Happy Birthday to the Soil Association

Bank Holiday Number Two! The historic significance of this weekend is obvious. However, more importantly, I am enjoying the knowledge the media is providing. Two things which have impressed both Bob and myself…

1. The family run tailoring business who have been providing the ceremonial uniforms for the hundreds and thousands of soldiers who will be part of the coronation. The family have been the ceremonial forces tailors for generations. They are Londoners who sounded as if they would be quite at home on Eastenders! Bob and I watched the BBC2 program and was astounded as to the knowledge, skill and caring nature of each and every family member.
2. Westminster Abbey have a huge and important presence…the organ. This is cared for by a guy who visits and tunes it every other week. He has, obviously, given the organ a more rigorous tuning this last week. The company this guy comes from is called Harrison and Harrison who are based in Durham. He attended the coronation, standing right by the organ, to ensure it sounded perfect. 

Apart from the ‘coronation quiche’ I have not heard about the caterers or suppliers of all the tasty goodies the Royal Family were eating. What we do know is that the King is a farmer and grower of fruit and vegetables and a huge follower and believer of Organic Methods. A great champion of sustainability, the environment and climate change.

The King's own farm is certified by the Soil Association. Not only do we say well done to HRH, we should say a Happy Birthday to the Soil Association as they turned seventy seven last week. Lucky number seven. The Soil Association have been creating a community of like minds for more than the length of time since the last coronation. Well done them! 

Work continues here on the farm. The big news is that the potatoes have been planted. Slightly later than anticipated…due to the weather conditions being against us. But, a few warmer and drier days has meant that Graham and Ester (with a little help from Bob over the weekend) have been able to plant out 125Kg of seed potatoes. All backs are in agony, which is all part of the life of a gardener.

I do realise that I go on and on about the weather…how wet it has been, how windy it has been and shortly (fingers crossed) how hot it has been. If I can say that it is a scorcher outside then we will need to water everywhere. Graham the Great has checked all the ground irrigation and overhead watering systems. There was some attention required…replacing jubilee clips, sprayers reattached and a test of each polytunnel. The fruit area has also ground irrigation but a few lines of soft fruits needed the hose placing at the ground level along the line of vines. This task is now completed. Bring on the sun and heat! 

We have a few new customers…welcome. To answer a few questions…Yes, we would like the boxes and egg boxes back. Yes, we deliver on Thursday and Friday. Yes, Bob is our ‘delivery boy’ (plus IT dept, admin, farmer, planner, accountant and my husband). Yes, we enjoy our life. Thank you for your continued support.

Hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend,

Take care,

 Ann👩‍🌾