Farmers from across England and Wales will be getting together for their annual convention this weekend in Blackpool. It's going to be three very long days and three very late nights. A whole gang of us are going from FW so watch this space for news of the event.

We'll be out and about at the meetings and in the bars and we've even got a 'convention'virgin' coming along this year - Faisal. So if you see him, be nice to him. Here's a photo of him looking silly in our 'tractor face' competition.

In the meantime, if you want a reminder of what it's like, here's our video from last year.

So, Caroline went to see that play this weekend called The Farm, based on Richard Benson’s bestselling book of the same name.

Below is a sneak preview of the article she's written having watched it and talked to Richard.

Never mind the bees, I’m certainly never going to trust chickens again eiter after reading this article in The Sun.

I've never trusted bees.

This story (and video) doesn’t make me any more inclined to, either.

The place is already being known as the “bee swarm restaurant”. Mmm – bet that’s good for business!

Cats may be off limits, but dogs most certainly aren't.

And you could mop the floor with this one.

My name’s Tim and I’m a cat bore.

OK, as contests go, it's not an epic (it's hardly Foreman versus Ali) but this one made me smile. The Times have pitted a swanky strimmer against a sheep. Which would do the better job on your garden?

These are nice - the Royal Mail has issued 10 new 'Action for Species' stamps, featuring such beauties as the adonis blue and the silver spotted butterflies.

Theatre buffs might be interested in these pictures from rehearsals of The Farm.

A friend of mine, Caroline, who was blogging on Field Day last week about - among other things - moose is going to see the play this weekend so I'll let you know what she thinks.

Feeling romantic/randy? Well here's how you can impress with asparagus.

Have been reading some more of that fabulous old-fashioned recipe book that I blogged about yesterday.

It points out in the introduction that as far as wild food is concerned, "one man's poison can easily become many men's meat".

Bet you've never seen Antony Worrall Thompson dressed as a cardinal before, have you.

He did it this morning to conduct a symbolic 'cauliflower funeral’. No, I'm not making this up - the celebrity chef was administering last rites to a ‘coffin’ of caulies.

We went to Winterton-on-Sea in Norfolk for a holiday a few years ago. Stayed in a lovely cottage and spent a week walking up and down the dunes. It was out of season so the place was empty and windswept.

Not any more. Hundreds of people have descended on the place - all because some bird's been spotted there. Madness!

Money, it seems, does grow on trees. Here's Britain's most valuable tree.

I've just been given a copy of a book a pal has unearthed called The Wild Foods of Great Britain.

It's by a bloke called L C R Cameron and was first published in 1917 by George Routledge and Sons and it's stuffed with recipes aimed at country dwellers who wanted to use the countryside to supplement their food during the First World War.

It certainly demonstrates how our eating habits have changed. Badgers, red squirrels and brown rats are among the many species of animals and plants it recommends we tuck into.

As you know, I like a ferret.

And I just happened to catch a few seconds (I wasn't watching it, you understand) of Britain's Got Talent the other day - and to see a dancing ferret act.

It was hilarious - principally because they didn't dance. They didn't even do anything that remotely resembled dancing. They simply legged it.

Anyway, enough of Simon Cowell and Britain's Got Talent.

Scottish Women’s Rural Institutes members will be offering live entertainment at their 90th Anniversary Variety Entertainment Competition at Blairgowrie on May 2 and 3.

I get sent the most peculiar things.

There was the dullest book ever written. There was the fantastic sloe gin. And now, today, these.

More bad news for bird lovers today in The Telegraph.

The RSPB is launching a campaign today to stop the illegal killing of birds of prey. Let''s hope they're successful.

Don't forget tomorrow is St George’s Day.

As well as being a great chance to celebrate Englishness (something we don't do enough), it also marks the beginning of the traditional asparagus season.

Now I like a shepherd's pie as much as the next man - but obviously I don't feel quite as strongly about the subject as these two men.

Adam left a comment recently on my Shipwrecked with a Farmer post observing that I seemed to be using a lot of photos of blonde women at the moment.

So here, in the interest of journalistic balance, is a photo of a brunette.

It isn't, incidentally, an entirely gratuitous use of a photo of an attractive woman.

It's Gizzi Erskine, presenter of Channel 4’s Cook Yourself Thin, who'll be working with Fresh Herbs as a brand ambassador – helping to raise the profile of fresh herbs in the UK.

Now this dog is seriously cute.

My friends Grant and Hannah are getting her this weekend. Let me know if you've got any suggestions for names and I'll pass them on.

If you're in the South East, you might well have noticed it.

There was a foul smell wafting over large parts of London and the South East on Friday.

The ‘London Stink’ is believed to have been caused by Dutch farmers’ slurry spreading en masse at the end of their winter no-spread period.

Remember Big Udder, the online farming show inspired by the tv reality series Big Brother?

Well apparently one of the stars has just given birth. That's one of the few things that hasn't happened on the real Big Brother!

It happens a lot in the Farmers Weekly office, but once again our sense of style has been shown up, this time by a group of young farmers from Yorkshire.

The East Riding of Yorkshire Federation of Young Farmers Clubs held a charity fashion show last week to raise money for the Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution.

And there wasn’t a Naomi Campbell-esque temper tantrum in sight as more than 200 people showed up to watch models from clubs around the county strut their stuff in top country fashions.

