Episode Description
Join Chris Skinner and Matthew Gudgin on a blustery, rain-lashed Thursday morning at High Ash Farm amid Storm Benjamin's gales, retreating into the vast farm workshop where gleaming tractors, mowers, sprayers, and cultivators—worth fortunes in investment—await winter storage and servicing. Delve into the challenges facing young farmers, from soaring land prices and machinery costs to the need for diversification into school visits, livery yards, and public access, all while pondering the shift from traditional ploughing to min-till methods that boost soil health. Brave the elements to explore freshly trimmed hedgerows serving as wildlife corridors for yellowhammers and sparrows, then spade up sodden earth to reveal thriving earthworm populations—juicy Lumbricus terrestris and wriggling juveniles—highlighting their role in aeration, nutrient cycling, and drought resistance. Venture into Fox's Grove amid dripping canopies to admire ancient sweet chestnut trees, measuring girths of 15 feet on 250-year-old giants, tracing their Roman origins, coppicing history, and bountiful nut crops feeding badgers, deer, and mice in an autumnal feast. Savour listener emails on transplanting horse chestnuts and the podcast's uplifting impact, alongside reflections on a lively theatre event. A thought-provoking trek through farming's modern realities, soil secrets, and woodland treasures, perfect for weathering the storms of seasonal change.
Please email any questions for Chris to answer on the podcast to
Chris@highashfarm.com
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