MFT Have recently received £100 donation from Claas UK. Thank you very much Claas for your continued support and interest over many years.

Earlier in 2009 Barclays Bank gave MFT a donation to be spent on workshop equipment and a shed. Merit Sheds of Thurston kindly gave a big discount enabling MFT to stretch the money further. We are now the proud owners of a 10ft x 8ft shiplap (pressurized wood) shed. The farmworkers with guidance from workshop manager Mike have put up a shelf and hooks for hanging tools on. The rakes, spades, forks and loppers are now comfortably accommodated in the shed and Mike and team have much more room in the main workshop to get on with woodwork.

Recent work in January and February has included planting broad bean seeds, shallots, garlic, making templates for bird boxes, constructing more owl boxes, repairing netted polytunnels and mucking out pigs and horses. At Old Hall we have helped with loading hay bales onto the trailer and Alex has driven the tractor on the various outlying fields to feed the cows and calves with hay. An overgrown area has been coppiced and Miriam has helped clean out the hen houses and collect eggs. We have also started fortnightly sign language classes with Suffolk Deaf Society which will enable us to communicate far more effectively with the farmworker who is deaf. We have also had a heavy horse training day, the first of two, learning about the care and feeding of the heavy horses.

It has been very cold, icy and snowy; even the farm's ponds froze. Today it is raining non stop. The land at Rede is heavy clay so it will be some time before we can cultivate and plant the main field. Discussions are taking place as to what we will grow this year. More news next time.

Old Hall, East Bergholt
The MFT team have returned to Old Hall on a monthly basis, thanks to the availability of suitably experienced hosts. Everyone appreciated catching up with old friends, human and livestock alike. The farmworkers were quick to get back into their elements and were soon moving the geese from field to orchard, cutting down rampant brambles, strawing up the cow yard and putting hay in the racks, cleaning out the chicken shed, collecting eggs, getting the cows in for milking and indeed, for one farmworker, hand milking. These were just some of the jobs MFT has helped with this autumn.

MFT thanks Old Hall for their continued support and enabling MFT farmworkers to have a varied farming experience.

Ian, who was the deputy senior support worker and MFT’s host at Old Hall, moved to Wales last autumn. He visited in April of this year and again early November joining the team for a work day at Rede. We were reluctant to let him return to Wales.

Rede Hall Farm, Rede
Over at Rede, the MFT farm produced a bumper crop of courgettes and marrows. These have come from organic plants donated by Roger Bird, and seeds from Thomson and Morgan that were carefully grown into plants for MFT by Nowton Park Nurseries. These along with the red, golden and white onions plus the garlic, courtesy of Thomson and Morgan, were sold in local shops and more recently to cafes as well as local individuals. The excess marrows have been turned into jars of very tasty chutney by a new volunteer, Eve.

Sweetcorn, a vegetable new to MFT, was planted and harvested this year. Some of the 40 cobs were sold while others were used in soup at the MFT lunch we had in October when out with the Bury Rambling Club. Pheasants and possibly the odd rabbit nibbled up several of the smaller cobs.

MFT has been very fortunate to receive the voluntary help of Mark for his land cultivation and maintenance plus wildlife knowledge; Victoria for her administrative help and some practical harvesting assistance; and Hugo for his administrative and networking help this autumn. More recently we also benefited from Eve's and Stephanie's help.

Getting farmworkers and those volunteers who do not have their own transport to the workplace is always a logistical challenge as our team members live in various parts of Suffolk. 3C community transport and Optua Community Transport have been a great help to supplement the Suffolk Community Car Service and our own volunteers.

New farmworker James joined the MFT team in September participating enthusiastically in all activities.

All farmworkers enjoy talking to the Suffolk Punches who are invariably grazing in the adjacent field to ours. They too seem to enjoy the human interaction and MFT is very fortunate to be working on a farm where these magnificent creatures are bred. Nigel and Chris, our hosts, breed, show and work the Suffolk Punches. Some heavy horse training sessions are anticipated after New Year. We have fed and watered the large Black pigs which belong to Nigel and Chris.

The workshop has seen lots of activity this autumn under the auspices of Mike, the workshop manager. Three owl boxes and two bird boxes have been made. In addition depth markers (an aid for digging out our shed base), blackboard and a rota board have also been constructed. The pillar drill, battery screwdriver, rechargeable drill, various saws and paintbrushes have been in frequent use.

Some major events:
In September we had a First Aid and Fire Marshall training day for all work team members. The training was provided by Seamus and Russell of Worksafe, Bury St. Edmunds. Appreciation to Worksafe for the generous discounted rate.

In October we had a joint ramble and lunch with Bury Ramblers Club at Wickhambrook including an informative visit to local sheep farmer Robert Fearnley. Several of the farmworkers had helped with the recce of the walk as had Chris Barker of Bury Ramblers. Fine weather, lovely autumnal scenery and a delicious lunch were enjoyed by all. Special thanks to Soiczwick who helped out extensively with the catering on the day and Hugo and Mark who helped out with many of the behind the scenes jobs. Many thanks to Bury Ramblers for their good company and supporting this annual event.

