Sheep Shearing and Picking Blackberries Down on the Farm

# Come join us down on the farm today

# Learn about nature along the way

# From seeds to crops and field to barn

# So much to do down on the farm

# Summer, autumn, winter, spring

# Ploughing, planting, harvesting

# With JB and Storm to lead the way

# Come join us down on the farm today. #

Hi, I'm JB and welcome to Down on the Farm.

Today, we're going to be finding out what happens to sheep in the summer

and also, we'll be seeing how this fruit is harvested.

Do you know what they are?

They're blackberries.

'Today, we follow a school group on their nature trail,

'we meet Farmer Alan who knows all about growing fruit,

'and I find out how to pick your own fruit and vegetables.

'But first, Storm will be learning about sheep shearing.'

So come join us down on the farm.

We're back in the lovely Lake District.

The last time we were here we learnt about

the local Herdwick sheep. with Shepherd James and his family.

-Come by!

-HE WHISTLES

Mum Helen, Isaac, Bea and Molly.

It's a beautiful day here.

If it gets any warmer though, I might have to take my waistcoat off.

I wonder what sheep do when they get too warm.

'Well, I'm sure Shepherd James can help.'

Hi, guys. What are you up to?

'They look like toy sheep.'

-We've got our sheep in the pen.

-And did you make them yourself?

We made them on our own.

Wow, it looks just like the real thing, doesn't it?

-James, what are you up to?

-Clipping sheep, giving them haircuts

-and getting the wool off.

-Does it hurt the sheep?

No, it's good for them. They would get too hot, if we didn't do it.

With the wool we're able to make things like jumpers and carpets.

-What do you use?

-An electric shearer.

It's just like what you would use to have your hair cut

at the hairdresser's so it doesn't hurt.

What would happen if they didn't get their hair cut?

They would get far too hot and woolly and they would get

caught in thorn bushes so it's no good leaving it on,

-we've got to take it off once a year.

-Do you think I could help you?

Yeah, that would be great. You can wrap some of this wool

-and put it into the wool bags.

-Great, I'll take this one.

There we go. I think we might need someone to pack this in.

-Do you want to jump in?

-Yes!

-Great.

We've got to jump up and down on it, don't we?

-Whoo-hoo. Is that fun?

-Yes!

Watch yourself. There we go, and you're down.

So, Shepherd James, there's plenty of sheep still to be sheared.

-Do you think I can watch you shear one?

-That's fine, yeah.

As Shepherd James has said, shearing is an important job to do.

It's good to get all the wool off

and it keeps the sheep cool during the summer.

Yearly haircut all done. SHEEP BLEATS

So, what do you call the wool that you cut off a sheep?

-It's a fleece.

-I suppose that makes sense.

It looks exactly like a coat for a sheep.

Molly, are you going to show us how to roll up the fleece?

Yes. You roll the sides in, like this.

-And then this side?

-Yes.

And then you roll it all up tightly from one of the ends.

-Like this.

-Like that, Isaac, thank you very much for helping us.

-There we go. Tuck it all in.

-That's it.

-Great.

Now that's all rolled, plenty of sheep still need shearing

and plenty of wool still needs packed so while we continue,

why don't you find out what else happens in summer?

It's midsummer. This is a time of amazing growth.

Plants grow ten times quicker in July than they do in February.

Even in the sea, millions of tiny plants are blooming,

making the water look green from space.

The summer is at its most colourful now.

The lush green leaves

and bright, dazzling flowers make our world more beautiful.

But they also have important jobs to do.

Green leaves are like solar panels for trees and plants.

They trap the heat energy from the sun.

Trees will store up as much energy as they can

over the summer months to help them survive

colder times ahead.

Flowers produce their brightly-coloured petals

and sweet scents to attract particular insects

like bees and butterflies,

which come to collect nectar and pollen to eat.

By flitting from flower to flower,

the insects spread the pollen around,

which helps to make new flowers. This is called pollination.

On farms that grow fruit, farmers often keep bees to pollinate

the flower blossoms, which may later turn into delicious fruit.

Welcome

To

Our

School!

-ALL:

-Hello!

The children are off on a nature trail in their school grounds.

Let's join them!

'First stop - the bird box.'

Do you think little or big birds would go in there?

-Little birds.

-Little birds. Do you...

'The children have tablets to record what they will discover.

'Will we see any birds?

'Wow! They managed to take a picture of a great tit.

'Now, what noise do birds make?'

Birds make noises like this, "Tweet, tweet!"

"Tweet, tweet, tweet, tweet..."

'Yes, they do.

'The children are heading into the forest and they've found a hole!'

-Who do you think might live in there?

-I don't know.

-Badger.

-'A badger! A badger's home is called a set.'

Badgers live underground.

This is where they live.

'That's a great shot of a badger's set.'

