Spring is here and the sun is finally shining!! Sadly, out on the farms, we’ve needed to replant some of the winter wheat as it was damaged by the rain over recent months. Thankfully, the rain has retreated for now – let’s hope I haven’t spoken too soon and that we have a better summer! The fields are now slowly drying up and the first flowers of the oilseed rape crop are starting to emerge. My birthday is in May, and it always seems that the bright canary yellow flower of the oilseed rape plant comes out just in time...

First things first, I’d like to wish everyone a very Happy New Year. I hope you enjoyed your Christmas and New Year celebrations and that it all went well. Christmas for me personally was a quiet one – as I like it to be! I was fortunate enough to be cooked for on both Christmas Day and Boxing Day which was fabulous!! Throughout the Christmas season, I was made rather envious of a stand-out jacket! I’ve made it my mission to find out where I can purchase one from but I’m still searching. Hopefully I can show off my own...

It only seems like yesterday I was writing this year’s first edition of my news update, and suddenly it’s December! Out on the farms we are fully planted for next year and hoping for a better crop than this year. We only managed to harvest 40% of the crops we usually would because of the unprecedented wet weather experienced throughout the year. Sadly, that’s farming for you. Earlier in the year, we were contacted by a group of volunteers from the British Trust of Ornithology, looking to carry out research on the birds in and around Wythall. The group aim...

With the summer now drawing to a close, it’s safe to say that our sunflower fields have been very popular over the past few weeks. I’d like to take the opportunity to thank each and every one of you for your generosity in donating to Touchstones. At the time of writing this, we are close to reaching a total of £4000 and look forward to sharing the grand total with you soon. For those still planning to visit, the field adjacent to the A435 is still open. The main sunflower field has now closed. The farm team will soon be...

Last time I wrote my news, I remember talking about how the rain is making work on the farms extremely difficult. Unfortunately, this is still the case. Although the sun has made an appearance, the ground is still wet. Though conditions haven’t been on our side, we have still needed to access the fields to work and as they dry out, large ruts are forming. There’s no doubt that this year’s harvest is going to be hard, but that is farming. Our sunflower fields have too been planted and now the wait is on for them to bloom later in...

You will have been aware from my last update, that my father passed away peacefully on 18th February 2024. Having worked with my father for 40 years and building the Becketts Farm business together into what it is today, the past few weeks have been weeks of real reflection. I was privileged to deliver a Eulogy at my father’s funeral, which you can read in full here if you would like. “To try to sum up Alan Beckett in a few lines is difficult, but words such as wise, generous,  integrity, honesty, trustworthiness and many other superlatives all combine to...

It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our company Chairman, Alan M. Beckett (MBE, NSch) on Sunday 18th February following a short illness, aged 93. Alan took over the Beckett family business from his father in 1963 moving the farm away from dairy and very successfully into poultry farming. It was Alan who created both the limited company and established the very first Farm Shop here at Becketts Farm. Alan led the company as Managing Director until 1995, upon which he became company Chairman and has remained a cornerstone in the business and our community until...

The Christmas and New Year celebrations now seem like a distant memory and it’s hard to believe we are over halfway through January already. That being said, I’d like to take the opportunity to wish you all a happy and healthy 2024 and thank you all for supporting us last year. The buzz around site throughout December never fails to put a smile on my face. Just before Christmas, I had a short break away to Tenerife which was glorious. As you know, I’m a lover of great food so I jumped at the chance to be able to dine...

As if by magic, we have entered the final month of the year. Last month, I invited some family and friends to my annual firework display. I    was very impressed with my set-up this year, but unfortunately the weather put a dampener on things. Just as we were doing our countdown, down came the rain. We managed to enjoy a shorter display, but many fireworks got too wet. They’re now sat in the shed drying out with the hope that we may be able to re-use them next year. The start of the festive season for me is always when...

It only seems like yesterday that I was writing my last update to you and the sun was shining. As I write this now, there is a definite chill of Autumn in the air. Thinking back, it seems like we had the hottest June, wettest July and driest August in a long while! Not to mention the ups and downs of September, the seasons really are all over the place! Let’s hope for a fairly settled Autumn. Once again, our sunflower fields were as popular as ever over the summer. It was great to see so many people of all...

It is always said that us farmers are never happy with the weather. Although the glorious sunshine has put a smile on many faces, we (or should I say, our sunflowers!) are longing for some rain! Despite their name, this hot weather hasn’t been helping the sunflowers’ cause of late. Weeds, however, thrive on the dry weather we’ve been experiencing and have been suffocating the growing sunflowers. Fingers crossed for few showers over the coming weeks so that we can open our field up to you all very soon. As ever, we won’t be charging any entry fees, only asking...

It has been a while since I last managed to update my news, so we have a lot to catch up on. As I sit down to write this update, a message has popped up on my phone from an old friend. They have shared a “blast from the past” image of myself and Liam sat in what was the Horse and Jockey pub some 35 years ago. Sometimes these messages contain images that you never wanted to see again but this one does bring back some great memories. Don’t let this image deceive you though, it wasn’t Liam drinking the...