The farm through the seasons – September

The busyness of harvest is over and September brought the pleasure of barns full of grain. Although most of the grain is now dried and stored, the spring beans have only just been harvested and they were a little damp so are still to dry.

The change of season is evident around the farm with the lush green colour of summer disappearing. Leaves are falling and the field hedgerows, in particular the hawthorn, hang heavy with ripened berries. We have a huge amount of hedging around the farm to encourage wildlife, and those berries are a really important food source for birds at this time of year.

September brought a flurry of jobs, including the sowing of crops, including winter wheat, barley, and of course, our oil seed rape. The stubble turnips that we drilled in August for sheep grazing are growing nicely, and those fields will be ready for us to turn sheep out into in a couple of month’s time. They are currently grazing on our grasslands.

Adam and the farm team have been checking the soil too. Signs of a healthy soil include plenty of animal and plant activity, including earthworks and funghi. A healthy, spread-root system is a very good indication of healthy soil too.

All in all, autumn is a pivotal time to the future success of our arable crops. We’ll let you know how the season progresses in our next update.