This is a very special camera.

It takes pictures of badgers

and this camera is camouflaged so badgers can't see it.

'And look! The children managed to take photos of a badger

'with their special camera.

'They're off again. Where to next?

'What will they find?'

These are the leaves of the beech tree.

I found beech nuts.

Everybody, listen.

BIRDSONG

We can hear birds tweeting.

'Did you hear birds too?

'The nature trail continues. It's insect time.'

There's a spider right there on the web.

Spider.

Actually, you should never break a web or they have to start

-all over again.

-Yeah!

-Ooh, woodlouse.

-Woodlouse!

-What animal did you say eats these?

-Badgers.

-Badgers.

I found a millipede and it was really tickly and it was long.

'The children took some brilliant pictures and are looking back

'at what they have recorded. This is a beetle.'

We took a picture where the badger lives.

'What a great time they had on their nature trail.'

-ALL:

-Bye!

'Fantastic pictures. Next up, another verse from our summer poem.'

Squirrels come to nick my nuts

And busy bees come buzzing

And when the night-time comes

Sometimes some dragonflies come humming

My garden mice are very shy

And I've seen bats that growl

And in my garden I have seen

A very wise old owl.

Imagine you go to the supermarket

and there are no fruit or vegetables on the shelves,

they give you one of these and ask you to pick your own.

Well, that's exactly what happens here on Farmer Toby's farm.

'This is Farmer Toby.

'He grows lots of vegetables and fruit on his farm

'and helping him today is his nephew, Bo.'

-Hi, Farmer Toby.

-Hi, JB.

-Hi, Bo.

High-five. High-five!

I've got my basket ready and I'm ready to pick my own.

-Can you show me where to go?

-Come this way and I'll show you.

We're picking broad beans right now but what other vegetables

or fruits can we pick if we come to your farm?

The other crops that we grow for the Pick Your Own are raspberries

and we have strawberries...

Oh, look! That looks like a snake.

Nice. Well, I think I've picked enough for me to take home.

What do we need to do next?

-Now we need to go and weigh the beans.

-OK, Bo?

There you go, Farmer Toby.

We've picked some of your best broad beans.

Once you have picked your own, you pay and it's yours to take home.

-There you go.

-Thank you.

'Next, I'm going to help Farmer Toby pick some courgettes.

'A courgette is from the same family as a cucumber.

'We're picking them for his farm shop. Some farms have shops where

'you can buy fruit and vegetables fresh from the fields.'

How long does it take for a courgette to grow?

It takes about eight weeks from planting.

And how many courgettes are there in this field?

There's about 15,000 in this field.

'Wow! 15,000 courgettes! That is a lot.'

And these courgettes have flowers on them.

-Can you eat the flowers as well?

-Yes, they are edible.

'Bo, Farmer Toby and I have filled our punnets with courgettes.

'They've been washed and are ready to be sold in the farm shop.'

-Bo, do you want to help me put these courgettes on the shelf?

-Yes.

There you go.

Well, look at that, Bo. Straight from the field onto the shelf.

Good job. High-five!

I've had a fantastic day here on Farmer Toby's farm.

I got to pick my own broad beans and we got to pick courgettes

for the farm shop. A job well done.

Up next, we're going to find out what else is harvested in summer.

This is farmer Alan. Today, he's going to show us how one

of his favourite fruits, blackberries, are grown on his farm.

Alan and his team grow the blackberry plants from cuttings in pots.

They also need water and food to help them grow.

There are pipes that feed the plants with all the good things they need.

Alan often checks the plants to make sure they are growing properly.

The blackberries are planted in long rows inside these huge plastic tubes

called polytunnels. Here's Alan to explain why.

We grow the blackberries in this big plastic tunnel

so that the rain and the bad weather doesn't make

the blackberries bad and this allows us to carry on picking

into late October so that we can get more and more blackberries

for you to eat.

First, flowers grow on the plants and these open up.

Then the little berries appear. The berries are a small and green.

They get bigger, turning from green to red, then darker

until they're nearly black.

A team work hard to hand-pick the ripe blackberries

and put them into containers called punnets,

which are taken away to be packaged up.

Inside the packaging area, the temperature is kept very cold

to keep the berries as fresh as possible.

Here, the berries are sorted, checked and weighed.

Then the punnets are sealed, labelled and are ready to be sent

to the shops and supermarkets for us to enjoy.

Storm and I have had a brilliant day down on the farm

and we hope you enjoyed it too.

There are more fantastic things to see and do just for you

on the CBeebies website.

See you next time. Bye.

# Come join us down on the farm today

# Learn about nature along the way

# From seeds to crops and field to barn

# So much to do down on the farm

# Summer, autumn, winter, spring

# Ploughing, planting, harvesting

# With JB and Storm to lead the way

# Come join us down on the farm today. #