Transforming The Mill Pond

In the centre of our venue space there is a pond. Around 10 or 15 years ago it was in use as a trout pond, but since then it's become overgrown and bit of an eye-sore. Frank, the head gardener here at Radford Mill Farm, has been beautifying the venue space for over a year and half and, as the seasons started to change at the end of 2013, it was the mill pond's turn!

Before

Frank's vision is to create a water garden you can walk into via steps and a small jetty. It's to be a place of beauty for people to enjoy but also one that increases biodiversity on the farm. The pond is to be planted with many pollinator-friendly species and, in time, become a haven for wildlife. 

After

The first job was to drain the pond and clear the banks of nettles and other perennial weeds that had taken over. Wwoofers armed with slashers, spades and trusty garden forks got stuck in and soon we could start planting. 

Before

After

Steps were built using old railway sleepers which made the pond much more accessible (we nearly lost a few tools and Frank himself to the deep mud!).

Frank managed to spend very little money on plants through sourcing things from the farm itself and other contacts, donations or propagation.

Around the pond's margins (in or just above the water) we planted Juncus Grass and just above this Miscanthus sinensis which will spread and whose soft heads will look nice in winter. The bright green and red bark of Shrubby Dogwoods planted along both banks will also bring winter colour to the pond. Hart's Tongue Fern (Phyllitis scolopendrium) was planted into the edges where the stream enters the pond creating an instant fern gully. The upper parts of the bank were planted with the pollinator-friendly flowering plants Rud Beckia and Abyssinian Gladiolus, while in the water there is Papyrus and Yellow Flag Iris. 

There are still a few more improvements to be made including more planting (White Water Buttercups, Water Lillies, Bull Rushes and Horsetail) and building a jetty.  The banks will need to be tended to eliminate the last of the perennial weeds that were choking the pond but Frank sees it becoming self-maintaining in two or three years. A lot of hard work went into this project and it's a huge reward just seeing the impressive difference, even before things have had a chance to take root and spread out.

A Sign of the Times

We have new signs. Yes the farm is tidying and making itself look a bit more respectable. The signs will be used to advertise our various courses and events and are almost ready to be put up. Here are Dave and Tom, with the first one varnished and ready for installation. 

Please note the excessive amount of white paint on Tom’s overalls, even though this job did not involve using white paint. Look at the quality of that varnish… sadly the arms of both these men are stuck to it!! We will post a picture of the finished article soon.

We Have The Energy

We told you a few weeks ago about the new solar panel system we were putting up, here at Radford Mill Farm. The project is now complete and the final parts of the system were connected up on 29th July. It is producing lots of lovely green electricity, although not so much today as its raining!

We had a tough time putting the system in place as we were on a tight deadline, due to a change in the government feed in tariffs that we wanted to take advantage of. The steel posts are dug down a metre into the soil, which consists mainly of clay and stones so that was not easy. We also had to line up all the posts using a clear plastic tube full of water, to get the heights right and string and spirit levels, to get everything in line and upright. The posts are all held in place by stones and concrete and each one took 3 or 4 people to carry and a tractor to lift in position!

The panels were finally bolted to the wooden framework about 9 o'clock in the evening but most of the work was done in the heat wave just before the Olympics started, so it was quite a task. I myself was drinking about 3 litres a day extra!

This system is rated at 3.66 Kilowatts and on a very sunny day, can produce enough electricity to power 3-5 houses. It's connected to the national grid, which absorbs and distributes the electricity and we hope to get the cost of the system back from the sale of its electricity, within about 10 years or so. After that the income will then be used to put up more solar panels or to do other sustainable projects on the farm.

This system was designed to do 3 jobs: produce electricity, collect rainwater and keep the rain off our machinery. Aim number 2 hasn't been realised yet as we still have not fitted the guttering but we think the other two aims have been admirably achieved.

The Beast of Radford

    It’s big, its yellow, its dirty and its quite clever! It’s a bad, bad boy. It’s our 1973 JCB. 

