Lambs and Sowing the Seeds 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. #

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

After the long winter months, spring is finally here

and there's lots happening and plenty to see.

Here, on my farm, it's a very busy time

and I love being outside with the animals enjoying the sunshine.

So while I get on with feeding the pigs,

let's find out what Storm is up to.

Spring is the season for new beginnings down on the farm.

The plants are growing,

the birds are singing,

and the days are getting brighter.

But if there's one animal that says spring more than any other,

it has to be

the lovely, little lambs.

-Hi, guys.

-Hi, Storm.

-Are you looking forward to a day down on the farm?

-Yes.

And what kind of baby animals do think we're going to see?

-Baby sheeps.

-Baby sheeps. What are they called?

-Lambs.

-Lambs, yeah.

And what do lambs look like?

Cute.

-Cute?

-Soft.

-And soft?

And more importantly, what noise do little lambs make?

-ALL:

-Baaaaa!

That's absolutely right.

-Hi, Dan.

-Hi, Storm. Hi, kids.

-Hi.

So the lambs out in the field, are they brand-new baby lambs?

They are brand-new baby lambs. They were born two days ago in our barn.

OK, we have lots of other mummy sheep in the shed, who are going to

have their babies today.

Shall we go and see if we can see one being born?

-ALL:

-Yeah.

-Come on, then.

Dan and the farmers bring all the sheep into the barn to keep them

safe and warm before they're ready to give birth.

These are all the mummy sheep

that are expecting new baby lambs very soon.

Lambing season is the busiest time for sheep farmers.

Lambs can be born at any time.

The farmers sometimes have to get up

in the middle of the night to help the sheep.

It's a very busy job and the farmer needs lots of helpers.

It wasn't long before one sheep needed some help.

A baby lamb was on its way.

Are you ready? See the wee feet?

Look at that.

That's a big lamb.

Look at the big lamb, Max. Look.

The mummy sheep will lick the baby lamb clean.

Oh, look at this, look at his nose.

Oh, look at its little nose. It's got some straw stuck to its nose.

And she is quickly up on her feet.

This little lamb will stay with its mum in the shed

until they are ready.

Some little lambs have too many brothers and sisters

competing for their mother's milk and so they need help with feeding.

That's where we come in.

Right, then, Max. Here's one for you. OK, you've got it.

OK, give him the bottle.

-You've got it.

-There we go.

-Oh, and there's this hungry one here.

-Amelia, what's it like feeding a lamb?

-Good.

I definitely think my lamb's very hungry. It loves the milk.

So, have you guys all had a good time meeting the lambs

-down at the farm?

-ALL:

-Yeah.

Whilst we carry on feeding these spring lambs, why don't you find

out about the changing seasons?

Here, in the UK, winter is our coldest season.

A time when we wake up to frosty mornings

and sometimes to snow.

But a winter's day doesn't stay light for long.

By mid-afternoon, the sun is setting and it's getting dark again.

The short, cold days make it hard for many plants to grow.

So, when snowdrops lift their pretty heads,

we know that winter will soon be over.

It's getting warmer and there are more hours of daylight too.

Little by little, nature reacts to these changes.

Our world starts to look very different.

And fresh grass covers the ground in a thick carpet of green.

Spring flowers pop up, making our world bright and colourful.

More creatures start to appear too.

This ladybird has spent the winter sheltering in a garden shed.

Now spring is here, she has come out to search

for her first meal in months.

I remember when I was at school.

I asked lots of questions in the classroom,

I played football in the fields,

but I don't remember growing plants in the playground.

But at this school in East London,

this is exactly what these children do.

They grow their own food in their own garden at their school.

So, what are we going to be doing today?

-We're going to plant some seeds.

-Seeds, brilliant.

Also, we're going to be picking vegetables and eating them later.

Lovely. Well, I can't wait to get stuck in.

-And what are we planting? ALL:

-Lettuce.

These lettuce seedlings are being planted in springtime

so they will be ready to be harvested in the summer.

-First, we make the holes.

-Yes.

-And then we get them out of the pots.

-Yeah.

And then you need to put them in the holes and cover them up.

Well, you guys are doing a brilliant job. Really, well done.

And some of the lovely veggies are ready to be picked now.

-So what do we have here?

-Mooli radish.

Wow. Never heard of that before. What does is it look like?

-So what have we got here, today?

-Curly kale.

-Curly kale.

