NOTES FROM THE FARM - NOVEMBER 2025
FIRST FROSTS, NEW BORN CALVES & PREPARATIONS FOR CHRISTMAS
As the mellow warmth of October faded and a chill crept into the air, misty mornings and afternoons lit by low sunlight signalled the arrival of November on the farm. Rain was plentiful and the first frosts fell over the Market Garden.
IN THE MARKET GARDEN
The beetroot, radish, turnips and celeriac were abundant, and we pulled half a ton of leeks from the ground each week to sell steps away in our farm shop. In our fine dining pub, The Wild Rabbit the fennel accompanied the Roast Greedy Carver Duck and the celeriac was used in a warmed roasted celeriac, hazelnut and sherry dressing side dish.
A LEAFY MIX
Our freshly picked Market Garden salad leaves are always popular, and at this time of year the ready packed bags we sell feature a mix of peppery and mellow organic leaves in a variety of shapes and colours. “We harvest a 40-50 kilo mix of leaves to package. No one wants to be overwhelmed with any one variety, so we ensure there’s a balance” said our head grower, Jez Taylor. Despite the first frosts, we still harvest radicchio, “it’s like a Russian Doll” he explained “the outside leaves succumb to frost but inside the leaves remain perfectly intact for use in our mixed salad bags.” We also include frills mustard, rocket, mizuna and Castelfranco radicchio from the dedicated patches outside. We combine these with leaves grown under cover such as endive, tat soi, Chinese cabbage and red Russian kale. Despite the occasional frost, temperatures were often mild and the days where it reached over 8 degrees prompted growth for leaves and vegetables.
STORING SQUASH
Some of the varieties of squash we've harvested this autumn were bought in to be stored in the Market Garden shed to keep it safe from pests and frost. In many cultures, squash is an important winter staple that can be kept in the larder and be made into delicious meals at times when little else grows. In England, we sometimes forget their versatility, or that different varieties can be stored successfully for different lengths of time – the blue Crown Prince squash we grow for example can be stored for use until June next year.
IT'S CORIANDER SEASON
Fragrant and healthy, our large patch of coriander is at its peak. “Coriander is very tricky to grow in the summer as its very prone to bolting, but if you get the sewing dates right the plant acknowledges the fact that the days are getting shorter and rather than flowering, it invests in putting down roots and growing lots of its edible leaves so it can flower the following year” explained Jez. “People don’t necessarily think there is a coriander season, or that it would be in the winter, but it really is our best winter herb” he confirmed.
WREATH MAKING
Between harvesting crops, the Market Garden team were planting tulips and garlic under cover as well as foraging for evergreen foliage and willow. Jez hand crafted frames with the willow he grows in the Market Garden for our use in our wreath making workshops on the farm as well as the structure for the beautiful Christmas wreaths on sale in our farmshop. Using only natural, sustainable materials to make them, he forages in the Market Garden and surrounding Daylesford estate for holly, yew and other bushy branches and berries. When asked for his recommendations, he said “you don’t want laurel or loads of leylandii – you don’t want loads of anything, actually. It’s about achieving a mix. My favourite is box.” Our wreaths are large and full but they don’t include any unnecessary adornments – just the beauty of natural green foliage.
NEW ARRIVALS
Whilst the ewes were conceiving, our dairy herd were calving. At least 25 calves were born into the dairy herd on our Cotswold farm in November (following a healthy number in September and October too). The dairy herd are moved into their barns full time from the end of November for the winter months. Our Farms Director, Richard Smith explained why. “The reason we house them is because in the Cotswolds some of our land is quite dry lined to the north, but to the south it is very wet. If we allowed our cattle to stay out all winter on our permanent and rotational pasture, they would ‘poach it’ and that means that it gets wet, the cattle stir it up with their hooves and create muddy areas which are then likely to become weedy. One thing Daylesford prides itself on is that our grass leys are very clean (and not full of weeds) - we farm organically but our land is made up of nutritious grass and forage that we grow, so we don’t allow the animals to poach it. Of the 1,050 cows we have on the farm, we will leave a few cattle out this winter and feed them outdoors but come the spring that land will be cultivated and put into a cereal crop and then we’ll start the whole process again with rotation as a way of conserving straw and winter housing space” he said.
