Apley farming news

Photo 3: Winter Wheat in Camp Field

Poplars felled

Wood chip processed from poplar trees

Oilseed Rape in Lower Severn field

This year has really flown past. We’ll be into June next week, half way through the year. It’s hard to believe that the winter barley which was planted in September 2014 on the eastern edge of the Apley Estate will be ready quote soon (within 8 weeks) by end of July 2015.

This month, Adrian & his farm team have begun preparing for Open Farm Sunday 7 June, as well as spraying wheat with fungicide to keep off diseases & spraying fodder beet with herbicide to keep the weeds at bay.

Wheat is now about knee high, so they’ve also been cleaning grain stores ready for harvest in about 10 weeks’ time—approx. 10 August.

Ian Edwards sent me these 3 photos illustrate the Apley farming news:

The photo here of oilseed rape is taken in Lower Severn field, planted last September which will be harvested in August 2015.

The green loader is a Merlo (the manufacturer). It’s photographed by a pile of wood chip processed from poplar trees on the Apley Estate. The chip is being sold to a company who will dry it & sell it as fuel.

The winter wheat photographed in Camp Field, will be used for animal feed.

On our way home from supper this evening, we had to cross a ford & there swimming upstream was a mother duck with her 4-5 little ducklings. Amazing, as I’ve never seen a duck swimming on that tiny stream let alone ducklings & at night. Cycling home from the Farm Shop where I’d had a couple more meetings this afternoon, I spotted 2 leverets (baby hares) which are apparently & fortunately less rare than they used to be.