Horse Logging and Daffodils 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. #

Cock-a-doodle-doo!

Hello. I'm JB. Spring down on the farm is a very busy time.

That means there's lots of work to be done.

Let's find out what Storm is up to today.

QUACKING

Cock-a-doodle-doo!

Oh!

'So how do you think I could move all of these logs out of the woods?'

They're FAR too heavy for me to lift.

Oof!

'And they're far too deep in the woods to use a tractor.'

But I've heard of a man who trains animals to move logs.

And he lives just over there. So let's go.

This is Crunchy and his two horses.

They live on this farm near woodland.

Crunchy and his horses have a VERY interesting job.

-Hi, Crunchy.

-Hiya, Storm.

-So, who do we have here?

This is Holly, who I'm brushing at the moment,

and the one you're next to is Ivy, Holly's daughter.

-And what do they do around here?

-I use them for horse logging.

And what's horse logging?

It's a way of getting the trees out of the wood

without using a tractor.

Can I help you get them ready just now?

You can, yeah. We'll put the harness on and go pull some logs.

Great!

'Holly and Ivy wear harnesses to help them pull the heavy trees.'

OK, Storm. So we're ready to go off into the woods.

Come on, then.

In the springtime, Crunchy and his horses

pull lots of trees from the nearby woodland.

Crunchy then sells them to local people for firewood,

or uses them for building on his own farm.

-Whoa.

-So, Crunchy, we're in the woods now. What's next?

Well, you can see the trees that I've cut down,

ready to pull out today.

I need to put this chain on,

securely, make sure it's nice and tight. And it's ready to go.

Good girls.

Horse logging first started thousands of years ago,

and it's better for the woodland than using a tractor.

The horse hooves are much better for the soil, as a tractor could

damage the woodland and plants might not be able to grow again.

And how many logs could they carry in a day?

We try and get between 10 and 15 tons.

Which is over 100 logs!

-Would you like to have a go at driving her?

-I'd love to have a go.

SHE CLICKS HER TONGUE

'I can't wait to have a go. I just

'hope I can guide the horses with those special commands.'

-"Come on in" to go left. "Get over" to go right.

-Get over.

And "Whoa" to stop.

Stop. Come on in!

Come on in.

-I could get used to this!

-HE CHUCKLES

-You're a natural.

-Get over!

Whoa.

It's time for a well-earned rest for Holly and Ivy.

Thank you very much, Crunchy,

I had a great day learning about horse logging.

Thanks for your help.

These guys have worked really well - I think they deserve a treat.

I think they definitely do. Got some here.

Can't wait to get into that.

While they finish off their treats, why don't you find out

what else happens in spring?

MUSIC: The Four Seasons (Spring) by Vivaldi

One of spring's prettiest arrivals appears towards the

end of the season.

Bluebells transform the woodland floor into a carpet of lilac.

Almost half of the world's bluebells grow here in the UK.

We must enjoy them while we can.

In a few weeks' time, the trees above will be so thick with

leaves that sunlight will no longer reach the woodland floor.

Without light, the bluebells will disappear until next year.

The leaves of our great oak trees are amongst the last to appear.

Like little green solar panels, the leaves are made to capture

energy from the sun, which all trees need to help them grow.

As spring draws to an end, the sun is getting stronger

and the days keep getting longer.

Baby creatures are everywhere.

And when the swallows arrive from Africa, we know that summer is here.

It's time for every living thing to make the most

of the warm season ahead.

Oink!

So have you ever been on a school trip?

Well, today, I'm off to meet a group of children who are on a very

special school trip to this farm.

And I think I see them just over here.

This busy farm gets lots of visitors.

Children come here to learn all about how a farm works.

Farmer Dan shows them how to look after all the animals.

-Hi, Dan. Hi, guys!

-ALL: Hi, Storm!

Dan, this looks like a very busy farm.

Which animal are you going to teach us about first?

I think we'll start with feeding the goats.

-That sounds fantastic, doesn't it, guys?

-ALL: YES!

Let's go!

There are lots of animals on the farm, and they all need to be fed.

So we've lots of work to do.

These goats are hungry!

-Wow, guys, they finished that!

-They ate it all.

In early spring, there isn't a lot of grass in the fields.

So the donkeys get some hay to eat.

