Extending our Growing Areas

Hello Everyone, 

Hope you are all very well and enjoying your boxes of goodies, which are providing a nice varied selection of Fresh Local Organic vegetables for you to prepare tasty meals throughout your week. 

Our farm is a small farm, but we are able to grow an enormous amount of seasonal fruit and vegetables on our land. This year's growing area has been enlarged compared to last year, it now encompasses the following:

• 10,500 square feet of inside growing (975 square metres)
• 42,500 square feet of outside growing (3948 square metres)
• 3,000 square feet of soft fruit growing (278 square metres)
• 1,000 square feet of herb growing area (93 square metres)
• 2 acre orchard which is 8093 square metres.

A total of 144,120 square feet (13,389 square metres).

This is the equivalent of 3.3 acres of growing land (my consultant here was Bob, obvs! He has these figures on the tip of his tongue ready to tell all).

This enlarged growing space will allow us to grow many more vegetables, fruit and herbs this year. This is part of the "grand plan" and will get us to the situation where everything in your box is grown by Hexhamshire Organics. The variety of fruit and vegetables we currently have on offer are, obviously, not all our own produce. For instance the bananas, lemons, oranges and grapefruit, are not ours. Our aim in 2023 is to be providing to you, our lovely customers, only Hexhamshire Organics produce. This will be our target for the middle of this year when we we want to be providing just our own produce, without the imported fruits. We have been toying with this arrangement for a long time…as many of you will know. We are hoping to begin this later this year, especially as our soft fruit area, planted in 2022, should produce lots of lovely fruit from this year.

As we often say, ‘it is all in the planning’…well this week the plan has been successfully completed. Lucy and Graham are absolutely brilliant and they are busy little bees constantly. What would we do without them? Struggle big time. This week just gone and next week coming, Rachel and Ted have been on the farm helping to reduce the load for us all. The enthusiasm from our extended Crew has helped to complete the rhubarb splitting and prepping their bed, erect more very large compost bins within the Orchard Field, ensure the paths around the polytunnels  are cleared, washing the tunnel coverings and packing boxes. All a huge help and we thank them. 

We maybe a small farm but the Winter ‘jobs to be done’ and the infra structure to be completed are so very important in the efficient running of our farm. If all ‘jobs are done’ then we are able to truly concentrate on the sowing, planting, caring and harvesting of all crops. This will make for better growing conditions and an even tastier harvest.

In return for all the hard work from Rachel and Ted, Bob has provided his knowledge. Each day the three sit and discuss the methods and processes we have opted for, how the farm has become established, the problems which we have had and how we solved them, the day to day running of a farm. Just everything involved at Hexhamshire Organics. Neither Bob or myself have any issues with passing on the knowledge we have gained, especially to young and enthusiastic listeners and doers. We want more individuals having the opportunity to have this life we have. Rachel and Ted have a small farm off the Western most tip of mainland Scotland. They are just starting their adventure and we wish them lots and lots of success.

The picture above was taken on Friday afternoon at 3.50. The end of the week and the crew are still smiling. Is that because of two days away from the farm or because they are really happy with what they have achieved? Maybe a bit if both. 

All have a great weekend and till next week a big thank you for your continued support.

Ann👩‍🌾