Cobbs Meadow

31/05/2026

Farm Report May 2026
Following a seasonably warm first week, May temperatures then plummeted to below zero in places overnight giving all fruit growers panic-attacks that their blossoms would be frosted and their crops wiped out. Affected blossoms typically turn brown or black at the centre (pistil), wither, and fall off, meaning no fruit will develop for the next season. Vineyards have been known to light bonfires/candles overnight to try & keep temperatures up as gr**e vines are particularly susceptible. Currently everyone is holding their breathe. We just hope there is sufficient warmth in the soil to give some protection. To top these late frosts, in the middle of May we endured two days of hail storms and bitterly cold weather with strong winds which then brought the soil temperatures down rapidly. Current weather is certainly testing nature and giving stress to those who are trying to earn a living from it.
Asparagus has loved the wet winter and producing beautiful green spikes to be enjoyed although again I’m dismayed to see imported asparagus on shelves for sale. Do read the labels! Production slowed a little for a week when the weather turned cold but there’s plenty of locally grown to go round in the country markets.
Our local “Berry Box” in Wickhambreaux is now open again for the season. Selling chilled fresh raspberries and strawberries on a self service basis. So fresh, - definitely worth a trip!
Our livestock farmers continue their daily inspections discovering all the holes in the fences they thought were secure! If you see any lamb or calf out that has escaped, please don’t chase it, they will know where it came from and eventually stand waiting for its mother to appear on the other side of the fence to call it back. By all means let the farmer know but don’t panic, few are lost in this way. The first cuts of the lush grass for silage for the winter feed has now begun. Beware the bulls are now in the fields with the cows and calves. Its good practise for farmers to put up notices warning the public, but even the most docile bulls can be dangerous if you come between their wives – you are warned!
Now hunting is banned our fox population has exploded and now the young cubs need feeding. Unfortunately a fox is a killing machine and their instinct is to kill ALL the prey that they find. Historically they would return and bury the excess but this instinct seems to have now left them as fresh food is plentiful so they don’t bother to keep a larder full. They are beautiful animals, but please don’t encourage them by feeding them in your gardens……they belong in the countryside and the heartache they bring to owners of chicken runs waking up to find mass slaughter and a blood bath of their well fenced chicken runs is devastating. A fox will dig or climb to get at food and they are totally destructive. Currently someone is losing loads of chicken eggs as overnight foxes are picnicking on my lawn nightly and leaving dozens of chickens egg shells!
The sparrowhawks are thankfully active and preying on pigeons and collar doves . To watch one dive and take a young bird from its nest, bring it to the ground and neatly pluck it in seconds before taking the carcass elsewhere to eat might appear cruel but it’s the marvel of nature and its self-sufficiency. It naturally controls a population without intervention by us. Left alone the balance of nature is truly amazing.
Famers live nowadays on their weather apps which does make planning their days easier. It still remains difficult to plan and every day in the life of any farm changes constantly and is never the same. Now we end May with soaring temperatures, all records for May have been broken and we’ve hit over 40 degrees! I feel so sorry for those living with concrete …they will not enjoy the cool fresh air of sitting under a tree even in these high temperatures.

02/07/2025

Farm Report June 2025
In my May report following such a wet winter, The sudden dry hot spell I reported on meant excitement that resulted from the farming world when it rained! This month its slightly become desperation! The intense heat and clear blue skies throughout June have meant the lush green of spring has rapidly disappeared and dry brown parched livestock grass fields are becoming concerning. Livestock needs fresh grass to keep thriving, when the grass doesn’t grow to keep up with their demands they have to be moved to new pastures and farmers calculate the acreage needed for their livestock numbers to prepare for this but on a year like this it can be difficult to suddenly find enough grazing. Animals need to be transported to outlying pastures or in the worst case scenario animals have to be sold, all at a cost to save the valuable grazing for those left. Grazing has become limited, people don’t understand fields of grass left to grow on. It may be for grass seed, to be combined for the seed for your lawns/golf courses/amenity parks, or to make hay or sileage (wet grass baled) to feed livestock in the winter months. These fields are all crops that are valuable income and don’t need trampling down.
The sheep must be very relieved to be shorn this year in the temperatures we have been experiencing. The warmth makes the lanoline in the wool run and shearing easier but shearing is strenuous and a very hot job in temperatures over 25 degrees for the shearers!
The hops with their deep roots reaching moisture below continue to romp up the strings, but the dreaded red spider mite that loves hops and enjoys warm and dry conditions is also thriving. Natural predators are imported and distributed throughout the hop gardens in the hope they are hungry enough to control the red spider mite and restrict the damage they inflict.
Cereal farms have continued to fertilize, monitor, and deal with emerging disease before they take hold. Spring barley is already being harvested, having ripened in its desperation to reproduce seed under hot dry conditions. It will not be the best crop ever and it is really very early to combine in June. The earliest date I ever remember was the 4th July!
Most of our local top fruit now is irrigated with more control and the crops look fantastic. What we don’t need now are hail storms to pit the fruit. A heavy thunderstorm with hail can wipe out a crop rendering it unsaleable.
Simply beautiful, exquisite large cherries are in full production and we are fortunate enough to have them fresh from the farm on our doorstep. Grown under controlled conditions to avoid bird attacks these really are now a crop like strawberries and raspberries that are grown to perfection but not without huge cost. The season is limited so make the most of it whilst they are at their best. Their flavour knocks spots off the Italian imports which seem to be favoured by some of the supermarkets. Farm shops and self service on farms makes fresh fruit easily accessible. New hybrid varieties of apricot that flower later in the spring, coupled with warmer winters and longer summers, has made it possible to cultivate apricots commercially and primarily in Kent so expect to see these produced and sold locally too.
With the vegetable production, the fruit, cereals and meat all produced locally without air miles we really are in the Garden of England and with the loss of so much land to housing, combined with all those extra mouths to feed, we desperately need to support our local farmers and our fields!

