This summertime, the farm staff are preparing for a busy few months ahead; with grass to mow, an upcoming harvest, and Autumn calving to prepare for, it is all go at Eastbrook Farm. We have two dairy herds at Eastbrook Farm; this means that one herd is able to calve in the Spring time, and the other during the Autumn months. This allows the workload to be spread too, as looking after many calves is a big responsibility.
The beautiful sunny weather has worked wonders, and we are nearly ready to begin the harvest. Helen’s agroforestry project is also coming along nicely, with the fruit beginning to ripen, and hopefully this will be ready to pick soon. Agroforestry, quite simply, combines agriculture with trees. This creates a symbiotic relationship; as the tree roots reach deep into the soil and release carbon, all whilst cycling the nutrients and binding the soil together. Did you know that there are 10 billion tonnes of carbon stored in UK soils? To find out more fascinating facts about our soils, take a look here.
They have many different types of fruit growing in the orchards at Eastbrook Farm; from cherries, to apricots, it is all delicious and all organic, of course! To find out more information about Helen’s fascinating agroforestry project at Eastbrook Farm, take a look here.
Unfortunately, this Summer we will be saying goodbye to our fabulous herd manager Teo. Teo manages the Cues dairy herd, along with help from the wonderful Kevin. Teo has been here at Eastbrook for 11 years after he moved here from Romania, so he will be a big miss on the farm. We are looking forward to welcoming Barry very soon!
We will have more tales from the farm to tell you in the Autumn… when the calving has begun and the team have finished another busy harvest!