-I'm looking forward to eating some of this later.

-I am, too.

-Do you like kale?

-Yes.

It's my favourite vegetable.

Most of the vegetables and herbs go to the school kitchen,

where adult helpers make tasty snacks with them.

Oh, my goodness, is that enough kale?

The snacks that are made from the crops in the garden

are now ready to eat.

-Who would like to try one of these? ALL:

-Me.

Pastry with kale, parsley and mint and mooli radish

on lettuce leaves.

-Mmmm. ALL:

-Yummy.

So while we tuck in, why don't you enjoy our spring poem?

New little ducklings

One-day-old

Warm fluffy feathers to keep out the cold

Following mum close in a huddle

Good little ducklings

Learning to waddle

Brave little ducklings

Jump up

Tumble down

Leap into the water

With a splashing sound

First day on the pond

They were born to swim

Sweet little ducklings

Hatched in spring.

Spring is when this farm springs into action.

Jimmy's farm in Dorset is a very busy place.

The whole family are helping out.

And for these farmers, it can only mean one thing -

planting these seeds for this year's oat crop.

But they don't plant the seeds with their hands. They use this.

Just look at this amazing tractor.

It uses this special machine to drill holes in the soil

to drop in the seeds and then cover them up with the soil

so that the birds don't eat them.

How clever is that?

You must never play on farm machinery

but Jimmy, the farmer, is going to let us take a closer look.

-Hi, Jimmy.

-Hi, JB.

-So is this your drill?

Yeah, this is the drill.

It's a very important bit of kit for this time of year.

It allows us to put in the seeds in the ground very accurately.

-Do you do it all by yourself?

-No, fortunately not.

No, we work in a team, so, earlier on, we had Ryan in the cultivator.

Now, we've got Phil driving the drill.

And we've got Murph behind in a roller, so it works well as a team.

-Cool, can we go and take a closer look?

-Yeah, sure. Let's go.

-Look at this. So this is it?

-That's right, JB. This is our drill.

-And I'm assuming this is where the seeds go.

-Yeah, spot-on.

If you take a look in, you can see the seed inside.

-Ah, cool. And then, do the seeds come down through these tubes?

-Yeah.

The seed is carefully measured

and put out through the tubes, out the little outlets, into the ground.

What do these prongs, down here, do?

Well, these are actually... It's a big rake and it rakes the soil back

over the seed, and then along comes the roller

and leaves a firm, level seedbed.

Amazing. So, Jimmy, once the seed's being planted,

how long does it take to grow?

We should see it come out of the ground between six and eight days,

-and then we're ready to harvest this field in five months.

-Wow.

So, shall we let Phil get on with it, then?

-Definitely. Would you like a ride?

-Absolutely.

Hi, Phil. I've come to help you out.

ENGINE STARTS

-Ready to go.

-We're all ready.

Do you do a lot of drilling this time of year?

-Yeah, about 80 acres a day, we're doing.

-Wow.

-On a good day.

-So, all day, all night.

-Not all night, no.

We draw the line somewhere.

These seeds will be busy growing all summer long for the oat

harvest in the autumn.

While Phil and I finish planting the seeds on Jimmy's farm,

why don't you take a look at what else is happening in spring?

Do you know what this vegetable is?

It's rhubarb.

It sometimes grows outdoors in fields

and you might even have seen it in a garden.

This is farmer Lindsay with Reef and Eda.

On their farm, they grow rhubarb.

A rhubarb plant is also known as a rhubarb root.

So this is the rhubarb root and this is the stem, which we eat,

and this is the leaf that we don't eat.

So, we leave the root in the ground for three years before we take

it into the forcing sheds.

In the sheds, the rhubarb grows faster and taller.

This special way of growing is called forcing

and the rhubarb is grown in the dark.

Why is the candles in here?

So that we can see when we're picking it, in the dark.

-Can we pick some?

-Of course.

What we'll need to do is slide your finger down the stem,

pull and twist.

The plants need to be picked very carefully so that they don't break,

so they need to be picked by hand.

When the rhubarb has been picked,

some of it sent to the shops for people to buy

and some are sent to people to make other foods from rhubarb.

You can make ice cream, jam and even rhubarb crumble.

Great job, guys.

-What are we going to make with all this rhubarb?

-Jam.

-Let's go.

Storm and I have had a fantastic time down on the farm

and we hope you've enjoyed it too.

You can check out even more great things from Down On The farm

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. #