Busy Times

Well Hello Everyone,

Bob and I hope you are all really safe and well.

You may be wondering what we did during the week we weren’t delivering……we have been watching day time tv, sunning ourselves in the garden eating lots of ice-creams, bird watching and eating our meals on time!!! Just kidding, except for the bird watching. The owls are still living with us in the tree next to our house, check it all out on Instagram.

Bob and I have spent nearly all of the last week planting out the tomatoes, aubergines, cucumbers and leeks. In all, probably over two thousand plants.

The planting-out came after all the overwintering onions had been harvested from the polytunnels. In total we had over seven thousand onion bulbs to pull up, (to be dried and then to be stored). The beds for the next crop had then to be prepared, some even made.

Polytunnel Ten is now up and running (as seen in the photo above). The beds in tunnel ten had to be totally prepared with a layer of fresh compost and mulch chippings for the paths. After planting – the watering, which has been done by hand, of all the transplants is essential. The weather has been marvellous but soooo very dry, and particularly hot in the tunnels. Watering has got to be done every single day. So, in tunnel ten you can see tomatoes on the left, aubergines to the right and cucumbers right down the middle. Many more tomatoes are in tunnels five and six.

The leeks have been transplanted into the outside growing area. They are alongside leeks, red onions, spring onions and garlic which had already been transplanted a few weeks ago. They are all standing to attention and coming on a treat in this glorious weather. They, too, are getting plenty of water.

The other crops coming along very nicely are the herbs, lettuce, spinach, rocket, broad beans, dwarf beans, beetroot, carrots, potatoes, courgettes, squash, artichokes (Jerusalem and globe), celery, shallots and mesclun. I hope I haven’t missed anything….but our farm is blooming.

The animals are all quite happy, as long as they find a shady spot or a hole filled with water to wallow in. They are all a little bit slower due to the heat but enjoy either rolling in a dust bath (chickens), swimming in the pond (ducks) or getting totally covered in mud (pigs). They all get watered too.

For those who are interested in Bacon, our Bacon is now Nitrate free.

We hope you are glad we are back this week. We really appreciate the lovely comments you sent during the last week. Thank you for understanding our need to plant out your summer crops.

Please try and get your order in early to avoid disappointment.

Stay Safe,

Ann