John Walton: Feeling a little guilty over the ongoing Single Payment saga

It seems a bit cruel now. Maybe I should offer a job to the first person to sort it.

It is said that to test the soil temperature for time of planting you should drop your trousers and park your bottom on the ground. If it feels comfortable then it’s time to plant, needless to say there is very little planting being done, and as for dropping the trousers, I’m due in court next week.

For the first time ever we are all organised and ready to go with the potato planting. The ground is all mucked and ploughed, the planter has had its annual belt with the sledge hammer, it just needs someone to turn the heating up or put 50p in the meter at least.

On the plus side it is quite nice to know the continuous cold spell is working wonders with natural pest control, including the dreaded sales reps.

The farm opens to schools and the general public in mid-March, so we are currently under siege with diggers and builders getting ready for the big day. New toilet facilities are the main focus, along with a number of new attractions.

It amazes me how difficult it is to find that elusive drain or water pipe with a spade, but get a 13-tonner in and it acts like a magnet.

We have decided to increase the amount of recycled roof water used by diverting as much as possible into an old underground store. It will then be pumped back to the toilets for use as flush water, as we estimate a third of our total water usage is through the toilet flushing, so hopefully this will be a good return on investment.

Cows continue to do well on a relatively low cost diet with up to 6kg of home-grown cereals included, oats being the main one. It has surprised me how well they have done on the oats and made me realise what a good, and understated, feed they are.

We still have plenty of silage in the shed due to cows staying out later in the autumn so if anyone is desperate for some top quality organic silage I know where there may be some. (cheap advert).

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