November 2008 Archives

Cheese-making has taken a rather sinister turn for former Blur bassist-turned farmer, Alex James.

I suppose he could always start making Dead Leicester (sorry, that was worse than something Tim would come up with).

 

Friend of Field Day and Farmers Weekly's Farming Champion Jimmy Doherty is back on TV tonight.

Rather than looking for Britain's Farming Heroes, this time Jimmy's trying to find out if GM crops can feed the world.

He'll be taking a look at soya plantations in Argentina via banana plantations of Uganda.

Jimmy is on Horizon at 9pm on BBC2

There's nothing we here on Field Day like more than someone who has a passion (which is lucky, given Tim's penchant for talking about his cats).

And for dairy farmer Anthony Knott, his dogged perseverance moonlighting as an amateur jockey is nothing short of admirable.

He may be unaccustomed to victory, but now he's got the taste of winning the cows may be forced to take a back seat.

Let's just hope it doesn't take another 28 years....

If you notice I'm rather quiet next week, don't worry - I'm not dead. I'm away on holiday.

Two Field Day regulars, Caroline and Johann, will be posting. Usual rules apply: be nice to them and enjoy what they write (but no so much that you prefer it to my stuff, obviously).

See you in a week or so.

No one's got the cat right so I better tell you.

It's the incredibly cute Mabel - Nutmeg and Parlsey's mother. Thanks to Annabel for sending it to me.

Don't know if this is for real - I'm assuming so. A video clip of a cow getting splatted by a plane. The bad big (OK, let's be honest: the good bit) is about 40 seconds in.

When they're not on the radio, a popular pastime of Young Farmers is taking their clothes off.

First it was the Dorset lot, now the ladies at Essex Young Farmers have been at it.

The reason? Well, it's for their 'Country Girls 2009' calendar which is raising funds for their new headquarters building.

A spokseperson tells me the ladies have been "tastefully accessorised with a variety of farm implements or bales of hay, etc." Obviously, I've asked for more photos of this, so will post them as soon as I get them.

£10 to the first peron who can guess who this is.

Answer will be on the blog at 5pm tonight.

I received an email this morning titled 'Frizzle cock'.

I was immediately worried (as any man would be) and readied myself to issue a denial, then I saw the content. It was this picture. Apparently, that's the breed: a Frizzle.

This is what happens when you know someone who works on Poultry World. You get sent pictures of strange birds. That said, it's a beauty, isn't it.

It prompted another one of those moments - as the gun-toting baddie did - when I though: I didn't go into journalism for this.

Then I thought: Actually, this stuff is great.

Pigs cooler than Ferraris?

They are, according to ex-Blur band member Alex James.

Enough about dogs. Anyone would think I've been 'turned'.

I can almost hear Matthew Naylor now. "More cat news," will be the call coming from the potato stores of Lincolnshire.

So here goes. I've just read that this cat has survived after clinging to the underside of a goods train for 100 miles across the Pennines.

It was found at the depot in Carlisle, having clambered on to a ledge under the train in Teesside. Its condition was described as "dirty and shaken".

An Animals' Refuge spokesperson said: "We would like to find her owners, but if you lose a cat in Teesside, you don't think to ring up a refuge in Cumbria."

Other incredible stories include the 17-day stowaway cat and the cat that went on a 1000-mile trip. 

I'm also reliably informed that my friend, The Wizard, has now taken to walking along Sutton High Street with not one but two cats on his shoulders.

If they were dogs, the word 'barking' would very definitely spring to mind.

 
Former Blue Peter presenter Matt Baker has provided the voice for the story of a sheepdog in a special book made possible by funds raised by Newbury Young Farmers.

It's been produced by Living Paintings, a charity that makes touch and sound packs for blind and partially sighted children.

A few people have asked me why on earth I love the estuary landscape of North Kent.

Here are five reasons:

1. The birds.

2. The beautiful church at Lower Halstow.

3. The walking. Here's one about that's about six miles long. After my Peak District adventure, six miles is a mere stroll!  

4. The fishing. I've caught flounders as fat as plums there.

5. The smell of mud at low tide (eeer, a hard one to illustrate on a blog!)

And no, finally, for those who don't know it Kent isn't just a suburb of London.

Rant over.

I'd like a new name.

Something exotic and enigmatic. Eduardo Trevelyan, perhaps. Or Juan Salamander.

The reason I've been thinking of names is because I've just been reading an article by the memorably named Bunny Guinness. In that name, she manages to combine one of my favourite things and one of my least favourite things (I leave you to guess which way round they are).

But she's pitched into the whole 'how to control squirrels' debate.

After various other theories have already been put forward, it's obviously a topic that's set to run and run.

A Yorkshire pudding is a yorkshire pudding, right?

Well, no. And there's obviously a lot of science behind it, according to the Royal Society of Chemistry which has issued a 'definitive recipe'.

At this rate, those clever scientists will be telling us how to make the perfect bacon buttie and the perfect of tea next.

I've got a simple theory on food myself. It's that it tastes twice as good if someone else cooks it for you, and three times as good if you're not the one clearing up afterwards.

