A New Year
Hello Everyone, Miss me? I decided to go into hibernation over the last few weeks. January is a great month for sleeping and relying on food and warmth to provide comfort. However, unlike all the little hibernating creatures, the physical work did not stop…just the media part of my activities. Deciding to have some time away from writing the Journal and social media was a good choice for me but not necessarily the right choice. As a business we now rely on social media to ‘spread the word’ and ‘interact’ with the world beyond. It is a method of retaining and replenishing friends and customers, without whom there could be no business. I have enjoyed the time away from these duties and now the break is over I have ‘back to school’ nerves. I am wondering if people have missed the chats and photos. Well, we will soon find out…As I said, work for the Crew, Bob and I did not stop just because I was ‘on a break’! The weather dictates much of the when we work along with the what work we do. The beginning of January began with freezing conditions with some snow. This hampered any big outside tasks as the ground was hard but inside jobs could still be completed. The polytunnels were all cleaned inside and outside (warm water helped with the hands). Over time the tunnels do become grubby with grime, and algae and dull moist days are the perfect day to wash and clean the coverings. It is amazing how much extra light is created with clean tunnels and as you know the light will help with plant growth. The guttering along each side of the larger tunnels has all now been replaced. They had come down due to heavy snow which snapped the brackets holding up the guttering. Along with this diy, the plastic coverings were all checked for any splits and any rotten wooden lats replaced. The tunnels are all good to go! The soft fruit area, which is located at the back of the Green Field, had much attention given to it. The gooseberry and blueberry bushes have all been pruned. Pruning generally happens during the dormant period of winter. The plants are asleep and not growing but the shock of a trim tends to make the plant realise that they should produce flowers and growth rapidly in the spring. The strawberry patch is now a completely new design. We have narrower beds which will help when harvesting. All beds have fresh compost on higher and narrower beds. The side paths are ready for covering with weed suppression fabric and woodchip. The new strawberries plants (750) will be arriving in early Spring along with the runners we have potted. Most of the time it was chucking it down while Graham was working in this area, but he cracked on. A full strawberry patch is always a pleasant site. The raspberries, tayberries and blackberries have all had attention- fresh compost, pruned and new extra wires to hold them in position. Lucy was the soft fruit queen in her triple layers to stay warm and dry. Inside the tunnels, there are still lots of organic vegetables growing. This always astounds quite a few people when we say the tunnels are full. Chard, spinach, lettuces, mustards, cabbages, spring greens, oriental leaves, onions, strawberries and herbs are all coming along nicely. The potatoes are now all out of their bed as our little friends found them and they quite enjoyed eating them. They are now stored away. We have had very little to do in the outside growing beds, organic vegetables are all, also, growing nicely…particularly the onions and garlic which all have wonderful green shoots appearing.The most time consuming and biggest and best job over the last few weeks was the planting of eight hundred shrubs and trees to create two woods. Over last year we worked with the Woodland Trust to help decide on how best to fill the Well Field and (what we call) The Paddock area of the Orchard Field with native varieties of trees and shrubs. We had to consider the light but mostly the ground. These areas are extremely wet, and the drainage is worse than poor. We have tried in the past to grow something, anything, with little success. We did want to do something, something which was long lasting with an advantage to the area aesthetically. Plus, we wanted to create something which would be great for the community, environment and all the creatures living here now and those to come and live in this part of the Shire. We decided on the following choice for our woods: Shrubs: Dog Rose, Elder, Goat Willow, Hawthorn, Hazel, Holly, Trees: Alder, Downey Birch, Silver Birch, Bird Cherry, Wild Cherry, Crab Apple, Oak, Rowan, Walnut. Along with the fruit trees, Silver Birch copse and decorative trees we reckon that here on the farm we have planted more than a thousand trees! I would say that we have overly compensated for the less than ten trees we have chopped down! As with most trees, the winter is the best time to plant. This is while they are dormant and they can settle in the ground with the roots establishing and then ready to grow in the warmer and brighter days of spring and summer. As with a lot of things, it is all in the preparation. Each area to be planted was cut to ground level with the strimmer. A path, to walk through each wood, was planned and cut with the grass cutter on the back of the tractor. This was all in anticipation of the trees arriving on the date given. They did arrive and we had three days to plant them out or more time if we ‘healed them in’ into the ground together. We, obviously, decided to get them out… The trees arrived with posts and tree protection tubes, all sized depending on the tree or shrub to be planted out…small posts for shrubs, the large posts for the trees, wide protectors for the larger and wider trees and shrubs. We began by placing the posts in position with the shrubs nearer the path and the larger trees to the back. We were wanting to create a canopy which inclined from the shrubbery up to the trees. A day and a half were needed for this exercise as each post was hammered into place. Then, with the help of two great friends (Helen and Matt), we split into two teams…the Crew in the Well Field and Bob, Helen, Matt and me in the Orchard Field…and began planting the shrubs and trees and placing the guards over each plant. I had all the plants separated and decided where they were to be planted ahead of the planting. It was a very smooth three days of prep and plant, and we were all very smug with satisfaction by the end of the day. A very, very good decision of ours, to create these two woods, which will be here long after we have gone. Talking of wood. The two trees we had chopped down due to shadowing and deterioration are now chopped into logs which we will dry for the log burning stoves next year. Hugh now has a six pack! He is also going to make some chopping boards and maybe a tabletop for himself from the larger pieces. The restaurants we supply still had deliveries of Fresh Local Organic Produce. They all took the first week of the year off but are now back and at it! Chef Alex is now at a new site for the next six months while excitedly waiting for Freyja to be ready. Anna and Alex will be taking all your produce over the coming months while we begin sowing and planting for the new seasons ahead. The new fresh crop of vegetables will be for the boxes for you, our lovely customers. As we want to only supply what we grow the boxes will have to wait a short while until we are able to have sufficient supply. (we do realise that this is disappointing to many of you who have been asking when we are returning and for this we apologise. We do only want to be able to have our own produce so that we can truly say we are local and organic). On my next journal I will update you on the Walled Garden, which has also come along way during the past few weeks. Till then, I am very happy to be back talking to you all, Take care, Ann
