Spring Fun at Fordhall Farm!

Well, yesterday I spent the morning with Sian walking the cold streets of Market Drayton sharing Pork Pie samples from the Farm Shop and promoting our new Market Munch Meal.  

On a Wednesday, you can get 2 courses for only £9.95 – delicious, organic, local, seasonal, home cooked food for less than a tenner! Oh – it snowed a lot too and I was dressed as a cow!

Moooo...

So, now that I’m back in the office and my fingers have defrosted a bit we thought it was time to tell you what you can get up to at Fordhall Farm this spring…

We are open all over the Easter Weekend, including Easter Monday.  There will be self-led activities available to pick up from the tea-room, including a Spring Treasure Hunt, Orienteering maps, sticky bookmarks and woodland ropes to climb through on the farm trail.

The Great Egg Roll of 2012

On Saturday 6^th April, our annual fundraising Barn Dance and Hog Roast will be held at 7pm. We have the brilliant folk group The Boat Band (with dance caller) to lead the proceedings. Whether you are a first time Barn Dancer or a seasoned veteran, everyone is welcome! It is always a good laugh and the Hog Roast is mouth wateringly delicious…! 7pm-11pm, £10 adult, £5 child

The very next day, we have our Spring Celebration and Lambing Day. This is a great opportunity for you to come and see our lovely lambs up close and peek in at the chicks keeping warm in their incubator.  You can have a go at powering an air pumped canon using only your body, have your photo taken with a bird of prey, have a go at May Pole dancing and enjoy the wonderful mime performances of Kaleidoscope Theatre.  You can scramble through a hay bale tunnel, help look after the birds this spring by making bird feeders and you can even get your face painted…phew – and if that’s not enough, there will also be a variety of lovely, local producers selling their wares and a Fordhall Farm BBQ. 10am-4pm, £1 adult, 50p children

In the week after the events, we will be holding our annual Egg-Stravaganza!  On Thursday 11^th April, children (with an accompanying adult) can come and decorate an egg, take part in the Great Fordhall Egg Rolling competition, go on a mini-egg hunt and if they are very good…and quiet, they can even go and visit the lambs. 10am-12pm, £5 per child (with accompanying adult).

On Saturday 13^th April, we will be running a Family Woodland Day with Julie Edwards. See who can build the biggest den? Play woodland games, get creative with woodland materials and enjoy a woodland snack by the campfire! 10am-2pm, £10 per person (£35 for family of 4) Suitable for ages 4+

So – there is A LOT going on! If you want to take part in any of the above events or courses, please give us a call or pop into the tearoom to book your place 01630 638696

Meanwhile, Happy Easter…don’t eat too much chocolate!

Becca x

(photo taken from alexcastle.blogspot.com)

The Minister for DEFRA visits our organic farm

Minister for DEFRA Owen Paterson and Fordhall Board Members

Shropshire’s MP, Owen Paterson, in his new role as the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, visited Fordhall Farm last Friday.

As our local MP and with his new role, we had to invite him to Fordhall. We wanted him to see what has been achieved after so many lovely people across the country decided they wanted to support British and organic farming. We wanted to show him the benefits of community owned farms and perhaps provide him with some new and innovative ways forward for the industry.

 

His visit had been in the diary for some months, and when the horse meat scandal hit the headlines in February, the timing just got better.

 

 

We were really pleased Mr Paterson found time to visit Fordhall, having suddenly found himself very busy recently.... We were keen to show him how the concept community ownership has allowed Ben to continue farming on land he would not otherwise have afforded, whilst simultaneously providing a valuable resource for the local and wider community. We also took the opportunity to demonstrate the local food chains at Fordhall and the positive influence the horse meat scandal has had on business.

At the recent NFU conference the Owen Paterson said “To be the lead innovators and increase our competitiveness globally, we need highly skilled, entrepreneurial and ambitious people working in our farming and food sectors. I welcome the industry’s lead in promoting itself to young people and supporting new entrants, with a number of initiatives already underway.”

The visit on Friday gave Owen Paterson the opportunity to see the community farm in action. Whilst here he visited a group from Market Drayton Infant School who had walked from the town to visit us. They took great delight  in telling Mr Paterson what they had learnt about the farm, including where sausages come from and how to do a worm dance!

We then took a short tour of the farm, explaining our Foggage farming system, which allows the livestock to remain on the pasture year round, before returning to our sustainably renovated Old Dairy for a tour of our classrooms and a demonstration of the natural materials we have used, the butchery and then the tearoom for a Fordhall ploughman's lunch.

Demonstrating the sustainable building techniques we have used at Fordhall

 

Owen Paterson said “Ben and Charlotte Hollins have demonstrated a clear determination to remain in farming. I salute their enterprise and commitment “

There is no horse meat in the
Fordhall butchery!

