Farm Walk
On July 17th we held our very first farm walk and what a joy it was. We kept it informal and it was a great opportunity for us to explain what we’re up to, as well as the chance for people from our local community to ask us some questions.
We had over thirty people come and spend the morning with us – a combination of existing Christmas turkey customers and people from the village. We spent an hour walking around the farm explaining what we’ve changed and why. We no longer farm crops such as oilseed rape and wheat – the fields are now all filled with herbal leys – a mixture of grasses, legumes and herbs. Great fodder for both the cattle and our local ecology. The farm walk was a great opportunity for us to go into more depth as to the benefits this brings for all of us, as well as the cattle and wildlife.
We started in the farm yard with a brief introduction from Sam on our history at Humphreys Farm as well as the basics of what we’re farming now and a lot of hellos. It was so good to see so many of our loyal Christmas turkey customers as well as people from the village.
First stop on the walk was to show everyone how we move the cattle each day. Sam spoke about why we move them; keeping them on fresh grass, the benefits of trampling the grass on the plants and the soil. He also talked about a little about why we rear Aberdeen Angus – you can read more on that here.
Next stop was the free-range woodland area set aside for the turkeys, and then, walking right into one of the fields of herbal ley to experience it as the cattle do. Sam spoke more on how the herbs, grasses and legumes all help to fix carbon in the ground, improve the soil structure and how vital the cattle are in this process. We delved into cow pats to explore the life within them and we encouraged everyone to pick one of each different plant they could find. It was wonderful to watch the children getting involved and one little boy was chuffed to bits when a grasshopper chose to piggy-back a ride on him. A great interactive part of the walk before heading back to our garden for some of our very own beef burgers.
It was great to catch up with familiar faces and we still can’t get over the interest from everyone. Watch this space for more farm walk dates…
Thanks again to everyone who came – we absolutely loved having you here.