    It’s very handy to have a powerful and versatile machine like this on the farm. It's engine is a 4 cylinder diesel that in its heyday, pumped out 76HP. It's still going strong after 39 years of service. Sometimes however it does need a little work and here we see the injectors being removed for checking. We have just treated it to a new battery and fuel filters and will shortly be changing the air filter and throttle and stop cables. That should just about do it for another 39 years!

    Last may we built a fab new bridge to ford the Cam Brook, that meanders through the farm. The JCB was right in there lifting the finished item into place. Note that it works best with several people standing nearby, studiously watching and offering advice.

    The JCB is used for moving heavy items around, digging out banks and ditches, lifting work, banging in large posts, digging trenches, shifting manure and all sorts of other random things.

Long live the Beast of Radford!

Flying the Nest is Such a Wren-ch

    Birds have been nesting in our workshop and today I got the best view of one so far. This little fella had just jumped out of the nest and was wondering around on the floor. It's probably a good job we don't have cats!

    I think it's a Wren, the commonest breeding bird in the British isles. They are often seen on farmland and in wooded areas but rarely use chainsaws and tools, so why he's in our workshop I don't know. Lets hope he's had his safety training.

    The RSPB website says the Wren eats insects and spiders, which explains his reluctance to eat the worm I dug up for him. Lucky for the worm, who crawled away unharmed to wriggle another day.     

Seaching for Our Pot of Gold

 

It must be close!

A view across our valley yesterday evening, looking at Summer Leas field.

Out On The Tiles

    Our philosophy on life is the old and well worn mantra, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. Why spend your hard earned moola on new stuff when there is perfectly good stuff available for free or almost nothing. Every time you buy something new you are using up valuable resources for no valid reason.

    With this in mind we are keen addicts of freecycle and freegle in our local area. Just last night we collected a used toilet, a couple of beds and a great treasure... 307 roof tiles in perfect condition. They were collected from a builder who had been doing repairs on a property and just wanted to get rid of them.

    Big result!

    Here are the guys unloading. We have no exact plan for these at present but you can be sure we will put them to good use soon.

     It's mind blowing to think of all the raw materials that have gone into the products we have bought over our life times. Think about all the energy consumed to collect, process and transport all those raw materials and the energy used to make the products. Then think of all the energy to drive the ships, planes, trains and vehicles to ship the products around the world, just so you have the latest thingamy Dyson Mc-i-wotsit, just like the neighbours thingamy Dyson Mc-i-wotsit. We are all a bit susceptible to advertising and peer pressure but maybe it's time to actively say 'no' and start to reduce, reuse and recycle, all the time!

    Why not find your own freecycle or freegle site and become a member. Not only can you give your unwanted stuff to people who will use it but you can also collect your own items from others and save yourself a little money. And best of all... it's free to join and use! Good luck!

http://uk.freecycle.org/
http://www.ilovefreegle.org/
http://www.ilovefreebiesuk.net/free-cyclesites.htm
http://www.freegive.co.uk/

Look No Rain

    Yes it's hard to believe but we almost had no rain today! At least it's quite good for the crops but the little sunshine we did have today, put a smile on people's faces and everyone was in a good mood.

    WWOOFers come, WWOOFers Go. Here's the current gang at Radford Mill Farm. From left to right we have Richard, Lea, Rico, Aida, Liam, Arnault, Lou, Chris, Valentin, Carlotta, Sam, Cyril, Tom and Mikael. Shortly before this picture was taken we had just had a lovely pasta dinner and an impromptu game of Boules!

Run Away Chickens!

    City folk who go out on an evening, often see foxes roaming the streets. Sometimes furtively and sometimes as bold as brass. I myself saw an adult fox last winter, sitting on top of a VW Polo in a London street. The fox was watching its cubs playing in someones front garden, just half a mile from Tower Bridge!

