Friday the 4th May was a very exciting day here on Oxenford Farm.Tom Heap and the film crew from Countryfile arrived at 6.00am to spend the day with David,to show a snippit of daily life on a Somerset County Council dairy farm along with its diversifications. The cows were milked . Tom learnt a new skill, milking cows !. Then a hearty Oxenford farm bacon,egg and sausage breakfast was had by all.
Councillor David Huxtable was then interveiwed about the sale of Somerset County Council farms .It is hard to understand why Somerset County Council has decided to sell the majority of their farms ,when other County Councils say their farms are profitable, and are investing in them to expand and upgrade the farm facilities which in turn produces and supplies food to country wide communities.
After lunch some time was spent chopping logs ready for our next visitors arriving to spend the weekend in the yurts .Then it was down to the yurts for a chill out before moving the milking cows to a new field.This article shows that with the help of county council farm tenancies, people who are not from farming families can and do achieve their ambitions to successfully manage their own farm .This is going to be shown on the evening of Sunday 20th May on BBC’s Countryfile farming programme.
We are really looking forward to Easter weekend as our first visitors of the season arrive on Friday for the week.Some lovely people who came to stay 2 years ago.Can’t wait to catch up with them again. I expect they will be searching through the flock of sheep in the orchard to see if they recongise the lamb now a large sheep that was born during their last stay .The cows are now grazing in the field day and night.They love to be out.We have new chickens arriving this evening .They will be calmer to catch and transport as the evening gets darker.This is less tressfull for them.our website is currently going through an update ,so things may look a bit muddleded .Just contact us if things seem unclear.New photos to come as well in the near future.
Our glamping season is almost upon us,with 4 yurts up ready and waiting for all our Summer visitors .The Blackcurrant and Rapberry bushes arrived today so we will be planting them tomorrow .Looking forward to seeing if they bare fruit this season. We have re placed the wheel barrows with 4 wheeled garden trolleys.They are ideal for collecting your logs from the shop and taking shopping back to your yurt .The weather here is wonderful almost Spring like .Sunny and quite warm in the sheltered area around the yurts.Winnie one of the sows gave birth to 7 tiny piglets yesterday .They are scampering and playful .They love the warm sunshine.We are hoping the weekend will be dry so we can give the grass a good cut and put final touches to the yurts.
If you’re visiting Dorset this summer to see the sailing competitions in Weymouth as part of the London 2012 Olympics, then why not stay at Oxenford Farm?!
We’re based in South Somerset, very close to the Dorset border. In fact, we’re only 1 hour and 15 mins away from the action in Weymouth.
After an exciting and busy day watching the sailing in Weymouth you could return to Oxenford Farm for a peaceful and relaxing evening in the Somerset countryside. Maybe try a glass or 2 of Perry’s cider before retiring for a good night’s sleep in your fully furnished Yurt!
There are going to be 13 Olympic events held at Weymouth and Portland. And don’t forget that even if you’re not at the venue itself, you will be able to watch the action on the big screen from Weymouth Beach, where there will also be a range of free sporting activities.
Even if you’re not visiting for the Olympics themselves, keep us in mind if you’re visiting the area as Weymouth and Portland Bay is the home of the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy (WPNSA) – a natural amphitheatre with many good spots to watch from.
Most of the trees that were planted have done well despite the dry Summer this year. Some have even produced fruit.
This year we will be planting fruit bushes such as Blackcurrents and Raspberries. These can be picked and eaten during your stay at Oxenford Farm.
It’s that time of year again. Time to unpack the yurts for another season.If the weather holds and the cows behave we may put up 1 yurt on Thursday.Going back to the cows they are now out in the fields by day and we have had lots of calves over the past 2 weeks.Photos of cows,calves and hopefully yurts on the blog by the weekend.Oh and mustn’t forget the pigs there are plenty of piglets scampering about the farmyard
well Christmas has been and now we have started getting the yurt site ready for our 2012 season.our 4th year .The tree surgeon arrived last wednesday to tidy and make safe some of the trees round the edge of the site.The photo shows the large Ash tree being trimmed.We have 15 new Guernsey cows on the farm .They will be calving shortly.My next task is to take their photos for the blog. 
we have had such a brilliant 2011 season .It has just flown by.We enjoyed meeting and getting to know everyone who came to stay.Thank you all so much it was a pleasure having you to stay with us.
Now we have started to pack away the yurts and David is busily dung spreading the dung from the back shed. It will soon be ready for the Winter ,to house the young stock.
The hens have just come back laying eggs after a short rest.They also worked very hard this Summer. Thank you chickens.
Weather is warmish and sunnt today .Hope it stays for a bit.
sorry we’ve been away so long we ‘ve been so busy putting up the yurts and kitting them out.We have our 2 new yurts and i think they improve the look of the site .It now looks finished and like a tiny community all of it’s own. Well, we have now been open for a month and have already met some lovely people.The weather has been very kind to our guests but the farm is suffering through the lack of rain.The grass is’nt growing fast enough and the ground is so dry. I expect when the rain does come it won’t want to stop.
We have a couple of new things this year a wood fired Rayburn that will heat the water for washing up etc, and bicycles for hire for those who want to discover the countryside more closely.I suppose i had better go now as we have to go to the polling station and vote.We’ll see what that result brings for the County of Somerset.
