It has been a busy few weeks at Thorpe Farm. You can plan as much as you like but in the farming world it doesnt always help. I cleared 3 whole weeks out of the diary to be here all the time for lambing. Now they say sheep teach you patience – they frequently dont do what you want them to do. Well we had 2 lambs during those whole 3 weeks; All of the rest came once I had gone back to work! But with some flexible working arrangements and the kind help of our friend Robin Vaughan on lamb watch, all was well and we now have 11 cracking lambs. The reality of farm life hit home when we lost a lamb who escaped from her pen and spent the night out in the cold and rain on her own. We tried everything that we could but she didnt make it.  From the experience however we learned the joys of milking and bottle feeding, so all was not in vain. There are more pictures of lambing in the ‘latest Thorpe Farm pictures’ album on this site and if you are interested in being kept up to date with what we do please ‘like’ us on facebook (www.facebook.com/thorpefarmers) or follow us on twitter @thorpefarmers.

The pigs are getting bigger by the day. They are now 7 months old. At 9 months we will begin breeding. We have secured the use of some woodland and plan to finish the weaners in the woods to give them the most varied and natural diet possible, and the freedom to live their young lives to the full. We have been pleased so far with their limited impact on our ground – yes they do root a bit but Large Black pigs are general considered to be grazers when given enough space. We rotate them on a regular basis to ensure no one area becomes a mudbath.

In other news the quails have come back into lay! We acquired the quails at the back end of last summer and they layed for  a couple of days before stopping. Now they are back in full swing so get your Thorpe Farm quails eggs from the farm gate quick before someone else does! Egg production is up for the chickens too and we are getting more and more regular delivery requests.

For those who are interested in seasonality – now is the time for picking purple sprouting brocolli. We have waited almost a whole year for ours but are it is now cropping well and was certainly worth the wait. Also in season are young nettles – look out for a ‘how to’ on nettle soup soon. And for those who are even more adventurous try dandelion and burdock or dandelion honey!

And I saved the best news for last – the livestock have obviously taught us a thing or two as Mrs T is now 14 weeks pregnant! Hooray for Thorpe Farm deliveries!

P&R xx

There is a great deal of anticipation in the air at this time of year, nowhere more than here at Thorpe Farm. We took the decision this year to have our lambs a little earlier than last year. Why not? – everyone keeps telling us climate change is turning the South East of England into a tropical country – what could possibly go wrong? Well we had hoped spring would have sprung by now to welcome our lambs into the world with the warmth and support which they need to grow strong. Whilst lactating, the ewes need as much nutrition as possible from the grass and so it is imperative that new growth kicks in before they are born. Yesterday was perfect sunshine on the North Downs. Today it’s murky and grey – the only sign of spring a few confused looking daffodils, and buds popping out of the naked fruit trees. Well we still have a few days to go – come on Spring!

Incidentally, for those who were wondering – the traditional time to lamb is April 1st. The ram goes in on bonfire night and lambs are born on April fools’ day. Thats what they say! Nowadays of course people lamb at different times of the year. Some breeds are able to do this naturally, others are encouraged, all need to be well fed with grass and or supplements. So Spring is the ideal time for lambs really.

We have an abundance of blue eggs now from our Cream Crested Legbar hens which we have had since they were just 5 weeks old. They will probably be our last bought in hens as we are now investing in an incubator to hatch our own. Look out for hatching eggs, point of lay chickens and home reared guinea fowl meat for sale in 2012 at Thorpe Farm. A significant increase in chicken eggs being layed by all the hens is a sign that the days are getting longer. Thank goodness for that!

So now we wait. Expect some more news next week when the lambs pop out!

P&R

Snow is both great and terrible up here on the North Downs. Great in that the countryside looks fantastic, a pristine cover laid out over the landscape. The sense of community is never stronger as neighbours call on one another, the brave venture out together to the local pub and those with Land Rovers become more smug than ever. Our premium community has a premium snow ploughing facility as well and this year the roads have remained clear with ploughing beginning in the early hours of the Sunday when the snow began.

But its difficult in that we are very exposed to the wind and its chill, we have steep, slippy road hills to get up and down to go anywhere and the temperature remains low enough that we still have a full covering of snow in most areas.

On our smallholding the animals give the snow a mixed reception. Our sheep come from the Hebrides where they are used to surviving in the most bitter conditions. They do not mind the cold weather but they welcome a feed of hay when the grass is difficult to get to. That said, they are able to dig to the grass and can drink water in the form of snow.

