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!

The Crops Are A Growing

    It's been a while since our last blog post but life is busy here at RMF. Our crops are growing fast, now that the sunshine has arrived. We are transplanting leeks and potatoes to the fields around the poly tunnels and also the big fields. Last week we finally got the spuds in after weeks of rain, when the soil was too wet for the planting to commence.

    The job was completed by Richard, Sirio and Giammarco, together with one of our trusty Ferguson tractors. The Italians are volunteer WWOOFers with amazing potato planting skills, among many others. The job was all done in just 3 hours but the

workers did take a short break when we were inundated by a 10 minute hail storm!

    Although they toughed it out for a while, the soil started getting sticky so the work was abandoned.

    It finally dried out and we finished. Spuds done, time for a glass of cider!

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.