28 replies to this topic

[Cornish Gems]

Hi, think I'll pop along if that's ok. Have the kids and the dog......
 

That's great news! We have always thought that it was a case of the more the merrier and it already promises to be a very enjoyable Fest!

[micky1]

The dogs better behaved than the kids! Hope the weather's good.

[Cornish Gems]

We hope it does not matter that we do not now expect to arrive much before noon. Sorry about that. Very much looking forward to it and hope to bring the sun along with us!

[micky1]

Great day. Faye has spent many hours planning and many thousands investing in her future. What an eye opener!

[tim'rous beastie]

Thank you Faye for hosting a most interesting and informative day on your hardworking farm.  It's a great set up you have.  

 

This very brave lady (ref "bearded cavers" lol) has started from scratch and is making a rather nice job all round.  Long may your hard work, investment and planning provide the return you deserve Faye!

 

Micky1 I hope your car is a cricket free zone, and I hope CG and family had a nice sleepover and safe journey home. 

 

Thanks again Faye, and please pass on my love to George!

[Darkstar]

I am so pleased that everyone who attended enjoyed themselves.  I had a great time and it was lovely to be able to put names to faces. :-)

[Cornish Gems]

Well we certainly enjoyed ourselves.. so much so, in fact, that we thought we would show you, Faye, what good students we were by writing a report!  LOL

 

 NOTES/REPORT

 

This year’s Fest was hosted by someone who, although she was brought up near Salisbury Plain, did not have a farming background. She did, however, in her schooldays visit friends’ farms if invited. This meant that she had no preconceptions and had to learn about everything from scratch and therefore with today's market trends in mind.  She simply HAD to run things as a successful business because of the mortgage she had obtained based on her Business Plan. Fortunately, there was the Internet to help out in certain matters although that did not smooth out all the potential pitfalls.

 

Pigs

 

For instance, because of her lack of knowledge regarding pigs, the Internet suggested Faye should go on one of these pig-keeping courses but it must have been aimed at 'hobby farmers' because when she goT home and tried out the suggestions made, she found that they were totally impractical for someone wanting to run a business. And those of us who are wanting to turn a field into a farm need to be able to make money. However, after a couple of false starts, the pigs at Somerset Farm are now doing well. Indeed, the meat is so popular that she has had to buy in some extra weaners to make up what could be a shortfall because of the expected increase in sales this coming winter. She gave us some hints about what is popular and profitable. She had to go to several butchers before she found one that would prepare sausages the way she wanted them done and she had distinct ideas as to how she wanted her meat to be packaged – all of which made sense to us when she explained it. We had certainly not come across a small concern selling the kind of tasty sausages that she does although of course she did not part with details of every ingredient in her sausages! But then how wise of her! After all what Harry Ramsden did with his fish is what Faye could perhaps do with her sausages one day!

 

She uses 2 boars; Oscar and George. Oscar is kept in an enclosure close to the barn but George is in the pig field although Faye hopes to bring him closer to home at a later date so that she can keep an eye on proceedings. The word, ‘voyeurism’ springs to mind!  LOL

 

She related a delightful tale about Oscar (who happens to be a black pig) and Cilla  (who is the same). Cilla was brought down towards Oscar’s pen in a livestock trailer and then the back was lowered over the electric fence.  When Oscar became overeager, Cilla pushed past him, jumped over the fence and legged it off down the drive with a ‘get knotted’ attitude. When she was safely back in the trailer and back to where it had all started to go wrong, she was shut into the first half with the back down over the fence and the pair were left to get acquainted.  This time, Oscar was more of a gentleman and had more of a ‘Hello Darling’ attitude instead of a ‘Wham Bang Thank you Ma’am’ one.

 

George’s full name is ‘Homegrownpigs Revival 15’ and Prada is ‘Mysty Croft Fashion 30’. They are registered Middle Whites and look as though they have raced flat bang into a wall, but because of their length progeny fit well onto a hog roast. Faye is willing to register any weaners purchased from her if possible.

 

It was worth attending the Fest because of what Faye had found out through accidents and so we will slowly be bringing her ideas regarding, fencing, arks, bedding, pathways and feeders, etc into being.

