Jump Straight into the Thick of it This Half Term

Sat 27 May – Sun 4 Jun

Discover how children of the past lived, worked and played this half term!

Ever wondered what life was like for kids in the Black Country over a century ago? Well now's your chance to find out. Bring the whole family along this half term and take part in crafts, activities, games and period dress up as you go back in time and discover what it was like to live during the height of the Industrial Revolution.

• Take on the Family Discovery Trail and meet the Museum’s many costumed characters along the way
  
• Keep an eye out for the lady chain makers who’ll be toiling away, and have a lot to say about what it was like to work all day and look after children!
• Gets messy and play __with clay as you craft your very own brick from scratch
• Feeling brave? Head into the thick of the Museum’s Victorian mine where they’ll get an eye-opening insight into the types of jobs children were expected to do
• Feeling braver? Head into the Museum’s Edwardian classroom and face M’am, who will have you writing in copperplate and saying your ABCs backwards in no time!
• Have a go at the deceptively difficult (but surprisingly addictive) hoop and stick, and take on classics such as hop scotch, cup and ball and mop horse races

In the Thick of it: Children in Industry takes place between Sat 27 May and Sun 4 Jun between 10am-5pm. Don’t forget, when you pay for one day you’ll be able to visit for 12 months __with BCLM’s UnChained Annual. Book now!

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Hilltop CSA regroups, survives and thrives post 2010 tornado

HOLLANDALE, Minn. — Lauri Jensen never used to like to cook. Then she joined Hilltop Greenhouse & Farms' Veggie Club, and the entire experience shifted her approach to preparing food.

Asked what she loves most about being part of the CSA program, Jensen was quick to say, "Everything. It's fresh produce weekly. I'm not really a cook, but it's encouraged me or gotten me involved in cooking different recipes because of what you get. It's made cooking fun again."

Hilltop, located a mile north of Hollandale, Minn., is a unique place in that it survived after a tornado wiped it out in June 2010. Owners Glenn and Gretchen Boldt lost their home and their business after the EF4 leveled everything on their property.

The saving grace, to them, was the help bestowed by friends and customers alike. "Families say they've lived here all their lives, and they don't recognize the place anymore," Gretchen Boldt said of area veterans. She knew earlier that June day that "it was a bad day. You just call them 'tornado days.'"

After the storm clouds passed, close friends, neighbors and customers turned out to aid them, Boldt said.

The Boldts lived in a trailer for more than a year as they underwent a reconstruction process. She never doubted that rebuilding is what they'd do – though she likens the tornado to a "death."

"We love what we do," Gretchen Boldt said. "We had customers – believe this – coming and buying plants. We were dragging plants out of the wreckage and dragging them off to the side. You don't know what else to do. We had customers coming and buying plants off the racks, just to help us out."

Since that day, Hilltop has undergone a rebirth. They landed the cities of Albert Lea and Austin as clients, with the cities adorning their streets with hanging floral baskets and planters. "She's got a great product and she's awesome to work with," said Kim Underwood with the city of Austin.

"We love Hilltop, and we love their work," echoed Susie Petersen of the Albert Lea Convention & Visitors Bureau. "(Gretchen) does a beautiful job. We __have gotten the most wonderful comments as visitors come in. It's a beautiful downtown that we have."

Hilltop also expanded its business by adding the Veggie Club, with weekly pick-ups during an 18-week period starting in June in Owatonna, Albert Lea and Austin. Hilltop has about 70 of those loyal, vegetable-loving customers now. Their motto is fresh, fresh, fresh.

"We grow great veggies that will last into fall," Gretchen Boldt said. "Our broccoli, cabbage, kale, cauliflower. We try to do a nice variety." Gretchen even sends a newsletter to all of her Veggie Club customers, and includes a recipe. This season she'll add tips and tricks for preserving the vegetables into fall.

Hilltop hosts planting parties, too, where people come and create their own hanging baskets or planter of flowers. Gretchen has as many as 25 people per planting party. More and more, what they're doing at Hilltop is educating customers, she says, versus merely selling retail merchandise. "With a few helpful tips, it's amazing how good (your flowers) can be."

They've come a long way since the devastation dealt them in 2010, and an even longer way from when they started with one small greenhouse back in 1986. The Boldts found their way from western New York to Minnesota because Glenn had landed a job here, but soon enough they located the Hollandale property and knew it was home.

"We knew we couldn't work for anyone else," Gretchen Boldt said. "We had to farm again."

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Video: Silage 2017 kicks into gear around the country

The silage cutting season has well and truly started, with many farmers arousing their mowers, balers, forage harvesters and silage trailers from their winter slumber.

Dunphys Agricultural Contractors, based in south Tipperary, bordering counties Kilkenny and Waterford, were asked about the early cutting.

They __have cut between 250ac and 300ac altogether so far, saying some farmers in their area are going for three cuts rather than two.

Asked about conditions, they commented that the ‘ground’ has been good, with everything very dry over the past week.

You don’t know what the year ahead will bring.

When asked why silage was being cut so early, Dunphys said that it was mainly about quality and grassland management.

They noted that farmers don’t __have as much time as they used to and are busier than ever, due to increasing cow numbers. Because of this, farmers need to manage paddocks tightly, ensuring grass is not too strong for grazing and that quality is good.

Dunphys Agricultural Contractors run a Claas Jaguar silage harvester and a Komatsu WA320 loading shovel, as well as a fleet of Case IH and New Holland tractors.

Met Eireann forecast for the coming days

Met Eireann is predicting a mainly dry day tomorrow, with a mixture of cloudy conditions and sunny spells.

The outlook expects temperatures to rise slightly for the bank holiday weekend, but with low pressure very gradually moving in across the country. Changeable weather is expected.

Field conditions are currently good and little change is expected in the coming few days. However, they are likely to deteriorate early next week due to more unsettled conditions.

Meanwhile, Mark Hoey, a dairy farmer from Co. Louth, also sent in some photos of first-cut activity this week.

As well as these pictures sent in from Hoey, a number of Snapchat users have been sending in their snaps of silage work during the month of April.

With the ‘grand stretch’ in the evenings, we’re sure there will be a few more farmers taking the cobwebs off their mowers over the coming weeks.

Surely, there’s no better feeling than when you split the field perfectly while mowing – as the sun sets and the radio is playing your favourite tunes; if you’re lucky enough to have a radio.

This snapper was making sure that the rig was squeaky clean, in preparation for the start of the silage season.