Winter Bedding and Porridge 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.

Winter is here.

It's the coldest time of year,

but there's still lots to do on the farm.

The animals need to be fed and kept warm

and there are still crops to look after.

So, while I help out on this farm, let's find out what Storm's up to.

I've come to Essex to meet farmer Jenny

who looks after a beautiful herd of cows here on her farm.

Now, in spring, summer and autumn,

many animals, just like Jenny's cows,

would be grazing in a field just like this one.

But come winter, they get a comfortable and warm new home.

In the winter, the cows are moved into barns like this one

that shelter them from the rain and snow.

Moving the cows inside keeps them warm

but also gives the fields a rest.

By springtime, new grass will be growing in the fields.

-Hi, Jenny.

-Hi, Storm.

-So, what are you doing?

We're getting ready to clean and tidy the barn.

And how often do you have to do that?

-We do it every day.

-Every day?

The cows poo on the straw and they lie down and flatten it,

so we have to put a fresh layer of straw on every single day.

It sounds much better than having to be outside

-in the cold, hard winter fields.

-It is.

It's nice and soft for them to lie on.

You've got lots of food and water for them too.

Yes, we feed them and water them every day,

-with the help of my father, Farmer Humph.

-Hi, Farmer Humph.

-Hi there.

-Sounds like an awful lot of work for just two people.

It's a lot of work,

but today we've got little helpers to give us a hand.

Here come Martha, Tommy, Ollie, Emma and William.

All in their wellies and ready to help out.

So, what Farmer Humph and Jenny are doing is they are bringing all the

cows out of the barn into here so we can get into the barn to clean it.

-Does that sound fun?

-Yeah. It sounds yucky fun!

Which one's your favourite cow?

That one over there? Do you think you would want a cow as a pet?

-No.

-No? Why not?

-It would poo all over my carpet.

It would poo all over your carpet.

-Thank you very much.

-There you go.

-That's a big gate.

Wow, this is a huge barn, isn't it, guys?

-Yeah!

-It's huge!

So, we've got the barn completely cleared, all the cows are out,

what are we going to do next?

Roll the straw around the barn and cover up all the cowpats.

-That sounds like fun, doesn't it, guys?

-Yeah!

Look at all the cowpats over here.

Let's put some water in the trough so the cows have something to drink.

In you go. Come on, girls.

Now Jenny and Farmer Humph let the cows back into their clean barn.

Do the cows look comfy, do you think, in their new home?

-Yes.

-Yeah.

-Yeah?

Which cow do you think is enjoying their bed the most?

The little black and white one.

Well, Jenny, the cows look very happy.

Yes, they've got lots of lovely dry comfy bedding,

and food and water.

Well, that was a job well done, team.

Now, while we wash our hands,

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

After autumn's bright colour, winter can seem very dark and grey.

Many trees are bare and now.

Their branches black against the sky.

It gets dark in the afternoon

and can feel very cold as there is so little sunlight to warm us.

But the coldest days of winter can be the most beautiful.

Frost and ice form, glittering white,

and nothing changes our world quite like a thick blanket of snow.

For us, it can be lots of fun.

But snow and ice can make life very tough for plants and animals.

It is often harder to get around.

Many wild creatures struggle to find food.

Some dig through the snow to find buried plants or nuts.

But this uses up precious energy.

They will have to eat even more to keep warm.

Winter weather isn't bad news for every creature, though.

Under the snow, this tiny vole can scurry around

in pockets of warm air,

safely hidden from hungry birds, like kestrels, above.

And beneath the ice,

the water in this pond is not too cold for all sorts

of weird and wonderful creatures to survive all winter long.

Today we're in a community garden near Stirling.

It is winter now, but there's still vegetables growing.

We are going to help them pick them and make something tasty to eat.

ALL: Chutney!

Chutney is a tasty preserve that lasts for a long time.

It's a good thing to make with the last vegetables of the year.

Here in the garden, there are lots of vegetables ready

to be picked and made into chutney.

Right, everybody, we need to put our gloves on so we

can go and do some picking.

So, do you recognise these vegetables?

Onions.

-Onions.

-That's right, onions.

We found a pumpkin!

Yeah, these pumpkins, we lifted these in autumn,

but they will be really, really good for us to use in the chutney.

Let's go down to the kitchen.

Donna is in the kitchen.

She's going to help make the chutney.

OK, girls and boys, now that you've washed your hands,

it is really important to wash the vegetables.

We take all the dirt and soil off the vegetables

so they don't spread any germs and to stop soil

getting into the chutney.

We're going to chop up our vegetables really small now.

Next, the children carefully chop up the vegetables

into lots of small pieces.

