After a very cool July, we had masses of green tomatoes, growing from the floor to the roof of the polytunnels. It remains unsettled but slightly warmer temperatures are finally seeing the tomatoes and peppers ripen to join the flow of aubergines. This week’s photo shows four members boxes ready to take home. Given that each member currently pays £75 a year for our running costs, including seeds, then each box costs around £1.50 a week. OK you have to add in your time, but it looks good value to us, compared with the commercial vegbox schemes.

So if you live close to Diss come and join us. We are a pretty friendly group, and there is always good cake and coffee for our 11.00 break on Thursdays.

The temperature hot for a flaked out dog but the heat musn’t stop work; jobs such as sowing plants, harvesting veg in a polytunnel and weeding among the strawberry plants.

Home-grown plants are ready for transferring to prepared patches, while the yield in our take-home boxes looks good; carrots, cucumber, chioggia beetroot, cylindra beetroot, spinach, peas and broad beans. And tastes good too…

It’s great that, although only May, under the protection of a polytunnel, early crops of peas and broad beans are being picked.

Healthy looking tomato plants are given the support of canes and string.

Other seeds sown at home by plant “parents” and now brought to the farm, include aubergine and pepper plants.

This year we’ve been aided in our rotavation of patches (thanks). These have then been covered temporarily to suppress weed growth.

Of course elsewhere weeds multiply, so the strawberry patch is being tackled.

A layer of weeds is added to a compost bin, followed by a layer of manure.

But what we do need is rain.

Simon tying string to canes to support tomato plants in polytunnel at DCF.

Outdoors, last year’s chard and spinach are still producing well, while under cover, salad veg are being picked and early broad bean plants are in flower.

Outdoors, autumn planted garlic and new broad bean plants are growing well – and weeds being kept under control.

Patches are being rotovated, pea seedlings and onions planted and leek seeds sown.

All getting a good start in the warmth. Far lower temperatures are forecast for next week but also some needed rain.

The new compost bins are starting to be filled with larger stalks etc to allow air to circulate in their bases.

Salads are still being picked and outdoors, garlic bulbs are shooting well.

Winter, a time for discussions to plan ahead, while last year’s growth has ensured there’s still produce to be harvested and shared.

Here it is early January, a bright cold work day at the Diss Community Farm. Our coffee break is in the polytunnel, including some lovely cake and the usual speciality coffee.

The Rothwell’s son Caleb was there trying out his new drone. The farm is a good place for that, but he wasn’t yet ready to take aerial photos.

We had a good harvest of leeks, cabbage, brussels, and parsnips.

Ongoing work included digging a lot of pig manure into the polytunnels. And look at those salads coming along in the other polytunnel.

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Following on from Gary’s notes, a few days later 22nd December was a beautiful day for uncovering brassicas, harvesting brussels sprouts, spreading muck, putting finishing touches to the storage area and repairing the caravan.

Only three days before Christmas, yet look at the salad crops growing well under cover – and tasting great.

Here we are now in mid-December. We are still getting nice harvests of winter vegetables, fabulous leeks, cabbages, sprouts, parsnips and more. But we are slowing down.

Much of our recent work has been preparation for the winter. This year we are in excellent shape, rather than feeling there is too much to do. We have lots of straw to spare, so we have been putting it on our paths to make them less slippery, and on beds that will be used in the spring, to kill the weeds, putting pig muck in the polytunnels. We have built a new set of compost bins at the far end of the field, and a new storage area near the shed, for bits and pieces like stakes, mypex, etc.

We’ll now be coming to the farm only every other week for awhile.

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Today, 8th December, we harvested beetroot, celeriac, chard, leeks, parsnips, salad leaves and spinach.

Last week besides these veg, we harvested broccoli, brussel sprout tops, cabbage, kale, peppers, radish and rocket.

As can be seen, December 1st was a beautiful day. Spring onions were weeded, pea supports moved carefully to avoid having to construct them again and evening primrose seedlings planted to encourage bees next year.

There are newly constructed compost bins and straw now covers large areas of ground.

And as for the harvested cabbages, not a bad size…

It may be November but after an early morning frost, it was an excellent autumnal day, ideal for (among other odd jobs) planting autumn garlic (many hands quickened the process), while others removed runner bean stems and their supporting canes.

An orange creature was spied clearing dead lower leaves from brussels sprout plants.

Today’s yield was shared.

Straw bales were replaced to form a windbreak and water butts filled before lower temperatures arrive.

Altogether not a bad morning’s work.