Soil Testing - the results are in!

Hello everyone, Bob and I hope you are all well. Unfortunately we will not be delivering over the next two weeks - we have had to prioritise work both at the Farm and at the new Restaurant site to ensure we get some essential activities completed before the Christmas/New Year break. At the Farm it is important that we put the majority of our growing areas "to bed" before Christmas to ensure they are ready for sowing and planting in Springtime. This involves weeding, hoeing, raking and covering the beds. Unfortunately the heavy rainfall over the last couple of weeks has meant there is still work to do in this area. And at the new Restaurant site Bob has picked up some additional activities and responsibilities which again need to be completed and in place prior to the Christmas/New Year break. As you know we are a very small team and the activities we are focusing on have meant that we have had to make a difficult priority call on our time. We will be delivering Christmas Boxes during week commencing December 22nd, and we will provide more details on this in next week's Journal. Apologies for there being no deliveries over the next two weeks, but the "bigger picture" has meant that we have had to make this difficult call. Thank you, as always for your support. Ann  

Hello Everyone, Wet! Wet! Wet! is how you can describe this last week. It has made it easier for harvesting as the ground is soft but our attire has been soggy and muddy. Oh well…welcome to the next four months. Gardeners can be fair weather gardeners or like ourselves…all weather gardeners. We do moan and talk about the temperature and the snow and the rain and the wind. In fact it is a daily task looking at the weather apps, consulting each other and making considered judgments as to what jobs can be done, do we harvest now or later and what do we wear?! This time of the year it is paramount. We take the orders we receive from you, our lovely customers, also the restaurants and then decide at what point in the day the vegetables should be harvested. The very cold mornings do not make it easy to cut some crops…all the leafy goods in particular…the decision will be to harvest later in the day when the temperature rises. Harvesting does take time but we also have to work on the farm completing the list of duties which, as I have said before, is never ending. This week Hugh has made the Jerusalem artichoke bed look amazing. We tend to leave some tubers behind while harvesting. These tubers will develop into next years crop. The top growth indicates where the artichokes are but once harvested we remove the tops to the compost. A fresh layer of compost is applied. Then this year we have mulched the beds with a good layer of woodchip. It looks really tidy…I am happy. Graham has completed his outside covered run for the chickens and cleared some unsightly growth within the pen. They are set for the winter and yes the girls are on lock down for Avian Bird Flu and have been since the beginning of November. Apparently this year could be quite virulent. We are not happy with this situation, obviously. However, spending the money and time on our very large roaming pen a few years ago, seems to have paid off. Graham also did a little more work on the strawberry beds and the soft fruit area in general. Along with Lucy the vines have all been pruned back. We are going to spend some energy on the raspberry vines. We have decided to add more vines and make the existing plants into Autumn producing raspberries. This is an easy objective…we are cutting them all to the base in the Spring which means the new growth will produce fruit but later in the year as opposed to fruit growing on last years growth which would be Summer raspberries. The blackberries also had a good prune. The old canes are cut down leaving the new ones to produce fruit next year. One reason for us to create Autumn growing raspberries is because we feel they are the better tasting fruit but another is that at the time we need to harvest the raspberries we tend to have an abundance of strawberries, which is an intensive harvesting period. The strawberries along with ALL the other Summer activities is the time of the year when we do not know which way to jump! There is just soooo much to do. We are trying to coordinate our activities and make work less hectic. (I can guarantee this objective will not happen we will still be chasing our tail at the beginning of next Summer!) Tomorrow is the first day of December…the start of the Meteorological Winter. We have a few weeks before the shortest daylight time…it is going to be darker and darker, earlier and earlier. This is hibernation time for lots of little creatures, particularly hedgehogs, mice, bats, frogs, toads, slugs, snails, bees and some other insects. These are all part of the circle of life…think of the nursery rhyme ‘There was an old women…’ which could be me! These little creatures all rely on one another, even if they are food for each other. They also help and hinder gardeners and their gardens. But I would say it is a good time to consider them all for the help and delight they provide for the coming Spring. It is also a good thing to start feeding the birds. The hedgerows are being depleted of berries and I for one will be giving the birds a feed and they in turn will put a smile on my face. Next week I will layout the dates for the Box Scheme. The information will consist of the delivery dates over the festive and holiday period and into the New Year. Till then, stay warm, dry and safe, Ann

