Last Saturday a group of VegShare members turned out for the first farm work day of the year, it was great to be back in the field preparing for the growing season ahead.  We are very grateful to Steve Letch for donating so much chicken wire, which has enabled us to fence in the whole one and a half acre field, hopefully this will deter the rabbits from eating our veg.

The weather in the morning was dry, we made a good start, sawing posts, unrolling the chicken wire, putting it in place around the field, bashing in posts and getting part of the fencing up.

Thanks to John Holloway we now have a caravan on site, so we had somewhere warm to retreat to at lunch time, where the workers enjoyed some hot soup followed by tea and cakes.  We carried on for a while in the afternoon despite the drizzle, although we didn’t finish the fencing we were really pleased with the progress we made.

The next farm work day is on 17th on March, hope you can make it.

The weather seems to be warming up just a wee bit so we’re planning to go ahead with our first farm work day of the year for Saturday 18th February, from 10am – 2pm. 

The plan is to put up more fencing around the rest of the field to keep the bunnies off our delicious veg.  We are also hoping to get our first poly tunnel frame up, so lots of muscle needed.  It would be great if you could join us.  

I am planning to bring bread and make some soup for lunch to help us all to keep warm, (if everyone could chip in to cover the cost that would be appreciated).  Let me know if you’re coming so I know how many to cater for.  

(The second farm work day will be on 17th March.)

So what veg could you be eating this year if you sign up to be a VegShare member?  Have a look at our plot plan for the whole 1 and 1/2 acres in Winfarthing.  (Click on the plan to the left to enlarge.)

We will soon be getting polytunnels erected so this will extend what we can grow and the added protection for the more tender crops will mean they can be grown earlier in the year.

This link lists the different vegetables and is easier to read – 2012 planting plan.

After the success of our pilot veg growing and livestock projects we’ve had a very busy start to the year planning how to expand and develop Diss Community Farm.  The good news is, we’re taking on new members, so if you’re interested in joining us then please get in touch, email Sue Pitt, our new membership secretary dcfmembers@yahoo.co.uk 

From Spring last year through till mid December members of the farm collected a weekly share of the vegetable produce that was harvested from our site at Winfarthing.  Our professional grower Gabbi Reid and some of the VegShare members worked hard to ensure that our weekly shares were made up of some delicious and varied veg; sweetcorn, broad beans, sprouting broccoli, french beans, mixed salad leaves, herbs, potatoes, carrots, spinach, parsnips, I could go on…  there has been an abundance of quality veg.  The vegetables were harvested and delivered to Roydon Village Hall each week by a team of dedicated members that turned out come rain or shine!

We’ve had some great social events and some fun farm work days, where members were invited to get involved with jobs like sowing seed, potting on, planting out, watering, weeding.  Even weeding can be fun when it’s done with a good group of friends!  Farm works days have been a good way for members to get to know each other and for us all to learn new skills from our experienced organic grower.  It’s been like having the rewards of an allotment but without demanding the same time commitment or needing any prior knowledge to make it a success.

Last Sunday evening about 25 members met at Roydon Village Hall for a shared meal and general meeting. As always with these ‘bring-food-to-share’ events, the food was wonderful, as people pulled out the stops with their cooking creativity.  Much was based on produce from the Farm.

There was a brief general meeting before the meal, at which we gave our appreciation to all those who have been working so hard to make the Farm run, and to David Mitchell, who has contributed not just the land, but lots of his own work.

We discussed plans for the future, especially now that we have a field of our own. For next season, we will be expanding our membership to 80, and encouraged everyone to help find new members, especially, but not only, people who would be willing to help with the work of the farm (on the land, organising events, etc.)

We also voted to extend the constitution, which was originally adopted only for the pilot projects. We will produce a new one before the new season begins.

If you want to read the minutes, they are attached below.

16-10-11 General Meeting -minutes

Newsletter 3 – click on the link to read Octobers newsletter.

Diss Mercury/EDP story on new land for Diss Community Farm Click on the link to read the story in the local paper:)

Some of the Diss Community Farmers who have bought a field near Roydon to help expand their business. 

(You didn’t know you were farmers did you?:)

If you have a paper copy of the EDP there is a gorgeous picture of our lovely kids walking through the grass.

Wonderful news we have successfully secured at auction a piece of land in Roydon, and here it is:

A farm member, who wishes to remain anonymous, has generously purchased it for the Diss Community Farm’s use.  As you can see from the map the land is easily accessed from Snow Street in Roydon.  The 3.6 acre field has been used for a hay meadow for a long time, and is mostly surrounded by trees which will give added protection to crops.  We are thrilled to have a site that is nearer to Diss as this will enable more people to come and get involved without needing a car.

We are not planning to up sticks, we will still be working the site in Winfarthing that we have generously been given use of for at least the following year as it will be sometime before we are ready to grow veg on the Roydon site.  Once the new site has been made secure with adequate fencing livestock could be reared there as part of the preparation for vegetables.

So I just want to express our thanks to David Mitchell who has enabled us to get started and for his ongoing support and enthusiasm for what we are doing, and now thanks to our anonymous benefactor for enabling us to expand further and bring part of the project to Diss.  We have much to celebrate at the shared meal on October 16th, look forward to seeing you all there.

DCF is getting lots of news coverage at the moment. Look out for us in tomorrow’s Diss Mercury, where you’ll find our regular column on page 2, while the latest on the pig project will be featured on page 7.