Contents The holiday cottage About the farm Places to visit in the area From Ewe to You Contact Home Contents The holiday cottage About the farm Places to visit in the area From Ewe to You Contact Home

This family farm is home to many attractions, including wildlife (badgers, buzzards, moorhens and more), a resident artist and craftsman-made Greenwood furniture. We run the farm traditionally with a mixture of animals, crops and woodland. Click the links for more information on: The farm animals Woodland and crops A look at the history of the farm The Farm animals We have a herd of cows that we keep not for milking but for naturally rearing their own calves. They calve during two periods in the year, in the autumn and the spring. The sheep flock lambs in April and the ewes rear their lambs on summer grass. A flock of free-range hens scratch around near the farmyard and various other types of poultry (including ducks and geese) can be viewed nearer to the farmhouse. We welcome helpers wishing to search for eggs or feed the poultry in the mornings. In April, May and June it is possible to help check the stock – an exciting trip around bumpy fields in a 4WD, seeing the lambs and calves cavorting happily in the fields. The sheepdog (Tess) also likes to play! And she’s friends with Bella the lamb Woodland and crops There are various small woods with a mixture of hard- and softwood trees. From them the farm’s fencing materials, farm timber and firewood are produced. Brackenside is also home to three ponds and a conservation area. All these combine to make Brackenside a haven for various forms of wildlife- including children! In one of the many woods on Brackenside, badgers have made their home. Willow structures have been constructed so that these badgers can be watched from behind a living shelter. In daylight, the setts can be seen, so that you know where to look, or simply as an educational exercise. Wheat, barley and oats are all grown on the farm. The wheat is sold for making bread, biscuits, whisky and hen food. Barley is either fed to the farm animals or sold and the oats are used for porridge, muesli and the like. History The farm steading was built in the 1700’s, at the end of a period of warfare between the English and Scottish reivers. Brackenside is situated in English border country, and was therefore in the midst of this rivalry between the countries. As a result, the steading is surrounded by buildings and has only one entrance.