Scilly Organics

Winter light and long nights

2012-01-31T18:52:00.005Z

Winter can bring a clarity of light never experienced in summer with some stunning colours. Here are some photos from the last couple of months taken from St Martin's.

Sunset over Tresco

A sunny Sunday looking out over Persoil to White Island

A silhouette of the Western Rocks in dazzling winter sunlight

What a Christmas card!

2012-01-05T22:53:00.000Z

This came from one of our youngest customers, Daisy Davies on St Martin's, and is undoubtedly the best Christmas card of the year!

Moths

2011-11-15T23:06:00.008Z

I'd forgotten to post this before, but back in May I asked a visiting moth expert to set up a moth trap in one of my fields one night. It's a simple contraption really - a wooden box with a powerful light bulb that attracts moths by night. They come to the box and slide down in to the bottom. In the morning you check under empty egg boxes, where the insects are hiding from the daylight.

My knowledge of moths is quite limited, but I was astounded about just how many moths - individuals and species, were about in my fields! We didn't get a final species count, but it must have been over 25. I can't even remember their names now but the photos give an idea of the wonderful looking insects that appeared.

Photos from September

2011-09-29T12:20:00.009+01:00

Here is a patch of grass and clover. It may not look very exciting, but this green manure is critical to the success of following vegetable crops. When this is cultivated it leaves behind a mass of roots and leaves that provide fertility for the next crop.

During its 18 months that it's growing here it's also improving the structure of the soil and will raise the levels of organic matter.

This time of year the fields are full of seed eating birds like linnets and goldfinches. All the weeds that have gone to seed (there are plenty we miss!) provide invaluable food to these birds.

Sweetcorn has been very late, but is now ripening nicely and tasting fantastic

Crimson clover is a beautiful green manure that bees adore. This patch was actually meant to be white clover! Never mind, it looks great.

The blackberries have been fantastic this year

One of the wonderful sounds of autumn has to be Starlings chattering from high perches. I wonder what they're talking about?! They really are very sociable, intelligent and pretty birds - if they were rare people would be fascinated by them.

Florence fennel is an under-rated vegetable that is delicious in stir fries or roasted. They also look fantastic when they're growing.

Tolly and Naida

2011-07-29T12:18:00.005+01:00

Iain Tolhurst is a legendary organic grower with over 30 years' experience. He was one of the pioneering organic growers in this country and runs Tolhurst Organics in the Thames valley near Reading. Here, him and his ex-wife and business partner Lin run a box scheme, supplying over 200 families a week. He's also a consultant, author and inspiration to scores of younger organic growers. And a boat builder.

Whilst working 70 hours a week on the farm, Tolly also managed to find time to build a 36 foot Pinky Ketch (yacht) made entirely out of local and sustainably sourced timber. Much of this is oak, which came down on the Hardwick Estate, where he grows veg, in the 1987 hurricane. Over the course of 12 years he's constructed one of the most awesome boats, Naida, you're likely to set eyes on. Everything about it is pure quality and the level of craftsmanship is simply outstanding.

Last week Tolly sailed down to Scilly having come, in stages, from Reading. Moored up in Tresco channel, I was lucky enough to have a guided tour and a cup of tea on board. As a young man Tolly worked on Tresco for a few years so knows many locals well. It was here he met Lin (nee Lawry), a Tresco girl, who was actually born on a boat called Naida somewhere between Tresco and St Mary's!

In fact until very recently Naida was used very regularly by Bruce Christopher and some people will remember the small blue boat moored at Old Grimsby. It's still being used by Bruce's son, Joe, now in Roseland peninsula.

You can see loads of photos of the launch of Naida this April in these Flickr photos. He's hoping to come back down to Scilly in September, so look out for it!

Photos from the farm in late July

2011-07-29T11:52:00.008+01:00

Large tomatoes in the tunnel - delicious

Onions ripe and set skins - quite a good crop

The first squash nearly ready. Winter ones coming on.

A field of white clover - after mowing three weeks ago they are flowering really well now. Bees are all over them and the scent is fantastic.

Late sweetcorn - after a good hoeing they're looking really good and should crop in late August.

Recent photos

2011-06-29T15:37:00.005+01:00

Here are some recent photos from the farm:

Red onions swelling up through the biodegradable plastic

Experimental plot of oats ripening up

Carrots are still doing really well and tasting great - plenty more to come! It's one thing that really does like our sandy soil.

A real surprise has been the success of the grapes in the tunnel this year - lots of fruit and they were only planted 15 months ago.

Being a grower is a hard life...

2011-06-03T23:45:00.003+01:00

This week has been quite full-on, many jobs to do, still no rain and demand for veg still high. So, this morning, Kat and I had to start picking at 6.00am (having finished at 9.30pm the previous evening) to get veg bags delivered to the launch by 9.00am. Only just made it!

So this afternoon we decided it was the perfect afternoon to finish a bit early (5.00pm) and head for the beach - which happens to be about 50 yards from the field. Being a grower is a hard life, but sometimes you also have to appreciate the finer things in life...

