Introduce Yourself

[davieh3350]

do we

I'd say so, get them to buy from us instead of supermarkets. Like everyone knows, there's only so much you can sell on your doorstep, but the cities are massive centres of population sitting waiting to be tapped into.

Might need to pick your brains about ladle washes later..

 

[dstudent]

we need to connect with the town people and have relations with them.

Ho my

 

[dstudent]

Okay lol, you have to understand though that as a climate change and clean energy journalist I get a belly full of this sort of stuff and so it tends to make me a but snappy...

Then you def need to go on that thread

 

[Robin1966]

I'd say so, get them to buy from us instead of supermarkets. Like everyone knows, there's only so much you can sell on your doorstep, but the cities are massive centres of population sitting waiting to be tapped into.

Might need to pick your brains about ladle washes later..

So what are your opinions of farmers markets then? I really think buying direct from farmers is so much better. Lovely jam versus horrible tasteless jam for example, thanks to my girlfriend. Need to do more of that I think...

 

[Robin1966]

Then you def need to go on that thread

Not a chance in hell

 

[Robin1966]

Ho my

 

[davieh3350]

Ho my

Well you put it like that...
There is a shortage up in the hills...

 

[davieh3350]

So what are your opinions of farmers markets then? I really think buying direct from farmers is so much better. Lovely jam versus horrible tasteless jam for example, thanks to my girlfriend. Need to do more of that I think...

I've never been to a farmers market for years. Done my last 6 bullocks by word of mouth, there's a few already there selling beef at the local one so I've been told.. May need to go check out the competition

 

[holwellcourtfarm]

hello,
Im from Yarm in teeside I work on a fish farm Im also member in local rural crime watch I enjoy shooting and doing odd bits of pest control ie moles ,pigeons,fox etc for a couple of local farmers in my area .Im also in shooting syndicate in which we rear our own pheasants .
thanks

Welcome along @jrev30. You probably won't find much on fish farming here but there's plenty else to laugh or cry at

 

[holwellcourtfarm]

So what are your opinions of farmers markets then? I really think buying direct from farmers is so much better. Lovely jam versus horrible tasteless jam for example, thanks to my girlfriend. Need to do more of that I think...

Around here it seems that the true Farmers (as in produced what they sell themselves) are in the minority at the "Farmers markets"

Most of the stalls appear to be run by the usual market folk just made up as though they are more rural.

 

[davieh3350]

Welcome along @jrev30. You probably won't find much on fish farming here but there's plenty else to laugh or cry at

Not much fish, hunners o'pish

 

[Robin1966]

Around here it seems that the true Farmers (as in produced what they sell themselves) are in the minority at the "Farmers markets"

Most of the stalls appear to be run by the usual market folk just made up as though they are more rural.

We've just come back in from Weston farmers market which mainly cinsusted of pasties etc, jams and marmalades, a really interesting cheese stall and two meat stalls. The woman running the marmalade and jam stall said most of the fruit was home produced, so we bought some. Then we bought a chunk of smoky bacon and cheddar cheese from the cheese stall and some pork sausages from the first meat stall where there was a notice saying the meat was from Croscombe free range pigs reared on the Somerset levels. The second meat stall was a venison stall from a deer farm on the Quantocks. So not sure how much good we did there but hopefully it was something.

 

[opininionated]

Hi everyone, I am Robin, aged 50, I am a freelance journalist specialising in climate change and renewable energy, although I have a wide range of other interests, especially when it comes to environmental issues, including farming and land use (though I confess at the moment I don't know too much about those two subjects - I am hoping you guys will help rectify that maybe).

I currently live in Weston-super-Mare, but am Yeovil born and bred. My father's side of the family lived around Chilthorne Domer and as a young lad I regularly used to cycle around Muchelney (where my grandmother's folks hail from apparently) and Long Sutton and all round there, so I am very definitely a country lad at heart.

Having posted here about an hour or so ago, and as an 'environmentalist', I've already had the "I suppose you're anti-farming?" question thrown at me. This is my response:

In a word - NO!! Why? For a start, in my writing for Renewable Energy Magazine, I quite often cover news stories concerning farmers who have deployed biomass, solar and wind systems in order to generate much needed extra revenue for their business, as well as making farms more energy efficient.

Secondly, I am very much in favour of food production being as local as possible...in other words, British farms producing British food for British food outlets (cuts down on transport emissions for one thing, as well as supporting local British farmers!).

Third, although me and my partner (yes I mean girlfriend, not that it matters) don't use milk in our tea, we are very fond of cheese and yoghurt, both milk products, and so I think its scandalous that the milk price in supermarkets is often, what it is 25 pence per litre or something stupid? We pay something like £1.50 per carton of soya, so why the hell people who drink milk in their tea can't pay a similar price for milk cartons is beyond me.

