Bell Farm Primary
It is so rewarding having visitors to the farm who show an interest in what we do, however having school children is especially rewarding when you see them engaging with what we do & genuinely having fun learning.
The morning started off sunny with a slight chill & quickly turned to hail and back to sunny again – did the children complain? No they certainly did not. The tour continued.
We spoke about the cold, late spring that fills Richards boots with worry – typical for a British farmer to be obsessed with the weather – late spring means a later crop. The weekend at least had warmed up enough to start the amazing blossom process on the young Red Windsor. The children especially enjoyed Ali’s description of how insects pollinate the apple trees with their bottoms!
Talking about the different varieties of eating apples – Braeburn, Gala & Red Windsor – showing photo’s of the sad loss of all the eating apples last August was interesting to see the expressions on their faces of what damage such a hail storm did on the delicate apples. Some very good adjectives expressed from the group too.
Walking through the cider apples – Dabinett & Harry Masters – gave the children a great feel of the size of these trees and imagining the tractors shacking the apples to the ground poised more interesting questions.
There was very little to see in the hop yards – to the untrained eye – however a closer look & guidance from Richard soon revealed the tiny shoots peering out a few inches or so.
A closer inspection of some dried hops made many faces wrinkle & curl, although a few children liked the smell.
Over lunch everyone had a sample of the farms fresh apple juice. This went down very well & everyone loved tasting this!
Some great questions & spellings throughout the tour – ‘agronomist’ being the winner maybe.
Thank you Pauline from Wye Fruits for organizing the visit & Bell’s Farm for being so well behaved, polite & enthusiastic to return later in the year. You are all very welcome.
To read Bell Farm’s Blog – Click Here
