Wark Farm

Picture taken yesterday night in one of our wildflower fields.

Stories from the farm September 24

To Whom it May Concern - I'm not done with the idea of still getting some summery weather, please can you confirm. There's no harm in asking, but one seasonal change already in place for the next 6 months or so is that my last 'task' of the daily routine, where the collie dogs and I take a farm wander before bed, is now happening in the dark. I shall miss walking in the long summer evenings and more recently the beautiful sunsets over the hill but there is also something magical about night walking and I'm looking forward to a season of that too. Of course dark is spectrum and there are often nights where the whole farm is spread out under a bright moon and vision remains the dominant sense. Then I can wander at will, usually through that dry, crisp air that comes when there's nothing between me and the stars. A night for the calls of tawny owls to echo back off the bowl of the hill. Of stars there are plenty, but they make me dizzy in their multitudes in a way that a million blades of grass don't, so I only allow myself an occasional glance at them, terrestrial creature that I am. Astronaught was never on my job list. At the other end of dark there is something else. A near complete shutting off of my dominant sense and that clunky, slightly panicky, change of gears as my brain realises sight is no longer available and the others will need to step up. Then we are walking by feel, navigation data arriving from my feet, and experiencing the farm through sound and touch alone. Grass length or gravel or mud lets me know where I am in the field or track and the skin on my face tells me more about the weather than at any other time. These are rare and exciting nights. Though it is less exciting to walk slap into a hedge when my mental map fails or to trip over an invisible dog. Which brings to mind the night when having wandered through the sleepy cows they came galloping down the hill after me to see where I was off to; the sound of a unseeable herd of hooves getting rapidly closer behind sent me over the nearest barely visible fence in a distinctly less than graceful way. But it is the sounds above all that are the big thrill of night wandering for me; the sleepy chatter (and occasional argument) of geese on the pools, snipe zipping about their business, redwings on migration, whooper swans travelling under the moon, a single ewe calling to her lamb, the first curlew of a year, a long way off, calls repeating, closer, closer, up the valley and settling with a trill in the wetland. All seemingly so much more vibrant and pure than during the lit hours. So yes please to plenty more warm days, well into the autumn, but I'll happily also step out into the richness to come.

UPDATED ORDER FORM ONLINE NOW

The September order form is now updated and online. You can find the link below to the order form with all our different meat cuts available, along with practical info about delivery/collection dates.

Our regular customers already know that it's first come, first serve for our delicious meat cuts that are not only full of flavour due to the breeds we use and their grass/herb diets, but also free of nasties such as pesticides and antibiotics. You can find all the info on the order form, including more info about the specials of the month.

Link to order:

September 2024 Order Form