31/05/2025

May 2025 Farm report
Well what a difference a year makes. This time last year I reported on constant heavy rain and this year the temperature has broken all records, clear sunny skies and no rain and now talk of the hosepipe ban. Despite all the differences nature still produces!
Asparagus is now in full swing, It was an early crop locally grown and very prolific although as it likes water this may well slow up early and end before the traditional cut off date of the 22nd June when cutting stops to allow the build up of growth for the next year.
I have explained in previous reports that hops stay in the ground for many years and remain dormant all winter once the old top growth is cut off . They emerge again in spring, and have loved the wet autumn and now warm sunny conditions so on warm nights they are growing as much as 6 inches a night and every bine needs constantly showing where the strings are! Every individual root has to be pulled to take off surplus unnecessary shoots before the selected best 2 or 3 bines are trained to the string. This is continuous and on going until they get above the height the trainers can reach and allows the tractors to enter the rows. The initial Hop training is now all finished Unlike runner beans, although their climbing behaviour is the same, they actually climb in the opposite direction.
Hot and dry although some areas had a local deluge of rain on 11th there was none elsewhere. After such a long time without rain on 24th the anticipation in the local faming world was palpable with Whats-app excited messages COMPARING how many mm of rain different local areas had with messages flying in! None of the recordings were for any significant quantity but for farmers their income depends on it and some crops are just beginning to look stressed, and desperately flowering early to produce seed which is natures way on continuing the species. Without the rain the seeds don’t swell resulting in a poor crop.
The livestock are thriving with the sun on their backs but beginning to get short of lush green grass which is now drying up. Unless we have significant rain soon the hay will be very short this year.
Soft fruit is now in season and available locally so do support the local farmers - its so fresh and keeps much longer.
Just a reminder that it is nesting time and some birds nest on the ground. We leave grass margins around some fields that are there to help give wildlife a safe space. Please don't walk on them or allow dogs to run over the stewardship field margins. Alongside help from experts we have prepared the wildlife friendly areas over the winter and early spring to encourage nesting.
Enjoy the glorious weather while it lasts just lets hope for some significant rain overnight to freshen everything up – Farmers are never happy!!!!

