“Oh to be in England now that April’s ‘here’, and whoever wakes in England sees, some morning, unaware, that the lowest boughs and the brushwood sheaf, round the elm-tree bole are in tiny leaf, while the chaffinch sings on the orchard bough, in England – now! And after April, when May follows, and the whitethroat builds, and all the swallows….”.
 
These words from Robert Browning’s 19th century poem, brings to the mind’s eye the countryside as spring emerges after the gloom of the long wet winter.
 
Those of us living and working in the heart of the Sussex countryside, have been fortunate to witness this scene developing around us.
 
The woods filled with the scent and colour of wild garlic and bluebells, and now the emerging soft green canopy as the trees gently burst into leaf. It is a privilege to live in rural England in our isolation and with space around us.
 
Data shows that the majority of those who have been diagnosed with the corona virus, and most of those sadly struck down by this rampant disease, live in and around the densely populated metropolises of London, Manchester, Birmingham, York and Glasgow and other large towns and cities.  
 
For many of us, particularly those working the land, life has changed little as we go about our daily tasks. Other than perhaps the dramatic increase in numbers of people walking across the fields.
 
Some walk in family groups with their children and dogs. Others flash by in their multi-coloured lycra, with bottled water, and headsets camped to their ears. Many appear oblivious to their surroundings so deeply are they engrossed in whatever it is they are listening to!
 
Although in lockdown or isolation, I doubt there are many families who have not made new friends during these strange times. Some by reaching out to previously unknown neighbours, where they have found individuals close by who are isolated and lonely, and eager to talk or at least see a friendly face.
 
A friend living in St Albans has kept busy crocheting face mask adaptors to make them more comfortable for nurses to wear in her local hospital. Andrea dropped notes in letter boxes along her street asking for spare buttons.  Amongst others she received a reply from a lady aged 96 who had buttons, but more importantly it was clear she very lonely in her isolation. A relationship, which I am sure will last beyond Covid 19 has resulted. I suspect similar scenarios are being repeated daily across the nation.
 
Different kinds of relationships have developed from this pandemic as we have invited complete strangers into our homes. In many cases they have become familiar and increasingly an integral part of our daily routine.
 
In our case it is the extremely enthusiastic and chatty American, Leslie Sansone. We found Jo Wicks far too intense and quite frankly hard work! Leslie puts us through our paces with her Walk routine and before we know what has happened we have added 2 miles, walking in the kitchen, to those we have already logged during the day. Ote Hall is a serious Boot Camp!
 
Will we keep up these new friendships or abandon our team of fitness coaches who have kept us company for weeks? Shall we forsake the charming Leslie when life returns to ‘normal’?
 
As I write this Sunday evening I am looking forward to the week ahead. We have been promised the arrival of two phenomena - the Jet Stream moving south bringing rain, and Boris returning to No 10. Both bode well for the nation, bringing hope, vigour and stability. The nation needs the PM’s reliable and solid leadership, and the countryside desperately needs the rain. Between the two we shall hopefully soon see emerging green shoots of recovery. 
​

When this is all over what will our weekly shopping basket contain? By all accounts the most popular items these past weeks are: bread, meat, milk, butter, eggs, cheese, fresh fruit and vegetables, and salad crops. All fresh and locally sourced.
 
There has also been a run on tinned tomatoes, pasta, baked beans, tea bags, loo paper and household cleaning products.
 
Will the previous insatiable hunger for processed meals, avocados, Palma ham, 50 varieties of tea and coffee, 250 types of bread, and 70 varieties of olive oil, be so popular?
 
And, will the escalating demand for vegan and vegetarian food resume, or will those less wedded to the idea recognise the health benefits of a well-balanced and locally sourced diet?
 
We can hope so, especially as most of the ingredients required to make vegan burgers, which apparently taste like beef, amongst other foods, are sourced thousands of food miles away. Resulting in the destruction of rain forests in order to fulfil the insatiable appetite for this fake food.
 
There seems to be a lack of communication between those wishing to work and the farmers and growers needing them. There is a 21st Century Land Army out there willing and able, but the management of fitting workers to jobs, is clearly not running smoothly.
 
I have had many calls from people desperate to sign up but unsure who to contact. These range from individuals to someone who has a small army of service veterans, wanting the work but getting nowhere. They have now been put in touch with the NFU.
 
On the other hand it is reported that some who have applied for land based jobs have lost their enthusiasm due to the low wages.
 
Perhaps if the public were prepared to pay a fair price for food, the farmers and growers could afford to pay a more attractive wage. Unfortunately due to competition for foot fall amongst supermarkets, their only weapon is to compete on price. The result being farmers and producers are unable to pay a competitive wage for the man power required to grow and harvest the crops.
 
As we saw last week migrant workers arriving who earn even less in their Eastern European countries, willing to travel to the UK to earn what to them are generous wages.
 
It is worth remembering that the BBC, despite being an independent organisation, is financially dependent on the tax payer and Government. Taking that into account, should not the British Broadcasting Corporation during times of national crises, act responsibly by reassuring the public, supporting the government, and broadcasting balanced non-politicised views?
 
