Hedgelaying

24 March 2012
The hedge that we planted in the grassfield alongside a public footpath in 2004 has grown so well that the first section was ready for laying in December 2009. Hedgelaying encourages new growth from the base of the plants, creates a stockproof barrier and improves the wildlife benefits for birds and small mammals. This is the first hedge that the contractor, Chris Nicholls, had planted and then come back to lay - which shows how quickly it has grown. The second length, near the top of the grassfield, has just been laid and we think it looks lovely!

The hedge is laid in the Midland Bullock style; further sections will be laid in the coming years.

Disaster

18 March 2012
Just when we thought everything was in hand for our wedding in mid-May we received the bad news that the lovely 12th Century church in Woodhurst had partially collapsed. The church is grade II* listed and of a flint, rubble fill construction with an unusual timber frame tower. The flint wall on the north east corner of the nave has suffered from the extremes of temperature over the last couple of winters which in combination with cracking as a result of the drought affecting East Anglia, and our clay soils in particular, caused a flint fall of a substantial section of the wall.

We have had an amazing amount of press coverage; the "can we can't we" get married there story certainly helped raise interest. The coverage started with an interview on BBC Radio Cambridgeshire followed by articles in the Mail Online, Express Online, Daily Telegraph, The Independent, Cambridge Evening News, The Hunts Post, The Church Times, an American paper and television short pieces on ITV's Daybreak local report and BBC Look East. The best headline goes to the front page of the Hunts Post with "Rubble and Strife". The Woodhurst website has links to some of these articles (http://www.woodhurst-cambs.com/)

The repairs are estimated at £30-40,000 and temporary weather protective scaffolding comes in at around £5,500 plus VAT so as a small village we have a huge mountain to climb with our fundraising. The damage is not covered by insurance as there was no particular incident (impact, lightning, etc) that caused the damage. If anyone is willing and able to make a donation please either contact Neil for more details or use the charity donations web facility at www.charitygiving.co.uk/woodhurstchurch

Chilly February

10 February 2012
We have now had three reports that the temperature last night got down to -13 in the village. Brrr. Today has therefore involved quite a lot of feeding up - the blackbirds have enjoyed their soaked sultanas and halved apples, there has been lots of activity around the various treats that have been put on the bird table and the sheep welcomed their sheep nuts, hay and a feed block. 

New Trees & Wassailing

21 January 2012

Two traditions have been followed once again at Fullards Farm in recent weeks, both focusing on trees. First there was the post Christmas tree planting session where all family members and their dog who happened to be staying with us togged up and walked or were Land Rovered across to the Pole Field where a further 30 or so trees were planted. This latest planting added to the small woodland that we have been developing for a number of years now.

There were not too many failures from last year, in spite of the extreme cold followed by the incredibly dry summer but those that needed replacing were "beaten up" - replaced with a new bare rooted tree.

Mum, Dominic and Merlin tree planting

Neil makes sure the weed mats stay put round a 2011 planting

Paul "beats up" a casualty

Neil and Annabel wrestle with a weed mat supervised by Merlin

 

A well deserved afternoon snack

A newer tradition at Fullards Farm is wassailing the orchard. This is a tradition of pagan origin which takes place on or around the 17th January. Having planted up a small orchard a few years ago we wassailed it in January 2011, a fantastic crop followed so we have just repeated this in 2012. Some friends joined us last weekend and we gathered around a fire pit, imbibed in some rather nice mulled cider and then wassailed the trees with some old wassailing verse before firing party poppers through the branches of the chief tree - a quince. The party poppers replace the more traditional action of firing a shotgun through the branches, which we decided not to do so as to not upset the sheep (or villagers). A cider soaked piece of toast is left in the branches and we now stand back and see what the trees will do for us at harvest this year.

Fire lit, candles in the trees, all ready to wassail

The quince tree, the morning after the night before

Merry Christmas

 25 December 2011
December has been quite quiet on the B&B front but we have been busy putting together the produce orders; we hope everyone is enjoying the jams, chutneys, puddings, etc today!

There has been a lot going on within the village with the Christmas quiz followed by the Woodhurst Pensioners Christmas lunch. Our poor kitchen was a full tilt producing bangers and mash for 75 on quiz night and roasting turkeys and steaming puddings and vegetables the following morning. Luckily others took care of roasting potatoes, parsnips, soup and mulled wine. There was a great turnout of helpers and pensioners and everyone seemed to enjoy the afternoon. 

Spike and I wandered past the church last night at dusk and paused to hear the organist having a quick practice of the carols to be sung at midnight mass. It was a very festive moment. There was a great turnout for the service later on and a good singsong had by all.



Spike in the mean time doesn't look too impressed that his Christmas outfit has come out again! At thirteen and a half years old I suspect he thinks dressing up is for young pups rather than senior canines.

Merry Christmas everyone.

Green Tourism Award

1 December 2011
Following our assessment in October we have just received notification from the Green Tourism Business Scheme that we have been awarded a Gold rating. The scheme is the national sustainable tourism certification scheme for the UK, validated by Visit Britain. Businesses opting to join the scheme are assessed by a qualified grading advisor against a rigorous set of 150 criteria covering a range of areas such as energy, water efficiency, waste management, biodiversity and more. Due to the limitations of an old house such as ours we were aiming for a Silver award but are absolutely delighted to have been given Gold. Our thanks go to Andy Notman for setting up and his ongoing help with our website, through which we are able to communicate so much of what guests can expect when staying, let people know what is happening on the farm and how we make the most of local produce, communication is a key part of the assessment process.

The shooting season has also got into full swing, these cock birds seem to have worked out that breakfasting in the garden or the grassfield keeps them out of harms way!

Autumn Mornings

16 October
The evenings are drawing in and the temperature has been dropping noticably at night which has led to some lovely autumn morning mists. The oil seed rape on the farm looks fabulous, if anything it might be doing a bit too well but the firsts frosts should slow it up. The wheat too has established well.

Our small orchard has cropped really well this year, as have other apple trees in the village which has led to consideration of aquisition of a village apple press and cider club. Now to find ourselves a press...

Our thoughts are turning to Christmas with an upscaling of homemade produce production in time for the village Advent Fair (19 November). This week has seen the making of Quince Marmalade, Three Fruit Marmalade, Quince Jelly, Fullards Fiery Relish, Quince Vodka and the decanting of Redcurrant Gin after its three months steeping.  Next week attention will turn to Medlar Jelly and Christmas Chutney.