Teaching the next generation

2011-05-22T20:28:00.004+01:00

Last week the children from St Martin's primary school came down to the fields at Lawrences to have a look at the crops and learn more about how food is grown. With all ages from 5 to 11 there it was a challenge keeping them all interested with different things, but they all seemed to enjoy themselves and learnt something.

Clearly the young carrots and ripe strawberries were a big hit with all of them! But perhaps the most interesting moment was when we were looking at a patch of white clover. Having discussed the merits of nitrogen fixation, flowers for bees and roots for improving soil structure, no less than four children each found a four leaf clover! I'd never found one there before!

It's always good to remind yourself just how enthusiastic and interested children are in farming and food when they experience it first hand with all their senses.

Roadside stall is open

2011-05-07T17:15:00.003+01:00

Last Monday the veg stall opened for business in Middle Town. Because the season has been a slow start, the selection is limited at the moment, but it includes some really nice mixed salad leaves, fantastic tasting new potatoes and a selection of herbs.

Elsewhere on the farm we've been busy planting succession crops such as lettuce, kale and chard, weeding existing crops like peas, beans and the experimental cereals as well as rotavating a couple of patches that needed to be prepared.

In the tunnel we've put the strings up for both tomatoes and cucumbers. They're growing upwards quite quickly, always a pleasing sight for any grower - it's like a premonition of warm summer days and abundant crops to come.

Dry and sunny

2011-04-26T14:04:00.003+01:00

It's very nice to be working out in this warm, dry and sunny weather, but the lack of rain is starting to make an impact on crop growth. Because there's quite a lot of organic matter in the soil there's still moisture two inches down and further, but crops aren't growing as quick as they should and newly planted plants are slow to get going.

We start supplying cafes and restaurants from next week and on Monday 2nd May the veg stall will be open for business in Middle Town on St Martin's.

Katrin and I are working hard to get a range of crops ready for May, including salads, radish, potatoes, carrots, kale, chard, herbs, cucumbers, strawberries and peas. It's been a late start and very dry, but in general things are looking OK...at the moment!

The orchard was going to get mown this week, but the flowers are looking far too beautiful, so mowing will have to wait until they've died back and set seed.

Photos from this week

2011-04-16T22:15:00.010+01:00

Some times, when things are busy it's easier just to post photos and let the images do the talking!

First carrots - doing really well under fleece

Early onions growing away nicely now

Can never tire of apple blossom - beautiful

Sowing in the glasshouse - covering seeds with fine compost

Putting up strings for Climbing French Beans

Planting cucumbers in the tunnel

Good growth

2011-04-05T15:39:00.005+01:00

Late March and early April are showing signs of good plant growth at last. Since the weather has been coming from the Atlantic recently temperatures have increased, there's been a bit of rain, but best of all some lovely sunshine on some days!

It's been time for lots of weeding, planting and sowing. The early potatoes are being ridged up by Katrin, a German student working for us for the spring and summer. She's done a good job here and is a real asset to the team. In Germany she's studying organic agriculture and this work placement will give her practical skills to complement the theoretical learning at University.

For the German speakers amongst you, look at her blog www.kaba2010.blogspot.com about her stay on Scilly. Well, if you can't read German you can still look at some nice photos anyway. It's possible of course she's written something offensive on there and I would have no idea, so German speakers take it at your own risk!!

Seedlings, apples and a big moon

2011-03-19T12:12:00.005Z

The past week on the farm has been one of sowing and planting all sorts of crops ready for the coming season. Meanwhile in the glasshouse seed raising has been in full swing for a couple of months now. These chard and mustard seedlings are almost ready to be planted out and should give a crop in about 6 weeks.

Meanwhile the apple trees are starting to come out in leaf - the early varieties are already nearly fully open. Blossom won't be long! Here is a photo of a Devonshire Quarrenden unfurling its leaves.

Full moon is today and it has been incredibly bright by night at the moment. Apparently its much closer to Earth than it has been for a while - can't say its noticeably brighter than usual, but certainly makes for fantastic evenings.

Planting and sowing

2011-03-13T21:59:00.003Z

March is always a busy time for getting new crops established. It's warm enough, light levels are good and there's still moisture in the soil. On these sandy soils you have to get most things established early in the year, letting them get their roots down to tap in to that moisture lower down in the soil profile. A dry spell later on in the year can cause big problems for new crops.

The early potatoes have come up and are now covered in fleece to keep them warmer - but they haven't made as much progress as I would have liked, so fingers crossed for some mild temperatures, sun and moisture to get them going fast.

Euonymous hedges are all looking wonderfully green at the moment and have incredibly vigorous growth. Makes you think about the power of perennials over annuals - they get started so much earlier as a rule...

Signs of spring

2011-02-17T20:37:00.004Z

The last few days have felt really mild and there are definite signs that spring is on its way. The Euonymous hedges are showing fresh green shoots, the birds are starting to sing in a different, more spring like way, and more flowers are appearing.

Gorse is flowering all over the place at the moment, in two weeks' time it's going to be a really good show. Cultivated Narcissi have been flowering in fields since November, but the cast offs that lie in field margins, abandoned fields and hedges (so not subject to any special treatment) are coming in to their own now.

'Soleil d'Or' are the single most famous flower from Scilly and have a beautiful colour and scent unlike anything else.

