Time to plant the Broad Beans

Hello Everyone,

Yay!!! It’s Spring Time....

However, we have had snow off and on, since Friday afternoon! And there has been a huge drop in the outside temperature. Thankfully, the tunnels are able to retain some heat from the daytime. It is markedly warmer inside the tunnels than outside. So, on Friday our Broad Beans were planted out into polytunnel eight. As you can see above, the Lovely Lucy is just onto the last line of Beans to be planted. It was really good to plant out, on the first day of Spring, while we waited for the expected snow to fall. We now have to be patient and wait till the end of Spring for the pods with the sun shining. Usually worth the wait.

As it is Spring, we have been ‘Spring Cleaning’. The packing area and barn have both been gutted. 

When we are actually packing the boxes there are times when the harvest, washing and bagging needs far more space than we allow for. So, putting on my ergonomic head, a rearrangement of the facilities alongside the deep clean will hopefully provide a smoother system on packing days.

The barn is always a ‘working building’. We all just tend to ‘find a spot’ to put the tool, drill, mower, netting, storage box, fuel, screws, post stumper, pipes, wire, chicken bedding, hammer etc. etc. The spot is not necessarily where it is supposed to go…hummm! Well a good rearrangement and a big sweep of the floor has made the barn fresh for Spring. 

The chickens are enjoying the warmer and lighter days. The three large pens we have for the girls have lots of perches and climbing areas. The hay bales have been a fun scratch block for them to play with. The ground is still wet and muddy in areas, particularly around the drinking areas. The warmer days, which will be coming (hopefully), will dry the ground. The girls are in one of the three pens with the other two pens now resown with an assortment of last years seeds we did not use. This should create pens with lots of goodies for the girls to eat during the summer. They will have a selection of beans, leaves and brassicas to peck and munch. We will also sow grass seeds later to make a good thick blanket. I can safely say though that the goodies do not last long…gone in two weeks probably!

The birds are all chatting and singing and will soon be nesting. I have decided that alongside the bird seeders I have hung some of the natural wool inners from the insulation bags we have used in the past. This, I am hoping, will be collected by the birds who make nests in all of our hedges. Just curious to see if they are going to use the wool. There is plenty of ‘house building’ construction tools around but just thought I would be neighbourly and give a helping hand.

We are really excited to see that the new courses we are offering in the summer are filling up. This means that our ‘Head Teacher’ (Bob!) will have to complete the curriculum. The day will help you to rethink how you tackle your garden or allotment going into the changing seasons. The lessons given will concentrate on fruit and vegetables but will easily be adapted to growing flowers. The course takes place during the Summertime and we will discuss how we get to this juncture. We will also help you to consider growing during the Winter and early Spring season…a time when it is more difficult to ensure a decent supply of crops. I will supply lunch where you can sample a menu from our Fresh Local Organic Produce.

Thank you for all your continued support and have a great week,

Ann👩🏻‍🌾