November 1st – A wonderful warm, misty day on Cannock Chase, and on the way I called in to a farm shop. Beside the driveway, there is livestock in the paddocks; pigs, chickens, geese, a donkey and a goat. There’s a great butchers there and a cafe, too: not sure about eating sausage sandwiches in full view of the porkers though.
September 11th – Bumper update today as I had a lovely Indian summer ride out to Abbots Bromley, Newborough and Dunstall.
Here at Hanney Hay near Hammerwich, just down from Meerash Farm, a field full of strikingly green proso-millet.
I have no idea if the use is as animal or human feed, or even biofuels, but it’s a handsome, beautifully coloured crop.
Cheers to Tony Jakeman for the identification. I’ve never seen it before.
September 7th – I passed them in Coulter Lane, realised what they were, and did an about turn. There were two Gloucester sows in the paddock, with lots of cute little piglets. They were a fair way away, and this is the best shot I could get.
Such clean looking animals in apparently excellent condition.
September 2nd – As I squelched past Jockey Meadows, I stopped to look for my mates the coos. I noted they were on the far side of the meadow as I rode past on my way to work, but they were too far away to make a good photo. On my return, they’d gone, which I was sad about.
However, this female pheasant seemed to be enjoying the opportunity for browsing presented by the freshly turned meadow. Off that she seems to have lost her tail-feathers. Didn’t seem to bother her, though.
August 10th – A return on a gorgeously languid summer evening, along the canal and then the cycleway to Pelsall. On my return, I spotted the wheat crop at High Heath, surely ripe now, and on the verge of going over.
Soon be harvesting that, I guess. But in the meantime, what a gorgeous view. The is north Walsall, folks.
July 28th – Returning home from Telford, unusually these days, I took the train to Shenstone and rode from there. It was against the wind, but a lovely ride: the fields are full of life and everywhere looks beautiful in summer colours.
Lots of maize about this year, interestingly in fields it was in before; clearly, crop rotation not a big priority. The crops are growing tall around Stonnall, and lush green, like a jungle. It’s a most un-British crop in that it’s so tall.
Also prevalent this season are spuds – acres and acres of them around Springhill. I wonder where they all go?
July 22nd – And near Shelfield, Grange Farm at High Heath has a good few acres of barley this year, ripening beautifully in the July sun.
This is an interestingly un-uniform crop of undulating height, and with a good variety of other plants interspersed through it. I’m wondering if it’s organically produced, or a traditional variety – most modern crops are so uniform they’re boring.
July 19th – Oats are in fashion this year. After years of barely seeing any at all, this year all the best-dressed arable farms are wearing them.
I’m seeing them all over the place – the price, or subsidy for them must be high this year. They are a beautiful golden colour at the moment, and are painting the fields in shades of high summer.
These at Home Farm seem to be ready for harvest.
July 17th – I had to pop down to Shenstone on my way home; on my return through the backlands I noticed something that had largely been passing me by of late; the crops in the fields are now ripening, and the harvest cannot be far away.
At Footherly, a field of nice, plump wheat is turning golden in the July warmth. The clean, milky-tasting grain will, if the weather continues to be reasonable, make great flour.
Nice to see.
June 26th – Back near Lower Stonnal, a noxious assault of a different kind…
I was riding back down the lanes and I realised there was a strong farmyard smell, which is unusual there. I travelled some way further and discovered I had been downwind of this: it’s a crop sprinkler spraying liquid slurry on the grass to improve it (I assume the pump is elsewhere).
This is a dairy farm, and they’re using one of the cattle’s most copious products to restore the growth to the pasture.
Nicely circular, but very smelly.
BrownhillsBob's #365daysofbiking 