Ben was pleased that the Minister was also interested in the supply chain on the farm, which goes from here to an abattoir in Stoke and then everything is back to the farm to be hung and butchered, and then sold direct to the public. Not only do we sell everything direct, without horsemeat in sight, but we also employ over 20 people on the farm, something that not the average 140acre would find possible and something which did seem to tick an important box with the Minister.

After visiting the farm Owen Paterson said “the transformation at Fordhall over the last 7 years is extremely impressive. The environmentally friendly buildings provide a real centre piece for the farm.”

Market Drayton IS IncrEdible!

Pam Warhurst, Emma Walton,
Tricia Pedlar, Charlotte Hollins

On Monday night the Festival Drayton Centre, in Market Drayton, was alive with enthusiasm and excitement. There were over 60 people gathered in the green room to listen to inspirational speaker Pam Warhurst. Pam came down from Todmorden in West Yorkshire, where she and other community members have formed an amazing project called Incredible Edible Todmorden. The idea behind this is to encourage and educate people to use and grow local produce and suppliers. They have transformed the look of their small town by growing fruit and vegetables in planters, on grass verges and in any available green spaces they could find! It has also had an amazing impact on the town’s tourism, with busloads of people arriving to follow the ‘Green Route’.

Incredible Edible Todmorden link HERE

The Incredible Edible theme has spread and there are now 35 Incredible Edible towns around the country as well as some abroad.

The Market Drayton Community Partnership’s (MDCP) environment & climate change group (which is made up of local volunteers including Emma and Charlotte!) linked up with the Fordhall Community Land Initiative and Making Local Food Work to facilitate and co-ordinate Monday evening.  

There was so much support and enthusiasm in the room to develop an IncrEdible Market Drayton concept further. Suggestions were made that the space outside the library might be a possible place to grow edible plants, that ‘Shropshire Prune’ damson trees be planted around the town, that an audit of fruit trees be done so that the fruit does not go to waste, but is utilised to make jams etc. How about bees on top of flat roves in the town centre to pollinate plants? That was another suggestion. The list is vast.……..a gingerbread shaped garden, garden shares where people who don’t have garden space can help those who cannot manage their own gardens anymore.

What was really brilliant too was that there was a diverse group of people there on the night: local councillors, Shropshire Council representatives, the mayor, local residents, the prison, the allotment group, Fordhall (of course), Meres and Mosses Housing Association and on and on the list could go…………………

We were all very excited about the enthusiasm in the room - so much so we couldn't sleep for the next few days!!

There will be a second meeting in about a month’s time, so if you are interested in getting involved then please give me (Emma) a call at Fordhall (01630 638 696) where I am now the Community garden Co-ordinator or email me on project@fordhallfarm.com

Our first planting opportunity is happening this weekend. We will be meeting at 2pm in the car park at Walkmill Meadows in Market Drayton. We have been given 6 Shropshire damson trees to plant on the site. Obviously 6 trees will not take a long time to plant, so we will probably do a general tidy and litter pick while we’re on site. Hopefully see you there.

Emma
Community Garden Co-ordinator

New Year, New Staff!!

We’ve had some changes here in the office this month; we have two new members of staff!
Emma Walton, who will be taking over from Bex Syrett our Community Gardening Officer and Jane Edwards who will be taking over from Beth Kennett our Admin Assistant. 

See you soon, Bex!

Bex will be taking 6 months off from tending to the Community Garden at Fordhall, in order to travel around Europe in a revamped ambulance!  She will be visiting different Permaculture sights around Europe and picking up new ideas to bring back to Fordhall in the Autumn!

So, until then, the garden will be left in the capable hands of Emma.  Emma has been working in Wildlife and Conservation Management with people of all ages, teaching them practical conservation skills and personal development. She is also a familiar face around Market Drayton and likes to support to the local community.

Emma’s interesting fact… “I cycle toured in Australia for 5 months!”

Beth is off to the Galapagos Islands to volunteer and learn about the wildlife there.  She has been with us for 3 years and although it’s sad to see her go, we are very jealous of her adventure ahead and hope that she has an amazing time!

Bye bye Beth!

Jane has come from a very different job environment to Fordhall; she was working as an e-learning advisor supporting adult education in the West Midlands.  She lives in South Shropshire and is in the process of setting up her own Shitake mushroom growing business.  She has been a strong supporter of Fordhall’s since the days of the campaign.  She is also Becca’s mum!

Jane’s interesting fact… “I lived in Afghanistan for 2 years during the 1980’s!”

The tearoom have also had some changes recently, with Katy Caldecott leaving to pursue a career in retail, as well as working hard on her musical career with her band Pre-Sleep Monologue.

Good Luck Katy!

