Winter Newsletter
Welcome to our winter newsletter from Haye Farm. We will be providing you with updates from the market garden, how the livestock coped in the dry weather, what the volunteers have been up to and a wonderful wildlife update from our volunteer Dave. It’s not long till the end of the year now, so we want to say a big thank you to all of you for your support across 2025. We wish you all a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
Market garden update from Liz
The growing season has come to a close now, after what feels like a very long time from when it began. The last veg box has been harvested, packed and collected, with a long wait until next year’s first crops are ready again. It has been a pleasure providing you with veg for another year and I hope those of you who had boxes enjoyed them. The weather has been warmer and sunnier across the whole season and the first frost came later, particularly compared to last year. Many of you will remember that 2024 was the year of the slugs, but this year my biggest challenge was keeping all crops hydrated over the dry summer months. Some things really struggled in the hot conditions, such as fennel, which tends to bolt when it’s warm. Carrots and parsnips, which are sown directly outdoors, struggled to germinate since the soil was so much drier. It’s a little hard to imagine now we are having so much rain! Delicate celery seedlings did not survive the heat. On the other hand, some crops benefited from the warm weather. I began cropping cucumbers in the first week of June and they were still going into November! It has been a year of wins and losses, with a lot learnt along the way. No two years are the same and there is always something new that pops up unexpectedly. That’s the beauty of working with the living world – it keeps you on your toes!
At the end of November, I hosted our Harvest Celebration. It was wonderful to bring so many of you together for a night of feasting and fun. We enjoyed a delicious seasonal meal (opposite) cooked by The Garden Kitchen, showcasing the best produce autumn has to offer, including an incredible dessert of Worcester Black Pear poached in mulled wine. Delicious! Hats off to the team at The Garden Kitchen who did an incredible job cooking for 50 people and sourced their ingredients from local businesses, including Ashley’s Bakery, Bell’s Farm, Bewdley Farm Shop and, of course, our very own Haye Farm. Another big thank you to everyone who helped out with setting up and tidying away, as well as Transition Bewdley and the WFGA for supporting the event. Those of you who could not attend were missed!
Our Favourite Winter Recipes
Cauliflower Cheese Pasta – recommended by Ruth
https://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/cauliflower/cauliflower-cheese-pasta/
Butternut Squash Tagine – my personal favourite
https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/herbycouscouswithbut_92552
Farm update from Ryan
The previous season brought with it one of the most prolonged droughts we have seen in recent years. Despite our best efforts at pasture management and careful rotational grazing, the persistent lack of rain meant that grass growth was limited across the fields. The land, usually so lush and green, struggled under the weight of the long dry spell. We were fortunate in having some of our agro-forestry trees available to coppice to feed to the animals. Planted in 2019 they are a mix of native species, with the willow and ash being a particular favourite of the cattle. Unfortunately, this wasn’t enough to keep all our current animals fed so we decided to downsize the herd. We delivered one of our cows, Lydia, and her calf to our friend Pablo. Pablo used to volunteer with us on the farm and has recently moved to Norfolk, where he has purchased his dream small holding and was looking for a house cow for milking. She’s gone to a great home and will hopefully have a long and happy life there.
Lydia and her calf settling into their new home with Pablo
Our freezers are currently fully stocked - I would recommend beef topside or silverside as part of a delicious roast dinner on one of these gloomy evenings. For anyone wishing to purchase meat, visit the shop during opening hours or email us to order outside of these times.
Volunteer update from Stuart
We’ve had a bumper crop of orchard fruit this year. We have over 50 different varieties of apples growing at the farm and showcased our produce in Bewdley on 4th October. Bewdley Museum hosted us for an Apple Day and despite the bad weather we had a really good turnout and were delighted to introduce our produce to more local people.
We hosted a follow up Orchard Open Day at the farm the following weekend. It was great to show people around our orchards and give children and adults alike the opportunity taste fruit straight from the tree.
We were back in Bewdley on 29th November for the Christmas lights switch on. We had a stall in St Anne’s church at their Christmas Market, selling fruit and apple juice. Our juice does make a lovely Christmas gift, or if you are hosting, try our mulled apple juice recipe below for a festive non-alcoholic drink. It was nice to see some familiar faces in the church and meet some new people too.
Mulled Apple Juice Recipe
Pour a bottle of Haye Farm mixed variety apple juice into a pan and place on a medium heat on the hob. You might want to put it a little higher to begin with if you are doing a bigger batch. For every bottle of apple juice you use, add 1 stick of cinnamon, 4 cloves, a sprinkle of ground nutmeg and ginger and 1 star anise. You then want to leave this on a very gentle simmer for at least 20-30 minutes to let all those flavours infuse properly. Serve nice and warm.
Wildlife update from Dave
Hello, my name is Dave and I have been a volunteer at Haye Farm for the past year. I have found it to be a very enjoyable experience working in the Forest Garden and orchards with the group of volunteers, all dedicated to environmental protection and sustainable wildlife-friendly farming. Haye Farm is free of any pesticides and is fully regenerative, allowing wildlife to flourish over the whole area.
As a lifelong enthusiast of natural history and photography, I have found the rich flower meadows, pools and abundant hedgerows to be an ideal environment to observe and photograph wildlife. Haye Farm is also a stunning location for landscapes.
When I started work in the orchars last year, I was amazed to see such large numbers of Fieldfares and Redwings feeding on the abundant fallen apples. I hope to photograph these beautiful birds this winter, using my pop-up hide. It was wonderful to hear their constant calls in the orchards, alongside feeding flocks of many other birds such as tits and finches, including Redpolls. Song and Mistle Thrushes are present all year round. Green and Great-spotted Woodpeckers are heard every day and seen frequently. Buzzards and Ravens are often heard calling and obviously nest nearby. Resident mammals include Foxes, Badgers, Muntjac and Roe Deer.
I set up a feeding station in one of the meadows earlier this year, providing peanuts, suet and a seed mix. This soon encouraged regular visits from Nuthatches, Jays and Woodpeckers in addition to the usual garden visitors. The hide allowed me to get close enough for photographs, which was very rewarding. I am currently working on a ‘Buzzard project’ in an attempt to capture some close-up images of these stunning birds. Using a trail-camera and a regular supply of chicken drumsticks, it seems to be paying off!
It has been a real privilege to spend time at Haye Farm during the past year. I sincerely hope that sustainable, regenerative farming practice becomes much more widespread in the future. Happy wildlife watching.
Winter shop opening times
The farm shop is open:
Tuesday - 13.00 - 14.00, Saturday - 09.00 - 10.00
We have a fully stocked freezer of beef and lamb/mutton available as well as apple juice and currently desert apples/cooking apples as well as pears. Those wishing to purchase outside of these times or make an order can email haye-farm@outlook.com or call Stuart on 07732 489195 to arrange.