Flank Farm

All of the lambs have arrived, but I was more surprised by the amount of calves too. We met the lambs out in the field, the cows enjoying some sunshine and got chatting about how the busiest period of the year has gone for mum and the farm. Thanks for joining us. To support the farm, join my newsletter over at https://www.flankfarm.com/

No lambs. No problem. Welcome back to the farm, it’s a beautiful time of year and although I’ve typed that out a thousand times, it never gets old to say - and it never hurts to feel grateful for something so simple. Speaking of simple, here’s another honest chat between me and my mum. Here are some key chapters and highlights: 00:10 - Good Morning from the Farm 02:54 - Discussion on Sheep Health and Concerns - “Schmallenberg virus" affecting sheep. 06:53 - Weather and Farming Challenges: 09:18 - The condition of cows and their impending births. 09:58 - Anticipation for the arrival of lambs. 14:20 - Farm Animal of the Month: an introduction to "Snowy, 18:11 - Glastonbury Festival 19:30 - The farm shop items and charity contributions. 21:06 - Closing Remarks Thank you for joining us at the farm this month. If you’ve made it this far, you should subscribe: https://www.flankfarm.com/ #farm #farming #farmlife #farmfolks #farmfriends #sheep #cows #farmers

An exciting podcast we have in store, full of walking moment, new characters and funny stories – welcome back to the farm. Here are some timestamps so you can scroll along: - 00:00 Introduction - 01:30 Baby Belle sleeping on the hay - 02:40 Mum's preparation for the cameras - 03:20 Frank is 5 years old - 04:14 Cows sorting out who's boss - 06:30 Editing out our weather conversations - 07:15 Funny story from a meal out - 09:30 The Calendar Girl for the month - 15:00 the new (to us) tractor - 18:00 Robin and his drinking problem - 19:00 Has mum got too many sheep for March? - 20:50 Eccentric farm clothing - 23:50 Toad in the hole anyone? - 26:00 Thank you for watching We love and appreciate all your support, thank you for making the farm such a fun place to explore and we'll see you again soon. For updates and the latest, join us over at https://www.flankfarm.com/

Our beloved podcast keeps getting better! Navigating through another busy morning of life on the farm. Early trip to the abattoir, Lolly the Dexter, and going Vegan?! This February we also feature Lolly, a Dexter cow that mum can't speak more highly of. We were so fortunate to have Josh and James back helping with the setup so a huge CREDIT to James Norden (https://www.instagram.com/james_norden/) and Josh Aarons (https://www.instagram.com/joshaarons_/) for some beautiful videos of the farm and livestock. Timestamps: 0:00 Morning Greetings and Farm Welcome 0:24 Early morning tasks, visits to the abattoir, and livestock updates 1:37 Enjoying the beauty of the day and nature 4:13 Farming equipment 6:32 Announcement of the month's cooking project - Marmalade Making 8:06 Introduction to the "Calendar Girls" - Featured Animal Segment 9:02 Sheep scanning and upcoming lamb arrivals 10:02 Farming challenges and future plans 13:35 Feeding systems, barriers, and partitions for livestock. 14:00 Discussion on sheep management, lambing, Rams, and foot trimming. 15:25 Focussing on the farm and the sacrifice of family time. 19:12 Chicken update, showcasing different breeds and their unique features. 23:15 Adopting a vegetarian or vegan lifestyle for environmental reasons? Subscribe for more from the farm - https://www.flankfarm.com/ #GMFTF #farm #farming #farmlife

Happy New Year! Join us in January for (what could be) my best podcast episode ever. Chapters: 00:00:10 - Happy New Year! 00:00:52 - New Year's Resolutions? 00:01:53 - How was Christmas 00:03:16 - Mum is going to GLASTONBURY 00:04:22 - Farm Challenges 00:06:05 - Footwear Choices for the Farm 00:08:27 - Cull Ewes 00:13:05 - Robin the Bull 00:17:24 - Planning for Grass-Fed Livestock 00:19:53 - Cooking: Oxtail Stew 00:22:20 - January Farm Routine 00:23:30 - Lovely Tamworth Piglets 00:24:04 - Observing Growing Livestock 00:26:01 - Cowpat Cookies 00:26:01 - Planning a Pudding Table for a Wedding Join my newsletter: https://www.flankfarm.com/newsletter/

Sharing a slice of our life here on the farm during the colder months. This episode is a cozy mix of everyday farm happenings, our pre-Christmas hustle, and some hearty, down-to-earth chatter.