To fill the gap left by Katy, we have the lovely Odilia Briceno-Plummer.  Odilia, used to manage her own guesthouse in her home country of Venezuela.  She also organised community work days, clearing up local green space in her neighbourhood.

Odilia's interesting fact..."My family own a chocolate farm in Venezuela!"

So, with new team members on board, we have a fresh bunch of ideas to drive forward over the next 12 months. 

Farewell to Beth, good luck Katy, see you soon Bex and welcome to the team Emma, Jane and Odilia!

Can Market Drayton be IncrEdible??

A group of local residents and volunteers involved in the Market Drayton Community Partnership and helping to work on actions arising from the Market Drayton Town Plan think it can be !

 

There are lots of interesting links between the community, food, health and tourism that have helped generate great ideas and even some free food in other towns. The Fordhall Community Land Initiative has gained a small amount of national funding from Making Local Food Work and some facilitation support to fund a meeting to start a discussion.

There is an initial open meeting on Monday 4^th Feb, 7pm at the Festival Drayton Centre, where ideas will be discussed, chaired by Charlotte from Fordhall Farm, and guest speakers from Incredible Edible Todmorden and the Plunkett Foundation.

 

Charlotte is also a volunteer with the Market Drayton Community Partnership Environmental Group. She has had a number of conversations with various groups in Market Drayton around local food through volunteering on the partnership. It became apparent that there were lots of links and partnerships to be made. The funding and resources available from the Plunkett Foundation are allowing Fordhall to support the development of these links further. We hope the meeting on Monday will be full of ideas from the whole community on making Market Drayton IncrEdible.

 

The evening will include an inspirational talk from Pam Warhurst, the chairman of Incredible Edible Todmorden. A hugely successful project with international recognition.

 

Some great ideas already been aired by residents involve the planting of more damson trees around the town centre to highlight the towns heritage as the town of the damson, or the collection of fruit from trees in private gardens where people are not able to collect and use the fruit themselves. There may even be possibilities of using scrub land around the town or areas of council land to grow herbs and vegetables!

 

Most importantly, we want to enjoy ourselves, work collaboratively, have fun and make Market Drayton a better place to for us to live, and hopefully a more interesting place for others to visit. This evening will explore ideas and develop partnerships.

 

Miriam, a key volunteer from the community partnership said "lets nourish the roots of Market Drayton and see the town grow. These projects have so many benefits for our health, in so many ways. Market towns rely on local networks and local food is a crucial one."

 

The hope is that the support from Fordhall can help coordinate initial activities with new volunteers through the Market Drayton Community Partnership. A group that was set up by local residents to help action points from the town plan, to improve the town, bring back a sense of community and make it a better place for everyone.

 



Miriam, Charlotte, Richard, Emma (coordinator) and Clive all volunteers with the Market Drayton Community Partnership

So fingers crossed for Monday - everyone is welcome, we hope to see you there....

Shropshire Housing Group assists young people at Fordhall Farm

An exciting project to support young people in the Market Drayton area struggling with conventional education has been given pilot funding by the Shropshire Housing Group recently.

The Fordhall Community Land Initiative is running the project which works with small numbers of young people from the local area. Conservation activities around the farm are used to develop their skills, confidence and self-esteem, helping these young people to achieve some direction in life and offer support to them in their career progression.

 

They may be putting up fences, mending benches, repairing tools, creating children's play areas or conservation work on and around Fordhall.  It is something that has remained on our ideas list for some time, and when a chance conversation with the Shropshire Housing group occurred last year, it all began to take shape.

It has been proven that outdoor activities provide valuable alternative, often non-competitive, avenues for achievement, as well as opportunities to develop independence and self-reliance. Through successfully facing up to the challenges which outdoor activities provide, overcoming fears and apprehensions along the way, we have seen how young people can make major strides in confidence. 

Working closely with the Grove School and County Training we are seeing a great demand for experiences which work with young people away from the classroom environment.

It is an ideal partnership and has been generously funded through the Shropshire Housing group who are committed to providing community benefit projects in their communities and encouraging sustainable communities.

Mike Price is our new Youth Coordinator at Fordhall Farm and he has been fantastic at working with the young people, improving their self confidence and teaching them many new skills on the farm - we may even be able to get them to write their own blog...

Although this remains a pilot project (due to end in March), there is hope that funding will continue and more opportunities will be created for young people at Fordhall Farm. We have our fingers crossed!

 

It is normally difficult to get our youngsters to smile for the camera, but there was a chance shot of Chris and Aidan, with Mike (top right), after building a willow den for children in our picnic area (first image of the blog).

 

One of our fab young people checking his work after building stepping stones for visiting children to play on

 

The snow at Fordhall

The last seven days have been a real winter wonderland at Fordhall and we thought it was about time we shared some of the lovely views we have been so fortunate to see ourselves.

