Introducing Pip!

Hello boys and girls, my name is Pip and I live with Farmer Joy at Cronkshaw Fold Farm.

Our farm is a really special place because as well as all the animals on the farm Joy has lots of other interesting things. The boys and girls can learn about the countryside and food and farming by playing and exploring.

The farm is in a beautiful place up on the hills above Helmshore village. It is so good to breathe the lovely fresh air and look at the beautiful views of the countryside. Joy has made lots of interesting new activities for children to try which are good fun as well as educational.

Some big boys and girls come to help. They have been making a new rabbit area so that the children can give the rabbits a cuddle. We have also been making a Nature Detectives Headquarters with all sorts of fossils, specimens and pictures for you to look at.

I have been practising rounding up the sheep with Joy because at Easter time the sheep will be having lots of lambs and I need to be able to get them quickly into new fields so that Joy can help them. We have a really old pony called Bonny, we think she is 39! She loves apples and carrots and she loves children giving her a pat and an apple core!

PIP'S PAGE Spring 2010

Dear boys and girls,
Spring and the beginning of summer have come in a rush here at Cronkshaw fold. The swallows have arrived and have started nesting in the barn which is really wonderful as last year we only had one nest. The newly laid hedgerows are looking amazing as they spring back to life. Many birds are using them as a safe haven from predators. Ralph has maintained all the hedges for a while now and we are really benefiting from tightly laid field boundaries. Sheep and lambs are lying up close to them to shelter from the weather and the grass which is sheltered in these small fields grows earlier in the year. The early grass is really useful to a hill farm especially like ours which is north west facing and much colder and slower to get going than a south facing farm. Ralph is a master craftsman at hedge laying and this year he won the north of England championship hedge laying competition. His prize is a beautiful engraved rose bowl. The investment of his work on our farm will be evident for years. We are really lucky to have such a craftsman.

The lambs are nearly all born now only a few stragglers. Not a good lambing time for Joy as the cold weather prevented very much grass growing and wasn't too good for the lambs. We fed the sheep a great deal of haylage and sheep nuts in the snow so their condition, not like Joy's bank balance, was good. When it came to lambing though the lack of grass didn't help the ewes produce much milk for their lambs. However the lambs we do have are really good, the new ram which Farmer John Skillings bought for us has done a really good job.

As Joy writes the grass is still not long enough in her fields for turning out Ella and Eartha the twin heifers. Just as well really as the ministry vet has to come and TB test them on the 1st June and check the result on the 4th. They will be tricky to get out and back in without causing too much disruption so they will stay in until then. They do have some special treats though. Des and Charlie for' It's All Good' the greengrocers in Helmshore keep sending them slightly soft fruit and vegetables. The cows absolutely love them! The cows look like giants as their winter bed is so tall. We have had to fasten gates to their pen to stop them stepping out. That deep bed of extra straw and manure kept them lovely and warm during the winter and soon we will be using it on the meadows to make the grass grow better.

Our pilot scheme of a community café and extended work experience with the Farmyard Stories bounce and rhyme sessions is going really well. Thank you Tesco who kindly helped with such positive attitude and some cash. Lots of mums and grandparents are visiting the farm on Wednesday mornings now to explore the farm yards, have rhymes and stories, a cup of tea and home made biscuits, ( Fearn's students) If we are successful in getting some more funding we can make this pilot scheme a permanent feature. Fingers crossed