Taking a walk on the wildside - Saffron Summerfield gets children listening and looking at the countryside
	EARLY one morning, while listening to the local news droning on in the background, one of the items made me sit up and take notice. It was the dreadful acknowledgement that many UK children do not know that carrots grow in the ground. Worse still, in its raw state many did not recognise it!

They’re ‘bringing in the May’

Hal an tow, jolly rumble oh We were up long before the day oh To welcome in the summer To welcome in the may oh The summer is a-comin' in And winter's gone away oh In the Middle Ages it was the custom, in the south of Britain and in other places in Europe, on May morning for people to gather flowers and foliage to celebrate the coming of summer. This was known as "bringing in the May", and was even mentioned by Chaucer in his "Court of Love" in which he explained how all the Court "fetch the flowers fresh and branch and bloom". Malory's Mort D'Arthur also contains reference to Queen Guinevere going to the May woods dressed in green silk to collect fresh herbs, flowers, and mosses.

	Guide to transporting animals - Sheep farmer publishes DVD to help producers find their way through new legislation
	IN January 2007 a new animal welfare transport law was introduced across the European Union. Although similar to previous legislation there is much more emphasis on paperwork - authorisations, vehicle approvals and certificates of competence.

	Land Girls – rewarded at last - Maureen James looks back at the work of the Women's Land Army in the 1939-45 war
	LATER this year the Government will finally recognise the selfless efforts of thousands of women who worked on the Home Front to provide food and timber during the 1939-45 war.

	Getting wool ready for spinning - Claire Boley explains why she cards fleece and describes how to go about it
	WHEN you went to buy your drop spindles or spinning wheels you must have noticed the shop was also selling hand carders and perhaps you wondered what they were and why I had not mentioned them in my articles.

Adding value to your fleece - Claire Boley says learning to spin is better than selling to the British Wool Marketing Board

HOW many times you have stood at a farm gate looking into the field at the sheep and wondering what to do with the fleece when they have been sheared and thinking the British Wool Marketing Board will only give you a few pounds for a fleece that may weigh 2 kilograms and is in excellent condition.

Difficult year for winter feed - Frances Sheffield takes a practical look at the forage available for horses and livestock

BY the end of July it was obvious to anyone involved with the making of or the feeding of forage that the winter feeding season for 2007/8 is shaping up to be a really difficult year! Horses and ponies are forage feeders. They need to consume huge quantities of forage to keep the digestive system in good order, and also the head. Horses and ponies have a need to chew, they are designed to graze for most of their waking hours. If they are not allowed to chew on forage, the chances are that they will find something else to chew on even if its something that you would rather they didn't. The need to chew is connected to their digestion. A horse can only produce saliva when it is moving the jaw; we and dogs are able to produce saliva just by thinking about food. A horse is not able to do this. Saliva is necessary to start the digestion and to ensure that stomach acid is diluted and does not start to cause ulcers.

	Sloe, sloe, quick pick sloes - Sarah Walker explains how to make a sweet, aromatic and quite intoxicating gin drink
	THE blackthorn, prunus spinosa ("thorny plum"), a shrubby tree frequent in hedges, makes a good security fence thanks to the long thorns and its habit of producing suckers and spreading.