Field Notes: The Year in Review

Dec 18, 2024

So, it’s the last Field Notes of the year, and the last Field Notes in this blog series. We have now documented a whole year on the farm, from the first breaths of spring to the depths of winter. We hope you’ve enjoyed coming along on this incredible journey with us, navigating the highs and lows of farming life. We’d love to look back through the seasons, and hope you’ll enjoy reminiscing with us. 

Spring

After a somewhat slow January, February brought the promise of spring to the farm. Daffodils adorned our Cafe tables, crocuses and snowdrops lined the pathways. The farm began to fill with edible plants and smells signalling new life: wild garlic, dandelions, hawthorn leaves, yarrow and nettles. 

We witnessed the sight of boxing march hares in the wheat fields and geese flying overhead as we worked outside, migrating to the UK as the weather began to warm. 

The kitchen garden came alive with spring greens, rainbow chard, green garlic, sugar snap peas, rhubarb and tulips, and our kitchen team put these all to good use in the Cafe. 

April followed, and we felt very lucky to have four healthy calves born on the farm. Fawns tenderly followed their mothers before leaping around the pasture in no time. Our meadows became a kaleidoscope of green and yellow, with thick, healthy grass and golden buttercups. 

April brought changeable weather, from stormy showers to spring sunshine and mesmerising rainbows. We spent a lot of time waiting for the right weather conditions before sowing seeds for our herbal ley, using a seed fiddle to scatter the nurse crop buckwheat over the top. 

By Beltane on the 1st May, the air was filled with birdsong, and our wildflower meadows were alive with colours: cowslips, dandelions, meadow buttercups, yellow rattle, ox-eye daisies, and beautiful blue forget-me-nots. Horse chestnut trees held their candle-like flowers up to the sun. It felt like nature was having a party and we were just in the middle of it all.

Dawn Chorus on the 7th May was a special morning here on the farm, with a group of 30 arriving at the farm at 4am before embarking on a guided walk around the farm. We listened out for skylarks, robins, blackbirds, song thrushes, chiffchaffs, whitethroats and blackcaps, and were lucky to be blessed by an orchestra of them all. 

In other news, Spring saw the launch of our new Lunchtime Talks series as well as our FarmED Book Club. We also were honoured to host the pop-up exhibition, ‘We Feed the UK’, in collaboration with Gaia Foundation, who used poetry and photography to celebrate growers, farmers and chefs around the UK going against the grain. We were celebrated ourselves when The Kitchen Garden People featured on ITV’s ‘Prue Leith’s Cotswold Kitchen’ in April as one of her ‘Food Heroes’!

We welcomed authors from as far as the Orkney Islands for our annual Farm & Food Literature Festival in May, which, as always, was a brilliant day. Jane Cooper, author of The Lost Flock, Helen Rebanks of The Farmer’s Wife, and Derek Gow of Bringing Back the Beaver, all shared their stories, sparking lively discussions about sustainable farming, rural life, and rewilding.

Gareth, former Executive Chef at Soho Farmhouse, caused quite a stir in the Cafe when he joined our team in May. He soon demonstrated his passion for farm-to-fork cooking and created dishes from our seasonal produce in creative, delicious ways. He even found a way to make nettles delicious!

Summer 

Summer seemed to arrive all at once in June, bringing long days filled with sunshine and life. Bees hummed busily among the flowers, while grasshoppers, hoverflies, butterflies, moths, and caterpillars darted through the meadows, foraging for nectar or tiny insects. Kestrels and hawks, now fully fledged, soared above us, scanning for voles in the long grass.

June also marked the start of honey harvesting, with Tony collecting the first jars of the season. It was a time of abundance, with huge gluts of strawberries —perfect for jams, smoothies, and cakes. We had courgettes, spinach, and fennel in June; followed by tomatoes, cucumbers, cavolo nero, kale, basil, and more in July. Our polytunnels transformed into jungles of towering cucumber and tomato plants. The Cafe menu featured fresh gazpacho, salads bursting with fresh veggies, and strawberry smoothies - a welcome taste after a cold, long winter.

The wildflowers thrived, painting the hedgerows with blackberry flowers, gypsy rose, lady’s bedstraw, chicory, wild carrot, musk mallow and dog rose. 

The Summer Solstice was a standout event, and we were even blessed with clear blue skies. The evening started with a guided walk around the farm, before a meditation with Brave Kind Minds, and a delicious BBQ, all set to the music of our house band, D’Accord.

Our Minibeast Safaris were also a huge success, giving us all a closer look at the biodiversity of the farm. Alex, who joined us as Public Engagement Coordinator in May, identified over 260 unique species during his first few months—a testament to the regenerative way we farm. We were even treated to the rare sound of a cuckoo on the farm this summer - a sound we haven’t heard in years. 

At the Groundswell Regenerative Agriculture Festival, we connected with thousands of like-minded people. We hosted a talk on identifying beneficial beetles and shared insights into sustainable farming practices.

The farm also welcomed two summer weddings, where two of our staff members, Sophie and Kate, tied the knot with their partners surrounded by the beauty of the farm. 

Lunchtime talks covered topics ranging from regenerative chocolate to Borneo orangutan conservation and honeybees. Workshops included Drystone Walling, How to Grow Your Own Wildflowers, and Introduction to Agriculture.

We also ventured beyond the farm to Blenheim Palace to meet Sylvie Berinder, founder of the circular waste company ‘Tumblebug’. Her innovative projects—like creating biochar from recycled Christmas trees, sustainable charcoal, and sheep wool fertiliser pellets—left us inspired to expand our own composting system on the farm.