When the snow first came on Friday last week, it seemed as though the country had gone into melt down, the schools were closed and the roads were empty. However, the livestock continued to graze regardless. Pushing their noses through the sparkly white fluff to find the grass below.

So, we thought it was a great opportunity to go for a walk about and take some lovely photos.

We started with Terry taking some hay out to the cattle and sheep. Out on our only farm vehicle - the quad bike, Terry took piles of hay, which had been cut from our hay meadows during the summer months.

Being careful not to put the hay in the same place as the day before, Terry spreads it across the field. This way he can be sure the cattle don't all congregate in the same place and turn the ground to mud - which would ruin the ground for any winter grazing.

For those that don't know, Terry is Ben's stockman. He started working at Fordhall about 40 years ago when the farm was making yoghurts, but dad had to make him redundant in the 1990's when the farm was struggling. Almost 15 years later and Terry is back at Fordhall.

We then walked over to our Heritage Site, the old Ringwork and Bailey, stopping to take photo's on the way. As we passed our new wildlife hide, built by young people doing reperation work, we spotted a robin and with some patience, we were able to get a lovely shot.

With the public scared indoors because of the snow, we decided to make the most of it all, and invited the whole of Market Drayton to come sledging on the farm last weekend. Facebook and Twitter went crazy and families turned up with sledges in tow.

 

 

It was great to see so many enjoying their time at the farm. Enjoying the simple and free pleasures that the weather brings. It was so lovely to see Fordhall at the heart of the community and we hope that everyone will return this weekend to play some more....

Charlotte

And if you like these there are more pics on our facebook page
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.585873368095668.151174.195752607107748&type=3

Follow us on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/fordhallorganicfarm#!/pages/Fordhall-Organic-Farm/195752607107748?fref=ts

Courses, workshops, events...you name it, we've got it!

We have a jam packed year ahead of us with volunteer weekends, events, music nights, school visits, guided walks, functions, courses and holiday activities!

Basket Weaving Workshop

We have a lot of new and exciting courses and workshops throughout the year – including Introduction to Greenwood Working, Biodynamic Workshops, Family Woodland Day, Easter and Xmas Wreath making AND back by popular demand, we have Basket Weaving Workshops too!

Fordhall Bee

 We have also got the lovely Brigit Strawbridge (BBC2 It’s not easy being green) coming up to do a Bee Aware workshop and the wonderful John Hughes (Shropshire Wildlife Trust) is coming along to do a Mushroom Mosey and Munch! Both of these sessions will involve a walk around the farm, with a talk and a delicious Fordhall meal too.

Fordhall Mushrooms

For more information on all of our courses and events this year please check out our website www.fordhallfarm.com/events or give us a call in the office on 01630 638696

Outdoor Learning at Fordhall Farm

Sunday Lunches are highly commended at Fordhall

FANTASTIC - We recently received a glowing review for our Sunday Lunches from Shropshire Star Editor and Food Critic, Carl Jones.

Our Sunday Lunches are our highlight of the week in Arthur's Restaurant. They generally come piled with an array of seasonal and organic vegetables, roast potatoes and of course yorkshire pudding

We have a wonderful team of staff in our restaurant at Fordhall. They have worked extremely hard over the last 12 months and we would like to say a big thank you to each and every one of them.

You can read the article here:

Or call us to book your table for a Sunday of your choice (serving between 12pm - 3pm)  01630 638696

We can take group bookings for up to 36 in our room upstairs also..

Hope to see you soon

Christmas Carols on the Farm!

On Sunday 16^th December, between 3pm-5pm we will be holding our last event of the year, Christmas Carols on the Farm. It is an event for all the family to get together and celebrate the winter season. If you haven't made it to any other events this year, then this is your last chance of 2012!

We will be joined by a group of Carollers who will help us to sing some Christmas favourites and if you all sing loud enough, Father Christmas will make an appearance! 

You can enjoy some mulled (local) wine and home baked mince pies, as well as hot Fordhall baps and a hearty, warming soup. 

Children can take part in Christmas crafts, making decorations out of natural materials to take home and put on the Christmas tree.  There will also be a ‘Yuletide Trail’, which will take children on a hunt around the Farm Yard; there is a prize if you discover all the clues!

Father Christmas will be in his “green” grotto, ready to listen to all your Christmas wishes and children can receive a traditional gift, along with a Certificate of Goodness – if they've been very good this year! J

The event is free, but there is a charge of £4 to see Father Christmas and receive your gift and certificate.  Any funds raised from this event will be reinvested into our continuing education programme.

The Tea Room will be serving hot food and drinks and Farm Shop will be open so you can stock up on Christmas goodies!

Wrap up warm, bring a torch and come and join us for good ol’ sing-song and some festive fun!