The pigs had never seen snow before. They were not at all amused as the cover of white cold stuff seperated them from their feeding station. They have managed to dig themselves a path to the food now but will be glad when its gone. For our part the snow had covered over all of our electric fencing meaning that the pigs were able to escape, attack the feed bins and steal the chicken pellets. Interestingly enough they appeared to present a threat to the sheep who all scarpered up to the top of the field whenever the pigs got out.

The chickens and ducks do not like the snow but tolerate it. The chickens spend most of the time standing around the door trying to decide whether it’s better in the dark warm place or the cold light place. Definitely dont want to stand on the freezing cold ice floor. The ducks just sit down on the snow, annoyed that they cannot find any grass or weeds to root through but resigned to the fact that they live outside.

The smallholders spend their time travelling to and from the house with buckets of warm water to replenish or defrost the drinkers. In the early morning runs they seem to be on autopilot, rushing from one tank to another tank trying to get everyone fed and watered before heading off to work. Farm gate sales have been on hold as the extra time needs to be spent on snow related duties.

So it presents challenges, but it looks great. Definitely worth having every now and then.

Phil & Bex

With the new year came new arrivals; a clutch of 9 hybrid laying hens inherited from one our senior residents of Stalisfield, Margaret Vant. And to accommodate them a large vintage 50 bird shed. Well, at least they have space to grow into! They have been joined in their capacious residence by our existing hybrids to relieve the pressure on the ground of our ever burgeoning main poultry enclosure. These birds will free range the entire sheep field. When one went missing on the first night we were relieved to see her appear the next morning, stretching out her wings after a comfortable night in with the pigs!

We have just heard from the tanners (www.devoniaproducts.co.uk) that our first sheep skin rug is complete. The process has taken 3 months. Really looking forward to seeing it!

More lamb will be available for purchase in the next few weeks. Look out for the email or if you are not yet on the list and would like to be then let us know.

P&R

Well the festive season is upon us again.We enjoyed a fantastic Stalisfield Christmas on Thorpe Farm with warming mulled wine at the Plough at Stalisfield and a amazing free range bronze turkey from Snoad Farm. Those guys sure know how to do their things!

The winter solstice passsed on 21st December which means that bit by bit we will start to have more daylight each week until the days begin to shorten again on 21st December. For those who are interested, the US military generate really useful sunrise/sunset charts for any location at – http://aa.usno.navy.mil/data/docs/RS_OneYear.php - which are great for smallholders wondering what time they should be getting up at particular times of the year!

With the lengthening of the days, astonishingly enough, we have already seen a slow increase in egg production. We have moved all of our poultry onto new ground to give their old patch a rest. One of the hazards of free ranging poultry all year is a muddy field and muddy houses. We counter this by rotating them as often as needed.

On 23/12/11 we welcomed our first pigs to Thorpe Farm. We will grow them to 9 months old before beginning our breeding programme with them.You can read more about Large Black pigs in the section called ‘Meet the Animals’.

PT

This is the time of year when the weather gets colder and days become shorter. This presents various challenges on the smallholding. The short days mean that the poultry have less hours of daylight which means that egg production drops. For our guinea fowl, ducks and quail, this means that they actually cease production until the days get longer. Our chickens continue to lay but at about 50% of the rate that we expect during the lighter months. Apologies to people who find the egg stall empty at this time of year. It is always worth coming to the door to see if we have more eggs in the house. Some poultry keepers install electric lighting in the housing to extend the daylight during winter months (this is not the same as the intensive practice of switching lights on and off to simulate more days and increase the number of egg laid per hen). We believe that this is currently a step too far for our holding but may consider this in the future.

The shorter days also mean less opportunity to work outside. During this winter we aim to focus on more indoor activities such as chutney production using fruits and vegetables harvested during the summer, and are going to begin working on cheesemaking. It also provides more opportunity to ensure that all the paperwork and accounts for the holding are up to date

Our 4-horned ram – Dabchick Calligula - has now been with the ewes for 7 weeks and so we anticipate that he has serviced all of the flock. Lambing will therefore take place in March.

The latest Thorpe Farm news is that we will be welcoming two Large Black sows onto the holding before Christmas. Becky and Harri were born on 9th September and are currently with their specialist breeder in Sussex. Once the ark is built and electric fence pens constructed we will bring the pigs up.

Enjoy the festive season.

P&R

This is the website for Thorpe Farm where you can find out about what we are doing and what our plans for the future are. You can meet the animals that we keep and find out about the things that we produce on the farm.

There are photo galleries, links to our partners and a farm diary of events. In the future we will install an online shop and 24hr farm cams.

Welcome to Thorpe Farm where we aim to make things better. We welcome your feedback and encourage you to follow us using the social buttons at the top of the page.

Thanks to all those who have helped us to get this far.

P & R x

Welcome to the Thorpe Farm website. It is currently still under construction, but check back soon.