It's Glastonbury Week

Hello Everyone, 

Glastonbury Farm Festival, a place Bob and I have thoroughly enjoyed on quite a few occasions. The experience is amazing yet it is not just about the music. The main thing we would always leave with - our faith in humanity intact. Glastonbury is a place where life outside of the fields, outside the boundaries, is totally forgotten for those few days. 

Bob and I did have an allotment pre our move to the farm. The allotment was in the centre of the city of Newcastle. On walking through the gate, into the allotment, everything beyond the boundary was just forgotten…work and life’s stresses all stayed outside the boundary. We were able to unwind and put great effort into that little piece of rented land and just garden. 

Now we have Freyja Farm and Freyja Walled Garden. We have nowhere to go to, at the end of the working day, to destress. We are really lucky that our work is the de-stressing tool we were using in the city. Gardening is a de-stresser. I can easily while away hours, working in a tunnel or on an outside growing bed and not realise that I have missed lunch and that I had better put the Rayburn on as it is nearly dinner time. My mind just wanders and if I do have stuff to think about, my mind will mull over the issues and I tend to have a solution pop into my head, dare I say, ‘Organically’.  

The Farm

Many of our jobs are repetitive/tedious and can take a long time to complete. This is when the mind can wander and think or not think. I have not discovered what ‘mindfulness’ is, but I imagine the mind wandering all on its own is that. 

One such job which is extremely repetitive/tedious is the tending of the tomatoes. We have four hundred individual plants with nineteen varieties. On planting out we ‘string’ the tomatoes. They grow up the string which secures and leads each vine. Once the tomatoes have established in the ground, they grow really quickly. Many a time the tomatoes get out of hand and wildly grow away from the string. Each plant will require the side shoots to be nipped out and as it grows upwards the vine has to be wrapped around the string. Now you understand the tedium…four hundred tomato plants take an awful amount of nipping and turning. Plus, this should be done at least once a week. Then each plant needs to be watered and fed regularly. All of this attention for just one of our organic veggies?!?

All of this attention makes the tomato the Diva of the vegetables. The more attention, the more flowers they grow. They stress about how they look, or should I say how we think they should look. When any plant is stressed their initial response is to create more of themselves…if a plant doesn’t get enough water, say lettuce, they think they are about to die so they create flowers, resulting in a seed and so another plant of themselves. Tomatoes are nipped and turned, they think that the end is nigh and they stress, so they  create more flowers which turn into fruit and inside the fruit is the seed to recreate themselves. This fruit is the glorious tomato. When a plant, say chard, has decided that it is done!, it will throw up a large seed head and recreate itself. Clever, aren’t they.

All the tomatoes are tidy at the moment but we just know they will need more attention real soon. Next week it will be the turn of the cucumbers. They will also need much tending. 

All the growing areas are looking amazing and rightly so. We have been a busy Crew, making sure that each plant, each crop, each vegetable, each fruit is cared for to produce delicious food to go into the kitchen.

The Walled Garden 

Once again I do have little news on the Walled Garden. So, I thought a little update on the Freyja Project. 

Bob works very closely with our builder, John and his Crew. They have had to deal with a huge number of contractors involved in architecture, water, electricity, land management, the environment, design- kitchen, interior and exterior, construction- with each trade involved, engineering, greenhouses, to name but a few. Coordinating this number of professionals is a challenge. I do not think one person involved in the project realised the length of time each component was going to take (except John the builder). But, we are all of the opinion that if a job is worth doing…it will take as long as it needs which will ensure that the team are happy and accepting that it has been a thorough process for a very good reason…it is done properly!

Ongoing preparatory work is going ahead with the grounds being levelled all in preparation for the build. Once the build begins we will have much more information regarding the construction of the Freyja Restaurant and the Freyja Rooms. 

The gardens around these buildings will be our responsibility, which is very exciting. When we are at this stage, then we will be soooo close to the final goal…a fabulous restaurant with rooms which will become a destination. 

Freyja Walled Garden and Freyja Farm will grow Organic produce for Alex and his Crew in the kitchens. You will also be able to have the opportunity to cook and eat with the fruit, vegetables and herbs we grow for the Freyja Project. Keep reading and watching.  

The YouTube Channel  

Would you like to meet Graham The Great? Well tune in and maybe subscribe to our YouTube Channel and you can. Graham has a little chat about himself with the why and how he decided on this career path. One thing is for sure, Graham is integral to our Crew. He is a beast of a worker, shows enthusiasm, is creative and solves many a problem. We are very lucky to have a Crew who all appreciate our reasoning for growing using Organic Principles. 

If you have a worry or two, why not garden or take a walk around local gardens or parks. The weather is going to be grand leaving no excuse for a venture outside. 

I am going off to tend and listen to myself thinking about nothing.  

Take good care,

 Ann