In Edward Stourton’s book ‘Aunties War’, published in 2017, he said that during WW2 the BBC was viewed as ‘a trusted friend’, not a tool of political whim. That can hardly be said of the BBC today, which many of us are turning off  during these troubling times.
 
The BBC fritted away most of its credibility during Brexit, particularly with its enthusiasm for Project Fear. It is once again stepping up with what could be called psychological warfare – fake news, on a daily basis.
 
Throughout WW2 the BBC was tasked with keeping up the spirits of the British and their allies. It was a patriotic duty to do so. Perhaps now is the time to draw to the attention of Sir David Clementi, chairman of the BBC, the political bias which is being pumped out as news worthy. Positive messages are being dismissed and repeatedly replaced by negativity, criticism, and now proven, fake news.
 
The American William Joyce, better known as Lord Haw-Haw, became a German citizen in 1940, and spent the war broadcasting Nazi propaganda to the UK. He was captured in 1945 and executed by hanging at HM Prison Wandsworth in 1946. Just saying!

Who would have thought that only a month ago we were desperate for the rain to stop? Today farmers and gardeners and praying for it to start again! The ground is as hard as concrete, the grass is barely growing, the crops planted recently have hardly budged, and crops sown last autumn are crying out for moisture.
 
Mankind is truly being punished: there have been fires, floods and droughts, earth quakes, locusts and now this global pestilence sweeping through communities. Wiping out hundreds of thousands and leaving millions depleted in resources and health.
 
Worldwide we face precarious economies which will make picking up the pieces when this eventually subsides, a real struggle. Certainly life will not be the same for most of us as we face a fragile future.
 
One could become philosophical by asking the reason why. However, I am certain philosophy will not help now. I believe we should take the lead from Her Majesty the Queen, and embrace the situation intelligently, with good humour, common sense and fortitude. Fortes Fortuna Adjuvat.
 
We should also let the Prime Minister take advice from true experts: too many arm chair ‘muppets’ appear to know better than scientists and medics who are working at the coal face. It is time for amateurs, including current and former MPs, to pipe down and keep their ill-informed views to themselves.
 
The Prime Minister and the Government are doing well despite three oppositions: the Labour party under their new leader, who regardless of his hollow words that he would support the Government constructively, is already trying to score points with his unhelpful and currently unanswerable questions.
 
The BBC lines up troupes of misinformed pseudo intellectuals whose critical opinions the interviewers hang onto adoringly. As soon as a learned expert ventures the opinion that the PM, Government and their key advisers are doing the right things, they are hastily dismissed as irrelevant.
 
We then have the London elite still miffed and hoping by default to keep the UK in the European Union. Clearly blind to the ‘car crash’ happening in Brussels.
 
It was a wise man who said, “There is a distinction between industry and agriculture: and it is a fundamental one. Farming is not an industry at all, but both a way of life and a way to life”.
 
Economists regard agriculture as they regard an industry no longer able to earn dividends. But for the circumstances that they bear in mind the hard fact that they consume our products, they would, perhaps, if they had their way, wind us up.
 
I have been reminded that Rome started to decline when excessive taxation drove small-holders from the land, and farms disappeared and gave place to waste-lands yielding no food and supporting no busy human beings.
 
Farmers are not and never will be perfect, but we do a good job managing the countryside, improving the soil, being very protective of and valuing both our livestock and those who help us run our farms.
 
We also value and safeguard the flora and fauna. Left to our own devices and using our common sense, plus generations of experience, we can ensure a good healthy balance between wild life and food production.
 
I believe the enthusiasm of some for re-wilding, following the current crises, will die a natural death. The importance of food production will once again be valued. Why it takes world wars and pestilence to bring people to their senses is quite beyond me. I wonder if Dominic Cummings’s friend Dr Tim Leunig, and George Monbiot are still the flavour of the month in No 10 and at DEFRA.
 
As I sit and compose this before the Easter weekend, our thoughts and prayers are with the Prime Minister, and all those suffering and affected by this deadly virus.

“Let us never forget that the cultivation of the earth is the most important labour of man…”. So said Daniel Webster, former US Secretary of State. (1782 – 1852) Wise words recalled by George Godwin in 1939, in his book The Land our Larder.
 
It has always been held that England’s vulnerability lay in her dependence upon imported food supplies during times of trouble.  As Sir Albert Howard, former Director of the Institute of Plant Industry, and Agricultural Adviser to the States in Central India, told George Godwin, “England could grow enough food to feed the entire population”. But, only a small percentage of what ought to be grown was and is grown.
 
Napoleon said, “An army marches upon its belly”. Today it seems we are all increasingly aware of this.
 
When growing crops, it is important to ensure the soil is in ‘good heart’. In other words, the dirt needs to have a high degree of fertility - be a living organism.
 
