Spring Has Arrived

Hello Everyone, First of all I would like to say that Bob and I thank you for your continued support. It is good to know that sooo many of you are continuing to order boxes if not each week then definitely every other week. We do reach our capacity each week which is reassuring. The comments Bob receives on the door step, when delivering, has always been positive which provides much confidence for ourselves and the Crew. Our work schedule from now will consist of muddy boots and wet clothes, probably until March next year. Knowing that you, our lovely customers, enthuse and appreciate the fresh, local and organic goodies provides us with extra job satisfaction. Thank you.  The Farm The boys in the Crew have had big toys to play with this week. We ordered a digger and a very large capacity dumper truck. The dumper held three tons in it's scoop which helped Graham and Hugh crack on moving various areas of the ground around the farm. The first area to be dealt with was the strawberry bed. We have decided a big rethink of this area was required as the plants have taken over the space, so much so that it has become a strawberry jungle. It has also been decided that after these last years of the patch we have realised we need to slim down each bed. This should make it much easier to tend and harvest next year. So the toys were used to scrape away the strawberries (which have had their day). Graham scooped up the debris, placed the contents of the scoop into the dumper truck. Hugh then drove the truck to, what we call the Well Field (yes, it does have a well in this field) and dumped the contents. There will be much more on this field in the weeks ahead. The strawberry patch will be reconfigured over the next few weeks.  There have been mounds of earth along side the Orchard Field growing area. They are a result of a fresh ditch dug along the fence of the growing bed. These, too, have been scooped up and removed to the Well Field. Then Graham levelled this whole length with the front of the digger. Grass should grow back next year, but just levelling the ground has made the area look much better and bigger.  Graham does like to keep on top of the ditches ensuring that there is a clear pathway for surplus water to escape. The digger was used to re-dig one of our ditches which does grow a little wild. The growth tends to prevent the water flowing away successfully. I know it seems daft not wanting water to hang around when we are constantly watering during the Summer months. However, standing water can cause all sorts of problems…root rot is a big one! We have lost a few trees in the Orchard and this generally is a result of water damage to the roots. Keeping on top of water and drainage is an essential task. The big toys came in handy this last week.  The "inside" asparagus suddenly all turned to yellow this week. It was time for each plant to be cut back. Lucy completed this task on Wednesday and on Thursday the tayberry vines were also cut back. Both Polytunnel one and the Tayberry wires are very tidy now. Ironically both these areas received a good drink of water after their cut. The Winter jobs list now has the first ticks next to a few of the tasks. I do enjoy seeing ticks on a list, even better if a different coloured pen is used.  The Walled Garden It has been good to see a little more work completed within the garden. The builders have been able to level the path and begin making the steps in front of the Greenhouse. I am thankful of the steps as it was quite a steep bank from the Garden Gate to the Greenhouse. I found it okay going up but did not enjoy the coming down! Just outside one of the gates into the Walled garden are two Medlar trees. The medlar fruit have been harvested resulting in three large trays of the fruit going into the Chef’s kitchen. I know I am probably repeating myself, which I do often…just ask Bob, but the trees have been providing a splendid Autumn spectacle. I have really enjoyed seeing the views. I am hoping the colours last into the early days of December. Probably not, so I hope you join me enjoying the golden array for however long it lasts.  Till next week, take care, Ann

