Sharing the work, the produce and the experience
Most of our livestock fencing went in about 10years ago, but the East side of our land is rock hard in summer and a quagmire in winter, so our fencing is showing it’s age. Over the last few years we’ve been replacing posts quite frequently, but recently we’ve had pigs escape from their pen and […]
We started our new year with a social event – a walk – which we do every year. 1st of Jan 2024 was a beautiful morning. Then it was back to Wendy and Harry’s for a full English breakfast lunch. Another part of what has become a New Year’s Day tradition for the farm is […]
We held an Easter event on the farm, had a great turnout, fantastic weather, made some money for the project and everyone seemed to enjoy the day. What more could we ask for? Getting ready for our Easter visitors
We made our first dead hedge and everyone enjoyed our Christmas wreath making event. A dead hedge Christmas Wreathes It’s been a number of years since we did one of these events, but everyone seemed to enjoy doing it.
EMERGENCY – The Great Escape: our newest arrivals on the farm, 6 Saddleback pigs escaped! August update It’s been a while since the last blog update so here’s some of what’s happened since the last post. August saw a lot of work being done to nurture our veg and and protect it from birds and […]
We had an amazing day. The weather was great. Vistor numbers were up. We raised more money than previous years. LEAF Open Farm Sunday is a national event which sees farmers across the country open up their farms to visitors, enabling everyone to discover more about where our food comes from. LEAF OFS organises the whole […]
Helen organised for bug expert Alan to come to the farm and lead us all on a hunt for creepy crawlies. Jack in particular embraced this activity with maximum effort and ran rings around us chasing moths and butterflies. We saw a number of Orange Tip butterflies but failed to capture any however they’re quite distinct so […]
A random smattering of stuff we’ve done so far this spring, working hard (when are we not), a social, more pigs, more greenhouse work, more grass and more… Hard labour Well it certainly felt like hard labour having to weed, rake and spread grass seed over a whole field by hand. Greenhouses In addition to […]
We’ve been extremely fortunate to have been offered a fantastic greenhouse for free if we dismantle it transport it to our site and assemble it again. Preparation Dismantling Assembly Is it a greenhouse though? When you say greenhouse I think glass, well it doesn’t have glass it has polycarbonate panels, and it’s shape is more tunnel like than […]
Over lockdown we had a lot of people ask to join the farm and we weren’t able to run a proper induction process so we started a waiting list for the first time. When we were able to get people involved again mid 2021 we found this was a slow process so for our workday […]
Some hedging and fedging has taken place, completing the actions from one grant and achieving a milestone in another. Plus the beast was let loose in the new orchard area. Fixing some storm damage We had set up an outdoor covered enclosure for the chickens, but with the recent storms this was left in a […]
It’s been over a year since the last blog post, we could blame covid for a slow down in activity during 2020 and the blog posts sort of dried up too but actually we still managed to get quite a lot done. The more we achieved in 2021 the more daunting it became to write […]
First workday following November lockdown, most work focused on getting a new veg area ready. We also picked mushrooms and stood around admiring the magnificent alpha turkey. Traitorous apiary The hive has become silent, with the mysterious exit of all the bees. There are many theories of why this has happened, and it’s not an […]
Lots of bits’n’pieces going on at the farm during lockdown 2.0! Lockdown 2.0 It’s been hard to try to work out which lockdown rules apply to the farm, we’re a community farm but not a farm, we’re a company but a not for profit one etc and so there is no definite category into which […]
A photographically irrestistible protruberance, vegetable rejectamenta and preparations for winter. Pigs We gave the pigs some fresh straw bedding in their hut. Surprisingly it has stayed dry inside despite all the recent rain. They have been happily munching away at our vegetable rejectamenta, including partially rotten apples, along with their usual dry feed. Tomatoes The […]
