October, 2001

This month we continued to connect with the flow of life here. We embarked on a plan of action to apply ourselves to 3-4 hours work out on the farm each morning. This has opened doors and moved us forward great paces, not only directly in what we have achieved in terms of tasks, but also in our feeling about life here, the energy that is flowing through and interestingly enough, our relationship with each other, which has deepened and harmonised as we've moved forward.

It is probably no coincidence that the farm has been hired for a festival next year. We visited Ragmans Lane Farm which used to be a grassland farm and is now supporting several people co-operating in a variety of different enterprises. It was fascinating and we are hoping to invite a consultant here to help put together a plan for similar projects. Whilst we wait, we have decided to put several inches of manure on the "back garden" (I use that term loosely, as those of you who have visited will know, it's still more like a building site!). We will cover this with black plastic with the intention of planting veggies next year. We expect to be pretty self sufficient in them and hope to have some to sell - maybe as a veggie box scheme - too.

Our Helping Hands weekend was an outrageous success with several very satisfied people and horses at the end of it. We raised a barn wall so that the horses now have somewhere dry to stand and eat hay or get out of the wind, whilst still having the all important access to the field and grass.

On the subject of horses, we have been concerning ourselves with how to create an indoor barn that can be used to work and play with horses during the winter. As a result of some creative thinking by Jules, our friend who keeps her horses here, Mark has been busy shifting old muck and straw in there and we have a rather nice, soft (if somewhat bumpy) floor, which will be quite suitable for our purposes. Since this has happened (coincidentally?) we have been approached by a couple of people wanting to use us as a venue for some small training events, so now we need to improve the lighting and move the water trough!

Lorraine has been out and about selling beef. For a market at Emily's school (Rudolf Steiner School, Kings Langley, Hertfordshire), she made some wonderful liver pate (with beef liver of course!) and some pots of goodies created from our abundant hedgerows here, with the aid of traditional recipes: Haw Ketchup (made with Hawthorn Berries), Pickled Blackberries and Blackberry Cheese. Not what you'd find on the supermarket shelves, but unique and very tasty.

On the subject of produce, Lorraine also made the most delicious pot roast to share with friends for a supper one evening and the recipe can be found on our new page "What To Do With Your Delicious Vowley Farm Beef", it's well worth trying, and if you need a joint to do that with... you know where to find some!

And finally, we had a splendid half term which we shared with Lucy, Emma, Adam and Warren, some young people who came for a couple of days and built new doors for the hen houses, cleaned the tractor, fed the animals, played with the horses and the cats and sat in the hay barn breathing fresh country air.

So, as the clocks go back and the evenings draw in, we are learning how to light the wood burning stove in the living room and looking forward to sharing some heartfelt hearth time with friends during the winter months.

Every monday evening we have Winter Equine Evenings and our next Helping Hands weekend is 10/11^th November, when we plan on harvesting the Sloes and making Sloe Gin... so bring a bottle with you if you're coming!

We hope you are experiencing as much joy and fulfillment in your life as we are in ours.