Stephen Honeywood, 47, from rural Suffolk, who is isolating with his wife Jude and family at home.
He works as a farmer for cereal brand Jordans Cereals and has dedicated 12% of his farm for wildlife to attract rare species such as lapwings, brown hares, silver wash fritillary butterflies and barn owls.
Warm spring days mean that the farm is alive with wildlife at the moment. Stephen farms with nature in mind so he lets hedges thicken and grow wild to create perfect habitats for wildlife and he sows large areas of farmland with cover crops for wild birds.
Most people have paused during the coronavirus pandemic but Stephen has been hard at work ensuring that he can keep producing food and protecting biodiversity during this difficult period, as well as educating the public who are exercising on the farm’s footpaths during lockdown about farm biodiversity.
He has had to move lots of his meetings with suppliers on to Zoom which has been a tricky task, but he is thankful that it has forced him to get to grips with virtual meetings.
For My Quarantine Routine, he explains how he spent Wednesday 20 April.
5:30 am
Woke up, jumped out of bed and went straight for the kettle to make my morning cup of tea. Browsed the news and enjoyed some peace and quiet as I am the first one up every morning.
6:30 am
Morning meeting with the team to plan today’s work and schedule which includes planting this year’s pollen and nectar mixes.
8:00 am
Wandered across to have a social distance catch up with my dad Robert, who was the fifth-generation farmer at Halls Farm, to discuss what our priorities will be over the coming weeks. Feels strange to not embrace but great to see a friendly face.
9:30 am
Heard a Cuckoo call again which is brilliant news. They have been arriving for the breeding season and I hope to see and hear more over the coming months.
10:30 am
Called my Jordans Farm Partnership manager Juliet from Suffolk Wildlife Trust via Zoom. We discussed the implementation of our conservation plan and how this has been going. We had a few technical issues at first but relieved that my internet signal held out! Ten years ago, we rarely saw a barn owl and now we now have over 70 species of bird, this is just one of a series of success stories.
1 pm
After a busy morning, I ran into the house for lunch and grabbed a cheese sandwich. Jude and I discuss how our mornings have been before heading out for the afternoon.
1:30 pm
Caught up with Lauren and Catherine, our nutritionist to discuss the new product development and launch for our Honeychop feed in the Autumn.
3:00 pm
I spent the afternoon looking at our oat crops to see how they have been faring with the dry weather. I really hope we have some rain soon as it has been extremely dry, and yields are likely to be down.
4:30 pm
I had a meeting with our agronomist (plant doctor!) Sara to discuss how best to look after our crops in this dry time.
5:30 pm
Spoke to local photographer Mike, who wanted to check he could continue to take pictures of the wildlife on his walks. He is a hare enthusiast and has taken some beautiful pictures recently.
6:30 pm
Went in for dinner with the family. Tonight, we are having a family favourite – gammon with new potatoes and some peas and greens followed by lovely apple crumble that my daughter made earlier.
8 pm
After dinner I head out for an evening walk around the farm with my wife. The farm’s hedgerows serve as bat flight paths between roosting sites in my old barn buildings so it’s usually a perfect time to watch them circle overhead and catch a glimpse of the barn owls.
8:45 pm
Settle down with a glass of wine in the garden and watch the sunset.
10 pm
I am in bed by ten after an early start and busy day on the farm.
Stephen is supporting a new #LeaveItWild campaign from Jordans Cereals and the Wildlife Trusts which is calling on people to boost biodiversity by leaving a patch of their garden wild.
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source https://metro.co.uk/2020/05/22/quarantine-routine-stephen-12742044/
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