This Farming Life - November on Castlefarm

What it means to be an organic farmer in Ireland today … Jenny Young writes about life and work on an organic mixed farm in Co Kildare - and selling its produce

It is all slowing down at Castlefarm as we prepare to dry off the cows for winter. Because we work on a grass based system and feed very little bought in meal or ration our cows naturally drop in production with the season. It’s a good time for us to stop milking, allowing them rest and to put on condition ahead of calving down from next February.

We have closed off the grazing paddocks to ensure there is enough grass for the spring calvers. We are half way through our 30 day grazing rotation and are due to run out of grass in the middle of November. At that stage the cows will move indoors. They will sleep on straw bedding and eat a diet of silage.

It is nice for us to have 8 weeks of a break from the milking too. The time normally spent in the milking parlour is spent doing general maintenance around the farm, catching up on all the jobs we were too busy to tackle during the year.

In the Castlefarm garden things are looking bare. I take a break from the gardening in the winter. Our apples have been sent for juicing. We have taken the last of our green tomatoes out of the polytunnel. Once the cows are in for the winter we will have time to spread farmyard manure in the polytunnel so that it has enough nutrients for us to grow produce next year.

Our hazelnuts, which were abundant, seem to have disappeared off the trees; the squirrels have been having an autumnal feast I think!

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Castlefarm Shop, Narraghmore, Athy, Co Kildare, Email jenny@castlefarmshop.ie, log onto www.castlefarmshop.ie or telephone 087 678 5269 Follow us on facebook or on twitter @castlefarmjenny