Remember the thrushes’ nest where Ian our grower lost the battle and the potato lifter was out of commission for some long period? Well the thrushes are now all fledged and the machinery is now back in commission. That will be good as the time comes to lift the potato crop. There was a trial of lifting new potatoes this week – still small and possibly a week too early looking at the size of them. The space cleared has allowed the planting out of twenty courgette plants though.
Storm Hector was windy but some precautions the day before helped to prevent too much damage. The butternut squash were battered and a number snapped where membrane blown on top of them. Otherwise it’s a case of putting back environmesh covers to protect crops from the pigeons. At the moment there seem to be a lot of juvenile pigeons – people can walk right up to them before they take off. Not good as it makes them harder than normal to deter. The netting for the winter brassicas is being put over hoops to build a miniature poly tunnel as protection and the same needs to be done for the broccoli.
With the windy storm gone it should be safe to plant out the squashes this week without the danger of damage. Ian our grower wants to attempt growing the uchiki kiri squash up chicken wire at an angle. If this works Go Local Food can fit in an extra row – that means four rows in the space planned for three.
There’s a hole in the rabbit proof fence that urgently needs repairing. The rabbits are fat enough without sharing our crops. But at least the bull finches seen over the fields have caused no problems so far.
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