So Good To Be Back

Hello Everyone,

Bob and I hope you are all very well. 

We would like to thank you, once again, for the response to the box scheme. We have had such lovely words via email, Instagram and face to face from many of you, our lovely customers, regarding our return and the local organic produce delivered to your door.

A bit of admin to begin with - the online shop this week will be open on Wednesday 10th of June for deliveries week beginning 15th June.  

We are also impressed that the Garden Course days have also been considered by a number of yourselves. Bob did mention that it would be a great gift for Father’s Day (or birthdays). I met a customer, last week, who had been on one of our days and put into practice what she had learnt. I was super impressed with her garden and the produce successfully grown. The Garden Course is available to book on the website.

Well, after a week of scorching weather we seem to have returned to early Spring with chilly and wet conditions. We are, as are the crops, very glad for the water. We have had to do little or no watering outside. This saves a lot of our time and also our mind remembering to change the water from area to area. The cooler temperature may slow the growth of each plant or put it into a state of shock. This situation is not ideal but they will grow and all catch up to where they should be as the temperature improves. 

Even though all our concentration and focus was on the boxes going out last week, tasks still needed to be completed here on the farm and the walled garden. Last week the tomatoes were all planted into the polytunnels. The lovely Lucy has begun to tie up each individual tomato. This is a tedious process but worth the effort. Each plant has string placed at the root which is then secured to a wire at the roof of the tunnel. As the tomato plant grows we wrap the plant around the string. This secures the plant. Surprisingly, the plant is also stressed but that is a good thing. Stressing a plant makes it believe it is in danger. To ensure it survives it reproduces, creating more flowers which means more fruit. 

The cucumbers always take a while to establish, some plants just do not like to be transplanted. They now look comfortable in polytunnel six. We plant sooo many plants that we use netting for all the plants to grow up. This will be secured later today. The broad beans are rapidly growing and to prevent them falling over as they grow to the roof of the polytunnel we secure string around corner posts and along the plants. The netting we use is jute fibre. We decided to use this natural product as it is biodegradable and eco-friendly. Once used it is easy to put the whole debris into our compost bins.  

Lots of the beds in the walled garden are now full. The fruit bushes are luscious with green leaves after the blossom over the last few weeks. Not sure how much of a harvest we will get as this is our first year. We have lots of roots: potatoes; beetroots; turnips and carrots alongside squash, courgettes, leaves, onions, leeks, fennel, and brassicas. Unfortunately, the pesky pigeons have been at it again and destroyed many of our brassicas. Bit of a lack of forethought on our part. Not having planted out into the garden we did not think that we would also have an issue with these birds. Why? I have no idea. We should have thought and in future if we plant out brassicas we will cover just as we do at the farm. 

The huge greenhouse now has a selection of tomatoes, cucumbers and French beans alongside the potatoes.  We must concentrate our minds on the watering in this beautiful building. Sun shines right in through the windows creating stifling heat, even without the sun the heat within is intense. Bob and I are thinking constantly about how we tackle this issue as we have no watering system in place as yet. It will be a matter of turn the tap on and hose the ground down and maybe ourselves as the heat increases. 

Hoping that the gardeners out there are having a productive season. 

As ever, thank you for your support. Enjoy all your interesting goodies from our farm.  

Take care,

 Ann