Hello Everyone, …and a spooky Halloween and Guy Fawkes Night to you all. It is the time of the year for soups and jacket potatoes, which we have eaten plenty of this last week. Our potatoes are ideal for roasting and baking and I hope you are enjoying the taste and smell of such seasonal food.  Amsterdam was a lovely mini break for me. Soooo enjoyable seeing our three in the "Dam" even though the weather was very wet and really windy, a home from home. As ever, on my return, I was enthusiastic to be busy here on the farm… The FarmOn my return Bob and I got straight into the juicing of the apples and pears. This is always a good task to complete. Not only is it a time when we seem to find our ‘groove’ really quickly, we also make lots of delicious juice. The juicing process is the same for whatever fruit (or veg) to be used: Place the apples, into the crusher which clearly chops the fruit into tiny pieces; Transfer the  chopped fruit into the juicer which will squeeze all the juice out from the fruit; Bottle the juice;  Pasteurise the bottles in the kettles; The pulp left is fed to the chickens or placed into the compost bin; Start again with a new batch.  Sounds simple but it does happen to be quite a long process. We each take up half of the stages with very little chat and we just…crack on with the task in hand. The Apple Juice and Apple & Pear juice will be on the website soon.  The Crew have been amazing this last week. They have ensured that the Pond Field is very well organised for the coming seasons. The growing crops are obviously gorgeous, but the paths are looking smart, the fabric for the garlic planting, which is now complete, is taut and aligned, everything looks plumb and squarely aligned. All of this makes me more than happy coz I do like to see organised areas which stand to attention. I greatly appreciate the effort Lucy, Graham and Hugh put into their work.  Just as the trees are turning golden the outside asparagus bed is now turning yellow. We have started to cut the plants back to the base. We also had a major, major cut to two trees growing within the hedgerow. These trees were diseased and we have started to have branches from these trees break and bounce off the polytunnels, especially as the winds have been particularly forceful this last year.  We made arrangements for these trees to be felled. The wood we are going to dry for use on our fires. The branches were chipped to make even more wood chip for our paths. It was interesting to note that the centre of these trees was very wet and crumbly, and you could clearly see they were diseased…they were Ash and probably had ‘dye back’. We are not feeling guilty for having the trees cut down as we are hoping that the extra light we have gained will be better along the stretch of tunnels beside the hedge and the extra nutrients within the ground will be left for the crops rather than the tree roots. We are also going to be adding several hundred more trees to our little farm. More of this in future Journals. The Walled GardenThe greenhouses are proving to be successful. The veggies are growing really well inside, in fact are growing faster than the same varieties in the polytunnels. The temperature is still strong which creates a dry environment. We are having to ensure that we water regularly as the compost dries.   Next week we will be hiring big equipment for some big jobs on the farm. Please all request fine weather from Mother Nature as the tasks would go sooo much better if we are not having to deal with claggy mud! Till next week, take care,Ann

Hello Everyone, Bob and I hope you are all very well. This week has felt like the season we are actually in…Autumn. We have had some cold days (and nights). The fire is on and thermals are at the ready… The FarmOn Monday we had an enjoyable visit from a group of young growers from Cumbria. They came with their leader who is advising them on all things growing including growing as a business. They were on a field trip and also visited Gibside Gardens.  They all had great garden knowledge, some volunteered at farms, some had farms, some small growing areas. They mostly wanted to understand the importance of ‘how to run it as a business’. Both Bob and I thoroughly enjoy gardening and achieving, however, we have also instinctively used our combined business knowledge to run the farm. The group were clearly enthusiastic about the way of life they are following. But, to continue working physically as hard as us growers do, particularly small scale growers with little mechanical help, growers need to realise that this life also needs to provide a living salary. We hope we were of some help and good luck to them all! It has been a great working week here on the farm. There is always lots to do with a tick list of duties at the beginning of each week. This last week the Crew have been really busy with the weather being on our side....mostly. More potatoes were harvested and some were massive! See them in the Chef’s Box soon. The restaurants and boxes were all attended to with harvesting, prepping, packing and delivering on a daily basis. The last of the tomatoes are now harvested, stored and ready for use. The spaces left are being filled with more overwintering onions, coriander and chervil.  Where the potatoes were, the beds have been levelled and covered with a specific weed suppressing sheet. This particular weed suppressing sheet we keep using each year…it has small holes which are melted in a regular pattern.....specifically for growing garlic. After the sheet goes down the next year's garlic is planted, and I am delighted to say the garlic is in!  The outside beds of brassicas are being removed as they are harvested and the remains sent to the compost bins. These beds are being prepped and covered , ready for the next planting. All three outside herb gardens have been cut back, weeded and ready for the next growing season. Some plants, for instance sage, are not cut back but left to protect the plant from frosts. Generally speaking the herb gardens look quite bare for the Autumn and Winter seasons. This makes us appreciate when they are in full bloom.  All in all a very productive week.  The Walled GardenThe garden is much the same, but with the crops getting much bigger in the greenhouse. The building activities on the major build has fluctuations in resource usage and when there is an opportunity the builder switches activities to the garden. So we expect that between now and Christmas there will be an opportunity to move to the next stage of the garden development. This will be exciting. Watch this space…   Each morning the team meets for a coffee/tea and a chat before we start on the activities for the day. This last week we have been running through the lists of duties for over the coming months…guttering, strawberry beds, polytunnels all popped up in the chats. There will always be tasks to complete what ever the season. With more work being carried out in the walled garden and chores on a list at the farm…it never stops but we wouldn’t want to. As much as we treat this adventure as a business it is also our way of life. Bob and I have always enjoyed ‘doing’, probably because our parents were ‘doers’. We have instilled our work ethic into our children and now, we are hoping…the grandchildren follow with this approach.  Speaking of which, I am with our granddaughter in Amsterdam on a mini weekend break while Bob holds the fort in the Shire and watching the grandsons playing football. Yes I am enjoying myself and I hope you are too. Till next week, tot ziens,Ann