Cows in Spring and Cauliflowers Down on the Farm

# Come and 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.

Spring is here and it's a good time for farmers to plant seeds

that will grow into plants and crops later in the year

using machines like this.

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

In springtime, many farms are springing into life,

but this farm has been busy all winter long

growing something that sounds like it might be a flower,

but it's actually one of my favourite vegetables.

Cauliflower.

Cauliflowers are from the same family of vegetables

as broccoli, Brussels sprouts, and cabbage.

Farmer Mark grows lots of them on his farm.

-Hi, Mark. Hi, Max. Hi, Ellie.

-ALL:

-Hi, Storm.

I hear you've been really busy already today.

What have you been up to?

We've planted these tiny little cauliflower plants in this field

in rows to give them lots of space to make them grow bigger.

-Is there anything else left to do?

-Yeah, you can help us plant more.

Fantastic.

Farmer Mark uses this machine to plant the cauliflowers.

The machine makes sure each plant has enough room to grow.

Now it's time for us to try planting by hand.

Move the soil. That's it. Put it in the ground.

Then press it with your foot.

After this, the plants are covered with a big plastic blanket.

This keeps them warm and cosy

and protects them from the cold to help them grow.

-BOTH: Finished.

-Great job, team.

So, Mark, is spring the best time to plant cauliflower?

A perfect time. We don't just plant cauliflowers, we also harvest them.

So, are these the cauliflowers that are ready to be harvested?

Yes, they were planted last summer.

The harvesting team have a special machine.

-It is very clever. It doesn't even need a driver.

-No driver?

Well, that's what I call a smart machine.

You cut the cauliflowers, put them in the cups,

and the cups go round to the back of the trailer where it's packed.

BOTH: Let's give the cauliflower to the delivery man.

Sounds good to me.

After all the cauliflowers have been packed into crates,

they can be sent to nearby farm shops and restaurants to be sold.

Well, everyone has worked really hard today

so the only thing left to do is to try some of this cauliflower.

-This is our favourite way to eat it.

-Cauliflower cheese!

Now, let's find out how some other plants are grown in spring.

BEEP! BEEP!

Spring is a time when we start to see lots of colourful plants

and brightly-coloured crops in fields.

But before these plants and crops were grown,

they started life as a seed.

Seeds can come in lots of different shapes and sizes

and they are covered in a special coat to help protect them.

When a seed is planted underground,

it needs the right amount of water and warmth for it to grow.

When ready, it pushes open the seed coat.

A tiny root grows downwards and the shoot grows upwards

until its seedling pushes through the soil in search of sunlight.

This amazing growing process is called germination.

OWL HOOTS

-It's springtime.

-Birds like to build nests.

-And lay eggs.

-Today we are going to help the barn owls.

-ALL:

-By building a nest box.

JB: A nest box is like a little house

where birds, like owls, can lay their eggs in spring.

This is Chris. He's an owl expert.

I have got a bit of a task for you today.

-We're going to build an owl house.

-Let me hold it up.

The nest box starts off in lots of pieces like a jigsaw puzzle.

Why is the owl door so high?

The door is high up so the baby owls, called owlets,

don't accidentally fall out before they learn to fly.

We use lots of screws to help secure the nest box and make it strong.

-Who wants to do this one?

-Me, me, me, me!

-Me!

What do you think?

I want to live in it!

-So what do you think we need to do next?

-We need to paint it!

The paint is waterproof and it keeps the box dry on the inside

so it lasts a long time and the owl and owlets will be really cosy.

Lizzie, shall we do some more here?

It's a special paint that is safe for the owls and the environment.

-I love painting.

-I love it cos I love getting messy.

So does anybody know what an owl pellet is?

Is it sick?

Owls eat small animals like mice,

but can't digest the fur and bones so they sick them up in pellets.

We need to separate out the soft fur from the bone

because we can use this to help keep the owlets warm and cosy.

-Do you think we've got enough now?

-I think we have.

I'll take this away, put it in the bottom of the box

and that will make a lovely bed for the owls.

You've done an absolutely amazing job.

The barn owls will love this.

-Where do you think we should put it? Yeah.

-In a tree.

-Do you want it high up in the tree?

-Not too high.

-Not too high.

-In the middle.

If it's up high then the babies might fall out.

We need to find a nice friendly farmer

-who will keep it on his farm and look after it.