On the land it's been a time for cultivation and establishment. Today white clover and Westerwolds rye went in, just before rain tomorrow afternoon. In the morning the second batch of carrots will be drilled (sown), and the first batch of peas and beans. More potatoes are due to to go in very soon.

In the glasshouse lettuce, peas, salads, tomatoes, cucumbers, melons, chard, kale and much more have all been sown. Sowing will be quite regular from now until about July to ensure a continuity of crops right through the year.

So the growing year is in full swing already...more on progress before long.

Painting the stall

2011-01-31T17:00:00.004Z

Today has been sunny, dry and mild - a good day for painting the veg stall in Middle Town. A fresh coat of paint, a job I normally hate. But I am using Auro paint, a plant-based, non-toxic mix of oils, resins and colours that smells of citrus! It's made a good coverage and I'm very pleased with it. A pleasure to work with.

Winter on Scilly can be beautiful, as this photo from today, looking over towards Tresco, demonstrates.

In praise of kale

2010-12-20T18:24:00.003Z

Kale, Brassica oleracea, is a seriously good versatile crop. It comes in lots of different leaf shapes, colours and textures, from the wonderfully indented, dark and tasty Calvo Nero/Nero di Tosacno (see left) to the lovely purple-veined and vigorous Red Russian and the very green and curly Pentland Brig.

It tolerates a lot of cold, yet grows fast in the summer too. Growers like it particularly because it keeps producing leaves up the stem. You just pick the older leaves lower down, leaving the newer younger leaves to carry on growing. It's not uncommon for a kale plant to be still cropping 8 months after the first picking!

There are fewer more nutritious crops than Brassicas. They contain a range of vitamins (E and B complexes), carotenes, vitamin C and some protein.

Snow comes to Scilly

2010-12-02T16:20:00.000Z

So the weather has changed from mild and stormy to cold, cold, cold. Of
course the entire country is pretty frozen but it's unusual to get snow
on Scilly that settles.

Today it snowed and settled, though appears to be slushy and will melt
without too much encouragement. Nonetheless it's covered all the fields,
leaving me finding it difficult to locate those cabbage, kale and
beetroot that I need to find to pick tomorrow!

Seaweed, gales and rain

2010-11-16T17:52:00.004Z

As I'm writing it's dark, windy and wet outside. We've seen a lot of wind recently, last week some gusts of 60mph and a fair amount of rain too. Autumn is in full swing and throwing it's worst at us.

There is one bonus - it means the seaweed is coming in nice and thick on the beaches. Each year we use in the order of 200 tons of the stuff to improve the soil and provide fertility for next years crops.

It sounds a lot, which it is, but this soon rots down to a fraction of its fresh bulk. We use a combination of foreloader and trailer to haul the 'weed off the beach, tip it out on the fields and spread it to a layer between 6 inches and 1 foot thick. This will rot down with the autumn and winter rains; after about 8-10 weeks it'll be rotavated in to the soil.

So far we've got about 100 tons up (30 of this done with a pitchfork and trailer!), so about another 100 to go. Judging by the forecast there won't be a shortage of seaweed around yet!

The harvest month

2010-09-25T21:50:00.005+01:00

September tends to be a good month for growers...a more relaxed time and a chance to literally savour the fruits of our labours.

As the evenings draw out the sun still has some warmth and the clarity of light is often much better than the warmer summer months. Young swallows are cramming in flying lessons, preparing to fly south for the winter, leaving us until next spring.

There's an abundance of crops, including:

Spuds
Squash
Peas
Tomatoes
Cucumbers
Basil
Mixed salad
Beetroot
Onions
Calabrese
Kale
Cabbage
Peppers
Melons
Leeks
Parsley
Mint
Spinach

The stall will stay open for a bit yet, though by the end of October there will be very few visitors about to buy anything, so we will close. Then the work starts to plan for next year when, of course, everything will be better and nothing will go wrong!!

A mixed bag for July

2010-07-28T15:35:00.004+01:00

This month started off with high temperatures and dry days, followed by some very unsettled weather, heavy rain and strong winds - we even gale force one day in the middle of the month. Now however we're back to more settled and dry conditions, though lately there has been a lot of fog and very high humidity (but no rain).

Most crops are growing well, bounding away with the warm and wet conditions. On the stall at the moment are:

Early and Salad Potatoes
Cherry tomatoes
Cucumbers
Mixed salad leaves
Melons
Parsley
Mint
Kale
Cabbage
Spinach
Peas
French beans

One of the most enjoyable sights over the past three weeks or so has been linnets and goldfinches munching away on thistles and fat hen that have gone to seed. It's a classic dilemma of weeds versus wildlife - the weeds will give me a weed problem, but it's just not right to deny these birds a major source of food.

Hot and dry, now some welcome rain

2010-07-01T21:03:00.005+01:00

June has been a very dry month here on Scilly with temperatures regularly above 20C, which is fairly unusual for such a maritime climate. That's made growing a bit difficult, though some crops have thrived including potatoes, cucumbers, tomatoes and strawberries.

A wide variety of produce is available on the stall at the moment, including:

Bunched carrots
Second early potatoes
Waxy salad potatoes
Mixed salad leaves
Cucumbers
Strawberries
Basil
Parsley
Oregano
Kale
Courgettes
Garlic

The stall is in Middle Town beside the road and is stocked up at 9.30am every day and open until sunset.

