Spring is here - at last!

Hello Everyone,

Hooray!!! Spring Has Sprung!!! 

At long last longer days with daylight lasting till late into the evening. How good is that. 

Here on the farm that means that we can crack on with planting out all the seedlings, which the Lovely Lucy has been sowing during the last few weeks. Above you can see our Organic Spinach ready to be planted outside. Graham the Great has already completed this mission! Three beds within the Orchard Field are now full of spinach. This will be ready in the next few weeks, fingers crossed.

The night temperatures dropped to minus figures, yet again. The spinach was covered with fleece to give extra protection from any freeze or frost. As were the new kohlrabi, which is neighbouring onto the spinach bed.

Lettuces and mesclun have been planted into polytunnel eight. With all the trays of spinach, kohlrabi, lettuces and leaves being removed from the greenhouses, more space has been created to allow for more seeding of summer crops. The tomatoes and peppers sown earlier in the year are now all potted on, requiring more space. So, even though space was created, it was soon filled. This also happens in the tunnels. Beds become free…for instance the vivid choi and some other orientals are now finished. The remnants have been removed and then replaced with other crops. So it goes on and on…one big Chinese Puzzle which starts with the plan!

The planning which was carried out over the festive season…sowing plan and planting plan is all ‘going to plan’. We are all bang up to date with everything. We feel we have never been as organised to start the new season. Long may it last but we know not to ‘count our chickens’.

Over the last few weeks we (when I say we I mean Graham) have been placing water butts at the end of the polytunnels. We are collecting the rain water from the tunnels. We are going to use said water to…water. This last week has seen torrential rain in our area, particularly over night. The butts are full already. Graham is rigging up a system to allow us to attach the butts to the irrigation systems within the tunnels. He is really clever when it comes to these things.

A touch of extravagance arrived on Thursday. We have bought some large signs for the end of the beds to indicate the crop growing. It is not that we don’t know…we have the plans to show us. We just thought it a nice touch. Looking quite professional. 

The veggies we have overwintering are now picking up the growing pace. This is always great to see as some plants have been in the ground for months and there could be the chance that nothing is going to happen. This would be wasted crop, time and space. The onions and brassicas are all coming to true life. The asparagus is popping up gradually. When we have it - you will have it. New signs of herbs are beginning. The fruit area has amazing pale green or red tiny leaves emerging from what looks like dead twig. All these are amazing to see. Thank you Mother Nature.

With the rain and dark skies and then sun with blue skies, we have seen some amazing rainbows…single and double arcs. We had one spectacular one last Tuesday morning. The rainbow went over the whole of our farm. We are all working very hard on finding that pot of gold.

We will be asking and consulting the time for most of today, always a peculiar day. Enjoy. Take care,