Billow Farm Education organise regular school visits with tractor rides, animals and other activities. The video is a compilation of several school visits in 2011 and also Open Farm Sunday.
More videos showing farming at Billow Farm.
Nov 232011
Video of Simon Pain ploughing at Billow Farm. Ploughing turns over the upper layer of soil burying anything that remains of the previous crop and also any weeds. It also brings to the surface fresh nutrients for the new crop that will be sown shortly after ploughing.
Simon is using a reversible plough with 5 mouldboards on each side of the plough. Reversible ploughs are used to allow the tractor to turn round and plough in the reverse direction. Without a reversible plough the tractor would need to start ploughing at the same side of the field for every furrow which would be very inefficient because of the time wasted driving back the length of the field without ploughing.
More videos showing farming at Billow Farm.
Nov 042011
Simon Pain’s combination power harrow and drill is used to sow wheat on 1st November 2011. Wheat is normally sown in late September to November but can be sown as late as February.
The power harrow is used to break up the clods of soil that are left after ploughing. The soil is left with a finer finish with a good soil structure that can be used as a seedbed. The combination power harrow and drill is more efficient since both operations are performed at the same time.
The video shows seeds dropping from the drill into the soil. These clips of the video are in slow motion with the seed highlighted so you can clearly see the small seed.
More videos showing farming at Billow Farm.
Nov 032011
Simon Pain has built a number of Bug Hotels at Billow Farm which provide a natural environment for a variety of wildlife. The Bug Hotels received praise from Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group (FWAG) when Simon Pain won the 2011 Silver Pintail Award. The video shows the bug hotels and Hazel Pain explains how they are constructed and is assisted by school children, on one of the regular school visits to Billow Farm, to add more materials to a Bug Hotel. Simon Pain explains how a smaller one can be constructed by children.
A resident of the hotel is found – it is a mouse, who is shown to all the children before being returned to his home.
Nov 032011
Simon Pain at Billow Farm has been announced as the winner of the 2011 Silver Pintail Award. The award this year embraced the launch of the UN Decade of Biodiversity (2011 – 2020). This year’s theme was “Pollinators on the farm”. Simon was able to demonstrate a varied source of pollen and nectar rich fields and margins, encouraging pollinators to create their homes in nearby bug hotels and natural habitats. Simon Pain, who has spent the last 10 years improving the environment for wildlife was delighted to accept the award at the FWAG Annual Meeting.
Inscription: "Gloucestershire Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group Trophy"
Video of FWAG judging for Silver Pintail Award.