Hello Everyone, This last week has been freezing, beautiful but freezing! We, like yourselves, were warned to expect snow and freezing conditions by the weather people. This gave us time to prepare our little farm for the Winter season. The Polytunnels all have side covers which can be lifted and lowered, depending on the amount of heat or lack of heat in the atmosphere. Closing these covers was the first step in caring for the crops growing inside the tunnels. They were all rolled down to help maintain some warmth and less frost. The front and back doors of the tunnels are now closed in the evening and opened again each morning. It may be sensible to keep the doors closed all the time when the temperature has minus numbers…well no. Warmth is essential to growing crops but so is a dry atmosphere and a moving airflow. If the doors were kept closed 24 hours of the day the air can become stagnant and also humid. This would be ideal conditions for pests such as aphids, and also would leave condensation on the leaves of the plants. The result being a loss of a plant, particularly from fungal disease due to the condensation on all the foliage. Ventilation is key to preventing damage by this method. We have spent a lot of time tending the vegetables, we do not want to loose them now as they are needed for our lovely customers throughout the coming Winter. There is also science behind opening and closing the tunnel doors…carbon dioxide from the atmosphere is required for photosynthesis, if the doors are closed then CO2 is reduced which means growth in the plant will slow down. This season sees the slowest expectation in growth hence the doors are opened to allow this gas into the tunnel encouraging the plants to grow, even if it is slow growth. ( I have said it before, Gardening is an all round education…maths, languages, photography, communication, health, well being and a science). No doubt you may have had the heating on full or watching the TV under a throw, with maybe that extra tog or blanket on the bed. Well we have also provided extra protection for the inside and outside growing areas. We know which vegetables are classed as a ‘tender’ plant. These plants were given some extra care and protection by placing a layer, sometimes a double layer, of fleece over the beds. In particular our Christmas potatoes and fennel were tucked up over this cold snap. We will remove the fleece once it warms up. It is surprising how Mother Nature works. All of our leafy goodies just flopped and flattened to the ground. This is because the leaves are mainly water and they freeze. They become quite frozen and need time to defrost. It is amazing that the majority will pop right back up. But we do realise that some will be lost, especially if the weather is constantly freezing. Very little activity can happen with tending the growing beds during cold snaps. But never fear, there are always jobs to be done but only if the Crew can get to the farm. They did miss some work days as it was faaaar toooo icy and dangerous to travel. While they were here a brand new covered standing area for the chickens has been built. We do have three lovely chicken houses for the girls to live in but they do enjoy being outside and are often found asleep perched on the roof of the houses. The warmth they create is from huddling together. Cute. A few paths had not been topped up with wood chip…they now are done. Inside the tunnels netting, ties and strings were still attached to the roof wires. These have all been removed. As I explained to Hugh…yes it makes me feel happier with a tidy tunnel but it also reduces the chance of little pests finding a home for the Winter and then ready to pounce in Spring. We also harvested lots of our produce earlier in the week for both the restaurants and customers. Generally our fresh brassicas and leafy goodies are all picked on the day or day before being sent out to you. We did prepare early and thankfully our stored root vegetables are available. The boxes we pack are all designed with the season in mind. We also pack them with what is available that week. We also provide some vegetables which may not be available in the supermarket or specialist stores. Our leaves, for instance, have been commented on regularly. Thankfully the comments are positive. The mustards and oriental leaves are a fresh and tasty addition to the menu. Use them as a salad, or stir through casseroles or dahl, or use like a winter green and steam for a side dish. Enjoy your goodies. We hope you all stayed safe and sound. There were many car bumps near us due to black ice. This coming week seems less cold. But still stay safe and be prepared, just like us gardeners were this last week. Till next week, take care, Ann