Lest we forget. Sorry for the quality of the audio in this months episode, not the finest but plenty to still enjoy. Here are some timestamps for you: - 00:15 Reminiscing about sitting on bales of hay - 00:40 Mum sold some cows to pay the winter bills - 02:20 Replacing the ol' Texel codger's - 03:00 Getting the second cut of silage home - 04:00 Time of year you're grateful for the barn (roof) - 04:20 Mum studying the clouds - 05:10 Mum selling a lot of this years lamb stock - 06:20 Process for introducing new sheep onto the farm - 07:30 Update on sheep's feet - 08:50 Percy the new Texel Ram - 10:05 Gilly the Bleu du Maine - 10:50 Cows inside for Winter - 11:45 How's the new barn? - 13:30 Ru's Stews Thanks for supporting us at the farm + have a great Month.

Good Morning from the Farm. On top of mum’s new tractor, we discuss some great topics for October – 00:22 - An eccentric podcast setup 02:00 - Mum at the ploughing match 05:20 - TB Testing pass 06:00 - Cows starting to have hay 07:20 - TB test reactors last year 09:00 - Mum's favourite months 10:00 - What normally happens in October on the farm 11:00 - Mum's new RAM 15:00 - Sat too far away from each other for the podcast 16:40 - Wedding feast 18:00 - Birds in the barn 20:00 - Pigs are very vocal Between us, I will not set us up so far away next time. Mum could hardly hear what I was saying, which made actual conversation a little tricky. Loads of love from us all at the farm

Welcome back to the farm, thanks for joining us on the dumper truck for today's episode of Good Morning from the Farm. This month we discuss: 00:17 Mum's on the dumper truck 01:20 Does mum like being a construction manager? 02:20 Don't be late... 8am 03:00 Mum's busy morning! 03:50 Could be a hard winter 05:20 Cows looking nice! 05:30 Sheep and fly strike 06:00 Gran's hornet problem 07:00 2 rams got out! 07:20 Stick a couple of pallets in the hedge! 08:30 TOP 3 Sheep Breeds 12:30 Hair Sheep from America (Fife Farm) 14:20 Seeing the pigs outside 15:30 "There's a reason why pigs have a plough at the end of their nose" 19:30 Mum's new tractor

Welcome back to our "Wild, Free and Lovely" Farm! This month we caught up about our new piglets; what farmers think of umbrellas; and how to juggle the work and pressures of this way of life. Chapters: 00:10 – New piglets 03:20 – Bucks Show coming up 04:20 – Wild, Free and Lovely 05:00 – What does mum think of umbrellas 07:00 – Synthetic meat 10:00 – Eating seasonally 16:50 – Responding to video from wildheather (https://twitter.com/wildmanheather/status/1684820818507780096?s=20) Questions for next time? I'd love to hear from you in the comments For Email updates, subscribe: https://www.flankfarm.com/

Good Morning from the Farm and I'm sorry this month's podcast is later than normal! I had to film this episode twice, the first time I sat down to edit and the audio on mum's microphone was broken. Talking points this month: 03:20 Tommy's first litter and the new piglets 05:00 A sulking / pregnant pig 05:50 Cow drama from the previous time we sat down 07:00 Livestock deadstock – the realities of farming 08:50 Our infamous June video 09:50 A Calming Farming moment of mowing 10:00 Haymaking is a craft 11:50 Kids allowed chewing gum during haymaking 12:30 There's good quality fodder and "rubbish" 14:20 Feeding straw to the cows for the first time ever 15:00 Nature always provides 15:50 Stories from the countryside 17:00 Saving the nice soap - am I the only one? 20:00 Questions! 20:40 What happened to Eric the teaser Ram? 23:20 How can a 30 year old mum of 3 get involved in farming Thank you for watching and supporting our farm. If you'd like to learn more, or stay in touch – please visit https://www.flankfarm.com/

Good Morning from the Farm to Episode 28 of our monthly podcast. Chapters: 00:20 – Talking about the farm dogs 02:35 – Ru's 'nice' dinner visit to the farm 03:25 – How mum buys a NEW tractor 05:10 – Going through the tractors on the farm 06:00 – Our darling Massey tractor 10:10 – Reputation is a real currency in rural communities like farming 14:20 – How important neighbors are to farmers 15:00 – "You can't get away from work" on farms 16:00 – Tragic number of suicides in farming communities 18:30 – Ru's offer to anyone in farming that's feeling "down in the dumps"! (This is a REAL offer). 19:00 – #calmingfarming about Lambing 20:00 – Mum watches latest video 21:00 – Who helps on the farm? 26:00 – What are the cows licking in the videos? 27:45 – The cows have been let our for summer! 29:00 – Weather update 31:00 – #calmingfarming about Cows going out To join in with the podcast – submit your questions, feedback, ideas, drawings, jokes... or anything else: https://tally.so/r/mZ8q2v For Email updates, subscribe: https://www.flankfarm.com/newsletter/

