Life on the field at Winfarthing in 2012 was a learning experience and a tough one for the dedicated helpers. We saw and felt for real the challenges that the weather will throw at those who grow our food for us. We also battled with the harvesting and distribution problems of a veg box scheme run by a limited number of volunteers.

For 2013 we will continue veg growing at Winfarthing on an allotment model where a share of the produce will depend upon a consistent and fair contribution to the work needed to grow and care for it. A growing group has assembled and is making plans for what to grow and how much of the field to bring into production in readiness for the new season which is almost upon us.

The Co Ordinating group is meeting to re focus our basic aim and develop other activitites such as: a food hub, group buying schemes, seed sharing, permaculture, education and social activities.

Much to do!

We went out to Winfarthing today to have a walk in the snow and look at the field. The leaves in the poly-tunnel closest to the door look very frosted and sad, but those in the middle have faired better. There were the paw-prints in the doorway. Some of the brassica nets have collapsed under the weight of snow – we left them for time being since the snow is probably a good insulator against very low temperatures, but a job will be needed after the thaw, along with all the other jobs!        Chris Lewis

Chris Lewis and I were at the field today, on a cold wintry morning.  I thought it was looking wonderful, clean, productive for winter, ready for us to do a lot more.

We watered the leaf vegetables in the polytunnel and harvested some carrots, parsnips, beetroot and some salads.  A very short work session, but enjoyable.

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The sun shone, the whistled deafened, the kids had a great time! Thanks to everyone who put so much work in decorating the tractor and thanks to everyone who turned out to support the Farm.

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Last night, after several attempts were thwarted by the weather, Adam and I finally got to ride in a hot air balloon. As luck would have it we managed to fly over 2 DCF sites so I thought I’d share a view of the Farm that only the birds normally get.

Here’s the new land off Snow St – it may be a dull field but it’s our field!

And here’s Kadesh – our pigs are under the pilon. If you click on the photo a larger version will open and you can actually see our pigs wandering around their enclosure.

The good people of Winfarthing will be having a village picnic on the field that borders the Diss Community Farm field in Winfarthing on Monday 4th June.  We will be opening the farm to visitors on that day so people can come and have a look at what we’re growing and find out more about the project.

All members are invited to come and help out, do some work and meet some people from the village, there’ll be plenty to do so it would be great to see you.

Come any time between 10am and 4pm, thanks.

Yep, they keep falling!  And the BBC weather outlook for the month is not particularly inspiring! Living in an area that has had some very dry winters and springs we’re not complaining about all this rain, but the lack of sun and warmth has meant that plant growth has been slow.

Gabbi and some of the members have been hard at work in Winfarthing; an enormous amount of vegetable plants are growing, but they won’t be ready quite as soon as we had hoped.

When the weather in the day time is consistently too cold and wet, and the night time temperatures are regularly below 8 degrees the earth never really has a chance to warm up and this limits the growing potential of the veg plants that need warmth to grow.   So we need to push our start date back by 2 weeks to the 20th June and hope that the sun makes an appearance to enable the plants to put on more lush green growth.

Being at the mercy of the weather is something we have to deal with as a community farm, and we really appreciate having members that have the vision and understanding to stick with us through the tricky times, keeping in mind the abundance that is to come over the coming months.  The payments for veg will begin from the new date and we will move the finish date back by 2 weeks so that you are still receiving veg for the same number of weeks.

So the plan is as follows:

First Veg Harvest for all members old and new

Wed 20th June

Diss Community & Youth Centre – Shelfanger Road

3pm -6pm

You may also be aware already that we have had a change of venue and change of harvest day.  We will be moving to Diss Community & Youth Centre on Shelfanger Road, pictured here on the left.  Due to a double booking we’ve had to change our harvest and distribution day to Wednesday.  We’re looking forward to veg shares which will include some of the following veg – broccoli, lamb’s lettuce, radish, spring onions, mustard greens, turnips, swede.  An exact list of what will be in the shares will be put on the website on the veg collection page.

We Really Need Your Help…

I cannot stress strongly enough how much we really need your help, this is a crucial time of year for getting seeds in the ground and plants that have been grown inside planted out, to get this done we really need some help.  There is more work than Gabbi and the regular helpers can manage.

This is the time we really need to pull together as a community, get our hands dirty and make sure the work is done so that we are able to have a continuous supply of veg over the coming year.  And if you’d like your veg to be brought to the Youth and Community Centre in Diss we’re going to need help with harvesting too.

‘So how can I help?’ I hear you ask.  Well if you have your diaries at the ready here are the dates of some extra farm work days we’ve planned and the harvest days that are coming up:

• Wednesday 23rd May – Harvesting – starting 9.30am
• Monday 28th May – Farm Work Day – 10am-2pm
• Wednesday 30th May – Harvesting – starting 9.30am
• Saturday 2nd June – Farm Work Day – 10am-2pm
• Open Day – 4th June – We’d love the field to be looking in great shape for this day.

Whatever time you can give, even if it’s only an hour we’d really appreciate it.  We do understand that some of you just won’t be able to make the dates above, if that is the case but you’re still keen to help then please ring Gabbi 07743920440, she’ll be able to give you some guidance as to what work you could do if you went a different day, you could co-ordinate to go with other members.

It would be lovely to see lots of you there helping, it’s a great chance to catch up with friends or meet new members for the first time.  It’s always fun and really rewarding to help with the work.  For more details go to the websites, ‘Farm Work Days’ page.  You can bring lunch or drop in at the pub for something to eat, we can make hot drinks on the gas stove in the caravan.

There’s one more way you might be able to help;  host a HelpX volunteer for a week, two weeks or more.  HelpX is provided primarily as a cultural exchange for working holiday makers who would like the opportunity to stay with local people and gain practical experience during their travels abroad.  If you hosted a HelpX helper you would give them a bed, meals and when necessary help with transport to Winfarthing, (Jay has offered use of a bike for helpers).  We had two lovely volunteers last year, Alice and Claire, they were a great help.  If you think you could help us by being a host or you want to know more email me.

If you can come and help with harvesting, or on the farm work days then we’d love to get an email, it’s always encouraging to know in advance that lots of members are coming.

The success of Diss Community Farm is totally dependent on us operating as a community that shares responsibility for the work, particularly at the busy times like now.

Thanks in advance for your ongoing support from, Ange, Gabbi, Jeff, Chris and Penelope

email:  disscommunityfarm@yahoo.co.uk

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Email: Sue Pitt Membersip – Secretary dcfmembers@yahoo.co.uk