Good evening,
We have direct drilled a mixed species crop into one of our fields this week. We sowed it last autumn with a similar mix but it didn’t establish well - in part because the soil isn’t healthy thanks to years of conventional farming but also because we have a bit of an issue with black-grass.
Black-grass is an annual grass that grows very well but doesn’t yield much quality grub for our cattle. It is also a nightmare for arable farmers because it sheds a large amount of seed before harvest and outcompetes their crops for soil and sun. It is tricky to get under control as it’s developing a resistance to herbicides, requiring farmers to spray more intensely and more frequently which is expensive and destroys soil life and biodiversity in the field.
It has been a trial for us since we took on this land in 2012 - the damp clay soils which have previously been tilled, sprayed and overworked are a perfect breeding ground and it has made it unviable for us to organically grow arable in most of our fields. However, we can grow grass very well and saw an opportunity after the black-grass set seed especially early this spring. We mowed the black-grass twice in quick succession before its seed was fertile, which will have reduced its numbers considerably.
We’ve now sown our delicious and nutritious cocktail of other grasses and legumes and hope they have a good chance of establishing before the black-grass comes back.
Both flocks are laying well so we have plenty of eggs, beef & cider for Saturday.
Join us in the yard from 1-4pm for a drink and to talk about (and devour) High Weald Dairy cheese. It’s free to attend and we have cheese platters available to pre-order if you fancy joining us for a bite to eat.
For anyone who didn’t catch it on Monday morning, Sarah Langford, Claire Ratinon and George Monbiot started our weeks with a debate about farming and its impact on the environment on R4.
It’s a complicated conversation with many factors in play - George is a champion for biodiversity who sees farming as a major environmental culprit whereas Sarah & Claire talk about the winder context of animal welfare, human health, carbon capture in the soil and a sense of community that farming can provide. It’s certainly worth a listen.
And Sarah has written a second book - Rooted: Stories of Life, Land & a Farming Revolution. She will be coming to Trenchmore to discuss her book with Andrew and an audience on 20th August. We’re serving wagyu burgers & cider 1-4pm so mark it in your diaries.
Rooted will be available to order through our website once it is out in July.
Start The Week - a revolution in food & farming
Trenchmore Farm
Burnt House Lane
Cowfold
Sussex RH13 8DG
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