The sileage we made at the end of September and early October will be enough to feed the cows indoors through to the early spring when the cattle go back out in the fields.
PREPARING THE EWES
November is the month we ‘make’ lambs on the farm. In October we prepare by ensuring our ewes are on a rising plane of nutrition. “This means they’ve been weaned for a while from last year’s lambs and put on some weight” confirmed our Farms Director, Richard Smith. “It sounds simple but it’s not always easy when it’s getting colder and vegetation naturally loses its nutritional value, so we save some grass leys to ‘flush’ the ewes to increase their nutritional intake” said Richard. By increasing their body weight we are increasing the ewes chances of conceiving and carrying twins or triplets naturally.
The rams mix with the ewes on bonfire night, 5th November, allowing a 146 day gestation period for the ewes to start giving birth to their lambs on the 1st April. “This is later than many farms in the UK. As we farm 100% organically, we rely on natural spring warmth and grass growth, so if we lamb a little bit later we are more likely to be turning our lambs and ewes out onto nice fresh, spring grass which is good for milk production, lamb nutrition and development” explained Richard. Our pedigree Lleyn sheep flock are usually ready to breed earlier due to the characteristics of the breed.
OUR BRONZE ORGANIC TURKEYS
Early in the month, DEFRA decreed a nationwide Avian Influenza Prevention Zone across England and Wales making it mandatory to house flocks of 50 birds or over, in response to reported cases of bird flu last October. “It’s a big worry for all poultry farmers right now” says our Farms Director, Richard Smith. At Daylesford our organic Bronze turkeys (and chickens) have had to come inside. “We’ve allowed the turkeys to range in the biggest possible area in our barn. We give them lots of fresh straw every day and distractions to keep them entertained – we hang vegetables for them to peck at, so they don’t get bored and peck each other!” said Richard of how we’ve enriched their environment. “I’m a huge believer in the benefits of natural daylight, so we’ve done what we can to keep them indoors in a way that feels as close to being outdoors as possible. This enables us to exclude the wild bird population whilst allowing our turkeys lots of fresh air and daylight” he explained. Despite being unable to forage outdoors, our Bronze turkeys will retain their organic status according to the Soil Association guidelines.
Some of our turkeys have already gone to our own abattoir, ready for Thanksgiving, having naturally reached their optimal weight. After enjoying life on our farm since poults, their end happens as swiftly, respectfully and humanely as possible, without them needing to travel.
As many of our customers return to buy one of our organic Bronze turkeys for their festive centrepiece every year, Richard proudly showcased two ready for the table at our Christmas Preview evening in November. “They were absolutely superb” he confirmed.
ELSEWHERE ON OUR FARM
Our Creamery were busy preparing cheese for sale in our farmshop, to fill our fresh hampers and Cheese Selection Boxes ready for our customers to snap up for Christmas. There were 1,000 cheddars to cut and wrap as well as Beddington Blues as they reached their final maturation.
Our kitchens made their Thanksgiving gravy and in our patisserie there was a focus on Yule Logs and nougat with plans for a Prune & Armagnac Danish pastry launch.
Martin the jam maker finished his last batch of Plum & Port Chutney, making a total of 3,500 jars in total, making him a very busy Daylesford elf!
CHRISTMAS PREPARATIONS IN OUR PATISSERIE
Our artisan elves were busy baking and packing Pistachio Cookies, Stollen Bites and our special Sour Cherry, Prune and Armagnac Mince Pies for Christmas. With all of our Christmas puddings wrapped, this is the next exciting stage in production and also proving popular on the shelves in our farmshop.
WHAT TO LOOK FORWARD TO NEXT MONTH...
Festivities across the farm as we enjoyed the lead up to Christmas at Daylesford