Hello Everyone, Bob and I hope you are all well especially as Spring has arrived. I say Spring as the weather has been very confused, one day it is very much Winter with snow and ice and the next day it seems like Summer with a scorcher of a 16* day. Here on the farm, we had Winter, Spring and Summer all within three days! We take the day and the weather Mother Nature provides and just run with it. Since I last spoke the strawberry plants have arrived and are now in the designated hole burnt into the ground cover. The fruit cage has been tidied, and the gooseberries and blueberries are already showing signs of new buds. All the trees in the Orchard and around the farm have been pruned (not the plum trees as stoned fruit trees are pruned in the Summer). The empty tunnel beds are now refreshed with a scattering of compost. All the outside beds are prepped and covered to be ready for the new sowings and plantings. The seed potatoes are now in the polytunnel and outside growing beds. All the seeds of lettuce, mesclun, celery, onions, shallots, celtuce, chard and beetroot have been sown. The broad beans sown earlier in the year are green and leafy. Considering the weather has been very mixed the work continues. Having growing areas under cover is ideal as we are still able to complete daily tasks and stay relatively warm and dry. We choose our jobs depending on the weather, that is unless you are called Graham when the weather isn’t a bother. So, lots going on at the farm. Lots has been happening at the Walled Garden too. Peach and Nectarine trees have been planted into the greenhouse. They are ‘fan’ in design which means they are intended to grow against the back wall and spanning out over in a triangle shape. We will train these gradually using wires which will be attached to the wall. They look grand and are already flowering. We do want apricot trees but have not been able to get them this last Winter but we are at the front of the queue for next Winter. Paved Paths have been placed running the full length of the greenhouse…inside and outside. The paving being used is the same indoors as the outside path. The outside is much wider with the central section of the greenhouse having a paved area which will be used as a seating area. A better idea of the paths can be seen on the pictures. The outside growing beds are nearly complete, but they will require many tons of compost. Compost will be the last item to be brought in. Like the farm, all the trees are being pruned and tended to. This takes a lot of time as we have hundreds. We are training the apple and pear trees along the walls of the walled garden.  Gradually these trees will be trained as cordons with each tree secured to wires. To make the laterals grow we snip off some of the old growth so shocking the tree to re grow. We are fooling the trees really…we make them feel that it is being cut so shocking the tree into making more of itself.    The orchard trees have also had a trim but, once again, not the stone fruit as they will be tended to in the summer. The soft fruit have grown well, and we have great hopes for the berries and currants this summer. They too have had some attention, but not much. They are trimmed if the wood seems broken or damaged and then shaped into a goblet to provide good air flow within each bush. This trim is all about providing the correct environment for growth as well as a little shock to entice more growth. The garden shed or office is now watertight with a lovely door and windows which complement the greenhouse. The interior services and furniture are still required. There is still quite a lot to be done in the Walled Garden, but great gains have been made. The guys working on the garden are also working on the total Freyja project. They too, complete jobs depending on the weather. When it has been torrential downpours that is when inside jobs like the greenhouse can be done. The hotel structure is complete; we are up to putting a very special roof on. The ground works for the restaurant will begin soon. Building on a field with a huge gradient has not been plain sailing. As I say about the farm and gardening “it is all in the planning”. This has been and still is, a huge endeavour. We are now seeing big things literally going up before our eyes. The building is growing just like our trees, bushes and plants. Till next time, take care, Ann

Hello Everyone, Miss me? I decided to go into hibernation over the last few weeks. January is a great month for sleeping and relying on food and warmth to provide comfort. However, unlike all the little hibernating creatures, the physical work did not stop…just the media part of my activities. Deciding to have some time away from writing the Journal and social media was a good choice for me but not necessarily the right choice. As a business we now rely on social media to ‘spread the word’ and ‘interact’ with the world beyond. It is a method of retaining and replenishing friends and customers, without whom there could be no business. I have enjoyed the time away from these duties and now the break is over I have ‘back to school’ nerves. I am wondering if people have missed the chats and photos. Well, we will soon find out…As I said, work for the Crew, Bob and I did not stop just because I was ‘on a break’! The weather dictates much of the when we work along with the what work we do. The beginning of January began with freezing conditions with some snow. This hampered any big outside tasks as the ground was hard but inside jobs could still be completed. The polytunnels were all cleaned inside and outside (warm water helped with the hands). Over time the tunnels do become grubby with grime, and algae and dull moist days are the perfect day to wash and clean the coverings. It is amazing how much extra light is created with clean tunnels and as you know the light will help with plant growth. The guttering along each side of the larger tunnels has all now been replaced. They had come down due to heavy snow which snapped the brackets holding up the guttering. Along with this diy, the plastic coverings were all checked for any splits and any rotten wooden lats replaced. The tunnels are all good to go! The soft fruit area, which is located at the back of the Green Field, had much attention given to it. The gooseberry and blueberry bushes have all been pruned. Pruning generally happens during the dormant period of winter. The plants are asleep and not growing but the shock of a trim tends to make the plant realise that they should produce flowers and growth rapidly in the spring. The strawberry patch is now a completely new design. We have narrower beds which will help when harvesting. All beds have fresh compost on higher and narrower beds. The side paths are ready for covering with weed suppression fabric and woodchip. The new strawberries plants (750) will be arriving in early Spring along with the runners we have potted. Most of