Petty Officer Richard Byrne, a senior lecturer at Harper Adams, is currently serving in Helmand Province as a Royal Navy Reservist. His first post on Field Day introduced us to some of the work he's doing in a the war-zone as a land use advisor.

Here, he writes about some of the problems associated with growing crops - and outlines some of the work underway to overcome these obstacles:

The Helmand River was subject to a huge damming and canalization project 40 years ago. The result was a well developed series of irrigation channels supplying water to fertile land capable of producing cereals, forage, soft fruit and cotton.

The last 30 years, however, have seen a dramatic reversal in the country's fortunes, a decline in land management and the emergence of poppy as a key crop.

Growing crops is not the main problem for many farmers. Apart from the security issues, the roads and tracks are often in a very poor state, and it is the state of the country's infrastructure which is one of the major hindrances to its economic development.

Anyone else seen the new Bernard Matthews TV ad? I rather like it. You can watch it here.

The company's obviously decided it was time for a change of image because there's no sign of the big fella himself on the ad. And no mention of the word 'bootiful', either.

Saw Quantum of Solace yesterday. It certainly wasn't as good as Casino Royale, but I didn't think it was as bad as a lot of people are saying.Anyway, one of the trailers beforehand was for the new Richard Curtis film, The Boat That Rocked, which I've mentioned before because the filmmakers contacted me about getting hold of some old copies of Farmers Weekly (don't ask me what they wanted to do with them, they wouldn't tell me!)

Apparently, it's out soon. I fear I may turn into an insufferable bore, recounting this story whenever anyone mentions the film.

Two more pictures for my new best friends - the moose people.

Snowdonia has been voted the Most Beautiful View in Britain, according to a National Trust survey.

I still think Blea Tarn is the spot for me.

Or the river Medway at Lower Halstow in Kent, the landscape I always associate with my childhood. Funny, I've only got to a photograph of the place now and I can smell it.

Following previous squirrel news, I now learn that us squirrel-haters have a new weapon in our armoury against them: chilli powder.

The RSPB also has produced a list of recommended ways to keep the little blighters away.

Regulars at Field Day might remember a post of mine a while back about bananas.

As it is with curved bananas, so it is with moose obviously. This moose post, even now, is getting loads of traffic, according to people who know about these things.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm not complaning. When it comes to blog traffic, I'll take it where I can get it.

But it has made me think that I ought to do something for all the moose-lovers who are reading this. So, hello moose people, welcome. Here are six facts about your favourite creatures:

Thanks to all those of you (well, both of you, to be precise, but I'm not bitter) who have asked about Parsley.

You'll be pleased to hear she's fine.

And thanks to Phil who, obviously inspired by our previous pooch photos, sent me this cracking dog picture.

Speaking of people called Wilfred (OK, I know that's a tenuous link, but give me a break here), I've just been chatting to a guy called Wilfred Emmanuel-Jones who was born in Jamaica, came to the UK in the 1950 and is now a scuccessful west country farmer, marketing his stuff under a brand called The Black Farmer.

I was talking to him because he's a marketing guru and I'm working on an article about whether farming promotes itself effectively. He's a fascinating guy and talked for ages. His answer, in short, was No.

Been thinking about poems a lot in the last couple of days. Not sure why. It's probably because I've heard a few on the radio in connection with Remembrance Sunday and World War One, such as this poem by Wilfred Owen, which I was reminded of on the Parlez-vous moo? blog.

I've had occasional forays into the world of poetry on Field Day before, with Raymond Carver (a great American outdoorsman), but another super country poet is Seamus Heaney. Here's an extract from his Keeping Going, which I particularly like:

If you want to be on TV, but don't have any embarrassing illnesses, perhaps could achieve it through your B&B aspirations.

The BBC has got in touch with Field Day - it's looking for farming families who are planning to start a new B&B to appear on a new show called Home to Hotel.

The programme wants people in the early stages of setting up a B&B to go on the programme, meet design and business experts, allow them to follow rennovations and see how it all pans out.

If you're about to take the plunge and fancy it, you could drop them an email. 

The Metro newspaper - you've gotta love it.

In this morning's news: sheep meets elephant and hooligan hogs.

Radio 1's Nick Grimshaw, aka Grimmy, got to meet some Young Farmers last weekend.

Five Young Farmers from from Buckinghamshire - Louise Evans, Alice Stacey, Tom Deeley, Ian Russell and Miranda Vale - were live on his breakfast show on Saturday.

They even made him do an 'X Tractor' audition in the studio, taking along various objects for him to identify including a lamb castrator and a feeding teat. He successfully guessed three out of four (admittedly with a few clues).

"I'll DJ if you teach me how to milk a cow," Grimmy said, perhaps rather rashly at one point.

Yes, you can guess hat happened next. They took him up on the offer - so he'll be visiting a dairy farm to give it a go.

You can listen again to the slot from the slow by going to the website and going to about 2hrs and 11 minutes into the show.

I think the Young Farmers were naturals and should have their own show. And there is a slot going begging on Radio 2.

I can only assume there's been a problem with my phone. And my email. And the post.