    The country however is a different matter and foxes here are far more wary of people. Just recently however, we have been graced with some sightings of a new resident on the farm. Ok its not a great picture but here is the new fox in the neighbourhood, caught on film a few days ago one sunny evening (yes we did have a sunny evening), down in the Alder Bed close to or willow plantation.

    We had been keeping an eye on this fella as we previously lost 2 chickens within a few days. Foxes are known to stalk their prey just like a cats and they often play with it before they kill it. If they aren’t hungry they may even catch a small animal just for fun, then let it go. A fox’s hearing is very sharp and they can hear a watch ticking 40 metres away. I saw this particular one on a disused railway embankment we have here, about 100 metres away and he sat and watched me for 2 minutes. As soon as I started talking on my phone he ran off.

    Apparently the fox is seen as a sacred animal in Japan so perhaps we should treat this one to an all expenses paid, one way trip to Tokyo. Sadly we shall probably have a friend come in and take care of the problem, as we only have 10 chickens left now. Its still nice to see some real wildlife and not just an animal hanging around some dingy bins, behind a back street Chinese restaurant.

It's Not All Fun, Down On The Farm

    Working hard as we do, to grow our crops and bring them in, we work our machinery and tools quite heavily too and sometimes they break. It’s quite frustrating at times but fortunately we have a number of people with some engineering skills, to get things moving again. In the last few days the safety brake on the chainsaw and the steering arm on our little Yanmar tractor have both failed.

The Husqvarna 230 is a cracking little chainsaw

    The chainsaw part was a nice simple fit once it arrived, courtesy of an excellent ebay shop. A quick clean of the air filter and a top up of chain lube oil and its ready and safe for action.

 Yanmar mid repair

    Here is the Yanmar mid repair, with the kingpin and bearing in clear view. Of course the spare seal we bought to compliment the new steering arm wasn’t the right size!

Our Yanmar Workhorse 

    The Yanmar 1500D is our main workhorse for all the small jobs on the farm. We have 5 tractors in all and the bigger ones are used for lifting and ploughing but the little Yanmar mops up all the small jobs nicely. It’s perfect for shifting loads of stones, soil or building materials around and moving tools or irrigation water to newly planted leeks and squash. A quick trip to Shepton Mallet and a new seal for £3 will get her back in action shortly and we shall be working and smiling again. Yesterday evening after dinner we had a lively debate about whether work is necessary to be happy. A working Yanmar certainly is necessary to keep the farm running smoothly and happy! 

Cider With WWOOFERS

    WWOOF or 'Willing Workers on Organic Farms', is a loose network of national organisations that facilitate placement of volunteers on organic farms. There are placements available in 99 countries around the world, with each country's WWOOF organisation, responsible for running itself, to loosely similar standards.

     At Radford Mill Farm we rely heavily on 'WWOOFers' to keep our fields and polytunnels in good order, as well as making improvements to the facilities and buildings here. The current crop of 'WWOOFers' includes one American, one Welshman, two from England and 5 from France. WWOOFERS get to improve their English and have a cheap working holiday, as well a chance to learn a little about organic farming and food production.

Left to Right : Chris, Lou, Liam, Valentine, Caio, Ben, Leah, Mikael and Ben

    Here's the current motley crew, pictured shortly before returning to work after a hearty lunch. If you fancy a little time down on the farm, in a peaceful part of the beautiful English countryside, why not get in touch with us directly or through the WWOOF organisation. In exchange for 6 hours work a day (Mon-Fri) you'll get fed and be given a bed and you can enjoy a little community living to boot. Work includes planting, weeding and harvesting, a bit of painting and woodwork, garden maintenance and all sorts of other things and we try and tailor your skills to the work that's needed. We look forward to sharing a cider with you!

richardrmf@hotmail.com

www.wwoof.org

Solar PV Workshop

    Here at Radford Mill Farm we are very keen on renewable energy and already have 2 solar PV electricity generating systems in place. These are mounted on top of a barn roof by the main farmhouse and have a rating of 4 KW each. We will shortly be installing a third system at one of our other barns but the new one will be quite innovative.

