The day before the farmers market is always hectic with a fair helping of stress thrown in for good measure, and last week was no exception. Everyone is welcome to view the animals on market day, and I always spend some time tidying the barn the day before, and this time decided at the last moment to "muck out" one side of the building and re arrange the pig pens. So I got to work with the tractor driving back and forwards between the pens and the trailer parked outside, trying not to drop too much of what I had on the loader muck fork. By 9.30 friday evening I had half mucked out the pens and had made a right fine mess of the yard by dropping stuff and then tracking it in with the wheels, the air was full of the smell of freshly disturbed pig manure just to add the final touch to the general ambience. I could see by Kirsties face that yet again my timing was impecable.
My apologies to anyone who visited the market and found the smell still lingering, but at least the yard was clean and various groups of pigs were enjoying their freshly littered pens, all completed by 9.00 the next morning.

Saturday morning I managed to lever the kids out of bed early to help by bribing with promises of bacon rolls from the cooked food stall.
Sam and his friend Tom erected the plastic tape fence around the car park. Tui and I with loads of help from my mate Jim the sheepdog gathered a flock from the field for shearing. Every month I try and have something different happening at the market according to where we are in the farming calender, May and June is shearing time.
It is still a little surprising to me that a lot of people are interested, sometimes fascinated with what goes on, on the farm. By having demonstrations at the farmers market such as shearing, helps make the connection between farming and food.

We are looking forward to the farmers' market on Saturday. I've been leaflet-ing for the market in Tadworth today and tonight I'm shattered. It's amazing how long it takes and how much walking there is involved in even just a few roads. Postmen must be fit!
I met quite a few people on their drives and it was really nice that they all said positive things about the market - 'that's a good idea' etc. One lady introduced me to her little german shepherd puppy and then offered to hand some leaflets around her friends.
We are having to find new ways of advertising the market, after Reigate & Banstead council fined us for putting signs up on the roadside! Thanks to all our supporters who put up banners, posters etc. The help and enthusiasm is really appreciated. Any other suggestions on advertising, getting the word around etc. would be gratefully received.
We think that Shabden farmers' market is quite unusual in Surrey, being on the farm itself. We have farm animals to look at every month and all of the produce is made or caught or reared by the people on the stall. This is very important to us, to keep the market 'producer-only', and it ensures the authenticity of the market. The phrase 'farmers markets' is rather overused these days, and can mean anything from a school fair to a craft market. We've taken our farm-reared meat to farmers markets and felt completely out of place amongst the crystals and flowerpots.
Of course, we actually really enjoy hosting the farmers market too. Mark and I genuinely love meeting people and talking about what we do, and we love being able to hold the market at our farm shop. I always spend a fortune because the food is so good!
Right at this moment, I'm thinking about when everyone has packed up and I can enjoy a S&S strawberry tart and a cup of tea (ok maybe that will be a glass of wine!)

The Sussex Cows have nearly finished calving with a new addition last week and hopefully two more to come. They are grazing the fields alongside White Hill and can be seen from the road.
Last week I vaccinated them for Blue Tongue, wormed them and applied a fly repellent to their backs. The cows and calves are looking really good, and so they should with all this lush spring grass.

I am busy lambing at the moment and the flock of Mules have nearly finished, lots of twins and some triplets. The Suffolk crosses are slow to start and so far not an impressive performance with lots of singles.
This year I decided to lamb late so the ewes have plenty of spring grass and will milk well. Maybe the lower lambing percentage in the Suffolk crosses is due to the ewes going past their most prolific stage at mating. Later lambing means I feed less cereal based feed but it looks like less lambs. Classic "swings and roundabouts".
One thing for sure, this has been the easiest lambing I have ever experienced by far.
I was counting the lambings I have either helped with as a child on the farm or have organised as a shepherd or as a farmer, and have come up with a figure of 39.
I don't feel that old! Well maybe a bit as my back is aching more and more lately, or is it that I know shearing is just around the corner.
Anyone know of a good Osteopath?

Last week we showed John and Dan from Radio 4 around the farm and shop.
The programme they were making was titled "Farming on the urban fringe", being within the M25 (just) this is exactly what we do.
Apart from visiting some of the calving cows in the fields, looking at various animals in the barns (mainly pigs) and visiting the farm shop, we talked about what it is like as a Farmer to work so close to populated areas. I agreed to do this because I am passionate about farming and the living countryside. In my opinion the two are inseperable and totally dependent on each other.
There are difficulties farming here which may not be unique to other Farmers, but are much more common than in areas away from towns. Shabden Park Farm attracts visitors because it is a beautiful setting, valleys of wild flower meadows, large areas of woodlands, wildlife and farm animals thrive together here. There is a network of footpaths that provide access to these areas, and we see many families, ramblers and dog walkers enjoying our home and workplace.
Now and again difficulties arise, I was not joking about being reported to Trading Standards and having State vets visit the farm, all because I had various different animals in the same field! Why on earth not? It is a farm.
At times I have even found RSPCA inspectors wandering off footpaths looking at my animals, all this because of the odd person judging what they see without any knowledge. May I add that the first stop for anyone visiting this farm who may be concerned about the welfare of any animal, is the farm house.

Dogs worrying stock, gates being left open are some of the other things we all here and know about. By being accessable, communicating and showing what caring professionals farmers are, I hope that I can minimise these mis-understandings. This is why on farmers market days and most saturdays, I open up my workplace for anyone to come and visit and ask questions. Shabden Park Farm is not an open farm hosting birthday parties and offering cream teas, it is a traditional family farm that is run commercialy, alongside and in tune with wildlife and the environment.

A big thank you to Radio 4 for letting me voice my opinions and get the message across, also for promoting the farm shop and all the farm shops in the country that provide wholesome, traceable food and re-connect people with their food. A hugely important issue and as I am sure you can tell, something very close to my heart.

Thank you to everyone who visited us at the Cowpie Country Show last Sunday 10th May. This was the first time we had a stall in the food marquee, displaying and selling our meat and offering samples of some of our sausages. It was a great day out and the sun shone all day, lots of positive comments from regular customers and also from people we met for the first time. We hope to see you all at the shop soon.

Mark

Hi there and welcome to the new weblog of Farmers Mark and Kirstie at Shabden Park Farm, home of Back to Nature Farm Shop, and Shabden Farmers' Market in Chipstead, Surrey.

We get such a lot of interest in the farm from people, regular customers and web-surfers, that a weblog is a natural progression of the farm open days and farmers markets we host. Hopefully it will become a way for our friends and regular customers to keep in touch with what's going on on the farm and in the farm shop, but also a way for people to find us, and then find out more about us!

We hope to post lots of photos and news to the blog and welcome comments from you.
Hope to hear, read and see you soon, on the blog or in person at the farm and farmers' market.

Kirstie