The lambs are out, and we're back in the barn for Episode 27 of our Podcast! Here's the running order: 01:00 How's the lambing going? 01:30 Percentage of lambs / sheep that mum has to assist with. 02:30 A right racket in the barn 02:50 Mum's weird sayings 06:00 Lambing outside is for young people 07:30 You have to do what works for you during lambing! 08:40 Lambing at night! 09:40 Calming Farming videos every few weeks 10:50 Spending time down in the barn at night 12:45 Shout out to ladies who lamb on Facebook 13:30 A lot of challenges this year 14:50 How is mum feeling in herself?16:05 You want to keep them alive!19:00 Are there too many sheep this year?21:00 Summing up lambing in 2023 For the latest from the farm, receive the new Calming Farming videos and to join in – subscribe to our newsletter over at https://www.flankfarm.com/

Welcome back to the barn for Episode 26 of our Podcast! Firstly we'd all love to wish you a very Happy Easter from us all at the farm; in this episode we discuss: 00:00 Looking at the new animals with Ru 01:30 Mum enters the podcast 03:00 Growing potatoes 04:50 Eat seasonal produce 07:10 Why does mum start lambing late? 07:20 Oh my goodness 09:00 Lambing depends a lot... on a lot of factors 10:30 A little lamb to watch on camera 10:45 How is Aubrey the bull getting on? 11:15 Sunrise on the Farm Segment 12:10 Mum cooking the evening meal at 5am 13:00 Would you like to watch night lambing? 16:00 What story would you like to see told about lambing? 17:30 So far we've had 11 lambs 18:50 Does caring make you a good farmer? 19:30 Mum is a control freak! 20:45 Is mum happy with Aubrey's calves? 21:00 Happy Easter everyone! For the latest from the farm and to join in – subscribe to our newsletter over at https://www.flankfarm.com/

Episode 25 of the Good Morning from the Farm Podcast.   Thanks for tuning in. Skip to the timestamps:  00:28 - Snow Forecast in the UK  01:29 - Pigs didn't go in with Tommy (yet)  03:00 - New Farmstream Camera gifted to Mum  04:00 - Stick it up there now  04:33 - When do we start lambing?  05:45 - Ru fainting video experience  06:37 - How are the sheds for muck?  06:50 - Pigs going in next week  08:30 - Vintage fodder beet machine won't chop Diddly squat 11:10 - Difference between a Spade and a Shovel?  12:10 - Ru's buying some lambs  13:26 - Can a farm just butcher animals on premises?  16:00 - Got new chickens!   17:17 - What mum thinks about quirks video.  17:30 - Thoughts on Downsizing the farm.  19:00 - Trying to 'go grassfed' farm  20:30 - The help mum has on the farm  23:40 - Ru's stand on Microwaves   This video was not sponsored, but thank you to Farmstream for sending us a new camera and being so supportive about the fire on the farm!  For Email updates, subscribe: https://www.flankfarm.com/

What you can expect from your time listening to our time spent on the farm.

Keeping it short and sweet for our February '23 podcast. 01:10 Great News about the TB test 02:30 Is construction affecting TB cases? 04:10 Great prices at the cattle market 05:00 3 New Tamworth Pigs (Gilts) 06:30 Melton Mowbray Farmers Market 06:40 Littering the Cows during Winter 08:30 Sheep scanning results for lambing 11:00 Thanks for watching + see you soon

Happy New Year!  Start as we mean to go on... by making this installment very late, because I left the farm without the memory cards! Oh well, it was still an upbeat and positive morning – we discuss:    00:00 Happy New Year and welcome to 2023  03:30 New Herdwicks that nobody noticed  05:40 Podcasting in a barn is unique / stressful  06:30 Babybell the new Farm Terrier  08:10 Jonathan is still here  09: 10 Christmas is a lot of pressure  10:30 What TV shows should we watch together?  13:20 Mum's new year reflections   For Email updates, subscribe: https://www.flankfarm.com/

This morning we discussed: 00:50 - The beautiful morning of weather (as we always do). 01:10 - The bullock calves are still outside 02:20 - Mum hasn't sold many of her lambs 03:00 - A lot of the lambs aren't ready because of the grass 05:10 - Farmers getting good grades for their stock at market 06:50 - Costs are rising for small farms 08:10 - The GOOD NEWS 09:10 - The story of the barn (from the start) 09:47 - Mum meeting a contractor 11:30 - Keeping positive when the weather is turning in the UK 12:40 - Mum prays for patience 13:00 - More haste, Less speed 14:00 Slow is smooth and smooth is fast 15:15 - Ru shopping with a chef 17:30 - We sold some meat boxes 23:00 - Farmers and mental health And of course, and as always – we wish you a very warm Good Morning from the Farm.

Good Morning from the Farm! We sit down in the barn with the cows to catchup on all that's happened since October. TB Testing, Barn Insurance Issues and Hedgelaying.