The blackcurrants planted in April have settled in well and produced quite a decent crop for their first year - though I value these far too much to sell just yet!! Next year...

The cherry tomatoes are coming on in the tunnel and hopefully will be ready for sale in a week or so. The cucumbers are ridiculous, 8ft high with a heavy crop on - best ever.

Today has been a day of steady rain, about 3/4 of an inch which will be very useful and hopefully have soaked in well. Could do with another dose of rain in the next few days and then we'll be able to make a bit of progress again.

Warm and sunny, it must be summer...

2010-06-05T18:33:00.005+01:00

The second half of May and early June has been so much warmer than the spring so far. All the slow plant growth has been forgotten as crops race to maturity making full use of warm air and soil. May was very dry, but the quarters of an inch of rain last weekend certainly helped damp the soil again.

Our veg stall by the road in Middle Town was opened three weeks ago and is open every day now - it's been doing some brisk trade the past week (half term holidays). It'll be stocked up every day now until late October.

At the moment crops we're harvesting include:

Early potatoes
Baby new potatoes
Lettuce
Cucumbers
Herbs
Peas
Strawberries
Rhubarb

The flowers around the farm look a picture at the moment, in particular red campion, honeysuckle, vetch, foxgloves and black medick.

Birds are nesting in all the hedgerows, including blackbirds, starlings, thrushes, wrens and great tits. A time of plenty and rapid growth for animals and plants.

There have been some glorious mornings recently that make those early starts so much easier...

Photos from this week

2010-05-14T22:56:00.005+01:00

Everything's growing away much better this week. The temperatures have still been very low for May, but some decent sun in the second half of the week and a bit of rain is certainly helping matters. Here are some photos from the farm and the island this week:

Colours of spring

2010-04-19T20:43:00.006+01:00

Here are some images today from the farm and the island - a day that started with thick fog and ended up blue sky and light winds...lovely.

The first apple blossom, always a real lifter of the spirits.

Gorse is looking exceptional at the moment after a couple of weeks of sun.

Strawberries are starting to flower, earlier than I expected.

Young tomato plants in the polytunnel - hopefully be hitting the roof in three months' time!

Plants and polytunnel

2010-04-09T21:40:00.003+01:00

The last few days have been wonderful and reminds you just how good the weather can be! After so much cold, wind and rain the warmth of the spring sun in a clear blue sky is a wonderful feeling.

Yesterday I seized the opportunity of a warm, calm and dry day to assemble some friends and get the plastic over my polytunnel frame. Apart from initially getting the sheet upside down (yes, there the two sides are different!) it all went incredibly well. The finished product is a good sized tunnel with drum tight sides and almost ready for planting with veg.

The sun has also really brought other plants on - the potatoes are looking healthy, carrots are doing well, peas and beans are coming on and the glasshouse is full of crops nearly ready for planting out.

One of my favourite spring crops is rhubarb. The unfurling leaves give the plant an almost prehistoric feel, like an organism that is tapping in to some ancient wild energy, bursting in to life with vigour unparalleled in any other crop.

The only complaint I have is that there just aren't enough hours in the day to get the work done - let alone have a nice walk to enjoy the spring flowers!

Earth Hour

2010-03-26T20:48:00.002Z

On Saturday 27th March at 8.30pm local time people across the planet are being encouraged to turn off their lights for an hour.

Earth Hour is a very visual support for action on climate change and reducing energy usage. Individuals, organisations, companies and Governments are getting involved and it's estimated 1 billion people will turn off their lights.

Have a look at the Earth Hour website for some great videos and ideas for Earth Hour: http://earthhour.wwf.org.uk/

Spring has arrived...hopefully!

2010-03-15T20:12:00.004Z

At last the temperature has crept up to the dizzy heights of 10 or 12C, without any wind chill! A beautiful day today, barely a breath of wind all day and proper t-shirt and shorts weather. However because it was a clear starlit sky last night there was a ground frost this morning. Hopefully nothing to trouble the crops under fleece.

This is one of the carrot fields - first lot under fleece, sown in mid Feb have germinated and need weeding, the next rows (not yet under fleece) were sown last week and should be up before the end of the month.

Early potatoes are poking up, rhubarb is unfurling, asparagus is looking lively and the glasshouse is filling up with seed trays with green shoots in!

There's always a danger of falling behind before you've started at this time of year, with so much to do. With cultivations, sowing, planting and weeding to do the list of jobs is as long as my arm.

Oh, and there's there a polytunnel to put up and cover, 700 strawberries and 150 blackcurrants to plant. Better stop typing and get on with it.

Some nice photos from the morning commute to work to finish with...

Local Food map photos

2010-03-07T14:01:00.002Z

The season gets going

2010-03-02T23:23:00.002Z

I always think that I don't really get busy growing until mid March - but in reality it's much more like mid January! Recently I've been planting early spuds, sowing carrots, oats, wheat and phacelia outside. In the glasshouse lots of salad crops, leafy crops, flowers, herbs and polytunnel crops have been sown.