A heartfelt thank you to the team at Ross & Ross, who organised a wonderful outdoor restaurant on the Cornwell Estate this summer. Good Gathers was run as a not for profit event, with some of the proceeds going towards farm and food education at FarmED. We're so grateful for Ross, Tash and the rest of the team for their generous donation, which will help us deliver our education programme.

Autumn 

The cusp of Autumn meant harvest time on the farm. The golden rye and wheat crops were combined, and the team weaved work around blistering hot days and summer thunderstorms. Sainfoin fields were ploughed, harrowed, and rolled, with flocks of seagulls trailing the machinery.

The hedgerows gleaned with blackberries, crimson hawthorns, and deep purple elderberries, inspiring the cafe to serve hedgerow hot chocolates—a true taste of autumn. In the kitchen garden, a palette of red took over with Russian red kale, ruby onions, vibrant red peppers, red alouette potatoes, and glossy tomatoes. Our apple trees also ripened, joined by damsons and pears in the heritage orchard.

September marked a time of transition as the trees turned to first a faint yellow, burnt orange, and then a glowing red. Jumpers and wellies came out of cupboards. The harvest moon rose fat and yellow on the horizon, while the earthy scent of softening soil and faint woodsmoke filled the air. We watched as goldfinches and  fieldfares established their autumn territories, and squirrels busily prepared for winter. Mists rolled gently across the fields at dawn, enveloping the valley. 

Work down in the kitchen garden included harvesting onions, clearing summer crops, and planting overwintering lettuces and brassicas in the polytunnels. Our team gathered the first squash of the season, their vibrant skins hardening to protect the marigold flesh within.

After harvest, October brought drilling and field preparation for next year's crops. Ian sowed heritage wheat undersown with clover in one rotation field and a mix of wheat, rye, and clover in another. Meanwhile, our squash harvest continued and we picked borlotti beans too, their beautiful skins stretched and purple. The cafe celebrated with pumpkin spice lattes and roasted squash and sage soup.

We held several literature evenings throughout autumn, welcoming guests like Tom Heap and Kate Humble to the farm to talk about their upcoming books. The cafe was cosy and lit with fairy lights as people gathered to hear their stories. 

Apple Day in October was a celebration to remember. Visitors explored the heritage orchard, picked apples, and learned pruning techniques from Christine, our resident apple expert. She held a masterclass on apple varieties, cider-making, and apple history in the barn and everyone left with armfuls of Ashmead's Kernel, Lane’s Prince Albert, and Bramley cookers.

Justine Gens led an Autumn Foraging Farm Walk which felt like a beautiful ode to the season. She explained that in Autumn, it’s the berries of the plant which hold the most nutrients. A group of keen explorers foraged hawthorn berries, elderberries, sloes, rosehips, as well as wild chicory, yarrow, stickyweed and broadleaf plantain. 

Not forgetting, of course, our magical Harvest Festival. Over 200 guests of all ages gathered to celebrate harvest in October with delicious food, music, and activities. The day began with talks in the kitchen garden, where visitors learned about soil health, crop rhythms, and sustainable growing practices. Children helped to harvest crown prince squash and uncovered critters on Minibeast Safaris led by Alex. Ian from Wheatear Strawcraft demonstrated the endangered art of corn dolly making, while our baker, Aga’s, spoke all about heritage grain breads. The day rounded off with a hearty harvest feast, featuring seasonal dishes like squash soup and spiced lamb, accompanied by spirited Morris dancing and live music. It was a special day and a reminder of the deep connection between community and the land. 

Winter

Winter wrapped the farm in peace and stillness, marked by red kites soaring above and frost painting the fields. Tools were cleaned and stored, hoses coiled, and drip lines tucked away in a resetting for the new year. Underneath the soil, tulip and daffodil bulbs are nestled down, miracles happening out of our sight as they begin their unseen transformation. 

Root vegetables like parsnips, carrots, and beets have come into their own, offering earthy sweetness in scent and taste. Bonfire Night brought a crackling fire made from old farm wood scraps. Composting clinics and a Lunchtime Talk all about the fascinating world of Hemp kept the team busy even as the paced slowed, along with planting out 1,000 garlic cloves in the kitchen garden plot. 

Wildlife sightings brought everything from meadow pipits and bullfinches to the delicate spindleberry and candle snuff fungus. 

A highlight of the season was welcoming 30 hens to the farm, rehomed from the commercial egg sector through Fresh Start For Hens. With the help of intern Henry, a custom-built Egg-Mobile was created as part of our Egg-roforestry project. These hens will now provide fresh eggs for the cafe’s delicious cakes and seasonal dishes.

Now, of course, Christmas preparations are in full swing. The house band performed Christmas classics last Monday, sustainable wreath-making workshops were held in our Conference Barn, and the cafe counter is overflowing with mince pies and spiced biscuit trees. The Book Club gathered by the tree last week to discuss The Overstory, surrounded by Christmas trees and twinkling lights.

Just a note…

So, from everyone at FarmED - Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year! Thank you to all of you who have supported us this year: whether you’ve read our blog and newsletters, kept up to date with us on socials, visited the cafe or attended one of many courses. We couldn’t be here without you all. We’ll be back on Wednesday 8th January. So, in the meantime…have a wonderfully restful Christmas holiday and a fantastic start to the New Year. Here’s to another brilliant year of educating, inspiring, and changing our food systems from the ground up!