the time it was chucking it down while Graham was working in this area, but he cracked on. A full strawberry patch is always a pleasant site. The raspberries, tayberries and blackberries have all had attention- fresh compost, pruned and new extra wires to hold them in position. Lucy was the soft fruit queen in her triple layers to stay warm and dry. Inside the tunnels, there are still lots of organic vegetables growing. This always astounds quite a few people when we say the tunnels are full. Chard, spinach, lettuces, mustards, cabbages, spring greens, oriental leaves, onions, strawberries and herbs are all coming along nicely. The potatoes are now all out of their bed as our little friends found them and they quite enjoyed eating them. They are now stored away. We have had very little to do in the outside growing beds, organic vegetables are all, also, growing nicely…particularly the onions and garlic which all have wonderful green shoots appearing.The most time consuming and biggest and best job over the last few weeks was the planting of eight hundred shrubs and trees to create two woods. Over last year we worked with the Woodland Trust to help decide on how best to fill the Well Field and (what we call) The Paddock area of the Orchard Field with native varieties of trees and shrubs. We had to consider the light but mostly the ground. These areas are extremely wet, and the drainage is worse than poor. We have tried in the past to grow something, anything, with little success. We did want to do something, something which was long lasting with an advantage to the area aesthetically. Plus, we wanted to create something which would be great for the community, environment and all the creatures living here now and those to come and live in this part of the Shire. We decided on the following choice for our woods: Shrubs: Dog Rose, Elder, Goat Willow, Hawthorn, Hazel, Holly, Trees: Alder, Downey Birch, Silver Birch, Bird Cherry, Wild Cherry, Crab Apple, Oak, Rowan, Walnut. Along with the fruit trees, Silver Birch copse and decorative trees we reckon that here on the farm we have planted more than a thousand trees! I would say that we have overly compensated for the less than ten trees we have chopped down! As with most trees, the winter is the best time to plant. This is while they are dormant and they can settle in the ground with the roots establishing and then ready to grow in the warmer and brighter days of spring and summer. As with a lot of things, it is all in the preparation. Each area to be planted was cut to ground level with the strimmer. A path, to walk through each wood, was planned and cut with the grass cutter on the back of the tractor. This was all in anticipation of the trees arriving on the date given. They did arrive and we had three days to plant them out or more time if we ‘healed them in’ into the ground together. We, obviously, decided to get them out… The trees arrived with posts and tree protection tubes, all sized depending on the tree or shrub to be planted out…small posts for shrubs, the large posts for the trees, wide protectors for the larger and wider trees and shrubs. We began by placing the posts in position with the shrubs nearer the path and the larger trees to the back. We were wanting to create a canopy which inclined from the shrubbery up to the trees. A day and a half were needed for this exercise as each post was hammered into place. Then, with the help of two great friends (Helen and Matt), we split into two teams…the Crew in the Well Field and Bob, Helen, Matt and me in the Orchard Field…and began planting the shrubs and trees and placing the guards over each plant. I had all the plants separated and decided where they were to be planted ahead of the planting. It was a very smooth three days of prep and plant, and we were all very smug with satisfaction by the end of the day. A very, very good decision of ours, to create these two woods, which will be here long after we have gone. Talking of wood. The two trees we had chopped down due to shadowing and deterioration are now chopped into logs which we will dry for the log burning stoves next year. Hugh now has a six pack! He is also going to make some chopping boards and maybe a tabletop for himself from the larger pieces. The restaurants we supply still had deliveries of Fresh Local Organic Produce. They all took the first week of the year off but are now back and at it! Chef Alex is now at a new site for the next six months while excitedly waiting for Freyja to be ready. Anna and Alex will be taking all your produce over the coming months while we begin sowing and planting for the new seasons ahead. The new fresh crop of vegetables will be for the boxes for you, our lovely customers. As we want to only supply what we grow the boxes will have to wait a short while until we are able to have sufficient supply. (we do realise that this is disappointing to many of you who have been asking when we are returning and for this we apologise. We do only want to be able to have our own produce so that we can truly say we are local and organic). On my next journal I will update you on the Walled Garden, which has also come along way during the past few weeks. Till then, I am very happy to be back talking to you all, Take care, Ann

Hello Everyone, Not long now till he arrives…HoHoHo! We have had quite a busy week ensuring that all is ready for the Winter weeks and any severe weather. This last week and now, as I am actually writing this week’s Journal, has seen some extremely windy days and nights. The covers over some outside beds have been blown around. They have needed to be securely returned to the beds with extra rocks and pallets. The covering can become a danger by maybe blowing onto the lane. They become an extremely heavy kite so it is all hands to the pump to prevent the fabric covering flying off. Much of this week’s time has been spent washing the covering of the polytunnels. We need to take full advantage of the little daylight we receive during the Winter days to aid in the slow growth of the vegetables growing inside the tunnels. Keeping the covering clean ensures that light is not deflected.  The tunnels are looking white and clean. More DIY will be completed in the New Year. The mornings have brought amazing sunrises and I am hoping you saw the beautiful colours during Thursday mornings sunrise. If not enjoy the view I had on the farm. The  Christmas Chefs Box is now available on the website. It will be a bumper box of festive treats for your Christmas dinner and more. Bob will be delivering on the Monday 22nd and Tuesday 23rd of December which will be perfect timing for the big day. So, get your orders in quickly as once we reach capacity the shop will have to be closed. We have many ticks on our huge list of ‘things to do’ with still much more to do. So, we will be back to work to see how many more ticks we can see before next week. Till then, HoHoHo!  Ann