The temperature outside varies from a quite pleasant 10C to a much less pleasant wind chill of 3 or 4C; however it feels like spring is just round the corner and everything will burst in to life.

This is a photo from Sunday when it really did fell warm in the sun - could almost pass as a summer's day!

Compost and glasshouse

2010-02-07T20:05:00.007Z

In preparation for a new blackcurrant area I've been carting some nice compost on to beds that were previously used for vegetables. This is good stuff that's been rotting steadily since last summer and will now provide nutrients for the currant bushes.

Meanwhile in the glasshouse the first spring salads have been sown in modules - things like mizuna, rocket and mustard. These should be ready in around 8 weeks, in time for Easter (hopefuly...). All these are members of the Brassica family and are hardier than the more tender lettuce, though not nearly so good as lettuce in the warmer summer months.

Whilst the days are drawing out with light until 6.00, this week is looking cold with East and North Easterly winds again checking the start of the season. We wait and see whether spring will break properly before the end of February...

First spuds have been planted!

2010-01-22T18:30:00.004Z

Yesterday was a day of rain nearly all day, but today looked promising from the start and developed in to a stunning day for January. Air temperature was around 11C, but feeling much warmer than that in the sun out of the wind - indeed it was this year's first t-shirt and shorts day!

Perhaps somewhat foolhardily I decided it was time to plant some early spuds. Ordinarily I would've started planting 2 weeks ago, but with the cold spell I decided to hold back until now. If it turns frosty again I'll be OK until the leaves start showing above the surface...

The soil is wet, but the seaweed has made a tremendous difference to the feel of the soil - spongy, dark and fertile. Two sacks of Swift have gone in, covered with fleece. I would expect to ridge these up in the early March and to be digging them in early May. Fingers crossed...

Won't be long before planting now

2010-01-03T13:24:00.005Z

January comes round again and the seaweed is rotting on down nicely with all the winter rain. I actually did some rotavating in preparation for early potatoes yesterday. The first planting will probably be end of January, with the aim of lifting in early May; second planting in late Feb to lift mid May onwards and the rest in March which will be second earlies and maincrop from June through to September.

After the quieter months of November and December suddenly the farming year starts to pick up pace again, leading up to the very busy period from April to June when all the sowing, planting and weeding takes place - with a fair amount of picking thrown in too.

The weather has been quite cold recently, we even had some snow and ice. But in comparison with everywhere else it's been mild really. The question is, will it stay mild enough to plant early spuds, or will it go cold again? If only we could know an accurate 3 month weather forecast!

Beetroot

2009-12-04T14:35:00.005Z

These intensely red leaved purple roots are often overlooked as a great vegetable. Stacked full of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants they are revered by nutritionists and cooks alike. And the colour you get out of them when making soup is something else!

Here are some beetroot in rows in the market garden back in sunny July; we also had a load more down at Lawrences fields. There was a fair crop this year, they like the sandy soil once they get their roots down. But rabbits have been a big problem, where the fluffy beasts have literally munched away at the tops of the roots in the field.

Raw beetroot grated with grated carrot has to be one of the best ways of eating it, though Borsch (soup) is also very good. We're also busy pickling the excess beetroot at the moment, which will be available to buy next spring.

Sweet Clover

2009-09-06T15:55:00.000+01:00

Green manures are essential for organic farmers and growers. They are crops that are used to cover the soil, improve soil structure, reduce leaching and increase fertility.

Leguminous plants are special in that they fix nitrogen in nodules on their roots, which makes them invaluable as a part of sustainable agriculture or horticulture. Legumes can fix as much, or more nitrogen in the soil than could be applied using bags of nitrogen fertiliser - and with a mere fraction of the vast greenhouse gas emissions that are associated with artificial fertiliser.

This is sweet clover, not a true clover (Melilotus officinalis) that is very vigorous and is capable of growing six feet in 12 weeks!! It will be incorporated in to the soil after 6-18 months, providing masses of soil fertility to the next crop. The white or yellow flowers are very much appreciated by bees.

What's on the stall now

2009-07-14T10:48:00.006+01:00

The dry spell through June certainly gave us some problems - leafy crops protested and growth rates slowed down massively. Therefore there's a bit of a gap in continuity of salads in particular. Conversely, squash, courgettes, sweetcorn and melons have done very well in the heat...Now we're back to unsettled conditions and have had a decent amount of rain.

So on the stall at the moment you can expect to find squash (amazingly early!), wet garlic, carrots (still tasting amazing), beetroot, kale, chard, spinach, sweet peas, courgettes and potatoes - of which we have two varieties, one being delicious waxy salad potatoes.

This is the time of year when we're doing the last sowings in the glasshouse for autumn and winter crops. All the winter brassicas are coming up in modules and will be planted out later this month. These will be picked from November onwards.

Today is a sunshine and showers day with a fresh wind. It's much better working conditions, being around 18C, rather than the 25C of a couple of weeks ago.

Squash, flowers and wildlife

2009-06-11T20:02:00.005+01:00

June seems to be the month when all living creatures are at their most active. Plants thrive on the long days, which feeds insects, which feeds birds, which make the most beautiful music for us to hear. So it when you grow green manures like mustard and Phacelia, which are positively teeming with life, it feels like you're contributing in a very direct way to the web of life.

