Being a young farmer

You can see below how the sowing of your seeds is very similar to what farmers do on a much larger scale.

Step1: Cultivation

Cultivation means “preparing the soil”. Large machines are used to do this but you can simply prepare your soil at home by removing any weeds or unwanted things from the area and making the soil soft with a fork and trowel (be careful with any garden tools!). Making the soil soft will mean the roots of the plants can spread out easily which is important to their growth.

Step 2: Sowing the seeds

On farms, where thousands of seeds need to be sown, we would use a CLAAS tractor and a “seed drill” to spread many seeds at once. You also need to sow your seeds! Your seed packet makes this very easy. Simply pop the entire seed stick into the ground (it doesn’t matter that there are many seeds all together and don’t worry, the card is biodegradable) but you may want to spread each stick a few centimetres away from each other for a better look. If it’s still quite chilly, you may want to start your seeds off indoors and move outside once they have sprouted - be careful not to damage the plant or roots when you move them though!

Step 3: Irrigation

As you know, all living things need water to live. In farming, we call watering plants “irrigation” and usually this is done with giant sprinklers (maybe you’ve seen these?). You can use a sprinkler at home, or you can use anything you like as long as you can get water to the soil! A watering can with a “rose” (the thing that goes on the end with the holes!) is the best to use as you can lightly spray a larger area. Your flowers don’t need lots and lots of water but you should try to avoid the soil from drying up too much.

Step 4: Germination

Germination simply means that the seeds have sprouted and that life has started! Your wild flowers will start to emerge from the soil between 14-21 days after they have been sown (put in the ground) and will look like tiny green shoots and will have a couple of small leaves on them. You may even notice some still have the seeds on them but you can leave those there.

Go to page 18 to see how your seed packet could help you win our Spring Competition!

Spring on the farm

With Christmas and the coldest months of the year behind us, we can look forward to the warm and sunny months ahead. Spring promises new beginnings, longer days and more time spent outside.

Farmers are busy from the hot Summer months through to the frosty Winter months. Spring is a special time of year for farmers as it signals new life - for animals and crops!

Tilling the fields

Arable farmers (farmers who grow crops such as vegetables and grains) will need to till the fields. Tilling the fields means to turn over the soil, which is typically done using a machine like the red one on the right. Tilling the soil helps to keep weeds away that creep up after harvest. It also prepares the soil ready for when the farmers put the seed in the ground. Farmers might also want to fertilise the soil at the same time. Fertilisers add nurtients to the soil that will help the seeds to grow into bigger crops!

Typical seeds that will go into the ground at this time of year might include peas, spring barley and sugarbeet. Not all types of crop can be seeded in Spring as they need different conditions to grow. For example, oats don’t like the heat so should not be seeded until early Autumn when the conditions are cooler.

Green peas

Seeds that go into the ground in Spring benefit from the hot Summer months ahead which many crops need to produce a great harvest!

Perhaps the best part of Spring is the baby animals! Many animals (which include birds, reptiles, fish and mammals) will produce offspring in Spring because resources are plentiful: the harsh weather conditions have gone and plants have started to grow, offering food for both mother and young.

On a farm, you might expect to find piglets, chicks, calves and lambs which all need care. Farmers will help to care for these young animals by providing food, shelter, medicine if needed and protection from predators.

Looking after calves and lambs can take up a lot of a farmers time as they need care around the clock. Farmers will help to keep the mother and young healthy and make sure that both are well fed. A mother sheep can only feed 2 lambs at one time so a farmer will have to bottle feed any other lambs. If the weather is cold, the lambs will need to stay indoors until they are strong enough.

Spring is a very rewarding time for everyone but especially for farmers.