oilseed rape crop

The ground is too wet to drill wheat this week, but the oilseed rape crop is growing well in The Ley. The crop is proving a little too tempting for the pigeons in the top corner of the field and the rabbits from the Country Park are enjoying a small patch at the other end of the field. But apart from that, it's looking good. At the moment.

cultivations

The oilseed rape in Gardeners Field has been combined and the ground has been cultivated.

The wheat growing in The Ley (next door to Great Notley Country Park) has been combined.
Now we have to wait for the rest of the wheat to ripen.

hedgerow fruit in The Ley

The hedgerows around the farm are full of ripe fruit; these blackberries, wild apples, sloes, hawthorn berries and rosehips are growing in the hedge alongside the footpath in The Ley. A delicious combination to make Hedgerow Jam or Cordial.

after ditch clearing in the ley

The Ley, a set on Flickr.

After ditch clearing the digger driver heaped up the branches and roots in the field and the stubble was cultivated around them to make a fire break. The heaps have now been burnt and any remaining rubbish picked up and added to the fires.

power harrowing the ley

The Ley has been power harrowed today to break down the clods. The field will be left for a few weeks for the weather to further break down the soil to make a good seedbed for drilling wheat.

QR codes for footpaths

I am intrigued by Quick Response or QR codes that appear everywhere – on food packaging, in magazines, on TV shows – and amazed that simply scanning one of these little squares with a smartphone can link me to a webpage, business card or tell me what I am looking at.

We try to let people know what’s happening on the farm using this blog and Open Farm Sunday. We’ve also tried putting up a board with a map of the farm and a little information about the crops but the last one was ripped down and so we’ve rather given up on that. I’m sure the board made a very good roof for their den, but that wasn’t really the use we had in mind. But maybe a small QR code on a post or discreetly attached below a footpath waymarker could be a good idea.

Our footpaths are well used by a regular band of dog walkers who often ask what’s happening in the field so our first QR code links to a farm diary for the field, which will explain what crop is growing and what operations are being carried out. We’ve put it on a pole where the hard surface of the bridleway runs out, which is the point where many people who wander out of Great Notley Country Park stop and turn back. So maybe instead of a diary page we should work out a short circular walk to encourage people to step off the hard surface and explore the footpaths further. Or should I tell you where the best blackberries grow? Or why the grass strips around the fields aren't footpaths unless they're marked? 

What do you think? If you zapped a QR code as you were walking through the farm, what would you like it to show you?

Let us know by leaving a comment below.

cleaning ditches

In the gap between harvesting one crop and preparing the ground for the next, there’s time to do more tidying and clearing around the farm. I managed to pick a few blackberries from the hedge before the digger in the photo above started clearing out the ditch between our neighbour’s field and The Ley, which is the field where the bridleway links Great Slamseys Farm to the Great Notley Country Park. This ditch is particularly important as there are so many land drains running into it, taking the water out of the field and into the system of ditches and rivers. Part of this field used to be called Springfield so it would probably be very waterlogged in places if the drainage didn’t work properly. Old farm maps show that in 1849 there were three fields named Springfield, Little Leigh and Old Leigh that were amalgamated by 1895 and renamed The Ley. We always pronounce it “lay” but maybe we are wrong and it should be “lee”.