The Farm | Big Fernyford Farm

"My 2 year old has had the time of his life, feeding the animals and being allowed to take part in farm life." Lisa, Matt & Ted D.

This page tries to give you an insight into what it's like on a farm. If you live in a town or city you probably don't come into contact with farming folk very often, so we thought you might find it interesting to find out what we get up to in the countryside! If there is anything you would particularly like to know - send us an email and we'll do our best to cover your question on this page.

Fernyford is a great place to get a feel of what life is like on a working farm. The farm enterprises consist of a herd of 20 Belted Galloway cows with followers, a small flock of Valais Blacknose sheep, and a flock of 200 Swaledale ewes with the emphasis being the production of top quality breeding stock. We also have some free-range chickens, a friendly Collie dog Liz and Sparkle, the cat.

Farming never stops! So there's always something to see, but the calendar below will give you a feel for the rhythm of the farming year:

Lambing - April / May
It is a unique experience to watch lambs being born!
Shearing time - June
Neil has many years experience as a champion sheep-shearer - with many anecdotes to tell.
Hay making and silaging - July or August
The weather decides! ('silaging' is a way of preserving grass for the winter by fermenting it in wrapped bales)
Sales -October
Preparing ewes and rams for annual auction sales in Kirkby Stephen, Cumbria and in Hawes, Yorkshire.
Tupping - November

Loads to do!

In our Wellies!