Going to throw them in like this.

These pigs love to eat swedes.

Chicken!

The chickens like to peck at some corn.

Now all the animals have been fed,

the last job of the day is to check on the new spring arrivals.

Look at the chicks!

Dan, what's the light for?

This is a heat lamp. It keeps the baby chicks nice and warm

-whilst they're growing up.

-Ah, like sunlight?

-Or a hot-water bottle?

-Absolutely.

These chicks are a few weeks old.

-So, would any of you like to hold them?

-ALL: Yeah!

-Do you love your chick, Evan?

-Yeah!

-OK. Storm, I've got a special one for you.

-Exciting!

And this is our new arrival.

Just hatched today.

Look, how tiny! It's so delicate.

SO cute!

He just hatched today.

We've had a really busy day, feeding all the animals.

So it's about time we feed ourselves!

While we do that, here's our spring poem.

CHICKEN CLUCKS

April showers, splish, splash

Run for cover, quick, dash

Suddenly, they start and stop

It's pouring down and then it's not

The sun appears, a cloud blows in

The pitter-patter starts again

Then, look, a rainbow arcs up high!

Its colours paint the April sky.

THUNDER RUMBLES

CHICKENS CLUCK HORN TOOTS

Down on the farm, may I present to you my new best friend?

He's called Cress-topher.

Now he doesn't say much, but he does have really cool hair.

Do you know what his hair's made of? It's made of cress!

And I'm about to meet someone who grows something very similar.

Watercress is a green vegetable.

You might have eaten it before in sandwiches or salads.

It's yummy and very good for you.

Watercress can be grown all year round,

but when better to help pick it

than on a nice spring afternoon like today?

-Hello, James!

-Hi, JB.

How is this crop similar to my cress-head?

We grow delicious watercress. It's very similar to garden cress,

with one main difference. Can you guess what it is?

-Is it to do with water?

-It is! Other crops grow in soil,

but we grow in stony gravel beds with water flowing on top.

-Cool. Will you show me?

-Yeah, let's have a look.

Here you can see the water's come up from underground.

It flows down to the barrier, then down towards the crop.

OK, then when it gets here, what happens?

When the crop starts off small, we put a little bit of water in

and as it grows we increase the water flow.

-We do that by one of these gates.

-Cool!

I usually cut Cress-topher's hair with

a pair of scissors. But how on earth do you harvest all this cress?

I think you're going to like this bit. Let's go and have a look.

This machine is called a pick-up. It helps collect all the watercress.

It's like I'm giving the field a giant haircut.

This is so cool!

Now the watercress is cut, it is ready to be packaged.

'Today, some local children have come down

'to help bunch together the watercress.'

We've pulled some watercress, but left the roots on.

-We don't want to eat the roots. Eugh!

-ALL: Eugh!

What we're going to do is cut off where

we'd like to eat, and make some watercress bunches.

-Well done.

-Take a bunch. Put an elastic band round it.

-Put it round.

-Then we pop it in one of these sleeves.

Then you're an official watercress buncher!

-Ta-da!

-Here we go! Good job, guys, high fives all round.

Hey, there we go!

You've all done a great job. The final thing is,

-would you like to try some?

-ALL: Yes!

-Me!

Well done, guys!

So while we munch on some watercress,

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

We're here today with Farmer Julian.

Hello, there!

He's a flower farmer.

What a great job!

He grows flowers on his farm

that are ready to be harvested in the spring.

They're daffodils!

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

The daffodils are planted in the fields.

When they grow tall enough, they're ready to be picked.

They're picked before the flower buds open.

We're usually harvesting daffodils on this farm between January

and the end of March, and we have fresh daffodils picked daily.

We usually have up to 150 people in the fields, helping us

harvest the flowers.

Today, I've got Theo, Florence and Molly helping me.

The flowers are all picked by hand.

The pickers pick them in bunches of ten,

and make sure the stems are all the same length.

They put the bunches in trays in the field.

When the trays are full, they're loaded onto the tractor

and taken to the packing house.

In the packing house, the daffodils are packaged up,

ready to be sent to the shops.

And after all that hard work, it's time for a rest.

What beautiful spring flowers!

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

and we hope you've enjoyed it too.

You can check out more great things

from Down On The Farm on the CBeebies website.

See you soon! 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. #