Tamworth Pigs and Picking Peas Down on the Farm

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# 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. #

Hello, I'm JB and welcome to summer on Down On The Farm.

Today, we'll be finding out about the pigs on my farm

and meeting some young gardeners.

Coming up, we meet farmer Neil who knows all about peas.

Storm visits a growing project and finds out what's being harvested.

I'm going to tell you about my Tamworth pigs.

'But first, Storm discovers how balls of wool are made.'

So come join us down on the farm.

-'When I visited shepherd James and his family...'

-Good boy!

'Mum Helen,

'Molly, Bee and Isaac

'on their farm, I learned all about Herdwick sheep.

'Shepherd James also showed me how a sheep is sheared.

'The wool from a sheep is called a fleece.'

So I have a fleece from shepherd James's sheep.

It's all washed and it's lovely and clean, and I'd like to turn

this into this, and then hopefully into something to wear.

So let's go inside and see how it's done.

This is Marion. She's a wool crafter, which means

she makes things out of wool, like cardigans.

So I've come to find out how to make a ball of wool.

-I see you've brought a fleece.

-I have, and it's lovely and clean.

Right, so we'll start with carding.

So what is carding?

It's brushing out all the tangles like you're brushing your hair.

So we take some fleece and we put it on one carder, like that,

and then with the other carder we brush it.

Ah! So carding takes tangles out of the fleece,

like brushing tangles out of your hair.

Then we roll it up into a thing called a rolag.

-So what happens next?

-Well, we're going to spin it!

That sounds fantastic.

So there's the spinning wheel. We'll just bring that round a bit.

There is a nice, fluffy end on the end of my wool that I've spun

and then we're going to join that onto the fluffy end of the rolag.

Then I'm going to just press the treadle down with my foot.

The rolag is attached to wool already spun and by

pressing the special pedal, called a treadle, the wheel spins,

the wool is pulled in and it wraps around a tube

which is called a bobbin.

That turns it into the wool that we can knit with.

There are lots of balls of wool here that have come from all

different sheep and some have been dyed bright colours.

Here's Marion to show us how to knit.

We've got the knitting needles

and the wool, and you're going to put the right needle through

the front of the stitch,

put the wool round and then bring it through.

Do you think I could have a go?

'Lots and lots of practice is needed for knitting and an adult to help.'

I've just finished this hat, do you like that?

Oh! I know a little boy that will love this.

Well, thank you very much for showing me

how to turn a sheep's fleece into a ball of wool and then into a hat.

While I finish off my knitting, let's find out what else happens in summer.

Well, it looks like Isaac's very happy with his woolly hat.

In late summer, fields begin to change colour

as green turns to gold.

While we enjoy holidays in the last of the warm sunshine,

down on the farm it's harvest time.

Combine harvesters are used to gather the crops

of wheat, barley and oats.

Farmers hurry to harvest their crops in the good

weather before the rains come,

often working late into the night.

In the hedges, plants like blackberry and elderberry

have used the last of the summer sun to produce eye-catching fruits.

These attract birds keen to fatten up for winter.

The birds will later spread seeds from inside the fruit

far and wide, helping new plants to grow next year.

As the days start to grow cooler, orchards are filled with the

sounds of the last harvest of the summer, delicious apples and pears.

And when the swallows fly south in search of warmer lands,

we know that summer is over.

Autumn, with its rich colours, is just around the corner.

I'm here in Glasgow with my wellies to meet a group of young

gardeners called The Smelly Welly Club.

Local children come to the club twice a week to learn

all about growing fruit and vegetables.

-Hi, guys. You look very busy. What are you doing?

-Planting broad beans.

-You're planting broad beans and are these paper pots?

-Yeah.

-Why would you use paper pots?

-So that we can recycle.

I have brought my own trowel. This used to be a milk carton.

Why would we use trowels that used to be milk cartons?

-To recycle and they're not that much money, as well.

-That's also true.

-Do you want to show me what we do?

-Yeah.

-OK.

You put the soil in and use your hands to control it and then,

-once you've got enough soil, you just put a bean in like that.

-Right.

INDISTINCT SPEECH

And that's it done!

There's one thing that's really important for any garden

-and what's that? BOTH:

-Worms!

