There have been early morning ground frosts, but these have not affected my beautiful magnolia tree, looking better than it has for a number of years. There have been long periods of sunshine but when the sun hides behind passing clouds it has felt particularly cold. A damp day during the week did nothing to help our thirsty cereal crops, now desperate for a drink. The top layer of soil has crusted and the prolonged chilly air temperature has not helped the growing crops in patches of fields which became water-logged earlier in the year. Meanwhile we have to give our cereals the best chance to grow and hopefully yield well, so together with advice from our agronomists, Ian and Kevin have recently applied herbicides and fertilisers to the growing plants where needed. On Manor and Chiverlins Farms we are growing winter wheat, winter barley, spring barley and winter oats. During the week Kevin has been cultivating fields to prepare a seed bed ready for the planting of peas.
Farming column: Children saddle up for Easter ride
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Horse world remembers HRH Duke of Edinburgh
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Local Matters - Wellsford shines at pony comp
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A FIRST-TIME author and disabled horseback rider from west Dorset has written an inclusive children s book to raise funds for The Riding for the Disabled Association (RDA). Animal-lover Jade Leahy has released Horse s Can Roll but They Can t Roller Skate - a book aimed at helping readers with self-acceptance. The 40-year-old author, who lives in Cattistock, based the book loosely on her relationship with her beloved fjord horse Odin - which she spent 14 years with, but died in 2018. She said: The book tells the story of a girl called Molly challenged by physical disability, who eventually learns about self-acceptance after meeting a horse named Odin.