A dry, although overcast day, becoming cooler.

Eleven of us were at the farm this morning; jobs included adding grass, weeds and wood ash to the compost bins and sieving soil in preparation for next year’s crops.

Harvested veg – turnips, sweetcorn, spinach, peppers (sweet and chilli), kale, tomatoes, squash (butternut, uchiki kuri, etc), cucumbers and green beans.

A successful morning’s work and even if we had a slow start last spring, with many seeds not germinating or being eaten while young seedlings, two parsnips did grow, one being dug up today, length 48cm.

Beds that have been harvested are being prepared for planting next year.

Tomatoes growing well require constant maintenance, removing excess growth.

After two failures to germinate, the chard and perpetual spinach are producing well.

Peppers are starting to turn red.

Much time is spent harvesting and dividing the veg and fruit into shares.

Busy, or should I say there’s much to do at the farm, so only four photos but these show peppers growing well (green at present but hopefully will turn red, as these are the Long Red Marconi variety), harvested potatoes, carrots and onions and our take-home boxes of – red and white onions, cobra beans, peas, courgettes, peppers, cucumbers, aubergine, beetroot, fennel, tomatoes, radishes, spring onions and raspberries.

A mixed morning of sunshine, clouds and totally overcast skies and plenty of work done.

The sweetcorn is growing well. We’ve had a first taste this year of peas and outdoor broad beans (the undercover beans are all harvested).

Flowers are opening on the climbing beans, the aubergine and potato plants.

Sweet peppers and tomatoes are growing well in polytunnels.

Celeriac leaves look healthy, as do the covered cabbages.

As always, weeds grow well, eg some encroaching onto the long beds, taking much weeding on what will be a bed for leeks and on the nodig shallot bed.

Red onions are well on their way to being harvested, while stawberries continue to ripen.

Again a welcome take home box.

About 300 heads of garlic were harvested in the dry today and then divided into shares.

Another super take home box of fresh fruit and veg.

We’re so busy at the farm, there’s just one photo to add, the take home box containing this year’s first cherry tomatoes, cucumber, rhubarb, spinach, spring onion, broad beans and strawberries.

We’ve had disappointments. Some seeds sown direct have failed to germinate; maybe the strange, cold weather is to blame?

But we’ve had success with radishes, while other plants are growing well eg carrots, peas, potatoes and good harvests of strawberries.

Comfrey growing in set aside areas is encouraging pollinators and will be added to the compost bins and infused for liquid feed.

The weather is so changeable at the moment; warm then cooler, sun then rain, encouraging some growth but also slugs and snails finding this year’s first ripening strawberries and blackfly clustering on the tops of outdoor broad bean plants, even before the pods have started to appear…

That said, amongst other veg, the onions and garlic are looking good, (as is our take-home harvest), and the tomatoes in a polytunnel are developing well.

Plants being added include sugar snap peas, courgettes and squash, while egg shells are being used to try to protect celeriac plants.