Admittedly, I am not in favour of intensive 'factory farming', but there are plenty of farmers now who farm free range now anyway so I don't see that as a terrible issue to be honest.

What else? Oh yeah, this silly idea that 'environmentalism' is somehow the enemy of farming. Okay, let's see, farms are businesses aren't they presumably? The main asset on a farm is, or should be the land itself. If a business doesn't protect its main asset, its not going to run efficiently, so therefore, I assume, farmers should have a natural interest in protecting and taking care of the land on which their farms are located, since land is part of the environment, doesn't that somehow make farmers environmentalists? Of a kind at least...

Anything I've missed here?

Excuse this, but I thought I would try and knock this one on the head as soon as possible.

Thanks and best wishes guys...

Robin

How does freelance journalism work?
Do you study and investigate a topic, then produce an article and hawk it round likely publishers in the hope that they might pay for it, or do publishers contract you to do a specific piece on a topic about which you are considered to be knowledgable?
And how is the value for freelance journalism articles arrived at?

 

[Robin1966]

How does freelance journalism work?
Do you study and investigate a topic, then produce an article and hawk it round likely publishers in the hope that they might pay for it, or do publishers contract you to do a specific piece on a topic about which you are considered to be knowledgable?
And how is the value for freelance journalism articles arrived at?

Different people have different approaches but the nub of it is pitching. This entails keeping a watch on absolutely everything you can in order to try and spot a topic you think might be of interest to an editor, be that website, paper or magazine. At the same time there is this process of trying to sort out which publications hire freelancers and which don't. Then there is the job if sitting out which pay for contributions' and which don't. Then there is the job of identifying which pay decent rates and which pay peanuts or advertising-based pay-per-click rates. Along side all this there is the job of trying to build up one or two specialist areas of knowledge that you can write about authoritatively in the hope of attracting more work and higher pay, mine are renewable energy, climate change and transport (particularly railways) but I am constantly trying to expand these. If you are lucky you can attract a regular client paying a monthly fee (at the moment mine is Renewable Energy Magazine) hopefully several. Hard work and you need a keen eye, good communication skills and eyes in the back of your head, and even then you might only just scrape by. But it's still better than working at McDonalds or in a zero hours contract.

 

[holwellcourtfarm]

We've just come back in from Weston farmers market which mainly cinsusted of pasties etc, jams and marmalades, a really interesting cheese stall and two meat stalls. The woman running the marmalade and jam stall said most of the fruit was home produced, so we bought some. Then we bought a chunk of smoky bacon and cheddar cheese from the cheese stall and some pork sausages from the first meat stall where there was a notice saying the meat was from Croscombe free range pigs reared on the Somerset levels. The second meat stall was a venison stall from a deer farm on the Quantocks. So not sure how much good we did there but hopefully it was something.

I suspect that farmers markets further away from the home counties are more genuine. Having said that I could well be wrong and the stalls that I think are not run by farmers at all could just be very professionally run.

 

[Robin1966]

I suspect that farmers markets further away from the home counties are more genuine. Having said that I could well be wrong and the stalls that I think are not run by farmers at all could just be very professionally run.

Mental note to self to check out that Croscombe free range pigs stall and find out more about it

 

[mohammad]

For new member to introduce themselves, where your from, what you do etc. (If you want to of course!)

I am 43 years old IT/Telecom Engineer based in Reading and working in Berkshire area. Hunting is my passion for all good reasons. I have a .22 Air rifle fully BASC insured and like to help the farmers with Pest Control either in the day or night. Also resolve IT problems for Farmers to polish my skills. If you need my help I live in Reading and don't mind to travel a bit if required.

 

[Landyman]

I am 43 years old IT/Telecom Engineer based in Reading and working in Berkshire area. Hunting is my passion for all good reasons. I have a .22 Air rifle fully BASC insured and like to help the farmers with Pest Control either in the day or night. Also resolve IT problems for Farmers to polish my skills. If you need my help I live in Reading and don't mind to travel a bit if required.

Howdoo @mohammad , welcome to the forum plenty of folk have tried and got nowhere looking for permissions, but your it and phone line skills might come in handy , plenty of members always complaining about their phone lines .. good luck

 

[mohammad]

Howdoo @mohammad , welcome to the forum plenty of folk have tried and got nowhere looking for permissions, but your it and phone line skills might come in handy , plenty of members always complaining about their phone lines .. good luck

Thanks a lot Landyman, much appreciated.

 

[holwellcourtfarm]

Thanks a lot Landyman, much appreciated.

As @Landyman says, many folk join just to ask for shooting or metal detecting permission and us farmers get a bit fed up with it. Offering help in return changes the proposition from all "take and no give" and you've started well with your polite respoinse.

You're a bit far from me else I might give you a try.

Good luck.