Hello. I have been passed the pen of Payhembury Provisions by Mary our long standing ‘field correspondent’ and firstly I must thank her for all her words over the last few years and hope that myself and the other new journos (we are taking it in turns) live up to her Pulitzer Prize winning standards to tell you what is happening here in the shop.
Talking of Pullets (see what I did there?) as this goes to press we are a mere five and a bit weeks to Christmas and that means we are only four weeks away from the fresh free range bronze and barn …
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Archives for 2021
Payhembury Provisions News – December 2021
Paul’s Nature Notes October-November 2021
By mid-November our trees were putting on a stunning autumn colour display, but what a crazy time this is – our daffodils are already emerging. I am busy collecting up all the fallen leaves – garden gold I call them because once they have rotted down by this time next year they will have produced the best ever compost.
This time last year I was busy building my bug mansion. It has not worked! On the other hand, various stacks of rotting logs around the garden have provided an excellent habitat for insects and have already attracted many …
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The Disappearing Ram!
By the time you read this my rams will have completed their work and will be back grazing on their own until next autumn. Last week, as I was putting them back in the field opposite the farm it jogged my memory about an event which took place a couple of years back. I had a couple of eccentric friends who wanted to borrow my Jacob ram for their ewes. I’m not keen on lending my rams out so instead they brought their sheep to Yellingham. The day dawned and the sheep arrived and given there was only a few I decided to put them near to the house in …
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Reverend David’s December 2021 Message – Light Wins
The steaming Christmas pudding is placed ceremoniously on your dinner table. The brandy is sloshed over it (an extra one for luck). The lights are flicked off. A match is struck – and in the darkness the pudding flames dance with beautiful blue light.
The last day of last December, and I’m on Hembury Fort to bid farewell in the closing daylight to an extraordinary year. A surprise snow-shower sweeps in. The light turns momentarily magical and mysterious, vivid brightness battling the dark clouds.
December is a battleground. Light and dark – …
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Paul’s Nature Notes September-October 2021
Wildlife volunteers urgently needed – The Natural History of Payhembury – a project to record the flora and fauna of Payhembury Parish
We have all heard the stories: huge declines in insect numbers over the past 50 years, moth numbers down by a third, many common butterfly species facing extinction within the next 20 years and in some places even the common house sparrow is in decline. More worrying is the news that bees are in serious trouble, as are many of our native trees.
Your help in protecting our local wildlife is needed but the …
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Reverend David’s November 2021 Message – Hope in a climate crisis
Climate change challenges my faith. It would perhaps be surprising if it didn’t – our Planet’s problems seem overwhelming. As Government leaders gather in Glasgow for the pivotal COP26 climate conference, I find I have to go back to basics. Sometimes that’s the best way.
The reality of global warming has long been evident. Working in climate research 30 years ago made that clear – the basic physics is not ‘rocket science’. The global graphs of temperature would go up. A lot. How far and how fast, that was the question.
Covid-19 brought graphs …
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Payhembury Provisions News – November 2021
This month it’s time to start talking turkey! You’ve probably read in the press that turkeys are likely to be in short supply in supermarkets this year due to the lack of skilled workers arriving from Europe to process them. Well we are delighted to say that when our previous source told us he wasn’t able to supply us any longer our resourceful Turkey Team went to visit Rosamondford Farm in Perkins Village near Aylesbeare. They rear their day old chicks on the farm feeding them local wheat and vegetables with no additives and the bronze turkeys …
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It’s “Tupping” Time at Yellingham Farm
What a wonderful word……” tupping”. You will all know that a male sheep is called a Ram, but for those of you who aren’t fully aware of the strange dictionary of words used in the shepherding world, a male sheep is also commonly known as a “Tup” - hence when the rams are put in with the ewes it’s called “tupping time”. Our rams were put in at the beginning of the month and prior to the day we always give them a thorough check over to make sure they are fit for the task ahead. This time of year always reminds me of a visit we had from a number of …
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Parish Paper – November 2021
To read or save this issue please click 2021 11 Parish Paper. …
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Parish Paper – October 2021
To read or save this issue please click 2021 10 Parish Paper. …
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