Our current PV roof with to four KW systems installed

    The new system is slightly out of the ordinary as we are designing it to replace a piece of old barn roof so it will become the new roof, instead of mounting it above tiles or corrugated iron. It will also be set up to collect rainwater that we can use on our crops and obviously it will produce electricity too.

The barn roof we will replace with the new system

  As you can see the corrigated section of this roof is quite tired and rusty so we will be replacing this with the new solar panels. sadly the elderflower trees have to come down but they will take a second harvest of flowers from them to make cordil and wone from, when we ct them down. We also have a lot of elderflower on other parts of the farm.

    With all this in mind we thought it would be great to offer a workshop so you can come and learn all about a solar PV system and help to build this system. Here are the details:

Solar PV Installation Workshop

Date : 21^st July 2012

Location : Radford Mill Farm, Timsbury, Bath, BA2 0QF
Join us here at Radford Mill Farm for a one day, hands on, Solar Installation Workshop. You will have a chance to learn the basics of how a Solar PV system is fitted and works and you can also help with the construction of a multi use installation, that generates electricity, harvests rainwater and is designed to become the new roof of our barn.

Our new system (the third PV installation here at Radford Mill Farm) will have a capacity of 4KW and will have an adjustable mount, to maximise generation potential year round.

Workshop Structure :

0900 to 0930 : Registration and tea/coffee

0930 : An introduction to Radford Mill Farm, our philosophy and a short tour of our current PV installations
1000 : Introduction to solar PV
1030 : Safety and site risk assessment
1045 : Introduction to our design and tea/coffee
1100 : Fitting of panels to new solar roof frame
1300 : Yummy lunch using organic food with home made apple juice, produced on the farm
1400 : Completion of panel fitting, wiring in of PV panels and raising of installation into position
1645 : Discussion and Q&A with qualified installer, about electrical installation, equipment choice and feed in tariffs
1730 : Turn on of system and conclusion

How will the workshop be run?

Through a series of short talks, videos and hands on practical sessions.

Who is the workshop for?

This workshop is for people with a keen interest in solar PV, who would like to get a little hands-on experience of actually fitting an innovative system to a roof. It is not designed to teach you how to design your own system but it is a good introduction for those with limited or no photovoltaic experience, wishing to learn more. It also enables participants to gain some confidence and experience in fitting a system. At the end, you will also have a chance for a Q&A session with a qualified installer to help you choose what’s right for your own system.

What will you get out of this workshop?

-          There is no highly technical content within this workshop but you will gain a knowledge and basic understanding of the principles and practice of photovoltaic systems
-          basic understanding of health and safety issues associated with PV installation
-          a chance to help install an innovative system that may give you some ideas for the design of your own installation
-          a chance to ask a qualified installer all the questions you are unsure about, regarding fitting solar PV. This may include evaluation techniques for the suitability of your roof, how to estimate how much energy and money your PV roof could produce and choice of equipment

This workshop has been developed by the staff of Radford Mill Farm and the maximum number of participants is 12.

Workshop Cost : £50 pp, including lunch, tea and coffee. To encourage car sharing there is a free bottle of homemade apple juice for the driver and 1 passenger, for cars arriving with more than one person. Let us know by email if you’d like to be matched with someone for a lift share when booking. Radford Mill farm will provide hard hats and gloves but you must wear reinforced toe shoes or very sturdy boots (eg. hiking boots) when on site.

To make a reservation : Please contact us at richardrmf@hotmail.com or by phone on 01761 479391 or 07908 088369. Payment should be made when reserving a place and this can be by credit card over the phone or we can supply our bank transfer details. All payments are non refundable. 