Now the veg has been chopped, Donna can make the chutney.

She fries all the vegetables from the garden in a big pot.

Once she has added the vegetables, some sugar and vinegar,

it's left to cook for a long time.

Whilst it cooks, it's going to turn really mushy,

and the final mixture is what we call chutney.

Whilst the chutney is bubbling away,

we're going to decorate a clean jar for your chutney.

The chutney that Donna and her helpers have made

needs a long time to cool down,

so Donna has brought along another pot that she made earlier.

What a clever way to enjoy winter vegetables all year round.

Delicious.

In the winter white, a breast so red,

beneath a brown and bobbing head.

Two black eyes, shiny and round,

are quick to spy any food to be found.

He swoops and lands on two brown feet,

a juicy pink worm will be good to eat.

But one beak full won't fill this fluffy grey tummy,

for in winter, red robin is ever so hungry.

I love tomatoes.

I like them on pizza, on pasta, and even in soup.

Now it's hard to grow tomatoes in this country unless you have a

greenhouse to keep them warm.

It's even harder to grow enough tomatoes for everyone who loves them

unless you have one of these.

A massive greenhouse!

This enormous greenhouse in Kent is growing four varieties of tomato.

It is as big as 16 football pitches.

That's a lot of juicy tomatoes under one roof.

The greenhouse is really warm.

In fact it's heated all year round to seem like a warm spring day.

I am meeting Gert who is an expert at growing tomatoes.

But first, let's get a better view of the farm.

This place is massive.

How do you grow so many tomatoes in here?

-Well, we use a process called hydroponics.

-Hydroponics?

-Yes.

We use this spongy wall for the plants to grow in.

We use water, sunlight and plant food, and air of course,

for the plans to grow the best.

Ah, and the sunlight comes through the glass.

It does, but when the sun doesn't shine, like today,

-we use the grow lights.

-Gert, what is in these boxes?

We keep bumblebees in those boxes. There's about 150 in each box,

and there's 60,000 bumblebees in total in this greenhouse.

What do the bumblebees do?

They fly around and help the tomato plants grow.

They're really friendly. They don't even bother the pickers.

-And speaking of picking, can I have a go?

-Sure, of course you can.

'The tomatoes are picked by hand.

'They are then packed and delivered to lots of shops across the country.

'Because it's like a sunny spring day all the time,

'the pickers like working in their shorts.'

This is amazing and so colourful.

Gert, how do you know when the tomatoes are ready to be picked?

When the vine is fully red, we know it's ready to be picked.

These tomatoes here are still growing, they are green.

Let's do it.

These ones don't look ready yet.

Look at these ones. They're orange!

'They are not green any more. So they're ready to pick too.'

Gert, we've picked quite a few different tomatoes, haven't we?

-We have.

-Now, they all look delicious.

-Can I taste one?

-Of course you can. Here you go.

Really sweet.

So, while we finish tasting these delicious tomatoes,

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

Today we've come to County Armagh

to learn all about something warm that fills up your tummy

in the cold winter months. Can you guess what it might be?

Well, it's made from oats, sown all the way back in springtime,

which are then harvested in the autumn,

ready to be made into a big yummy bowl of porridge.

Every day, a delivery of oats comes to this factory,

but there's lots for James and his friends to do

before they can be made into porridge.

So, come and follow me to find out what we need to do.

The very first thing we have to do when the oats are delivered to the

factory is to make sure they're all nice and clean.

We check there is no dirt or stones in amongst the oats,

and to do this we have a special machine that sieves out

all the best oats, ready for us to make the tastiest porridge possible.

Once we have all the good oats separated out,

we put them into a special drum which spins them around and around.

This process is called hulling.

We do this to separate the oat kernels, called groats,

from the outer shell called husks.

When they spin around, the groats jump out of the husks

and these groats are the most important part

of the oat that we eat.

After hulling the oats, we have to dry them out.

To do this we send them to a very hot oven called the kiln.

Once they come out of the kiln,

we give them one last extra dry to remove any moisture

by blowing hot air underneath them. A bit like a big hairdryer.

Can you see how they're dancing in the air? Very happy oats.

They're ready to be packed and sent to shops all over the country.

We have very special machines to make sure they are sealed safely

so that no tasty oats can escape.

James and his friends at the factory

love to enjoy a hearty bowl of porridge every day.

Delicious.

Storm and I have had a fantastic time on the farm today.

Did you enjoy it too?

Remember, there's even more from Down On The Farm

on the CBeebies website. See you next time.

# Come join us down on the farm today

# Learn about nature along the way

# From seeds to crops, and fields to barns

# 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. #