Autumn at Rails Farm.
Now that November is here, with cool, damp, grey days, the autumn colours appear even more brilliant. Leaves and berries glow in the soft light, birds are brightly coloured in their smart new feathers and our barn is piled high with boxes of apples and stacks of pumpkins.
In autumn, leaves change colour due to shifts in temperature and daylight. As days grow shorter and cooler, trees prepare for winter by slowing down their food production. Chlorophyll, the green pigment that enables leaves to produce food through photosynthesis, starts to break down and fades away. This reveals other pigments already present in the leaves, such as carotenoids, which produce yellow and orange colours, and anthocyanins, which create reds and purples. The blend of these pigments results in the beautiful array of autumn colours we see each year.
Inspired by this show of colours, Gaby has been dying wool from our Shetland sheep and our alpacas in a rainbow of colours; some muted pastel hues and some vibrant colours. Gaby will take commissions if you want something special. Her latest request is for deep orange wool to produce a cosy, autumn-themed jumper.
She is also felting wool to make her ethical, 100% cruelty-free, sheepskins. This is a labour-intensive process, where the wool is felted to produce a hard-wearing, beautiful ‘sheepskin rug’, to be used in front of the fire, as a cosy throw or even a pet bed. As you can see, all our sheep are happily thriving on the farm, still with their skins intact – and having grown new wool ready for the cold winter weather.
The autumn colours, the fruits and the new, warm feathers are all part of nature preparing for the cold weather to come. (If it comes, in this year of strange weather!) Fruits and roots store food for the winter, birds and animals put on fat to keep them warm, bees store honey in preparation for the days when they won’t be able to fly and trees lose the now useless leaves.
On the farm, we are also preparing for winter. Christoph is repointing the house and repairing windows, planting new hedges and reinforcing fences. Gaby is clearing out summer crops in the polytunnel and the vegetable garden, planting winter crops and planning to winterise the bees. Christoph and Isla are teaching new students as the new academic year beds in and parents and students know where they would like extra support.
And, on the horizon … frosty days, winter storms and preparing the Christmas produce for our friends and customers: honey, organic apple juice, wool kits, cosy socks and felted fleeces.
Keep an eye on our produce page when thinking about Christmas presents and remember our German conversation groups and various languages lessons – just the thing to fill those dark winter days!