How to find us : Please follow directions here : http://radfordmillfarm.com/getting-here.html

Hogging The Limelight

    A few weeks ago we built a pig roast spit for events we hold here at Radford Mill Farm and last weekend we got to take it for a test ride. The pig was around 40-50Kg and made a fine photo opportunity for the 150 people we easily managed to feed from it.

The fire was prepared early to get the and stones nice and hot.

Once cooked the pig is removed from the spit 

and placed in our a purpose built tray until we are ready to carve and serve.

Our big secret ingredient is of course Nigella Lawso... I mean music...

    Our eco-cooler (the stream) did a great job of chilling the wine and I'd just like to state for the record, that I was placing wine in the water and hadn't consumed too much.

    The kids at the event were queueing up to learn how to carve the pig and all children were returned to their parents with all fingers counted and intact.

    The pork was juicy and succulent with some excellent crackling. The meat was accompanied by roast vegetables with herbs and generous helpings of apple sauce. So all in all a very successful first roast. I can report that a number of people (names withheld to protect the guilty) had third helpings!

How To Roast A Dinosaur

    One of the other projects currently being worked on, that is linked to our upcoming farm wedding, is a pig roasting system. We have designed and made a spit in the farm forge, capable of being used to roast a pig over several hours. Remember a pig could weigh over 100KG so we need a very sturdy piece of equipment to achieve this.

Mario in the RMF Forge

    Step in one of the Radford Mill Farm's main staff Mario, who is an expert blacksmith and engineer, with a design no doubt capable of roasting a dinosaur! Mario used the heat from the forge to bend all the steel, into an ornate but immensely strong design. We plan to do a test run before the wedding with a lamb, so everyone here at RMF is really looking forward to that!  

The Sliding Clamp of the Pig Roast Spit

The Bridges of Radford County

    In May of 2012 there will be a little extra excitement at RMF (Radford Mill Farm) , when we will be hosting our first wedding party of the season, with 200 people attending. The event will take place on Goose Meadow, close to the river and Radford Mill and will involve a pig roast and much merry making. The happy couple and their guests will be spending most of the day enjoying the the peaceful scenery we have to offer and if the weather cooperates, the flowers will look lovely.

    Our guests often arrive by car and we provide parking in a field on the opposite side of the river from the meadow. In the past they have then had to walk around from the car parking field to the meadow, via the lane and the farmyard but this isn’t ideal. Avoiding the mud and machinery of a working farm yard can be challenging in a wedding dress, not to mention avoiding the killer kittens that will soon be our new vermin control security team. To solve this problem we are currently creating a bridge to span the river, using laminated wood. Here are a few pictures to show the early stages of the construction.

The jig

    The jig took 2 days to complete with lots of careful measuring and will provide a framework which all the laminated planks will be made on.

Dribbling Glue

    The design of the bridge was aimed at producing a blade-like structure that is strong and long lasting and the 4 layers of planks are fixed together with screws and glue.

First Plank Fixed to the Former

    We hope to create a slender and graceful arch, using natural materials where possible, that fits in with our organic ethos and once finished, the pedestrian access to Goose Meadow will be much improved. Lets hope Jim the river troll, likes his new roof! Watch this space for more on this project soon.

Welcome, Bienvenida, Ola, Ciao, Salut, Hae, Velkomin, Ahoj, привет, Hej, Szia, こんにちは, Sveiki, Labas, Hei, Czesc, Merhaba and हाय !

Welcome to the Radford Mill Farm blog, coming to you from the heart of the beautiful Somerset countryside, here in the UK.  Please spend a bit of time getting to know us and what we do and maybe we can tempt you to come and visit our farm.

While here you can help by volunteering as a WWOOF guest or why not buy some of our yummy organic food and drink. Here at Radford Mill Farm we also host weddings, offer camping and group accommodation, willow for basket making, scrumtious apple juice and offer a range of brilliant educational courses. All produce is made or grown to the highest standards, as Radford Mill Farm has been certified organic by the Soil Association, since 1980.

So pull up a chair, relax and enjoy your visit to our blog. Thanks for reading.