Mendip Mind in Oil

The Mendip Mind has been immortalised in oil thanks to Kate Lynch, amazing local artist. See the picture here. It's called 'Andy blade shearing on the Mendip Hills'. See the real thing at the Somerset Rural Life Museum, Glastonbury, until the 4th July. The painting is part of the exhibition 'Wool and its creative uses by Somerset artists and craft people'

Let us know what you think.

The Mendip Mind

Just to let you know of two events that are coming up. We are having a Machine shearing course on the 10th & 11th June 2009 and a Blade shearing course around the 12th 13th & 14th June.  

Running along side the blade snipping is our peg loom weaving course that allows the fleece to be woven into a thick, chunky, comfy rug while it is still hot off the sheep!  

Peg loom weaving 10 am to 4:30 pm Saturday June 13^th

£40 includes materials

Home cooked Farm lunch

Nibbles & Hot drinks

Experience peg loom weaving while sheep are sheared using blades; in a beautiful light airy barn on the Mendip Hills. Call Sylvie on 077 48 48 58 76 or Jen on 079 03 58 46 95 

The Mendip Mind

History of Fernhill Farm

We’re often asked about the history behind Fernhill Farm and it’s quite a long tale as you can imagine. But the best place to go and read about it in an easily digestible format is at the Big Green Gathering website, here’s the link. We wrote it a few years ago now (it mentions Kyle but not Seth our youngest!) but it gives a really good picture of the Farms history. Get a cup of tea and a few biccies, sit down and have a nice read.

The Mendip Mind

Listening

Remember we had all those school children up at Fernhill a few months ago learning about keyhole gardens and listening to Jane the Ugandan Farmer? Well you can listen to a great interview with Helen Kongai, Send a Cow's Agricultural Development Officer for eastern Uganda, when she was interviewed on BBC Radio 4's Midweek programme. Really good background. Helen Kongai is a Ugandan farmer who received a cow and training in sustainable agriculture from the Send a Cow initiative after the death of her husband. Since then she has become their Agricultural Development Officer for Eastern Uganda. She was visiting the UK to help promote Grow it Global project, encouraging schoolchildren in the UK visiting farms and learning about sustainable farming.

Wild Whittling Walks

Wild Walks, now there's a nice idea. You could do lots around the Farm - we've got loads of different habitats here. Mini-beast trails along drystone walls, willow and water, amazing meadows, let alone the really Wild Walks you could have over the weekend when the Big Green Gathering is here! Our friend Adrian Boots is the local wildlife guru. He only lives around the corner and has helped us here at the farm with doing some wildlife walks for groups. He's written the new Wild Walks leaflet for the Mendip Hills AONB Service. You can get it from the Gorge Outdoors shop in Cheddar for a fiver. Very good and interesting.

Adrian runs Walk the Mendips where you can have mini-adventures camping out and learning bushcraft stuff.

The Mendip Mind is off to whittle a stick

Racing Stock

Fernhill's fine racing stock at the North Somerset Show

Sheep Racing at the North Somerset Show

Fernhill Farm shetlands go to the show for shearing and sheep racing:

After moments of intensive attitude training, 24 of our keenest shetlands were transported in their luxury vechilcle to North Somerset Show to be the main ring star sheep racing attraction. At 2.30pm, the first 6 jockeys mounted their woolly steeds and the public placed their bets. The tension mounted and the gate swung open....bounding, leaping and jumping, our Katmoget-go-go winning sheep crossed the line in just 7 seconds to win the first sprint and the lucky gamblers taking a chance, doubled their money.

A further 4 races followed with our Moveover Morrit & Black Flash trying their best but Katmoget-go-go's time could not be beat. To rapturous appaulse, the courageous racers left the ring and a respectable amount of funds had been raised for a local Mendip charity.

 

Thanks to all the helpers with our sheep and to the Show stewards

The Mendip Racing Mind