Whats happening down on the farm?

A new initiative by a group of farmers in Cumbria is hoping to get people onto the land this summer, exploring the work of farmers and how they help to manage the countryside. Across the county over 40 Cumbrian Farm Days are planned as part of this year’s Flora of the Fells Festival, a programme of walks and workshops to raise awareness of the value of Cumbria’s mountain landscapes organised by Friends of the Lake District.

Cumbrian Farm Days are mainly focused on fell farms in the Lake District and North Pennines. They aim to explore what its like to be a farmer in the fells today and offer an insight into a traditional way of life. They are a chance to discover some of the flowers and plants which grow in these upland regions and the ways in which farmers are working to ensure that the delicate balance between producing food people want to eat and keeping the landscape people love is maintained.

Many of the farm events are being run in a partnership between the Flora of the Fells Project and the Cumbria Farmer Network - a co-operative of more than 60 farmers across the county working to help Cumbria’s farmers meet change and secure their own futures, as well as that of rural Cumbria.

‘What’s great about these events is to see conservation and farming working together to reconnect people to the landscape’, said Flora of the Fells Project Officer Martin Varley, ‘It is farmers who will be caring for the countryside in the future and it really important people to recognise the link between the food they eat and the landscape they enjoy’.

There is a Cumbria Farm Day somewhere in Cumbria most weekends between June and September. For more information visit www.floraofthefells.com