Category Archives: Farm and Countryside Life

The End is the Beginning!

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Harvest EndThere is a strange lull once harvest is over. The rush and bustle of preceding days is replaced by taking stock, sampling and reflection. However it is not long before the tractors are once again ripping up the ground in preparation for the seed drill to plant next years crop…

Harvest is now over,
all the crops are in the shed,
The fields look somehow empty,
the stubble looks quite dead.
But very soon cultivations,
will commence before the drill,
and once again a fresh new crop,
will be growing on the hill.

Have yourselves a great weekend and don’t forget to take an umbrella!

© Baldock Bard 2016
For more from the Baldock Bard click on ‘Home’ above

Facebook: Baldock Bard
Twitter: @baldockbard
E-mail: baldockbard@www.baldockbard.co.uk

The Baldock Boot Sale
SG7 6RD
is the friendliest bargain bonanza anywhere!
Every Saturday
April – October 2016
With more FREE parking and a field full of bargains!
www.u-boot.co.uk

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Oats For Sale!

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Canyon OatsThe star of this years harvest has definitely been a small field of Canyon Spring Oats. From just 15 acres we harvested around 50 tonnes, just over 3 tonnes per acre, which for us on our clay soil is amazing. Now we just have to find a market for them. If you’ve room in your cereal cupboard let me know! I’ve written a catchy little jingle to help market them…

Oats, Oats,
Glorious Oats!
Nothing quite like them,
for floating your boats!
For breakfast supreme,
especially with cream,
let us be grateful,
for wonderful oats!

If you’re interested in a lorry-load of wonderful oats, please e-mail Baldock Bard!

© Baldock Bard 2016
For more from the Baldock Bard click on ‘Home’ above

Facebook: Baldock Bard
Twitter: @baldockbard
E-mail: baldockbard@www.baldockbard.co.uk

The Baldock Boot Sale
SG7 6RD
is the friendliest bargain bonanza anywhere!
Every Saturday
April – October 2016
With more FREE parking and a field full of bargains!
www.u-boot.co.uk

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50 Years On!

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1966to2016We finished harvest last night. While on my way back to the field to collect more beans in the afternoon I parked the JCB and trailer next to the drive. When I returned it’s positioning seemed strangely familiar, so I took a photo. It was then that I realised that it was parked in the same spot as an old black-and-white photo taken 50 years before!

In 1966 the Massey-Fergusson was being driven by my cousin, Bruce, in the trailer (pre-Health and Safety days!) were my brother, Jeremy, and friend James Trollope. The tractor was 65hp, top speed of 17mph and the trailer carried just over 4t of wheat. The farm employed 4 men full-time and a good living could be made from 450 acres.

In 2016 the JCB is 170hp, top speed is 40mph and the trailer carries just over 17t of wheat. Nobody is employed on the farm, a contractor comes in with a giant combine and apparently it takes over 4,000 acres and a good-sized plot of land with planning permission to be a successful farmer!

How times change, but I wouldn’t change it for the world!

© Baldock Bard 2016
For more from the Baldock Bard click on ‘Home’ above

Facebook: Baldock Bard
Twitter: @baldockbard
E-mail: baldockbard@www.baldockbard.co.uk

The Baldock Boot Sale
SG7 6RD
is the friendliest bargain bonanza anywhere!
Every Saturday
April – October 2016
With more FREE parking and a field full of bargains!
www.u-boot.co.uk

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Harvest Gold Rush!

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Harvest 50sIn just three days our harvest is almost complete. What would have taken weeks using horses and hands, now is gone in an instant. I discovered a picture that was taken in the fifties on my Great Uncles farm, it is a very different scene from today. All the grain was carted to the thrashing drum (early combine which was back at the farm) and the wheat and straw was separated there. What we do in a day with two drivers would have taken weeks with at least six men with pitchforks…

“During harvest”,
a farmer once said,
“there ain’t much time,
twixt work and bed.
From the grain to the sheet,
grab some food,
your day’s complete!”

Whatever would he think now?
only days between harvest and plough,
everything is rush, rush, rush,
little time to use hairbrush!

One common factor does remain,
we’re in it for the golden grain!

Harvest now

© Baldock Bard 2016
For more from the Baldock Bard click on ‘Home’ above

Facebook: Baldock Bard
Twitter: @baldockbard
E-mail: baldockbard@www.baldockbard.co.uk

The Baldock Boot Sale
SG7 6RD
is the friendliest bargain bonanza anywhere!
Every Saturday
April – October 2016
With more FREE parking and a field full of bargains!
www.u-boot.co.uk

 

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Under Lights!

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Harvest MoonLast night we were able to harvest until eleven o-clock before being halted, not by the damp of the night, but by a low-fuel warning light on the combine. It is always a shock in the following morning to see the bare field and large heap in the barn when you’ve been ‘under lights’…

There is no sight likely to gladden a farmer’s heart,
than a big old moon at harvest.
Shinning down as a giant combine harvester,
grinds its way up and down the field,
dust following like a dirty train on a wedding dress.
However there is nothing more worrying,
than the low fuel warning light,
blinking as if a rabbit caught in headlights,
when we are on the field furthest from home,
and most sensible folk are tucked up in bed!
unload© Baldock Bard 2016
For more from the Baldock Bard click on ‘Home’ above

Facebook: Baldock Bard
Twitter: @baldockbard
E-mail: baldockbard@www.baldockbard.co.uk

The Baldock Boot Sale
SG7 6RD
is the friendliest bargain bonanza anywhere!
Every Saturday
April – October 2016
With more FREE parking and a field full of bargains!
www.u-boot.co.uk

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The Creeper Festival!