Both trailers misbehaved, but managed to do their duty and deliver 15 lovely turkeys and 6 piglets to the farm. Trailers behaving badly The little trailer previously re-varnished needed a cover and so we made a fine cover that can roll up when not in use and leave little excuse not to use it because […]
New shed, new people, new trailer, new lots of stuff = awesome workday with so much done. What a great day with almost all members on site, recent members and a few first timers (who hopefully enjoyed it enough to come back) but we almost ran out of chairs at lunch time, I don’t think […]
We had so many new volunteers/members on site today, and it was brilliant, they all seemed to enjoy their time with us and just got on with it and mucked in. The more people we have at a work day, the more motivating it is as we can get so much more done. Counting down […]
After due consideration of covid and government guidelines, we opened for the first time since lockdown. We’ve been up during lockdown usually less then 4 people at a time, to keep the bare essentials going and look after the chickens. As it was the first day in a while, we decided that we’d only have […]
We have a composting loo, the birdhouses finally get put up, we made a new stove and the roundhouse got a top hat. It’s been a while since the last farm blog post, however today’s work day was inspiring. In spite of coronavirus fears we had a splendid turnout and got a lot done. We […]
or the last few years we’ve been on a farm weekend away, this year we were based in Hathersage and had fab time. We walked along the top of Stanage Edge which was particularly spectacular with fog in the valley below us and even the cement works pouring steam up looked amazing. While Sunday lunch […]
Our 2nd October workday felt very autumnal although after the recent rainfall we were happy with a mostly dry day! The first job of the day was to clean the chickens out. We are trialling using coffee chaff as a bedding material which is a waste product from the coffee roasting industry. We are grateful […]
What a tremendous work day we had, weather was much better than expected, we got loads done, lots of people made it to the day. More children on the farm than adults which is great (as long as there are enough adults!) it’s nice to see them playing outdoors, learning where their food comes from […]
At our most recent work day on the farm we tried to harvest as much of the veg as possible to allow what’s left on the stalks, stems and vines to ripen and continue producing amazing fruit and veg for a bit longer. It’s been a great harvest this summer, with multicoloured tomatoes, runner beans […]
Newts are flourishing in our wildlife pond! The pond We created the farm wildlife pond 2 years ago in order to give frogs, newts and other creatures a home as well as a valuable source of water. This was, and still is important as more and more wildlife habitat is destroyed and therefore the population […]
A really great workday where we got a lot done, no-one got hurt and we had fun with fire. Plus we had double James! Veg area We’ve got much better this year at ensuring that we blitz some of the dull jobs together at the start of the workday. This approach is working really really […]
A post anniversary party work day, surprisingly with fresh and alert farmies. Who seemed invigorated by the previous evenings celebration and enthusiastic to work. A cunning plan The right hand side of the farm is composed of four livestock pens which are normally used for pigs. The first pen is separated from the rest by […]
Tonight was a celebration of ten years of LVCF (Loxley Valley Community Farm)! We had a magic evening, a really special get together of farmies current and those who’ve been part of the project through the years. Elaine a founder farmie at LVCF is also singer with Folk band Eldaisal who came up to the farm to […]
Dreadful weather was forecast but we had a really great day – didn’t get rained on! Despite a general lack of organisation this year the event went really rather well. Wendy and Amos did a stint on gate duty as welcoming committee, we believe we had around 150 visitors this year – so a huge […]
Lots of little jobs to tidy the farm up and make it the best it’s been all year for Open Farm Sunday – hoping for good weather and lots of people to join us for the day and hopefully maybe a some will want to join the farm. We’ve been rather unlucky with our bees […]
More weeding, strimming and trying to make the farm look presentable for Open Farm Sunday – 9th June 2019.
Impressed with Dave’s battery powered implement, roundhouse roof plants are not dead – yay and a nice tidy fence around the veg area.
More tidying, a huge bonfire and an attempt at stopping rats from stealing our eggs.
