It was hard to see past the doom and gloom of January. Another national lockdown, grey skies, storms, a flurry of snow and more than enough rain thank you very much. There is, however, a definite sense of a light at the end of the tunnel as we head into February. The early buds of snowdrops in the verges are enough to lift my spirits and give me hope for what’s to come this spring. 

The Barn has been in lockdown mode of late, providing a bit of energy through coffee and cake on the daily dog walk or take away lunch to get some fresh air from home working and homeschooling. Our evening takeaways have been really well supported for which we are very grateful. We’ve managed to embrace the digital side and launched our menu online for preorders to make things a little easier. 

The farm shop has been busy with our click and collect and local deliveries back in demand as people hunker down for the winter lockdown. The support for local food has been tremendous as people seem to be cooking at home more and more, one of the few symptoms of this pandemic that I really hope sticks with us. Online now is our Valentine’s offer with some amazing sharing steaks from our own grass-fed Hereford beef and some lovely hampers. 

We’ve used the quiet time on the farm to embark on a momentous project. Last month, as part of our environmental stewardship, we planted over 1km of trees to create new native-species hedgerows across our farm. Our wish is to farm more regeneratively. Regeneration is that one step ahead of sustainability, we want to give back more to our land than we have taken. These hedgerows and trees will help us sequester more carbon out of the air and into the soil, where it belongs. Along with our permanent pastures filled with diverse species of grasses, wild herbs and legumes, the trees will help provide a healthy platform for the microbes, insects, birds, mammals and our farm animals. It really is farming from the ground up. This regenerative approach is a huge passion of mine for which we have only touched the surface of. We can’t wait to get stuck in and share more of our journey with you. 

Stay safe! All the best,

Tom

 

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