October and November saw two Green Fairs, one at Eye and another at Bury St. Edmunds, where MFT displayed exhibition boards, MFT products and produce plus donated goods for Christmas gifts - £51 and £131 were the respective takings. Sincere thanks yous to Richard and Kath Hopper, Jenny Chapman, Kevin Chapman, Victoria, Hugo, Mike Jesky, Stephanie, and David Chappell.

November 7th was the Magical Musical Moments Concert at Ofton Church near Ipswich. This was a magnificent occasion with memorable classical guitar music played by Las Guitarras. The musicians donated their services for the evening. Volunteers had polished chandeliers and candle holders and created lovely flower displays. There was also a magnificent display of tapas for refreshments and choice of wines or fruit juice. Many businesses supported the event enabling MFT to benefit from the maximum amount from the revenue.

This concert was generously sponsored by

ARCO East Anglia, Bury St Edmunds
Award-winning Chef Chris Lee of The Bildeston Crown
Balaam's Music, Bury St Edmunds
Claas UK, Bury St Edmunds
East Anglian Wholesale Florists Ltd
East of England Co-operative Society
Sainsbury, Bury St Edmunds
SB Surveyors, Sudbury
Snack-Plaza Willem de Boer, Urk NL
Thompson-Morgan UK Ltd
Spontaneous whip-round by the audience

A tremendous thank you is due to Maartje Rondeboom, the concert organiser and fundraiser, who worked so energetically and tirelessly to liaise with companies and others to ensure this was a very successful event. Magical Musical Moments have concerts in January and February, see http://www.onesuffolk.co.uk/MagicalMusicalMoments. The final total raised was £1,051.

Finally the end of November and beginning of December has seen us busily digging out the clods of turf and soil to create a 10x12 ft base ready for the imminent delivery of a 8x10 ft pressure treated shed, generously discounted by Merit Sheds of Thurston. Clarkes of Walsham have kindly helped with the delivery of 3 tonnes of hoggin which we wheelbarrowed down the field to put into the dug out base. The funding to purchase a shed was provided by Barclays bank.

Several of the leeks have been harvested and nearly all the strawberry runners have been transplanted. The trail of a few brussel sprout plants has resulted in two bountiful stalks. The other three were ravaged by pigeons and caterpillars. Wildlife at Rede abounds. Toads and frogs jump to safety when we have been digging and we often sight buzzards.

Committee members have attended various external networking events and on Friday 4th December the work team went to Otley College to give two presentations about MFT’s activities.

MFT has received £3,175 from Suffolk Foundation late summer and early autumn towards the provision of the farming opportunities and also for sign language training and first aid training. MFT is very grateful for this support.

The well composted muck heap we inherited four years ago had been finally used up!! We needed another supply. Several loads of compost, including one load generously donated by Whitton and Frost (Stanton), were delivered. Additional compost was supplied by The Composting Company (Horseheath) at a discount.

A new vegetable plot was cultivated firstly with the tractor and cultivator then with a hired rotovator to get a finer tilth. Intermittent cultivation of the field was necessary to prevent docks and thistles from growing. Currently, only David and Philip are experienced tractor drivers so Rob has also helped out some weekends.

This year we extended not only the square footage area growing vegetables but also the range - leeks, broccoli, brussel sprouts, beetroot and sweetcorn to name a few. Kneeling on plastic lids and shunting along rows 30ft long the team also planted 2,500 onions. These were a generous donation from Thomson and Morgan.

Pak choi, lettuce and more beetroot were planted in late May and June. The raspberry beds were weeded and mypex ground cover laid down. Additional netted polytunnels were made to cover the newly planted sweetcorn.

In June, we received donated courgette plants from Roger Bird and Sarah Smith.

Pat, our Treasurer and MFT Trustee, reports in early July that the field at Rede has never had so much on, although rabbits, snails and other wildlife were definitely taking advantage of the situation.

Strawberries were harvested and sold in June and July. The perpetual and mid summer varieties proved particularly tasty.

On the farm buzzards were occasionally spotted while the Suffolk Punches kept an eye on the work teams.

Mike, our workshop manager, helped out in the field planting onions, weeding and watering. Back at the workshop, he and his team made distance markers and depth markers for sale at shows and boot-jacks. A timber storage rack made from custom designed steel frames was assembled to make more efficient use of workshop space. The computer table which was built in the rest room has now been fully finished with two coats of paint. Mike also provided training and practice sessions to our farmworkers on using the pillar drill, cordless screwdriver as well as sessions on painting practice.

Watering has always been a challenge at the MFT farm at Rede. With only one bowser available for storing water near the field, it had to be taken frequently by tractor to the farmyard for refilling and then brought back to the field. It was particularly problematic during hot weather as volunteers who go out to the farm to tend to the crops are not qualified tractor drivers!

The water situation became more acute this year as we expanded the cultivated area of the farm, so in June, we purchased and installed a water tank with a capacity of 1,200 gallons. Although water still has to be fetched from the farmyard by tractor and pumped into the tank, the large capacity of the tank means that the interval between refills (and needing a tractor driver for this purpose) is now much longer. We also no longer run out of water at hot weekends.

