SUPER STUDENTS

 The weather during the school holidays was fairly kind to us: not too hot and not too wet, with lots of cloud, meaning that most days of the holiday we were able to operate the tractor rides - much to the delight of thousands of 'mini farmers'. Of course, it did literally bucket it down on Bank Holiday Monday, but despite all that rain, it was amazing how many people turned up. And I thought that I was going to have to feed all the goats on my own! 

We have a new group of students from Southampton and Brockenhurst colleges, and also from Great Oaks school. Each group will attend the Farm for one day a week during term-time, working alongside our staff in order to gain experience working with animals. Quite a few of these students have learning difficulties, so it is very gratifying to me to see how much confidence they gain in just two or three visits by simply getting outside of their home environment and joining in with the daily activities at Longdown. Our volunteer scheme has also been a great success with over 20 regular volunteers joining the staff with the daily chores. So, combining the volunteers and students, we are now giving over 60 people a chance to 'get involved' each month, and judging by their comments and the smiles on their faces, I'm pleased to report that our work with the students and volunteers continues to be a great success.
We have more bookings for school groups this autumn, with several schools benefiting from the glorious extended summer weather. The schools have found that it's been a good 'bonding exercise' to bring their new pupils out to the Farm in the first term, aiding friendship and teamwork. Once back at school, the pupils can also discuss the experiences of the day and the animals they've met, giving further bonding opportunities.  

It might as well be spring what with all the baby animals arriving on the Farm: new chicks and ducklings are arriving on a regular basis, the Kune Kune pigs have decided to farrow now that the holidays are over, and we are now receiving over 100 goat kids over the next few weeks. We have so many goat kids as the large goat herds have changed their breeding policy to ensure the nanny goats will produce more milk during the winter whilst the milk prices rise. So lots of little mouths to feed! 

I never realised how popular straw bales could be! As a farmer, straw is something that you use to bed down the animals with, then you dig it out and spread it over the field, and wait to get complaints about how much it smells! However, during the last few months there have been quite a few requests for bales to go to school fetes, weddings, parties, and even to put into ponds to help keep the water clear! So, please let me know if you would like to borrow some bales for your next event - it's cheaper than hiring in chairs and obviously at the cutting edge of fashion!            

Before we know it, half-term will be upon us. We will be open daily with our usual schedule  of hands-on activities. There will be a few spooky surprises on Friday 31st October when The Creature Teachers visit with their barn owls and creepy creatures. There will be pumpkin carving and paper bat making too. Children in scary fancy dress will gain entry for just £4.50 on 31st October 2014. 

Look forward to seeing you soon. 

FARMER BRYAN 

MUCKING ABOUT WITH ACTRESS SARAH PARISH, AND A SUCCESSFUL SHOW.

The actress Sarah Parish came along to the Farm to promote the charity that she set up with her husband James: "The Murray Parish Trust". This was set up in memory of their late daughter Ella-Jayne who died of congenital heart failure. Sarah's passion to this cause was obvious from the moment that I met her: she simply wanted to get as many people involved as possible. My job was quite easy - all I had to do was to provide her with some really mean tasks such as cleaning out the Kune Kune pigs. What I hadn't explained was that these young pigs like to nibble on people's toes, and despite Sarah wearing some heavy-duty wellie boots, she soon found that her legs and feet were the objects of attention from several inquisitive young Kune Kune piglets. Whilst feeding the goats and calves she managed to speak to many of our visitors promoting the sponsored walk that the Trust is organising at Southampton Common THIS SUNDAY 7th September. All monies raised at this event will go directly to Friends of PICU - the charity that supports the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit at Southampton General Hospital. We have made this our charity of the month, so if you would like to help us raise money for this special cause please let me know: there will be a charity churn at the Farm. If you would like to join in with the sponsored walk click here. 

The New Forest Show seems to get busier and busier every year, or maybe it's just me getting older!

If we could convert compliments into a monetary value then we would be very rich now as many people were very kind about the efforts we had put into our show tent this year. Our marquee was busy on all three days, so Dawn and I welcomed the help of the team who worked extremely hard to make it such a success. We left Conor in charge of the animals overnight in case any tried to escape, but he was so exhausted by the end of the day he probably wouldn't have noticed if a herd of elephants rushed through his tent. Samuel the donkey was on his best behaviour and didn't create too many problems this year, that is until the Show President walked by and Samuel gave a loud bray which startled everyone in the area - the President included! George, our large Nubian goat, was a great attraction especially when he reached up seven foot in an attempt to demolish the hanging basket above him. We installed fans inside the marquee this year to keep the animals cool, but found the visitors benefited as much as the animals, as once again, the Show benefited from some glorious weather. Thanks also go to Katie, our talented face-painter, the fabulous Countrywide staff, and our ace cartoonist, Simon Chadwick, who drew amazing cartoon animals for the show tent visitors for the whole three days, and produced our fun photoboard which is now situated at the entrance to the Farm.

  

The cow and tunnel that have been in the outdoor play area for nearly thirty years have finally been laid to rest! I didn't have the heart to put the wooden cow on the fire so she has ended up in our garden. In their place we have installed three new play structures: a Climbing Tower which enables the children to burn off some of their excess energy, the Clamber Stack which helps all ages test their agility skills, and my favourite, a Group Nest Swing, which is suitable for juniors and adults. Obviously, I had to try all this equipment out before we could let the children play on it! Next time you're at the Farm, pack the children off on a tractor ride and have a sneaky swing yourself - great fun! 

I do not watch much television so when Channel 4 phoned me up and asked if they could use the Farm to film a clip for a programme called Four in a Bed I was a bit reluctant; I had visions of this being a bit of a seedy programme and politely told the researcher that it wasn't my scene! She quickly pointed out that the series was about B & B establishments competing with each other, and that the production crew wanted to film some scenes at a local tourist attraction. I suggested some activities for the contestants, but these were dismissed on the grounds of Health and Safety. Where has the sense of adventure gone?

Thank you for all your kind comments about our new chicken website, however most of the remarks have been about how good the cartoons are, and not so much about the details on looking after chickens. If you haven't had a look yet, please follow this link: Farmer Bryan's Chicken Site  and let me know what you think. On the website, you will find lots of down-to-earth advice on keeping chickens, chicken news, and opportunities to purchase online the main items you will need. If you're local, you never know, I might turn up with your order in the new van! Watch out for more details about our Poultry Pack - a very handy pre-packed package for all your chicken's daily needs available on  a 6-week delivery basis. 

 Hope to see you soon. Farmer Bryan