Lots of Help

Hello Everyone,

What glorious weather, at long last! For the first time this year, my legs came out and shorts have been worn. That’s my wardrobe sorted for the next four months. 

Occasionally, we have the offer of a volunteer to come and help on the farm. Generally speaking they work a day here and there. At the moment we have three volunteers…Josh has been popping across for one day a week over the last six weeks  He has been helping out with many duties ranging from harvesting to planting out to being Graham’s work buddy. This week Katie has joined the Crew for one week. She, too, is helping with a good range of tasks. Shortly Tom is joining the team and he is going to help out each Monday.

All help is greatly appreciated, especially at this time of the year when it is full on planting out. In exchange, we offer time, knowledge and experience. We will explain the methods and processes we use in running our business. We tell our story with all the good bits plus the not so good. These "not so good" bits have helped shape the way we farm, we have learnt from all our hiccups. These hiccups are probably some of our best bits. 

Bob is great at providing all the knowledge we have gained and offering anyone all our information. We have soooo many young people who email or call us who want to have their own little farm. All are enthusiastic and curious. They soak up any knowledge we provide. Here they learn ‘our’ story. But these great workers tend to move around from farm to farm, from country to country, collecting all the stories and knowledge from a wide range of differing farms.

Eventually this knowledge will be put to good use and hopefully, many more little farms will be created in the near future. The new generation of farmers need little encouragement, they are more than keen. They just need the opportunity to find the land and then they can fly.  

This weeks picture is from the soft fruit area but mainly showing the strawberry beds. The "strawbs" were planted into the beds last year and we did get some fruit from the strawberries, however, this year we have high expectations. If the look of the lush and thick strawberry plants is anything to go by it is going to be a bumper crop! The soft fruit area altogether is looking amazing. BTW…the blue pipe across the beds are there to allow netting to be draped across each bed. This saves all the strawberries from the birds who do enjoy pecking from strawberry to strawberry. Don’t worry tho’ as we will allow them some fruit which is below par. The birds also enjoy…

Fresh Local Organic Produce  

If you would like to see more of the soft fruit area and more of our little farm in total, please take a look on our Instagram account. I have put together a ‘Mini May Tour’ of what is growing on the farm. If you take a look, hopefully you will find it interesting. (As you may realise by now, I do not like to be in many photos. What is worse, I have decided, is listening to your own voice, so, I am watching the stories with the sound down! You, our lovely customers, may want to listen to the tour). 

Having extra hands has been a boon. We now have all the tomatoes, cucumbers, aubergines, most of the peppers and chillies, celery and extra mesclun planted out. Lots of the beds have been prepped and ready for more crops, such as leeks, celariac and brassicas.

The lovely Lucy has been direct sowing fresh herbs. Earlier in the year the herb garden number one was cleared and made ready to start a fresh. We now have replaced this herb bed with new chives, fennel, star anise and flowers. An area in the second herb garden has been cleared of some lovage and now has dill directly sown. More parsley and root parsley is in the third herb garden. The basil is still in the greenhouse and will be ready to plant into a polytunnel, hopefully in the next two weeks. Our full compliment of herbs…done! 

Enjoy this very pleasant weather.

Take care, 

Ann👩‍🌾