Seed Ordering

Hello everyone,

How you doin’?

We are half way through the Winter season, the days are getting longer giving us more time to spend outside…specifically when we have days of sunshine and blue sky. When the weather is dull and wet and freezing it is time to be a fair-weather gardener and stay indoors. This does not mean the time is spent indoors watching ‘Friends’ (Bob’s favourite tv show at the moment, he has just discovered it after saying for years he would never watch American ‘claptrap’, yes I know he needs to get with the program!). Time this week has been spent ordering and receiving our seed order. Always an exciting moment as it gives us the opportunity to plan and as you all know we love a plan!

Above you can see the first of our deliveries. We get our seeds from organic seed suppliers, generally from Tamar Organics but we will also use Vital Seeds and Real Seeds. More on this next week. Occasionally we will have to order from a supplier who is non organic as the organic companies do not have the vegetable or herb which we would like to grow. To allow us to use these non-organic seeds we request a ‘derogation’ from the Soil Association.

I will take a moment here to confirm our thoughts, methods and principles to our very new friends (not the ones off the telly):

Bob and I have never even considered applying chemicals to our growing systems…why would we? I am a big believer that when shopping for groceries the sign above non organic foods should say “…with added chemicals and other ingredients” and not telling us that “…this has nothing added, it is organic”. I am not sure why we would want to eat delicious fruit and vegetables with something added to it. So, we are Organic Growers certified by the Soil Association. We are assessed each year, with the occasional spot check, to confirm we just grow produce using organic principles…we do not use anything detrimental to our environment, we do not use chemicals which would cause damage to the environment, insects, plants or ourselves. We ensure we care for all living creatures and we grow seasonally. To do this we approach everything we do making sure Mother Nature is balanced. For instance we use bees to help pollination. We use ladybirds to eat any green or white fly. We use nematodes to combat unwanted flies on root vegetables. We complimentary plant with flowers and herbs alongside our fruit and vegetables to help deter pests we do not want. These principles are basically how farmers and gardeners grew pre the Second World War….pre the use of pesticides.

As a result of intensive farming over the last near 100 years our soils have become ‘poor’, ie. lacking in all the minerals required for healthy plant growth. It is now becoming increasingly a thing on the news and in many films (may I suggest you watch ‘Kiss The Ground’ - a film which came out in 2020 highlighting this very issue, well worth a look). As Organic Growers, following the Soil Association Principles, taking great care of our soil enables us to follow our own organic thoughts producing great tasting Fresh Local Organic Produce.

To care for our soil we follow a ‘no dig’ approach. This is exactly what it says on the tin…we do not dig our soil! This does not mean that we do not hoe, thank goodness coz I do like hoeing and to see a bed freshly hoe’d with the greenness of plants popping up makes me happy. We try to leave the underground World Wide Web to take care of itself. There is more action going on under our very feet than anywhere else in the world. If we leave well alone our digging job is done for us which must save fewer visits to the physio for us gardeners. Why would we disturb all the worms, nematodes and millions of other tiny, tiny creatures from carrying out their duties which is establishing good soil structures to allow the natural minerals and elements to enter the roots of our plants.

Accompanying this no dig approach we also add to our precious soil by laying fresh compost upon our soil. This may be our own home-made compost or the PAS100 compost we bring in which is fully composted garden waste from the local area. This compost brings in more of the needed minerals for the plants plus the underground www will get to work combining the newly placed compost into the lower established soil. We are rejuvenating our soil with its population and we win with delicious food being grown.

We continue to create and re set on the farm and walled garden. More on this next week.

The field hedges on the farm have been trimmed. This is the only cut of the year as we leave the hedges for the birds to nest, rest and forage all the remaining days. Spring is on its way. Hooray!

By the way…not everything we do harks back to earlier days of pre war or Georgian times. The peoples www is of magnificent help. All ladybirds, bees, nematodes and seeds are all bought using the internet. It is amazing what you can buy these days.

It is also amazing what you can watch too. Alex, our lovely chef is preparing one of my all time favourites, especially for our children. My goodness the honey and mustard dressing. I am going to use much more of these ingredients when I follow this recipe…go check it out and all the other recipes and chats on our YouTube Channel.

Till next week,

Take care,

Ann