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Creeper1In certain parts of the world there are celebrations to coincide with harvests of all kinds. Celebratory feasts are cooked, wine is consumed and fairgrounds spin! I’ve always thought there should be a festival for cutting Virginia Creeper. This fast-growing house-coverer was much loved by the Victorians. According to old photos they just let it grow. They obviously didn’t have a JCB with a cage…

Once a year around harvest time,
when the daily weather is fair and fine,
I put Mrs Bard into a cage,
and hoist her up, it’s all the rage!
Once hoisted up the secateured reaper,
trims the house of Virginia Creeper!
She cuts around the swallows nest,
they’ve flown out line abreast!
The job is done leaves a nice clear wall
now’s the time for our Creeper Festival!
Creeper2© Baldock Bard 2016
For more from the Baldock Bard click on ‘Home’ above

Facebook: Baldock Bard
Twitter: @baldockbard
E-mail: baldockbard@www.baldockbard.co.uk

The Baldock Boot Sale
SG7 6RD
is the friendliest bargain bonanza anywhere!
Every Saturday
April – October 2016
With more FREE parking and a field full of bargains!
www.u-boot.co.uk

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My Father at 90!

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OM ScooterYesterday my father had his 90th birthday. At his party I was going to read out a silly verse ‘wot I had rit!’ However I chickened out at the last moment and substituted it with some inadequate words. Now wish I had taken the plunge…

My old man is 90,
Still wears a farmer’s cap,
He gets up at silly-o-clock,
To feed his purring cat!

He hasn’t got a horse no more,
He rides a scooter now,
He potters in his little garden,
A trowel replaced the tractor plough!

On his scooter to the shops,
He greets all folk with glee,
They all say, “What a gent,
He finds time to chat to me!”

So today he reaches 90,
And I’m very glad,
That all I really need to say,
Is “Happy Birthday Dad!”

© Baldock Bard 2016
For more from the Baldock Bard click on ‘Home’ above

Facebook: Baldock Bard
Twitter: @baldockbard
E-mail: baldockbard@www.baldockbard.co.uk

The Baldock Boot Sale
SG7 6RD
is the friendliest bargain bonanza anywhere!
Every Saturday
April – October 2016
With more FREE parking and a field full of bargains!
www.u-boot.co.uk

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The Dusty Harvest!

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Combine1Yesterday, after a few set-backs, we started harvest. It always lifts the farmer’s soul as the giant machines bring to an end his annual toil. Whether the yield is good or bad, one can always marvel as these leviathans lay bare the fields, along with a little dust…

Air-conditioning is a must,
when you work in choking dust,
It can make a farmer frown,
and wonder why he washed the combine down!
In the morning it was showroom clean,
observe these pictures, know what I mean,
But you can guess how farmers are,
with something worth more than a Ferrari car!

Combine2© Baldock Bard 2016
For more from the Baldock Bard click on ‘Home’ above

Facebook: Baldock Bard
Twitter: @baldockbard
E-mail: baldockbard@www.baldockbard.co.uk

The Baldock Boot Sale
SG7 6RD
is the friendliest bargain bonanza anywhere!
Every Saturday
April – October 2016
With more FREE parking and a field full of bargains!
www.u-boot.co.uk

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T’was The Night Before Harvest!

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Harvest SkyDespite a carefully planned run-up to harvest, the smallest thing can ruin preparations. Everything is ready and a tiny sensor, connected to the mainframe computer of the combine, decides to say ‘NO!’ There is little you can do but admire a glorious sunset. As they say ‘Tomorrow is Another Day!’…

Twas the night before harvest and all across the farm,
most things were ready, no sense of alarm;
The tractors were fuelled-up and all set to go,
Barns have been swept, brushed to and fro.
But what is this? Something’s not right,
Broken sensor for the combine, “From Germany overnight?”
So wait for the morning when all will be smart,
After a hiccup by computer, our harvest should start!

© Baldock Bard 2016
For more from the Baldock Bard click on ‘Home’ above

Facebook: Baldock Bard
Twitter: @baldockbard
E-mail: baldockbard@www.baldockbard.co.uk

The Baldock Boot Sale
SG7 6RD
is the friendliest bargain bonanza anywhere!
Every Saturday
April – October 2016
With more FREE parking and a field full of bargains!
www.u-boot.co.uk

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Honey Bees and the Naughty Pig!

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HoneySome friends came to lunch yesterday and bought a wonderful pot of honey from their hives. I’m afraid, like most things, I’m useless with bees, they seem to treat me like a pin-cushion and it hurts! Many years ago we were loading pigs when one escaped the lorry…

We were loading pigs up for export,
(for breeding abroad they were bred),
when one escaped from the ramp,
disappeared round the back of the shed.

It’s gruntings became ever quieter,
It was chased by the driver and Tom,
All over a sudden there was a shout,
“Look Out! The bee hives have gone!”

Back running came the driver,
old Tom was running with ease,
the pig overtaking them both,
All three being chased by the bees!

© Baldock Bard 2016
For more from the Baldock Bard click on ‘Home’ above

Facebook: Baldock Bard
Twitter: @baldockbard
E-mail: baldockbard@www.baldockbard.co.uk

The Baldock Boot Sale
SG7 6RD
is the friendliest bargain bonanza anywhere!
Every Saturday
April – October 2016
With more FREE parking and a field full of bargains!
www.u-boot.co.uk

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