It’s now the end of March and work progresses well, whether it be chopping hard brassica stems to fine fibres so they can be added to the compost bin, planting strawberry crowns outdoors and picking more salad leaves grown under cover. It’s so good to see healthy green colours at this time of the year.

Let’s hope so, as there was definitely a touch of Spring in the air today.

Last season’s crops are coming to an end but still yielded a take-home box of veg for each household.

Today we were blessed with dry weather and even after recent rain, the claggy soil didn’t stop us from sowing onion sets, many hands certainly speeding the work.

Today was the planned first meeting of the year, chiefly in order to sow onion sets, (far quicker with more pairs of hands). But an overnight frost meant the ground was too hard.

However

veg were harvested to provide good take-home boxes, while looking ahead to this year’s crop, the autumn-planted garlic is growing well.

It’s nearly Christmas, 21st December, a dull, misty day to round off the year but we each took home a box similar to this – a good final harvest for 2017.

Happy Christmas everyone.

I’ve had computer problems, so this is a catch-up.

Mid-November and in preparation for the next year, mypex was removed, patches rotavated and the mypex replaced.

Carrots were dug up, dying leaves of brassicas stripped and cleared, bean vines removed and the cane supports dismantled.

The amount harvested will be decreasing but as can be seen from the photos of veg shares, today we took home carrots, beetroot, rocket, turnip, cauliflower, calabrese and red cabbage.

Adding this on 11th December; we had snow yesterday.

In the polytunnels our salad crops look well established, while others are being transplanted to their final positions and peppers continue to ripen.

Outdoors, the green manure looks very healthy, red kale is maturing, ground is manured in preparation for next year’s crops and onions and garlic planted.

As always, many other jobs are tackled. And following from last week’s notes, the kalettes are tasty.

The beginning of November, the weather overcast but (shouldn’t speak too soon) it’s still mild, for various outside jobs including picking brussels sprouts, digging up carrots and elsewhere adding compost.

Kalettes look ok (yet to be tasted), a few strawberry plants are in flower (!), while under cover, komatsuna are healthy and Florence fennel dug up and cleaned of soil.

Harvested cauliflowers, white watermelons and squash, again autumnal colour.

The weather couldn’t make up it’s mind, to rain or not to rain. But in a mild temperature many jobs were tackled, much picking done (see the take-home produce) and eventually the sun appeared.