Standing next to the Phacelia on a warm or sunny day the noise is incredible, a constant low-level noise of buzzing insects. Scilly has a very high level of bumble bees, proven by the concentration of the insects on these plants. Somewhere underneath here are 200 rhubarb plants!! They're doing alright, but could do with a bit more light. But I'm not cutting down the Phacelia yet...

In the next field, following on from the early spuds, are a lot of squash and courgettes. The first squash plants, which were planted in mid-May are now firmly established and starting to run and produce flowers. I would expect these to be ready as early as August, with the main crop ready in September/October. Looking forward to the first roast squash already!

Strawberries

2009-05-23T13:29:00.002+01:00

The first strawberries of the season are ripening - I picked the first ones about a week ago, but now they're coming to full swing. It looks like a good crop this year, loads of flowers which the bees have been all over, so fruit formation is good. With the warm temperatures and sunshine there should be plenty of lovely sweet strawberries over the next week.

Hapil is a variety not really grown by the big strawberry growers - it doesn't suit their requirements of long shelf life and lots of transport. It is, however perfect for us - ripens evenly, good sized fruit, funny shaped fruit (!) and most importantly a beautiful taste.

Of seaweed and lettuce

2009-05-16T23:03:00.007+01:00

It's unusual to be gathering seaweed in May, but with the recent bouts of heavy swell and strong winds, a lot of seaweed has been ripped off the rocks around the islands and deposited on the beaches. Here is a load on Little Bay - at its best there must have been more than 50 tonnes there, of which I only managed to get about 8! Still, better than nothing and it'll go towards making some good compost, mixed with old hay, grass clippings and weeds.

Although the air temperatures haven't been especially warm, there's been plenty of rain with some bursts of sunshine in between. Most plants seem fairly happy with this and have consequently grown quite fast. The first lettuce planting of the season happens in late March and I've been picking for about four weeks now. They're looking and tasting really good.

Another good early crop is Chard, which comes in an amazing array of colours, from the solid and dependable white Swiss chard, through pink, orange and yellow to this lovely Ruby. And an interesting fact about the coloured chards - their roots are also coloured! This is very unusual amongst common vegetables.

This time of year the flowers are perhaps at their best for the whole year. At the moment are the first honeysuckle flowers have appeared and their scent is absolutely delightful. It always reminds me of warm summer evenings - sadly very few of those recently, but a complete pleasure all the same.

And of the cultivated flowers, mustard is really flowering well at the moment. This is in the orchard and being enjoyed massively by my bees, whose hive is in the field right next door. Bumblebees are also loving the mustard as well as other insects. Sowing green manures, such as mustard, really does have multiple benefits - for soil, wildlife... and people.

First potatoes

2009-04-30T21:56:00.005+01:00

Because it's been cold this year the first potatoes have been about two or even three weeks later than planned. But at last the first earlies are ready to dig and looking good. This year, for the first time, we've grown a variety called Swift as well as the usual Maris Bard. Swift have certainly lived up to their name and are at least three weeks earlier than the Maris Bard.

They taste lovely and are yielding quite well at the moment. Last weekend we had over 3 inches of rain, followed by some more in the week. This has been interspersed with days of sun (like today), which means growth rates are really good at the moment...that goes for both crops and weeds!!

It's also a pleasure to see the first carrots standing proud in rows. They're not all that far away from pulling...I reckon the first bunch of carrots could be in the third week of May. The carrots are grown under fleece from day one through to harvest. There are three reasons for this - keeps off rabbits, carrot root fly and it keeps them warmer.

This is such a lovely time of year - everything is growing like stink, but it does mean some long days for the grower.

Apple blossom

2009-04-12T22:20:00.005+01:00

In April it seems like every plant wants to grow like mad. If it's not flowering it's reaching for the sky. This month we've got an incredible array of flowers out and it never ceases to amaze me just how vigorous the growth is this time of year after months of cold weather and short days. Once the vernal equinox is passed it seems all Nature's stops are pulled out!

Here is some beautiful blossom taken in the orchard - this is Adam's Pearmain, one of the earlier trees to flower, with the other not far behind. Next door to this is the newly planted orchard - just four months ago this was covered in bracken, brambles and gorse. I cleared it, cultivated it, sowed a green manure and planted about 25 fruit trees - mostly apple, with a couple of pears and plums too.

I actually meant to sow sweet clover here, but the seed got mixed up and I ended up sowing mustard!! Woops - it's made a lovely covering, but won't last for more than 4 months. Never mind, try again in the autumn. And the bees are only about 20 yards away so they'll be all over it at flowering time.

Here's another photo of flowers from the Island, including Narcissi, wild garlic, oxalis and gorse. What a glorious time of year...if only I had the time to stop for more than 5 minutes to enjoy it!

Spring is definitely in the air

2009-03-17T20:19:00.007Z

At last it really feels like spring has arrived. The birds are singing, lots of spring flowers are out, the sun has warmth in it and my spuds are poking up nicely (though they are late).

