Wealden Times | WT259 | December 2023 | Christmas Supplement inside

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Jane Howard gets Coopers Farm, and its bovine residents, all set for Christmas So another farming year draws to a close. Clocks have gone back, storm after storm has already whipped through and it hasn’t stopped raining for days. But as December arrives I’m ever hopeful that some crisp and even days are on the way. All that wet weather means it’s time to bring the cattle in. They would happily outwinter, but weighing in at about 750kg a cow, and George the bull a whopping 1,000kg, they would soon turn the fields into a sea of mud resulting in no grass next spring. So in they must come. First off, it’s the calves. Born in February and March, they are plainly big enough to leave mum but there is always a big fuss and quite a racket. Equally you’d think the mums who are expecting new calves in February would relish a few months of ‘me’ time, but no, they too are equally vocal for a few days, and so Stonegate rings with a cacophony of bellows. Sorry, neighbours. All the calves are in one shed, apart from four males who have been selected as potential bulls. They have a lot of growing to do before they are ready to ‘go to work’ in spring 2025, so they get extra rations and of course need to be kept apart from the female heifer calves. The main herd will follow them into the barns a week or so later, leaving the great outdoors behind until April next year, when hopefully it should be dry enough to turn them back out. Seeing them out of the mud and up to their knees in clean straw is a lovely sight. George the bull is still with his girls and can stay until they start calving in February – cows are pregnant for nine months. To have all the calves born in a block, they need to go to the bull three months after calving and it The pagans considered holly to be male and ivy to be female. Whichever was brought into the home first would determine whether the wife or the husband would rule the home for the following year usually takes them that long to recover from the birth and get back into ovulation. However, it’s not unheard of for cows to come back into season as quickly as a week after giving birth and the last thing we want is George being around to take advantage. So from February he has to move in with the young bulls, in the boys-only shed. Once all the cattle are in and sorted – the sheep are much lighter so can stay out as they don’t ruin the fields – it’s time to think about decorating the house. In November many of the holly trees are laden with berries, but as we creep ever nearer to the big day the blackbirds and fieldfares have a feast and strip them bare. So if any of you took the advice metered out in last month’s column to cut the branches in November and store them somewhere cool, like me you will be feeling rather pleased with yourself to have holly laden with bright red berries. Now it’s December I’ll be bringing them inside with lots of long strands of ivy, which I’ve been looking out for these past few months. The idea being quantity above quality to create general Christmas verdant loveliness. Incidentally, the pagans considered holly to be male and ivy to be female. Whichever was brought into the home first would determine whether the wife or the husband would rule for the following year so those buckets of precut holly can stay firmly in the shed while the woodland ivy is duly draped! Happy Christmas, everyone. Find out more about daily life at Coopers Farm by visiting coopersfarmstonegate.co.uk priceless-magazines.com 122
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PRICELESS DECEMBER 2023 259 DECEMBE
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Contents December 2023 24 88 46 12
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From the Editor If, like me, you’
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istockphoto.com/ Maria Voronovich C
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A SUBURBAN COURTYARD Your Property
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Wealden Times | WT259 | December 2023 | Christmas Supplement inside

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