-Definitely.

There's one more thing to add to make this nest box really special.

Yay! Well done, everybody. Well done. Good job.

CHICKEN CLUCKS

-STORM:

-Spring is here, my feathered friends

It's time to build a nest again

I glimpse you as you're darting off

In search of sticks or feathers soft

In a hidden nook or hollow tree

On rocky cliff tops by the sea

You build your nest with what you find

Swoop back and forth time after time

Tangled twigs, old eggs in place

The softest moss will keep them safe

But I'd lay mine in a feather bed

Or a cradle made with spiders webs.

Back in the winter Storm found out how cows come into the barn

when it's cold outside.

Now, it's spring, I've come to another farm

to find out how cows are looked after at this time of year.

And I've brought along a few friends to give me a hand.

-ALL:

-Yeah!

-Where do you think we'll find Farmer Stephanie?

-In the field!

Let's go and find out.

There she is.

-Hi, Stephanie.

-Hey, everyone.

-Where are all the cows?

The cows are still in the shed, but I'm just checking the grass.

Why is that, Farmer Stephanie?

In winter, the grass doesn't grow as well as it does in spring

so I'm checking if it's long enough so the cows can come out.

In the meantime, we need to give them something else to eat.

-Do you guys want to come and help?

-ALL:

-Yes.

This is silage and this what we give the cows in the winter months.

Silage is grass that we cut in the summertime

and store in a big pit over winter.

We pack it down to keep the air out and preserve it

and feed it to the cows in winter and spring.

-It looks a wee bit brownie.

-Yeah, it is really brown.

It smells like vinegar.

It's really smelly...

..but these guys love it.

Right, let's get feeding.

Well done, guys, that was great work, but there's still more to do.

We're going to give them a bath.

Did she say, "Give them a bath"?

Steph, are you sure we need to wash the cows?

Yes, the cows need a wash just like us

so they're nice and clean and fluffy for the market.

Do you use shampoo?

Yes, we use shampoo and we even use hair gel to style their hair

-when we go to shows and sales.

-Well, Jasmine, it's bath time.

First, we use a hose to get Jasmine's coat all wet.

Then, we add the soapy bubbles.

Then we give her a rinse.

Now Jasmine's all nice and clean.

Well, Stephanie, the cows have been well looked after today.

Thank you for letting us come to your farm and learn all about them.

-ALL:

-Thank you!

And thank you guys for all your help today.

Now, while we go and get cleaned up,

you can find out more about the countryside.

In spring, lots of birds make nests to lay their eggs.

Nests help keep the eggs safe until baby birds are born.

You can help keep the baby birds safe too.

Please don't ever pick up a nest or eggs that you find.

Be kind when you're out and about.

-STORM:

-Today, we're in Dorset to meet Justin.

He works at a plant where people bring green waste like this.

It's made up of things like garden rubbish and old bits of trees

that come from places like parks.

We're going to take green waste, something that no-one really wants,

and recycle it into something really useful for farmers.

It's compost.

Farmers love to use compost in their fields

to feed the soil and help their crops grow.

When the green waste arrives we have to check it

to make sure it's suitable for our plant.

We don't want anything in there that might ruin the compost

so we take things out like plastic bags.

The waste gets picked up by these tractors

and emptied into special machines called shredders.

They have huge blades inside.

As you can hear, the shredder is big and noisy.

It has really big blades which chop up the waste into smaller bits.

A special type of liquid called leachate is added to the compost

inside this machine.

Compost likes to be moist

so by adding leachate, it helps the waste break down much quicker.

Next, the mixture is placed in massive rows outside.

These are called wind rows.

Look how big they are!

And then we test each wind row using a probe.

We test how hot it is,

how wet it is and how much air is getting in.

Sometimes, the compost in the wind row gets much hotter in the centre

and cooler in the edges.

To make good compost, it needs to be the same temperature throughout,

so we mix it using this special machine, a compost turner.

Finally, it gets bagged up ready to be collected

by people like farmers

who will load it onto their tractors and spread it on their fields.

There, lots of lovely fresh compost to make the fields healthy.

We've have had a fantastic day down on the farm

and we hope you've enjoyed it too.

If you want to have fun on your own farm,

go to the CBeebies website to play the Down On Your Farm game.

See you next time. Bye.

# Come and 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. #