Spring on TV's not so "Forgotten Farm"

After an agonisingly long Winter 1400 feet up here on Dartmoor, the landscape is now changing almost by the hour. The lush Spring grass is being devoured as it grows by the livestock that have existed on fresh air, gorse and bracken on the open commons.

At Holwell its not just the buds that are bursting, the animals are too; we have 6 Saddleback Sows who are making the most of their last few days of freedom before they start shelling piglets like peas. Each sow will farrow down shortly and give birth to on average 10-12 "twiglets". It never ceases to amaze me how these tiny creatures make it on to their mother's tit before they are even out of the sack.


After a day or two the piglets are running around and into everything; they seem to get naughtier the older they get.

Here at Holwell Farm guests who are staying with us in our holiday cottages are able to visit the piglets and even see them being born. Saddleback's are a very friendly breed on the whole and are quite accepting of an audience.

We have had 7 beautiful new Belted calves in the last week; we're into stripes here. The Belted Galloway herd are popular on Dartmoor becuase when they lie down on the tarmac in the Winter; livestock lives out on the open moor all year round on Dartmoor; they can be seen better at night if they have a bright white belt round their middle. This marking is very distinctive on the new calves too, so our magnificent Beltie Bull; Popacatapetal has done his job well.

Down in the lower fields near the mire I have kept back 12 pedigree Dartmoor pony mares; at least 8 of which are well in foal now and due to start producing their gorgeous foals at any time. The majestic Dartmoor Stallion Star Fighter is the patient Daddy who is very sensible in making sure the stay close by to the farm rather than venture back across the mire to the other side of the valley; if any of the mares experience difficulty foaling then he knows I will be close at hand to help.

One of our current frustrations that is a result of increased visitor traffic to Dartmoor is the invasion of crows who forage around the carparks during the day and prey on the prescious Lapwings at night. These rare moorland birds nest on the ground and at Holwell we have one of the last nesting places on Dartmoor so it is vital that we can control the crow population to allow the Lapwing eggs to successfully hatch and survive; a real challenge.

Several of our guests this week had an unforgettable experience with our Falconer; George of Hedges Hawks and Eagles. Dartmoor is superb terrain to really experience the awesome power of these birds as they hunt. Flying one to one with them and observing their grace, instinct and accuracy is very humbling indeed and a sport that once tried is rapidly addictive. We are looking for a horse that would be suitable for a Falconer to fly a hawk or eagle from - any suggestions gratefully received.

Another question for someone out there; how do you stop a Donkey braying at 6.30am every morning like clockwork; we have some seriously ticked off cockerels, not to mention the guests in the cottages ? My husband's Birthday prestent was 2 Donkeys from nearby Pennywell Farm. He actually wanted an Aston Martin car, but I told him to "dream on", the children chose 2 donkeys for him and we have called them Aston (the Jenny) and Martin (the Jack). They are very friendly and the Jenny is in foal, so we will call it Bentley if it is a boy and Porsche if it is a girl !

With the highest recorded Walled Garden in Devon here at Holwell, we are just about to see a transformation start from a derelict space that has been neglected over the last 50 odd years spring back into life again. The pigs have done a great "cleansing" job over the Winter and now we can look to sewing vegetables, fruits, herbs, salads etc; really exciting, especially as guests will also be able to get their supplies from it themselves as well as the home-reared meat and eggs.

Just another day, but full of expectation ...

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