Summer Season has arrived

Hello Everyone,

Hello Summer! That is the meteorological Summer of the months of June, July and August…officially the Summer Season. During these months we have more daylight than darkness creating more heat. This warmth and light creates the perfect conditions for the development of the food and flowers we grow (what we don’t want to grow also thrives!). This year’s Spring has been historic…the warmest and driest on record resulting in all our crops having a head start. They have been transplanted or direct sown earlier than expected, establishing good root systems and sprouting vegetation. Fingers crossed for a bountiful supply of goodies. 

The Walled Garden

It is getting closer and closer to the our ‘glorious seventh’ of July and we can’t wait. Everything is more or less ready for the Greenhouse people to land on site on that date.

Bob took Chef Alex for an informative visit around the newly erected wall and shed. As you can see above, Bob provided an enthusiastic description of where we are and how it is going to be. We are all being patient while being really excited. 

The soft fruit we planted a few months ago generally has been successful, however, probably due to transplant shock or possibly a lack of watering on our part, a small number of bushes have not survived the extra dry and hot Spring. We will have to realise in all our calculations that the Walled Garden is a few degrees warmer than beyond the wall and more care and tending is required from ourselves. More bushes have been bought to replace the lost ones. These will be planted out in place and definitely watered much more regularly. It is an education for us all.

The remaining good bushes are all doing very well, as are the trees. We will create the situation where more watering will continue throughout the Summer Season. Until the whole garden is complete this duty will be done by hand. Once the growing beds are all ready then we will be considering the watering system around the garden beds, inside the greenhouse and along the walls. This will make watering, which is essential, a process with a system in place. 

The grass is still being cut…again, essential!

The Farm 

I cannot reiterate enough how bountiful the farm is looking. As I write, we have planted out all the plugs of goodies which have been ready. The tunnels are full of Summer fruiting crops. We have two beds which have just become free. They are available for the five varieties of Basil we have growing in Greenhouse No2. The varieties are: Green, Purple, Cinnamon, Lemon and Thai Basil. These two beds are in Polytunnel 4. Probably ready for planting out in the next ten days. 

The right hand side bed of Polytunnel 8 is becoming available as we gradually use the overwintered Onions as Salad Onions first and now we will await them bulging a little more then ‘curing’ in the heat of the tunnel. This will become a bed for the next lot of beans…Endame and Runner…ready for planting next week. 

The Cucamelons and Melons are nearly at a good sized plug plant to be transplanted into Polytunnel 6 with the other Cucumbers, Crystal Lemon Cucumbers and Gherkins…ready for planting the Melons now but another week for the Cucamelons. 

Sugar Snap Peas are also almost ready to go into an outside bed. This bed will be within the Orchard Field as the Pond Field is full. We have planted out the Summer and Winter Squash in the Orchard Field along with Winter Brassicas. Sugar Snaps going out as soon as the posts are up for the netting. 

However, three beds will soon be available in the Pond Field when we harvest this year’s Garlic. The leaves are beginning to turn yellow which is the first indicator, the next being…well we just keep digging one up till we think ‘Yep, they are ready!’ Our Garlic is our very own garlic as we have kept bulbs for over five years and continued planting from the previous years bulb. Freyja Garden has its own Garlic variety. 

The Greenhouses are looking a little depleted, but never panic as we are filling them up with the next trays of seedlings. A number of varieties of Parsleys, including a Japanese Parsley (Mitsuba), Rocket, Lettuces, Mesclun, Kohlrabi, Purple Sprouting Broccoli, Chicory, Celtuce, Winter Cabbage and Buckshorn have all been sown since last week. Proving how quick germination is - the Rocket sown on Wednesday 28th had germinated by the 30th…two days!!!

Our Orchard Fruit Trees are looking fab and full this year. The Spring conditions have provided us with a bountiful looking crop of fruits. Last year’s crop was a wash out, literally. This year the trees are just full of tiny tiny fruits. We are not alone as everyone we speak to regarding fruit trees are also delighted with, what promises to be, a bounty!