June, 2003

This month has been about "planning enforcement". We seem to have neighbours who are holding a grudge whist smiling to our faces. In spite of the amount of time, energy and resources we spend in our farming practices here at Vowley, someone somewhere (probably not very far from our back door), seems justified in having us checked out and we have been bombarded with questions from on high in the planning department (sometimes highly personal and seemingly irrelevant) about our lives here. Not pleasant but yet another opportunity to walk our talk - living in harmony, being open and trusting that we are loved.

At the beginning of this month we were visited by Angela and Les from the British White Cattle society. Apart from a jolly good excuse to galavant around the countryside looking at some beautiful cows, Angela and Les were here to see Evening Primrose, one of our calves born last year. Her mum, Morning Glory (see the connection?!) is what's known as a "grade D" cow. She's got some "foreign" blood in her somewhere (we think it's her left ear!), so her calves need to be inspected to be registered as pedigree. Well, both our guests were very impressed with our Primrose and she's now got her very own pedigree certificate. Les was very keen to encourage us to get her halter trained and taken along to a show as he thinks she's a winner! I don't think we'll be doing that, but it's nice to know we've got one that good in our midst. Since that visit, Primrose has been challenging any other animal in her field and you'll often find her headlocked with Snow Moon or one of the steers as if she knows she's a cut above the rest!

Phyllis finally gave birth to her calf in the field one afternoon. A most beautiful little girl who told me her name is Venus. I know all calves and newborns are cute, but this one really is a stunner. She's got lovely soft fur, a nicely proportioned face, clear markings and the longest black eye lashes I've ever seen. We'll be watching her and her contemporaries with interest as we now have a better idea of what makes a good beastie. On a down note, we don't think Pattie's in calf. She's not produced and doesn't seem to be in the slightest bit interested in Prospect, our prize bull, nor he in her... so it's likely she'll be jumping into the freezer next month.

Late one night, James, from Peel's Norfolk Black Turkeys, arrived with a trailer load of chirping babies. Yes, we have 50 little black turkey nuggets currently in the barn, but soon to be out in the field again... if you missed meeting these amazing beings last year, don't do that again. Come and see what a joyful bunch they are. James was fully convinced that we are providing a great home for them and we're already enjoying the journey.

We've been having electric fencing challenges. I'm thinking of putting out a reward for someone to design a system that doesn't take the whole farm down when one part is shorting out... I'm sure it can be done by someone in the know, but haven't found that someone... yet. The result is that the cows and calves have been trampling over the electric netting which keeps the hens, geese, goslings, ducks and ducklings safe and what that meant one night was that Mrs Fox, who's been patrolling the front field looking for opportunities, found her way in and removed ducks and remaining gosling for her midnight snack. The good news about this is that the geese have calmed right down, but we are without some of our feathered friends. The digger is still on the list of things to be fixed and when it is, we'll be having a major pond digging day in the hopes of providing a safer and more appropriate habitat for the remainder.

Mark did his first farmers market stall on the middle Wednesday in Devizes, This new venue proved a slow experience for him... hopefully one that will pick up as people get to know who and where we are. Wiltshire Farmers Markets has a new manager so we're all living in hopes of a great upswing in business. Meanwhile, we have added beef sausages to our repetoir and can't produce enough of them! Look out for us at Marlborough Farmers Market too, last Sunday of every month. And we're still working on the mail order challenge.