The drive in 1939, and now if you read between the lines of the Agriculture Bill, is that farms should become self-supporting agricultural units. Able to supply manures and feeding stuffs by having in proportion, livestock, arable land, grassland, and horticulture, with the soil being the all-important focal point.
 
It is said that the old methods are the best and when it comes to the basics of agriculture it is surely true. We have of course gained much through technology, mechanisation, plant culture, agronomy and science. However, as Virgil said, “what is lent by the land to man must be returned to it by him.”
 
In Roman times the management of the manure heap had already reached an advanced stage. Soil fertility is ultimately the foundation of quality and disease resistance in crops, in the animals which consume them and in the human beings which feed on both.
 
Sir Albert Howard said, “The public health system should be based on soil fertility. Once this is realised by the urban population, agriculture will be regarded as the most important of our industries: the land and those who cultivate it will then come into their own”. I wonder!
 
For those who are abiding by the rules to stay at home, as set out clearly by the Prime Minister, and plenty are not, which is why we are witnessing a surge in the daily death toll, virtual communities have been set up which enable people to get to know one another better than they ever did before.
 
Some may maintain this virtual world even when things return to normal. They will meet, trade and interact in bodies and worlds of their choosing. Much as those already accustomed to online dating, in the future traders and couples, may despite ‘interesting’ exchanges, never actually meet face to face!
 
Everyday life has changed and there is a sense of fragility everywhere. It is interesting to see where humans have withdrawn, there are already wild animals moving in. Wild boar roam towns in northern Italy, gangs of monkeys are fighting on the streets of Thailand and deer on the streets of Romford.
 
Some important advice from an experienced Doctor for those recovering from Corvid 19: ‘However mild your symptoms, the most dangerous time is when you start to feel better. If you exercise too much too soon, the virus will attack your airwaves again with potentially long term damage.
 
Food balance is vitally important, and Vitamin D is absolutely essential. We need lots of iron - red meat and spinach are perfect. Besides the obvious fruit and vegetables, scrambled eggs and cheese on toast. Pace your recovery and do not get over-optimistic, after all there is really nothing to rush back for’.
 
Keep safe and well, stay at home and enjoy your virtual Easter Egg Hunt – Happy Easter.

​I am expecting April Fool’s Day to be exceptional this year. With so many sharp intellects underemployed and languishing at home, we can expect some remarkable classics this year.
 
However, on a more serious note, some of us not required to keep the nation’s wheels turning, have excelled by our foolish behaviour. Those refusing to heed the advice to stay home and self-isolate, are adding to the overload on the NHS.
 
There is a growing unease amongst farmers regarding the numbers of people walking on farmland, as we become overwhelmed by the numbers streaming across their land.
 
At Ote Hall we see around 100 walkers daily, mostly with dogs. Last week that number trebled and at the weekend even more arrived in their droves.
 
Some appear to have no idea about the country code. They are not remaining on the foot paths, or keeping dogs on leads, and sheep farmers are reporting an alarming increase in attacks on lambs and ewes.
 
Walking foot paths on private land is a privilege not a right. There are now calls for farmers to be able to close them down when ground conditions are exceptionally bad, during lambing and calving, or when there is disease about, such as we are coping with now.
 
Many grass fields suffered extensive damage during the incredibly wet winter as the public spread out across the fields, not sticking to the footpath. Some are so badly damaged, it does not bode well for a decent crop of grass this summer.
 
As always it is the minority who spoil it for the majority by abusing a perfectly good system. Foot paths were originally for the use of locals making their way to work and school, or to church on Sunday. Unfortunately this privilege is today considered as a right.
 
I am becoming increasingly irritated by those criticising the Prime Minister for not surrounding himself with women. Last week we listened in disbelief as a former female MP shared her view that ‘the current crises would have been handled differently and better, if more women were seen on our screens alongside the Prime Minister’!
 
We are fortunate that Boris recognises his limitations. He excels at picking the right people and taking advice from experts he considers most capable and in whom he trusts. We see this daily as he is flanked by key advisers like chief medical officer Prof Chris Whitty, and the chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallence. Both of whom have been honest and reassuring as they stand beside our Prime Minister and speak to a worried nation.
 
Boris also made a good choice by appointing as Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak. A man he clearly also trusts and with whom he obviously has a good working relationship.
 
Those suggesting the Chancellor should supersede Boris clearly do not recognise the difference between an outstanding leader and a very charming and capable minister!
 
The call for volunteers to support the NHS has seen record numbers signing up. Well over 750,000 at the last count. Those farmers and growers concerned that they will be unable to plant, pick, sort and pack their produce, should I believe have more faith in the British public.
 
There is a view that the British are too “Posh to Pick”, an opinion I do not share. Farmers require just one tenth of the numbers already signed up to help the NHS. I am confident that amongst the army of under employed, including students, many will be willing and eager to seek employment and help feed the nation.
 
Our thoughts are with the Prince of Wales, Boris, several of his ministers and all those struck down by the virus. We are living through unprecedented times but I am confident the British Bull Dog spirit will prevail.