This week has been intense on planting and sowing - carrots, beetroot, parsnips, potatoes, asparagus, rhubarb, green manures and loads of crops in modules in the glasshouse. I haven't got time to write much, but here are some photos from the farm:

Plants in the cold frame raring to go - Broad Beans, lettuce, kale, chard, rocket, mizuna and mustard

Veronica in flower - one of the lesser known hedging plants, it can make a useful hedge if well trained and has beautiful flowers that bees love.; It doesn't really have the wind break abilities of Pittosporum or Euonymous though, our two most common hedge plants.

No-dig beds in the market garden site - all the beds have an inch of compost and now won't be cultivated. First crop to go in will be lettuce (imminently), which will be picked as needed through the season. Each plant will keep cropping through re-growth after picking, reducing the area of land needed for a profitable crop.

Sowing spring crops

2009-03-10T20:42:00.003Z

Now the weather is warmer and the daylength longer, it's a key time to be planting and sowing spring crops. I've been busy preparing ground for the direct drilled (sowed) crops in particular, such as carrot, beetroot and green manures. Here is a picture of my new toy, a Stanhay seed drill, circa 1984 and will probably last me out! They're solid bits of kit that drill crops very precisely.

Here, believe it or not, is a field of carrots. The machine is actually put here for effect because I drilled this a few weeks ago; the tiny carrots are just poking through now, but will pick up quick and in a month's time will rocket away. Once they get a bit bigger I'll hoe the field to knock back the first weeds, then put fleece over the whole field to prevent carrot root fly. The fleece will probably stay on until all the carrots have been picked later in the summer.

The seed drill was an incredibly important invention, allowing the move to row crops - meaning weeding was possible and seed was used more efficiently. It's very simple but very effective. The row is opened up at the correct depth, a seed dropped in the furrow from a hopper, a chain covers the furrow with soil and the back wheel firms over the soil.

All of it is driven from the back wheel, through a single belt. Meanwhile, the next row is being marked out for you; get the first row right and all the rest will be straight! These exact machines can be bolted on to an attachment for a tractor, mounting as many as the tractor can pull through the soil.

Simple, appropriate technology.

Soil Association symbol

2009-03-05T14:41:00.003Z

Scilly Organics was the first Soil Association symbol holder on the Isles of Scilly, achieving full organic status in 2004 after a 2 year conversion period. But what does this symbol mean to us and what does organic mean to you?

For us, the Soil Association symbol is a reward for following and implementing strict standards on food production, and a guarantee of integrity and quality of our fruit and veg. Did you know that organic is a legally-defined term, and organic farming and growing the only legally-regulated form of food production in th world?

Organic sales in the UK now exceed £2bn per year and over 3.5% of farmland is organic across the country, with SW England and West Wales particular strongholds.

When explaining what organic is, I always like to stress the positives. Whilst we don't use artificial fertilisers, pesticides or GMO's, for me it's more about what we do do. We use natural fertilisers on the soil -seaweed, green manures and compost. We look after wildlife, aiming to improve the ecology of the farm, which in turn reduces pest and diseases. And we use human and mechanical means of weed control - mulching, hoeing and hand weeding.

These approaches combine to produce good food, healthy soil, wildlife and an aesthetically-pleasing landscape. We hope that you recognise the symbol as a sign of quality, integrity and trust.

We are proud to display the symbol - we have to keep careful records, be inspected once a year and adhere strictly to all the organic standards - all this so that our customers can trust all the food we sell.

To dig or not to dig?

2009-02-24T22:16:00.004Z

Perceived wisdom amongst gardeners is that you dig the soil over every winter/spring in preparation for spring crops. Likewise, farmers plough fields and do secondary cultivations such as rotavating or harrowing. It's almost taken as read - that's how it's always been done, so why question it?

There are many good reasons for digging or cultivating. But there are equally as many bad ones, largely relating to soil health. See, the problem is, we just don't understand enough that soil is an incredible ecosystem - complex, rich, diverse and supports life when treated well. The standard to which many farmers treat their soil is truly abysmal, seeing it as nothing more than a medium in which to grow plants and pour on agro-chemicals.rivers), is quite incredible - and yet most people disregard its vital importance. A single teaspoonfull of healthy soil contains billions of organisms!!

I decided to start an experiment last year to see just how good no-dig growing is. I've been inspired by the wonderful Charles Dowding, who is a real pioneer of the no-dig approach, having an excellent 1.5 acre growing site and has written an excellent book, Organic Gardening. To think that just a 6 inch deep layer of soil, across the world, supports almost the entire human population (bar products from seas and rivers) is incredible.

In the picture is a field of lettuce, taken last June. The three beds on the right have lettuce grown through white plastic, to minimise water loss and weed invasion. On the left are two beds that have just a layer of mature compost (about an inch or two's depth when laid), and then not cultivated.

There was no difference in the growth rates between the two and it was noticeable that whilst (of course) more weeds came up on the left, they got fewer through the season, because the soil wasn't being turned over. It also looks a lot better and doesn't involve any plastic.

For this reason I will be expanding the area I use zero tillage, looking carefully at the effects it has on soil quality, water holding capacity and weed burden over time. I'll come back to this subject in the summer.