Yes, it's worms. Apparently, there are some worms in here.

Do you think we can find any?

Now, why do you think worms are so important for your garden?

Because they eat the soil and help it out and make it richer,

-and they...

-They make it so that more air can get through it.

-So it's better soil for the plants to grow?

-Yeah.

-We can see a few here.

I found one.

-There we go. Do you like worms?

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

-Yeah?

We'll put that back in the garden.

The fantastic thing about summer is that the fruit and vegetables

absorb the sun and rain to produce a brilliant

source of food, and today we're harvesting some vegetables.

'Harvesting means we are collecting

'and picking the fully grown vegetables.'

Here are some onions.

Well, that is quite fantastic,

all home-grown in your garden.

Just brilliant, that's my tea tonight.

'Potato harvested.'

ALL: Job done!

'After a busy time gardening, there's nothing better

'than having a break to eat some healthy fruit.'

One, two, three, I'm coming!

SCREAMS

'While we carry on having fun, here's our summer poem -

'Nature Trail by Benjamin Zephaniah.'

At the bottom of my garden There's a hedgehog and a frog

And a lot of creepy-crawlies Living underneath the log

There's a baby daddy-longlegs And an easy-going snail

And a family of woodlice All are on my nature trail.

There are caterpillars waiting For their time to come to fly

There are worms turning the earth over

As ladybirds fly by

Birds will visit, cats will visit But they always choose their time

And I've even seen a fox visit This wild garden of mine.

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's growl

And in my garden I have seen A very wise old owl.

My garden is a lively place There's always something happening

There's this constant search for food

And then there's all that flowering

When you have a garden You will never be alone

And I believe we all deserve A garden of our own.

Oink! Oink!

Welcome to my farm.

I want to tell you all about my livestock, which is the name

given to animals kept on a farm.

Today, I want you to meet my Tamworth pigs.

'Tamworth pigs are ginger in colour and their coat protects them

'from getting sunburnt on sunny days.'

I have 23 piglets.

Now, piglets is the name given to baby pigs.

Their mums are called sows, their dads are called boars.

A group of pigs is called a herd and I have 55 pigs in my herd.

This is the first pig I ever welcomed to my farm, called Ginger.

I rescued her from the RSPCA

and she's now had three litters here on the farm.

A litter means the number of animals born at the same time,

like this litter of piglets.

The piglets get their milk from their mum and run about.

Time to feed the herd.

They love eating all kinds of fruit

and vegetables, including bananas, peppers, cucumbers and swedes.

I also give them these pellets, which give them all the vitamins

that they need to keep them nice and healthy.

It's important to have healthy herd.

This is an outdoor pigpen.

It's here the pigs like to chill out and rest.

At bedtime they like to curl up and snuggle,

so I put loads of straw down to keep them warm.

Well, now you've met my lovely Tamworth pigs.

Next, let's find out what's harvested in the summer.

-Oink!

-Oink!

We're here today with farmer Neil.

He's harvesting a really popular vegetable, it's peas!

We're going to find out how they're grown, picked and frozen.

We harvest peas for eight weeks during the summer.

We always pick the peas when they are sweet and fresh.

They must be harvested and frozen in under two and a half hours,

so it is always a race against time.

In spring and early summer, the peas are planted in fields

from seed into the freshly ploughed earth.

Over the next few months, the plants grow larger

and flowers start to appear.

Once there are lots of flowers,

the petals drop off and little pods begin to form.

When the pods are large and plump,

the peas are ready to be harvested.

Machines called pea viners are used to pick the peas.

They chop up the whole plant, then the machine separates

the stocks, leaves and pods, leaving just the peas remaining.

The viners transfer the peas thousands at a time into a trailer

to be taken away to be frozen.

Once they arrive at the factory, they are washed and then blasted with

ice-cold air again and again to bring their temperature

down really quickly.

At the other end of the factory, the peas come out frozen solid

and full of freshness.

They are then ready to be put into bags

and sent off to the shops for you to buy and enjoy.

Storm and I have had an amazing time down on the farm

and we hope you've enjoyed it too.

You can check out more incredible things to see

and do on the CBeebies website.

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. #