Outside work for the week ending 20th April 2019

The hot weather is causing havoc in the poly tunnels. The pak choi in the middle tunnel is going to seed as you can see in the picture. There’s chard on the left, red mustard on the right and strawberries in the hanging baskets as well as the pak choi which is hating the heat. Work share Sue took this picture and sent it to Ian our grower asking if it was worth picking the pak choi for crop shares. 

 

The good news is that the uprights are in place in the new composting bays along with the shuttering for the concreting. Which will be done next week. Meanwhile the rabbits are rioting – we could do an offer of a rabbit with each crop share.

 

So – some good and some bad.

Work on the fields week ending 12th April 2019

Early peas are sown! Now that’s a sign of the season moving on. All the red basil is pricked out into pots. Other items sown include more lettuce.

Another hot compost no dig bed has been prepared for planting with just another two to do and a path to build in-between. These beds are filling up rapidly now that the growing season is really here.

Every day at the moment the poly tunnels are having to be opened early on and closed late afternoon. Plenty of watering of seedlings needed daily. Including Saturdays and Sundays. The vast swings of temperature from overnight frost to warm and sunny afternoons is what does the damage to the seedlings.

 

Work this week at Go Local

Rain is good. The ground is soaking up the rain and becoming properly wet. Good news for growers.

More onion sets have been planted outside between the outbreaks of rain. Potting on of peppers, aubergines and tomatoes continue. These have been bought in as plugs to bring on so that the poly tunnels can be full of summer crops sooner.

Seeds are being sown – including kale, spinach, parsley, two type of savory, beetroot. And red basil pricked out into pots.

 

 

Ian, our grower, is mostly away being a shepherd. This is his holiday time of the year you know – he goes off to help others with their lambing. So far there have been no problems on this round but he was saying that last week’s call was interesting and required experience not written into the latest textbooks by the younger shepherds.

Outdoors week ending 30th March 2019

Much work has taken place on the Palace field at Go Local Food. The tractor has done all the ploughing and the plans for the All Hands Saturday morning is to have people walking behind the tractor which will be doing further harrowing. The walkers will be pulling up the roots that will appear – dock, comfrey and such – to put in wheelbarrows and take to the burning compost heap. This will leave the field clear and ready for the planting of winter crops.

Membrane was laid on Friday on beds in preparation for planting more broad beans. We also have onions to go in the no dig hot compost beds. So much to do now that it’s officially growing time.

Volunteer Chas has ensured that there are doors with all the necessary “furniture” such as handles on Bill’s poly tunnel. He is now working on skirting and guttering. Soon this will be a working area again although nothing like the dome that some of us remember.

The week’s work 21st March 2019

All change in the poly tunnels:

• Out comes the choi sum that went to seed in the warmer weather (remember February?)
• Replacing it with lettuce, mizuna, chard and spinach

Plugs ordered for later in the season crops should arrive this week and will be going into the heated greenhouse at Temperley to grow on before they come into the poly tunnels

• Aubergines, cucumbers, peppers, chilli peppers and tomatoes
• Ian our grower says that it’s a different type of chocolate cherry tomatoes this year as those last year were not very tasty

Hopefully the ground will be dry enough to get the plough onto the Palace field this week. The winter brassicas will be going there this year so it needs the full treatment for fertility. The hot compost no dig beds in the road field will be the growing area for summer crops. Well that’s the plan.

• And next week Ian will be on his annual shepherding holidays so we shall only see him around in the afternoons till all the sheep have done their thing.