At last an end to the asparagus moving – with the help of Spiderman. A very productive work day but the end to the day leaves a sour taste. Chicken area gets a makeover The chickens have received a lot of attention over the winter with the addition of a new covered area and the […]
Our first March workday saw work continue on moving the Asparagus to the new beds. This is a slow and arduous job to prevent too much damage to the crowns. We realised they had probably been planted a little low in the old beds and the soil was too clayey so we have rectified this […]
Lots of hard work was done, moving plants to use the land more efficiently, moving compost and some urgent maintenance on one of the polytunnel doors. Spidiferous roots and rhubarb We’ve decided that the area where the rhubarb and aspargus is currently located would be better as another pig pen and hopefully loading area for […]
Another great workday, lots of attendees and lots of work done. Chicken run finished! On the farm we refer to the little door the hens use to get from the the hen house to the their run as a poop hole. Hot Bed Asha, Harry and Robert constructed a hot bed in the No Dig polytunnel – there […]
The first work day of 2019 was a great success, not necessarily because of the amount of work done (we did loads), but because almost every farm member was there, which makes it so much more enjoyable to be a part of and motivates everyone. Which led to a very full round house for lunch. […]
In December we focused on building our hens a new chicken run, had farm turkey and I received a farm survival kit for Christmas. New Chicken run Our chickens have a large pen in which to roam during the day and we shut them into the hen house and what we refer to as the […]
This year instead of having a huge bonfire we made it more of a social in the roundhouse with the chiminea fired up. Amazing the difference in temperature just having the little chiminea in the roundhouse makes, so we could all gather round have a few beers or glasses of wine and chat. There was […]
The farm has applied to the Aviva Community Fund to purchase a fully accessible composting toilet and baby change facilities with associated landscaping and equipment to maintain the area and give safe access. To secure funding we need you to cast your votes for our project. Vote for us now! (Voting closed) To vote you will need […]
The focus of today was to start on a long standing project to improve the chicken run. The chickens have a large area within which to roam during the day but at night they get shut into a smaller covered area (the chicken run) with access to the hen house. This covered area is quite […]
What we really need is a really big trailer and a really big tractor to bring a really large quantity of manure – yes really! Gone are the days of the raised beds, the edging rots, space is wasted walking inbetween beds etc. time for something simpler. So now we have more space for veg […]
It didn’t take long before we’d found a use for the area that we’d cleared with the beast (see previous post). Our illustrious new head of veg decreed that this area should henceforth be known as… Rob’s experimental garden Rob has enthusiastically and with great success acquired a number of old baths which he’s used as planters. We’ve had […]
We’ve had a task to do for some time now: take care of the sheep field, tackle brambles etc which were getting out of control. A promise had been made to the landowners that we’d get it sorted out, unfortunately due to one thing and another the date for doing this kept slipping. It was […]
Today’s main focus was doing as much as we could to reduce/eliminate red mites from the hen house. Red mites in the hen house Recently we (and more importantly the chickens) have had a problem with mites in the hen house. Leading to lower egg production, discomfort for the chickens and the extremely unpleasant sensation […]
Today was a very, very hot day on the farm. Magnificent for sitting around and taking it easy, enjoying the view down the valley from the farm, not so great if there is work to be done. Tracey made her signature Apple Cake which didn’t make it past 10:30 tea & coffee break – YUM! […]
Zoe & Adrian put a lot of effort this year into creating a wildlife pond. So we put out a camera to record any visitors to the pond. Many birds seemed to enjoy the pond and badgers turned up for a drink too!
How a community garden project is bringing people together… and getting work done.
Open Farm Sunday 2018 was our most successful yet, we had more visitors than ever before. The weather was amazing, plant sales went well, cakes sold out and we had a reporter from the Sheffield Telegraph visit us and write a double page spread about us in the paper. We had a lot going on […]
The year seemed to start in earnest in March! The weather was relatively good which meant we cracked on with a lot of jobs. The main project this month was getting the container onto site and we had 2 deliveries of hardcore to facilitate this. Lots of heavy work shifting gravel but many hands made […]
February seemed to be a month of fixing gates! First Saturday of the month On the first workday of the month we replaced the main farm gate with a Heras vehicle gate. This made the entrance 2 foot wider which is required so we can get deliveries only to the site. We needed to do […]
The January sunshine at our first workdays of 2017 attracted the most people we have seen at a workday for a while! With more than 20 volunteers we soon cracked on with the jobs. Due to restrictions on housing our chickens because of the Avian Flu outbreak our birds had been inside since the start […]
We have been working on building a roundhouse in memory of Dave Buckle who was a member of the project. The plan is for it to have a living roof, with a whole in the centre so we can have small campfires inside during the cooler months. Work has been ongoing throughout the winter and […]
Over the past couple of weeks we have been hard at work preparing the land and constructing a polytunnel. We have got the frame up – just waiting for a nice day to get the polythene on! This will create a family friendly growing area which we hope will encourage more families to join us.
Weekend farmers call for more people to get their hands dirty Over a five-year period, 88 pigs, 17,000 eggs, 80 turkeys, 120 chickens and 960 vegetable boxes is pretty small scale for a farm, says Wendy Burroughes. “But for us, it’s quite a lot.”
On the 10th of November the farm welcomed its first celebrity guest when Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall visited as part of filming for the latest series of River Cottage. The farm featured on the programme that was aired on the 26th of November 2009, Channel 4 at 8:00pm.