No one's asked about Parsley. Not one single person.

Obviously I'm expecting a deluge of inquiries today.

Someone just asked me about these. They are a series of recipes from an old cookery book we ran on Field Day a while back.

I still have the book, although I am yet to try "pig's head pudding".

I know when to shut up.

And I've heard it said that I talk too much about my cats. So I will not (unless I'm absolutely inundated with requests) be sharing the story of Parsley's emergency visit to the vet's this morning.

We didn't get back to the bridge that sparked so much debate on this blog - but we did get near to it this weekend. Went to the Peak District and stayed on Saturday night in Youlgreave, although depending on who you talk to that might actually be Youlgrave.

Here are five things I learnt from the weekend:

Claire Thorburn (aka Basil's new owner) got in touch to tell me about this story.

I'm sure Basil will be much happier in his new environment.

I did find the BBC's footage a tad melodramatic (talking about people "beginning to move on"). I mean, it's only a bloomin' chicken, after all!

Seeing as we're on a roll with dog pictures - and I'm an old dog that can learn a new trick, here are four more great pooches.

The one with the sandy and white markings on its head looks like trouble.

I'm getting old.

I can forget that fact for months at a time and then, bang, it suddenly hits me.

It occurred to me yesterday when I was explaining to someone that we didn't have emails or the internet when I was in my first job. We didn't even have mobiles phones, for heaven's sake. And I'm not talking about the 1960s here; it was the early 1990s.

I guess it's the same with all jobs - but journalism has changed more in the last couple of years than it did in the previous 10.

One of the many, many ways it's changed is through video. The ease-of-use and sheer accessibilty of it. There are literally millions of video clips on the internet. A lot are total rubbish, but some are fantastic.

I'm going to compile a Top 10 list of the best rural-related clips, so if you've got any suggestions, please let me know. Have you watched any recently that you found fascinating? Or that made you laugh? Or made you mad? Or changed your opinion on something?

Meanwhile, in the spirit of this new exciting video era, I've decided to have a go.

Old dogs, it seems, can sometimes learn new tricks.

There's a thread over on the Farmers Weekly forums about female vets.

I thought about this subject, remembered Vets in Practice, googled it and found this picture.

The lovely Trude in a white coat with a cat.

Ticks a lot of boxes for me.

I'm going walking in the Peak District again this weekend and can't wait.

Might even go back past the famous 'sheep tossing' bridge that once sparked so much debate on Field Day.

In terms of how far we'll actually walk, though, I don't suppose it'll be anything compared to this lot.

So. Here, as promised yesterday, are five more doggy photos.

If you've had enough of big cats, look away now.

If you're still hungry for more, here's an interesting post, photo (and whole raft of comments) I've come across on the Tetrapod Zoology blog.

You don't think of beekeepers as a militant lot, do you.

But hundreds of them will be marching on Downing Street tomorrow, demanding more action to address the honey bee problem.

Members of the British Beekeepers Association will deliver a petition to 10 Downing Street with more than 100,000 signatures, calling for more funding for bee health research.

I can't imagine beekeepers marching on the Prime Minister's office and demanding action. Pootling up to it and knocking gently, yes. Having a nice cup of tea with him and showing him some photos of their grandchildren, perhaps. Getting home on the coach before it gets dark, definitely.

The post about dogs seemed to go down well. So, here are more doggies - five of my favourite pooch pictures, in fact, from the past year. Five more tomorrow...

More book news.

Mick O'Hare, who's been a guest blogger on Field Day, and has edited such popular books as Does Anything Eat Wasps? and Why Don't Penguins Feet Freeze? is back on the shelves with his new offering Do Polar Bears Get Lonely? It looks fabulous.

For every great book, though (and I'm sure economists must have a law for this), there's a stinker. And today it's this. The snappy, fast-paced and engagingly titled Keeping Poultry and Rabbits on Scraps. It was first issued in 1941 and apparently has been reprinted in response to the credit crunch and consumers drive to reduce food bills. If anyone wants it, let me know. I certainly don't.

A friend has just sent me this. It's a bit of video footage on the Shropshire Star website, purportedly showing video evidence of a wild big cat.

The farming family in the film reckons it's a panther - which is what the Cambridgeshire farmer we went big cat hunting with reckons was roaming his land.

I get sent a lot of press releases. Most of them can be filed under either a) irrelevant or b) boring.

Not this one, though. Someone should get a bonus for this.

It's from the CLA and it's on the subject of broadband in the countryside. A potentially dry subject, you might think. Well you'd be wrong.

They quote the lady I featured on Field Day a while back with the underwear business and, under the headline Rural business 'unsupported' by Government over broadband, says country bra queen, proceed to include rather a lot of double entendres.

I lost count at about six.

I notice Matthew Naylor has taken a break from blogging about dressed-up dogs lately. So I figure I'll try to fill the huge void this must have left. The blog-reading public are, I'm sure, desperate for more...

Thanks to Phil for forwarding me these. Some are on a Halloween theme. Others are just plain sick. And there's even a Harry Potter cat, too. Class.