Friends and family of our farmworkers and support workers, members of the general public who are interested in the work MFT are doing, gathered at Rede Hall Farm on the 3rd May for the MFT Open Day. Exhibitors and MFT personnel were interviewed for the St. Edmundsbury Talking newspaper. The spinning, rake making, scarecrow construction and tractor driving were all popular and added greatly to the interest of the day. Many also had a go at the woodwork competition that Mike, our workshop manager, devised to cut the perfect mitre. We hope to run a rake making training session and either a spinning or felt making training session (both for MFT and members of the public) during the late autumn.

MFT was at the South Suffolk Show on the 10th May. Daisy the cow was still proving a very popular attraction enhanced by the customer approach from Chris Storey who stores, cares for and transports Daisy to the various shows and events. Fortunately she does not require feeding or mucking out! The veg markers (designed by MFT and produced by Street Forge), the farming books and David Cook's leaf competition also attracted customers. There was also the Radio Suffolk interview with Daisy and Chris. £121.53 was raised.

Congratulations to Kevin who completed 61 lengths (almost one mile) in the main pool at Bury Leisure Centre on Saturday 18th April.

Kevin had suggested the idea of a sponsored swim to raise funds for MFT in the autumn of 2008 but at the time was a non swimmer.

Since then he has been having weekly lessons and practices at the pool and has made amazing progress.

The overall goal for all swimmers and water walkers was three miles. Kevin and the other 6 participants achieved 4 miles. So far over £300 have been raised.

Congratulations also to Rob, Mike, Richard, Kath and Tom.

Thanks to everyone involved in the event and to the Leisure staff for teaching Kevin to swim and supporting him in his practice sessions. Also to the management of the Bury Leisure Centre for providing excellent facilities on the day for the sponsored swim.

We are delighted that St. Edmundsbury Borough Council have awarded MFT a £1,000 grant.

MFT had a sponsored bag pack on the 14 February. We would like to thank the customers, staff and management of Sainsbury's plc, Bury St. Edmunds, for their generosity and for making the event possible. Special thanks go to members of the Bury Abbey Rotary Club and other volunteers who gave up their time to help. The event raised a total of £234.02.

Whitton and Frost (Stanton) kindly delivered 3 tons of organic compost at a greatly reduced price and further compost has been promised.

Work teams have been busy with a contract job for a local landowner who required rabbit fencing to be fixed to the paddock wooden post and rail fencing around a large area being planted with young trees. The MFT team have been busy with hammers and staples, fixng and tensioning the bottom straining wire and then ringing the straining wire to the rabbit netting. We knew our work had been inspected when we were at the halfway stage - the rabbit and hare footprints in the snow told us about the visitors!

Other work has included pruning the (autumn fruiting) raspberries and mucking out the horse stables and pigsty. The muck has been spread by hand on some of our 1.75 acre field. There was still over half the field to get mucked. The ground was far too wet for tractor use (heavy clay soil at Rede) plus we didn't have a muck spreader. However it kept us fit and warm when it was cold and this week (mid Feb) had been mild, sunny and very pleasant.

The daffodils are showing some of their shoots but growth hasn't been as fast as we anticipated. A third of the bulbs were planted in autumn 2007 the others in autumn 2008. One plot is protected with a superb cage construction (thanks to Philip and young David) the other one is not. We await progress results. The garlic and onions are all growing well. Some of the garlic bulbs "popped out" of the ground due to the constrction/expansion of the soil from the freezing weather. All had good roots and have now been replanted.

We have harvested some beetroot. The pigeons (or wildlife) have helped themselves to the spinach!

All our electrical equipment has just had it's annual safety test and inspection. There have also been various visitors to MFT.

Waitrose (Bury St. Edmunds) awarded MFT £310 as part of their Community Fund Scheme. Farmworker Alex and Trustee Pat Higgins thanked Waitrose staff at the cheque presentation.

Andrew Winearls of Whiting and Partners, Bury St. Edmunds, inspected the 2007-8 MFT accounts free of charge, which was much appreciated. Photo shows Mr Winearls handing over the inspected accounts to Trustee Pat Higgins and recently retired Treasurer Doug Neupert.

8th Jan. Trustees Pat Higgins and Bernadette Shrubshall gave a presentation about MFT to 14-16 year old students at Priory School, Bury St. Edmunds.

23rd Jan. MFT team joined Kevin in swimming practice at Bury leisure Centre.

24th Jan. MFT quarterly meeting preceded by tour of Thurlow, Nunn and Standen farm machinery dealership at Kennett near Newmarket. Sincere thanks to Rob Thurkettle for hosting this visit. The farmworkers would have bought most of the tractors and farm machinery on the premises had MFT had the finance. At the moment we do not have sufficent funds for one but our aim is that 2009 will be the year we acquire a tractor suitable for all users including novices. Appreciation to the Bell Inn, Kennett for providing an excellent ground floor room for our meeting.

2008
2007 and earlier