Summer Time!

Hello everyone,

There is good news and there is not so good news this week....

First the not so good news - We did say, last year, that we would keep our prices frozen until this Summer. We have kept to this, however, we will be increasing our prices from next week. This is our first increase since July 2020. We hope you understand.

All our costs have increased considerably over the last year and during this time we have kept our prices at last year's numbers.

We feel that we are realistic with our pricing and we also try to offer a service which is not offered by other shops and suppliers. The minimum price and our vegetable boxes will increase as of next week. 

The good news - it is the Summer time! You can now have lazy days and long evenings. The warmth of the day starts earlier and ends later. We have more time to work on the farm.  

So, what has been happening down on the farm this week:

1. The tomatoes are gradually all being connected to the twine which secures them to the above wire within the tunnels. This ensures that each vine grows strong and does not fall and snap. We tie each vine individually. It is extremely time consuming, but worth the time taken.
2. The herb gardens have all been filled with fresh herbs and flowers. As the weeks go by they will fill and smell divine. The basil…green, purple, lemon and cinnamon varieties, are now in situ. Definitely Summer vibes.
3. The potatoes are growing and the vast majority have had a fresh layer of compost placed over them…earthing up. This helps with the developing potatoes. We need to make sure that no light hits the growing potato as the light turns the potato green, which can be poisonous.
4. We continue to plant out more vegetables, everywhere. We have a fast turnaround from seeding in the greenhouses to planting out as a result of the longer days and all the warmth.
5. The seeding for May is completed. We now have two full greenhouses of goodies to plant out over the coming weeks for the Winter season.
6. We have started to level and create another outside growing area…in the Well Field. This was previously the pig field. It will be ready at the beginning of next week to plant out more potatoes, all the winter squash plants (over 1200 in total) and the swede which will be sown directly into the ground. This field is huge, I mean huge! It will be fully in operation by next year.
7. Watering!!! This is a constant at this time of the year. It is quite a full time job! We also feed our Summer fruiting crops (as you can see above, Bob is feeding the aubergines). We use an Organic Seaweed feed.
8. The netting arrived (from the USA!?) for the Cucumbers. This is now hanging to help secure cucumbers, Crystal lemon cucumbers, gherkins and cucamelons (new for this year). 
9. Half term…we had the grandboys for a number of days which was ‘such fun’. We are starting them young…they can now help with the harvesting, particularly the leaves. However, apparently they can’t wait to help with the Strawberries and that won’t be long.... 

Lots of other stuff happened on the farm to, as usual. It is a full and varied occupation here at HexOrg. The days are busy and merge quickly till the weeks fly by. This year I intend to savour the days a little more, hoping that the time does not pass soooo quickly. Well I will try. 

Bob and I hope you all enjoy these longer days,

Take care and thank you for your continued support,

 Ann👩‍🌾