 

The breeds of pigs she keeps are on the ‘vulnerable’ list.

 

Sheep

 

Her flock of sheep are Wilstshire Horn and she explained why she chose them. She also explained how she kept hoggets and why. It made a great deal of sense to us and we hope to follow suit although on a much smaller scale. Indeed, we have found a Dartmoor farmer who is asking around on our behalf. Cornish Gems tasted hogget that night and found it very tasty with the way in which Faye cooked it.

 

Chickens

 

At the moment you can only buy Somerset Farm eggs from the farm itself or once a week at one market. However, they have proved to be so sought after that the poultry side of things is having to expand. Her first move towards expansion was to purchase a poultry house for 350 birds, but, of course, with the intention of keeping less than that in it. Once the house was built, she put young pol birds in the first half but put actual layers in the other half. Her birds are the kind that she can keep for 2 seasons and then sell while they still have monetary value. She keeps 2 breeds so as to have different eggs.

 

We were particularly impressed with her electric fencing around the chickens and are looking at installing similar systems around our birds.

 

Ducks

 

She keeps 2 breeds of ducks; one for meat and the other for eggs. This is another area in which we are following suit, or, at least, on the egg side. The ‘pond’ is a paddling pool!  She hopes to move the ducks to a new area in order to make room for George eventually.

 

Cattle

 

Her business plan allows for cattle and to this end then she now has 3 South Devons and she was quick to point out that these were not to be confused with Ruby Devons.

 

Dogs

 

The one which gave the demonstration is Jack. Now he was originally trained as a trials dog and was retired at the age of 5. His former owner had a marked Devonian accent and Faye had quite a job in teaching him a completely new way of handling sheep in an unfamiliar language!  Jack is now 7 and has become totally accustomed to Faye’s female voice with commands given in a Wilsthire accent and that he now has to handle a large flock of sheep instead of the small numbers used in One Man and His Dog Trials. She has an interesting pen which she uses to train dogs who are destined to handle sheep one day.

 

Moss and Billie are Border Collies bought last year and now 13 months old.

 

Alfie is the guard dog and a terrifying one at that. He is a German Shepherd/Labrador cross and looks like a bear when he stands on his hind legs.

 

Caravan

 

Faye bought a second-hand ‘shell’ so that she could fit it out inside the way she wanted it to be done. We thought it was very tastefully done. She even made sure she had space for a dish washer as she freely admits to being TIME POOR!

 

Miscellaneous

 

Faye has until June of next year to prove that her Business Plan is workable.  Her open barn has 3 bays and one of these has now been partitioned off with a shutter door and it is in there she keeps several freezers. There are markets 3 days a week plus usually one on a Saturday. We liked the arrangements she has made to get her produce to market.

 

She intends holding a sheepdog trials day next summer and we wish her the best of luck with this venture.

 

We had not come across a ‘Naughty Chicken Coop’ before, nor a poor man’s alligator and her ideas for preventing vermin beat rat bait or traps any day of the year!

 

One of her complaints was that there was not a forum for small farmers who were running a business, which is a bit of a pity as there is so much that cannot be learnt from hobby farmers and yet those following the field to farm route need to be able to make money.

 

There were lots of other titbits of information, but we did not have time to take a note of them all.

 

Finally, we must wish Mixedangased the best of luck in their new venture and we look forward to hearing more about it.

 

Finally, and this time it is finally, thank  you Faye and Somerset Farm for a very interesting weekend and for sharing so much information with us all.

[Silly Mare]

HI, this is (stupid) tim'rous beastie, managed to get logged out and cannot remember my password, and attempts to rectify using the "forgotten password" link are not working, so I have a new name, which is probably more apt for me anyway.

 

Thank you for the report CG, brought it all back, I wish i could have stayed much longer and gained more info, but I am pleased to say that since the visit, I have started afresh on my business plan which will form part of my planning application.

 

Thanks again Faye!  I hope one day I can host a little gathering on my wee patch

[micky1]

yes great report folks.

 

inspiring place.

 

the steak was first class and the kids love the chipolatas!

 

must make some big decisions because i can now clearly see the investment and time required to do it fayes way. not sure we would want the whole set up as faye has it. time poor here.