Life on Silverfields Farm
We spent the final two weeks of August 2017 as volunteers at Silverfields farm, a family garden farm located in a small village near Bedford, England. During this time, we became well acquainted with small town British culture, as well as basic garden and farmhand work. The two weeks went by quite fast, and we learned a lot, saw many new sights, and met some great people and animals. Here is what Silverfields farm was all about.
The Inhabitants
Alan, Ali, and Sid
The three members of our host family at Silverfields were Alan, Ali, and Sid. Alan is the main manager of Silverfields farm, and additionally works as a landscape architect. Over the course of our stay, Alan was in the process of creating and maintaining a beautiful standing flower-covered lattice for a client (pictured below). Ali is a brilliant schoolteacher, and spent much of our stay preparing for her new job starting at a local school in early September. Together, Alan and Ali have a six-year-old son named Sid, who brought lots of energy and fun to Silverfields farm each and every day.
Misty
Misty is the noisy old tabby cat who resides at Silverfields farm. She has grey striped fur which contrasts beautifully with her bright green eyes. Though she may look tough, she very much loves to cuddle and get attention from anyone who visits.
Chickens
Silverfields farm is home to ten egg-producing hens, who reside in a small henhouse with a surrounding green area behind the polytunnel. Everyday, the two of us were tasked with letting the hens out in the morning, feeding the group, collecting their eggs, and cooping them up at night. Though these sassy ladies were nearly nameless when we arrived, we had lovingly given them each a fitting name by the end of our time caring for them. The members of the clan were as follows:
Big Mama – the big brooding hen who spent her days sitting on the lofted nest
Maggie – the hen with a dark grey head with a defined ring around neck attached to a light grey body
Tammy – the hen with a dark grey head which faded to a light grey body
Kahleesi – the only white hen, aptly named after the queen of the dragons in GoT
Fluff – the grey hen with a big fluffy butt who always tried to fly out of the henhouse when we let them out each morning
Sunny – the hen with gold and black feathers
Betty – the hen with white and gold feathers
Les Triplets – the three hens who looked similar in their black and brown colorings, though their behaviors helped us to tell them apart
Kimmy – the least social of les triplets
Kami – the evil rude one who always attacks the others each morning
Katie – the smallest of les triplets
The Setting
Stevington
Stevington is a small village located in England north of London. The nearest city to the village is Bedford, which is a big commuter town and located only 45 minutes north of London by rail. The village consists of a handful of quaint cottages and lovely brick houses, one pub called The Royal George, a large church, and a historic windmill. The church itself hosts an ancient naturally flowing well, as well as a plethora of graves, some dating back to the early 17th century. The well has been known to flow with fresh water since the Middle Ages.
The Stevington Windmill
Stevington’s prize landmark is the historic post mill which stands on a hill to the south side of the town. When it was in use from the 18th century up to the 1930’s, the windmill was used to mill grains for cattle feed. In fact, it is the only complete windmill left standing in the country. We were happy to get to the opportunity to step inside the mill and examine the inner workings of the structure, which Zach was very interested being the engineer he is. Standing inside of the mill, it was easy to feel the history of not only this town, but other English towns whose histories were built off a systematic attempt to properly coexist with their land.
Garden
The farm at Silverfields is comprised of a backyard flower garden, about a dozen vegetable plots, a small greenhouse, and a polytunnel which hosts additional plots of vegetables. As an added bonus, wild blackberries naturally grow near the garden. The complete list of vegetables grown in the Silverfields garden includes:
Various herbs
Various flowers
Plums
Apples
Radishes
Asparagus
Horseradish
Cucumbers
Celeriac
Beetroot
Potatoes
Strawberries
Raspberries
Artichoke
Green onion
Red onion
Lettuce
Spinach
Eggplant
Pumpkins
Squash
Green chiles
Red chiles
Tomatoes
Caravan
During our stay at Silverfields farm, the two of us slept in a cozy but cute caravan located in the woods behind the garden. We spent most of our waking, non-work hours relaxing and tidying up inside the lovely Silverfields home, and nonetheless the caravan was always a lovely place to come back to each night. The shaded location ensured we were always cool on sunny days, and we had plenty of candles and blankets to keep us warm during the chillier evenings. We watched plenty of movies in our beloved caravan, though we did encounter a couple meandering spider friends during our stay.
