We know many of you do outside and countryside topics during the summer term – so although our aim is for you to watch our programs all year round, we thought we would give you an outline of our Summer Term programs to help you fit them in with your planning.

Each program will have a wildlife, livestock and crops section, which can be watched all as one or separately as required. Even if the topics covered don’t exactly match your topic they will still link to various areas of the curriculum or even your Eco School Projects. We hope they will also be useful for background information and ideas, and will hopefully connect your pupils with what you are doing and the wider world.

Some of the topics we will covering are:

Lambing Lowdown
Already started in our 12 March program we will be spending a day or two with out Shepherds as they tend their flock of 2000 ewes during lambing and then we will follow these lambs as they grow up over the summer and autumn

Olympic Food Chain
We will be showing some of the farms which will produce the ‘Red Tractor Certified’ food which will be eaten in the Olympic Villages and Stadiums, by the athletes and by you if you are lucky enough to have a ticket.

Planting Potatoes
Perhaps you plant potatoes with your pupils, see the pupils who visit Stockbridge planting their potatoes. Well we can link it to how farmers plant their potatoes and then later in the year we will show them being harvested and even made into crisps. You can send for a ‘Grow your own potatoes’ kit from the Potato Council – see this website http://gyop.potato.org.uk/  Morrisons ‘Let’s Grow’ also offer a Potato Barrel kit in exchange for your vouchers – see website http://www.morrisons.co.uk/letsgrow/Catalogue/Kits/Potato-Barrel-Kit/

Harvesting Tomatoes
Cucumbers are being harvested now – see the 26 March program next week… Tomatoes will be in the April or May programs

Boosting the Biodiversity
Increase the biodiversity of your local area – ideal for Eco Schools or many areas of the curriculum. We will be showing how to plant and encourage bee larders among many other wildlife gems…..
If you have any specific request for farming, wildlife and the countryside then please let us know and we will point our camera in that direction and see what we catch…..

Program dates for Summer Term are:
23 April 2012
8 May 2012
21 May 2012
11 June 2012
25 June 2012
9 July 2012

Latest program now ready to view just need to register with site for free to view full program – watch intro now

http://www.discovering-our-countryside.co.uk/

Details of this program

This program looks at more seasonal changes and happenings in the countryside, and down on the farm, as we approach the end of March and pass the spring equinox.

• Calving – We finally manage to capture some cows calving on film – full graphic details so beware! We show how soon a newborn calf is up and suckling it’s mother’s milk and also how the farmer’s jobs and responsibilities for this calf start from day 1
• Sowing and harvesting – Whilst farmers are busy sowing crops such as peas and wheat in the fields, growers are already harvesting some of the crops like cucumbers, which are grown under glass.
• Birds Courting – Wildlife is now bounding into spring with frogs and toads mating and producing spawn, birds are already courting to find mates and produce eggs. Also a timely reminder about dogs and the ‘Countryside Code’ during this important time for both wildlife and newborn calves and lambs

Please complete our end of term survey too to help us make Discovering-Our-Countryside even better

Complete survey now….. Discovering-Our-Countryside survey

 Update on our countdown to calving.

I have been monitoring our cows over the past few days, with several visits to the farm. Although around 40 calves have been born – only 1 more from our cows…. Cow 6 has had her calf.

I’m afraid I cannot give you any details about these calves as yet as I have not called when Mr Rook has been around to ask when they where born or if the calf is a boy or girl.

I have still not seen any calves born – several times I have arrived to see the cow licking a new born calf dry, fingers crossed that I arrive in time later today when I return…

Latest video now on-line. We apologise for site being off-line we have been moving to our own Virtual Server so that our videos now play even better.

Signs of spring.

• What can you look for as an indication that spring has sprung! Also how you and your school can get involved with helping scientists analyse if spring is getting earlier like some people believe.

Beating the weather

• Another visit to the greenhouses to see how the tomatoes are progressing, as well as cucumbers and surprisingly strawberries.

The weather can kill!

• This follows our newborn piglets through to weaning, looking at what different systems are available for rearing pigs and how the UK pig herd has some of the highest welfare standards in the world – which we should be supporting if we believe in animal welfare.

17 February 2012

Early this morning before Mr Rook arrived to feed and bed up, Cow 1 had already had her calf, a male bull calf. Both mother and son were doing well when I called in at around 2pm.Then after Mr Rook had finished bedding up and feeding he left to go and work elsewhere – when he returned at dinner time, Cow 5 had also calved, this female heifer calf was still wet when I arrived. The calf was soon up and around sucking milk. Fingers crossed I get their in time to catch the birth on video next time….