Yesterday we attended a one-day course on land management at South Yeo Farm East, a rare breeds farm not far from Hatherleigh in West Devon. Gillian and Ian Dixon run these courses on behalf of the Devon Association of Smallholders (DASH), although, at 93 acres, I hardly think their spread qualifies as a smallholding!
We covered a large number of things on the course: hedges, ditches, banks and boundaries, managing land for grazing and wild flower meadows, control of invasive plants, and what plants are poisonous to stock. We also touched on the management of ponds and wetlands, orchards, the difference between hay, haylage and silage and much more. The last part of the afternoon was spent looking at farm machinery and ploughs, the different type of harrows and when they're used, rollers, toppers and mowers. And all in one day!
Most of the day was spent outside, so we were lucky that, after a week of quite heavy rain, the day was dry, if a little overcast.
Obviously nothing was covered in great detail and some of it was not particularly relevant to our situation (I don't think our budget will stretch to tractors and the numerous bits of rather alarming-looking equipment that go with them), but it's useful to know what they all do. The pros and cons of getting contractors in to do the work were also discussed for those who don't want to go down the do-it-yourself route.
So much to think about! We are under no illusion that having a field, even it it's just a few acres like ours, won't require quite a bit of looking after and this course really spelled that out for us. Nevertheless, we left the course feeling tired but enthused!
I particularly liked the wild flower meadow and came away with a stem of Yellow Rattle seed heads (donated by Gillian) that I intend to dry off and scatter in a corner of our field. Well, it's a start!