02/05/2025

April farm report 2025
Really hot temperatures without rain till 15th Then a very useful light persistent downpour very welcome . The highest daily temp was recorded since 1949 then it got better - we are now in the 20 degrees with clear blue skies! I would normally write how I love May but this year the end of Aprll shows all the bluebells, cow parsley, r**e in bloom and the vibrant new green leaves on the hedgerows bursting in the warmth – nearly a month early! Are we going to pay for this? I have known snow on 7th May!
The cattle have now finished calving. Some problems always arise and caesarean births are sometimes necessary to save cow and/or calf. Not undertaken lightly with a heavy vets bill but mostly successful. The bare patch on the left flank indicates where the operation has been done but it quickly heals and only the sharpest eyes will spot it once the cows are in the fields. Now is the time to be aware that cows can be more dangerous when you are crossing fields on footpaths. They are now protecting their young and could charge at you if they feel their calf is likely to be threatened. A ton of protective mother charging at you is not to be underestimated . Don’t risk it! That field is their home! Rapidly growing spring grass is often low in magnesium. Grass that has been fertilised with potassium containing fertilisers or slurry has less magnesium available and also lush grass tends to pass through animals quickly, reducing magnesium absorption. Therefore, pasture management is the mainstay of prevention of Grass staggers (Hypomagnesaemia):, along with supplementation of concentrates containing magnesium and/or hay/silage usually in the form of a lick left in the field for them to help themselves.
The lambs are now stocky school children, enjoying the sun and going around in “gangs” to play! Braver now, leaving their mothers sides and exploring a new diet of nibbling grass and creep feed to encourage rumen development. Sheep have 4 distinct departments in their stomach as do cows.. They only use one when first born for milk then their digestive system develops as they grow and fibre is introduced into their diets requiring the gradual development of the other three compartments. They are ruminants like cows and goats and their digestive system relies on microbes breaking down their forage in a fermentation process in their rumen. They spend a third of their day grazing and filling their stomach with forage then lie down and regurgitate the cud (grass) chewing away before swallowing it into the next part of their stomach. The microbes then get to work to break it down further which is why you see them belching to let the gas escape. Liquid is then removed and eventually the dry droppings pop out neatly to fertilize the ground! Simply put it’s a very efficient system when a healthy balance of microorganisms is maintained and not upset by antibiotics which can kill these valuable digestive microbes. Horses and donkeys only have a single stomach which doesn’t work in the same way.
The cherry blossom is now fully out and early apple blossom so farmers don’t need the risk of any late severe frosts to ruin the future crops. The continuous spraying of orchards is gaining momento to give us the perfect fruit we now expect and arable farmers continue the regime of w**d control, fertilizing and continuous monitoring of their fields. Many times strangers are reported wandering in fields off the footpaths. These are the Agronomists who walk the crops on behalf of the farmers spotting any disease symptoms or aphid infestations. Invaluable in prevention rather than devastation of crops but very time consuming. Some are now using drones to gain a clearer, earlier picture in order that small areas can be treated rather than whole fields. Early and main crop potatoes have now all be planted mostly in near perfect conditions!
Sadly I report yet again sheep losses due to dogs loose and mauling sheep. When will pet owners ever learn their dearly loved pets have another side to them. Farmers equally get torn apart emotionally dealing with the aftermath of an attack. Remember they have every right to shoot the offending dogs. This month I leave you with that unsavoury thought!

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03/07/2023

June 2023 Farm report
June is the month normally when everything grows incredibly fast with moisture in the ground and sun on top but June 2023 has been a catchup month for confused crops either being too wet and cold previously or too dry and now sun baked! Every disease is sitting in the wings trying to attack stressed crops! Arable farms have been constantly spraying herbicides which control w**ds, insecticides which control pests such as aphids, fungicides which tackle fungal diseases.
The hops should be at the top of the strings by Midsummer day 21st June. Hops succumb to so many diseases. Wilt is notifiable terrifyingly serious disease with the plants having to be grubbed out immediately and the ground left fallow for several years with strict hygiene put in place. . During the growing season the crop is susceptible to infection by both powdery and downy mildew and aphid and spider mite attacks. Hygiene is paramount and a weekly spray programme continues throughout the growing period. This is a crop which is easy to grow organically but is guaranteed not to produce any crop that is marketable on its own! Over many years bio control, introducing natural preditors has been practised and continues but to limited effect. I remember one year in the 1960’s when the hop garden in Bekesbourne was so severely attacked by red spider just prior to harvest when the sprayer had difficulty in reaching the tops of the bines we had a light aircraft fly backwards and forwards over the crop spraying downwards. Any light gust of wind took the spray everywhere and it took weeks to clean all the windows of the farmhouse! Thankfully that was prior to the building of the bungalows in School Lane – For health and safety reasons this could never be done again!. That was in the days when the value of hops equated to the value of gold which they certainly don’t now!!!!!
Strawberry, and raspberry picking is now in full swing mostly now controlled under cover in polytunnels, and right at the end of the month, at last, the Cherry season has arrived, - nearly 2 weeks late and a smaller crop than normal, but those delicious summer fruits so looked forward to are here!. The natural season for most crops is just 3 weeks so make the most of them – a crop much loved by most people so enjoy them fresh from the trees.
One important crop for livestock farmers is Hay which is fed throughout the winter months and this year many managed to cut the grass, turn it, dry it and bale it without a drop of rain falling on it. It is now safely in the barns and should be a good quality. Usually much deliberation goes on watching the long range weather forecast as to when it should be cut to avoid it getting wet and spoiling and rarely does it happen that an entire hay crop can be brought in without even a shower!
On that positive note ……….. we await next month and the beginning of the arable harvest! Enjoy your summer!

09/05/2023

Evening in paradise🌹

13/09/2021

Lovely flat mown rural camp site for touring/visiting motor homes and caravans - Don't forget to book early for this popular central site for
the sunny South East

03/09/2021

Lovely rural area yet 5 minutes from the world heritage site of Canterbury

18/04/2020

Sorry not a photo this year - empty due to Corona Virus. All events locally cancelled - just the mowng continues!

23/02/2020