Something to keep your eye open for on TV tonight….

A Scottish landowner has decided to reintroduce moose back to the Highlands.

Paul Lister wants to recreate a traditional forest on his 23,000 acre estate near Inverness , complete with animals who used to roam the glens thousands of years ago.

As well as moose, he has his eye on bears, lynx and wolves.

Rather worryingly, especially for his neighbours, he won’t be able to put fences up to keep the animals on his land.

Fencing them in means the park would be a zoo, making it illegal to put predators and prey together.

To whet your appetite before tonight’s A Moose In The Glen on BBC2 at 8pm, here’s some lovely footage of the moose in action.

This picture made me smile.

Tim is spending ‘quality time’ at home with Nutmeg and Parsley this week so he isn’t blogging as much as he usually does.

In his absence, I thought it was my duty to inform Field Day readers about this story I spotted today about one of Tim’s other favourite subjects (after his cats).

In a bid to save the UK's red squirrel population, The Red Squirrel Protection Partnership in Northumberland has taken to culling about 200 North American Grey Squirrels every week, which are sold to local restaurants through a game shop.

I actually have one such grey squirrel nestling in my freezer at home.

I’ve never watched Shipwrecked – but maybe I’ll have a reason to now.

The new series of the Channel 4 reality show features a country girl from rural Somerset.

I like ‘interesting characters’.

Interesting characters being a euphemism, of course, for people who in less politically correct times might have been referred to rather differently.

And I thought one of my cats was overweight. Take a peek at this brute.

I’ve heard of all sorts of diversifications over the years, but this is a first: a barn being converted into a swingers club.

The man behind the scheme is ex-dairy farmer Roger Stanbury who’s created Club Vanilla, a place which is being billed as “a purple-decked lounge for mature swingers”.

Mr Stanbury, who was a dairy farmer but has moved into running a camping and caravanning site, is unapologetic about his new venture.

He reckons “entertainment for discreet but consenting couples” will cause less trouble than the discos he had been holding for teenagers.

The latest four-legged arrival at Askham Bryan College is a baby possum.

The creature (pictured with Nicky Broadbent) is already making himself very much at home with both staff and students.

Mambo is getting used to campus life as he settles into the Animal Management Centre of the York-based college.

I’ve mentioned the Dairy Daughters calendar before.

Well it’s raised a whopping £1,500 for a great cause, Farm Crisis Network - a charity which specialises in supporting farming families.

Fellow bloggers might like this story - or possibly be scared to death by it. Literally, it seems.

Forget Paul McCartney and Heather Mills.

It's farming divorces that get really acrimonious.

A birdsong radio station? This isn't a late April Fool, this is for real.

What a stunning picture.

I’ve only eaten hare once – at a ‘hare supper’ in Wansford in Lincolnshire, which has taken place every year for more than 50 years.

Jugged hare was OK, but I don’t think I’d go out of my way to eat it again…

I was reminded of this having just read an article in The Grocer magazine.

It’s official: the Melton Mowbray pork pie is special.

So much so, in fact, that it’s going to get protected geographical status (PGI) from the European Commission, putting it on a par with Champagne and Parma Ham.

If you like shooting, then you might want to get hold of some of this.

A brewery is producing a special beer to celebrate the British Association of Shooting and Conservation's centenary.

We've finished making the food video.

If you fancy trying cooking any of the three dishes, here are the full instructions for each (the video is embedded in each recipe).

Asparagus risotto with jewelled couscous
Lamb tagine
Rhubarb fool

At last, it looks like a bit of common sense is breaking on the issue of kids and playing safely.

I'm pleased, as this is a bit of hobby-horse of mine.

And I thought it was just Herefordshire accents that people were disparaging about.

The poor old Brummies don't come out of this survey on accents very well.

Anyone read The Farm by Richard Benson?

I have - and I loved it, although I've got a bit of a vested interest as I do know Richard.

I've just been sent a card with a lovely illustration of a cow on the front. It's by Alex Clark Art - well worth checking out.

I haven't posted any gratuitous cat photos lately (haven't mentioned them, in fact, since the bee incident).

Cat lovers can find a photo of Nutmeg below. Dog lovers, look away now...

Farmers and Tai Chi. You wouldn't normally think of the two together, would you - well think again!

I always come to regret things I say.

And now I fear my comment about Bill Bryson's beard may come back to haunt me.

I've just fixed up to interview him the week after next. Anyway, if you've got any questions you'd like me to ask him (preferably not relating to his beard), just let me know...

Talking of fly fishing, nine brave ladies enjoyed two days of it at the Arundell Arms in Devon last weekend as participants in Casting for Recovery, a unique outdoor-based programme for women who have - or have had - breast cancer.

Like the look of these dishes?

Anyone know how to fly fish?

In a rash moment (yes, funnily enough it was in the pub), I've agreed to take part in a NFU fly fishing competition on Rutland Water. It seemed a good idea at the time.

I know I had a moan at The Independent over that rural accents business - but at least they're covering the issue of rural services.

My friend Faisal must have been a bit bored - he's been trawling YouTube and found some funny short videos. Sheep testicles, a body building beast, dancing tractors and a kung fu cow. Anyone would think it's Friday afternoon.