ABC Wednesday......F is for Farming!

Farming around the village

The village is central to a thriving farming community. We have several farms in the village. Blue House, Church House, Handale, Parkhouse and Redhouse. This is Mick, one of the farm workers passing our house on his way to Church House Fram. I know exactly what time of day it is when I see him pass. 8am, he is going to work, 12 noon he is going home for his dinner, 1am returning back to work and 5pm or later he is going home.

On my walks with Wilma we always see the farmers going about their daily business. Here Mick is talking to John. John is a Bee Keeper and his bees are homed on the moors. They feed on the heather and the taste is awesome.

There are also farms dealing with lambs, it is always nice to see them at the gate or fence.

Here you can see the traditional Fences scattered around the village.

We are currently in the middle of one of the busiest time of the year for the farmers, Harvest. Harvest is usually the busiest time of year for arable farmers and most crops are harvested in July, August and the early part of September. For much of the past 6,000 years crops have been harvested by hand although the Romans did develop a machine that stripped the ears of the corn from the straw. This appears not to have lasted after the decline of the Roman Empire and it was not until the 19th Century that parts of the harvesting process became mechanised again. The modern combine harvester which integrates the cutting of the crop with the separation of the grain from the ear, became widespread in the agricultural revolutiion after the second world war. Today the same principles apply as have always done and cutting a crop cannot commence until the crop is ready or "fit". The most important aspect of this is moisture content. Crops need to be harvested dry so that they can be stored for long periods without deterioration. A crop of wheat ready for harvest. This picture was taken last night and the crop will be cut in a few a few days . At the top of the crop are the ears which are now bent over and pointing downwards, a sign that the crop is fit for combining. Cereal crops tend to become a golden brown colour towards harvest. This is because the crop is senescing and the resources of the plant are being transferred to the grain in the ear. The combine is crucial for harvesting arable crops and completes several operations at the same time. The plant is first cut about 9 inches above ground before being fed into the heart of the combine where it is spun very fast against a metal grate with holes in it. This is known as "thrashing". In the process the grain is pushed through the holes and separated from the ear and straw. The grain is then further "cleaned" over a series of seives before being moved to a grain tank for unloading. At harvest time the combine will work as many hours as possible and may start cutting as early as 9.00 am and finish after midnight. Dampness in the crop from evening dew will normally make the crop tough to cut and force the combine to stop. It is easy to overlook the importance of straw. Each acre can yield over a tonne of straw, invaluable for winter bedding cattle and pigs as well as being a useful low value feed at times when forage stocks run low. Straw exists in surplus in the eastern arable areas where there are less livestock and through the autumn months it is transported westwards to the main livestock areas. If the straw is not to be baled it is chopped and spread from the coIt makes us all feel good somehow.mbine and then ploughed into the ground to maintain soil organic matter. After harvest the grain is stored in purpose build stores that are free from pests and the risk of contamination.

The Farmer Reaps what he has sown, and garners all the crops he's grown Then to his land he takes his plough It makes us all feel good somehow George Skaife 14.03.83 To Join in with ABC Wednesday go to the new ABC Blog here To see the ABC Anthology, go here