Planting and sowing by the moon

2009-02-10T23:04:00.006Z

Biodynamic farmers work by a philosophy quite unlike any other farmers and growers. It's like organic growing, but goes much further by viewing the farm itself as a living organism that can be improved and strengthened by working with cosmic and lunar forces. It is a very powerful movement that originated in Germany in 1924 by Rudolph Steiner, and now proponents exist worldwide.

On Scilly we see the effect of the moon on the tides twice a day, every day. Trillions of gallons of sea water being pulled around the planet, what an amazing force that must be - here a difference of over 18 feet between high and low water at spring tides.

So surely that lunar influence also strongly affects the land? Of course, because it's not obvious means most of us don't notice it. Indeed most people don't see the moon. But outside here tonight, as I write, just a day after full moon, it is so bright outside it's like daylight - an enormous difference to nights at new moon, where it can be really pitch black.

The biodynamic movement has long known about the strong lunar effects on plants and animals. Huge amounts of research have taken place to correlate lunar and planetary influences, and the effects these have on plant growth.

The culmination of this research is the wonderful Biodynamic Sowing and Planting Calendar by Maria and Matthias Thun. Its produced every year and details how the moon and planetary phases affect plants every day of the year, and consequently when is the best day to sow or plant certain crops.

I've decided I must stick by it this year, as I've only really dabbled with it before. It's a commitment for sure, but I'm very interested to know what difference it makes. The biodynamic farmers swear by it and who am I to just dismiss it without really trying it properly?

A blog on Biodynamic preparations will follow at some point!

If you'd like a copy of the book, go to Floris Books. It's a very interesting read even if you're not intending to follow it.

Snow on Scilly

2009-02-03T12:08:00.003Z

The first proper snow on Scilly in 22 years has fallen. Compare the photo on the last blog with this one!

My first spuds are planted below this blanket of snow! Fortunately they're not poking their shoots up yet, which is a good job. I imagine these temperatures will slow them down a little bit.

Why we like the winter storms

2008-11-06T14:00:00.002Z

Stormy conditions are unwelcome to most people, especially those connected with farming, fishing, tourism and transport. Over last weekend we experienced some gale force Northerly winds that lashed the Northern shores of Scilly and created quite a lot of swell. This has the effect of ripping seaweed off the rocks under water, which then washes in on the beaches.

We use a lot of seaweed, in the order of 150 tons per year. It is now piled up on Great Bay and we're busy carting it off to be spread on the fields. It's a combination of silage grab and trailers that mean we can do this operation quite efficiently and maximise mechanical assistance.

In the days of old, of course, it was very different - all the island men had at their disposal was horse and cart, pitchforks, and hard labour. This must have been an incredibly time consuming process; to think 2 people can shift 3 tons of seaweed, from beach to field in about 15 minutes, it probably would've taken them all day to do that amount.

Seaweed is a great soil improver that really builds organic matter and bulks up our very light soils. It is sustainable and only costs us the fuel to move it from beach to field. It is put on the fields fresh, spread to about 6 inches thickness and left to rot. After about 8 weeks, assuming there's been some rain, it has rotted to the stage that it is OK to cultivate...simple as that.

Thank goodness for the winter storms...

Squash

2008-09-20T20:53:00.002+01:00

For many growers this summer has not been conducive to growing the heat-loving crops such as sweetcorn, tomatoes, peppers and squash. Here on the Isles of Scilly we have had a wet summer, but perhaps not as bad as some. Our squash plants have really shot away since planting and are laden with fruit.

There are two varieties - a summer variety called Table Ace and the ever popular Butternut. The former ripen up quicker than the latter, but Butternut tend to be more popular with customer as they're more recognisable - though both are very tasty.

Now the question is "will they all ripen before they rot?!" well, the good news is the last few days have been warm and sunny, which will help them along just nicely. We've even resorted to cutting leaves above the fruit to make sure they get as much sunlight as possible.

Squash actually need quite a bit of heat, firstly to ripen, then to cure. This is so the skins thicken and they can store through the winter months. It is quite possible for squash to last well in to the spring months from the previous autumn.

In our opinion they are one of the most under-rated vegetables in Britain and are a great treat that are extremely tasty.

Mustard

2008-09-03T14:20:00.004+01:00

Mustard is a great green manure that we use to cover soil that has had one crop in, but it's not time for the next one. Bare soil is a bad practice because nutrients are leached and can lead to losses of organic matter. So by sowing a fast-growing green manure, like mustard, several functions are performed at once.

Firstly, it smothers out all the weeds - obvious benefits. Secondly, its roots go in to the soil and improve structure. Thirdly, it holds nutrients and releases them back in to the soil once its cut and cultivated back in to the soil - releasing nutrients for the next crop. Lastly, it provides a habitat for wildlife.

All green manures are good for birds and insects, but mustard is especially good for butterflies and bees. I took this photo today of a honeybee working the pollen from mustard flowers:

This is a bee from one of my hives (incidentally nearly a mile away), which means that I benefit further, from the sales of honey. All in all, green manures are a fantastic thing that should be an integral part of every growing system. And all it costs is cultivation and seed...

Autumn cometh

2008-08-31T21:37:00.000+01:00

It's just about September, but really it's been feeling like autumn most of August. Lots of rain and low temperatures have succeeded in knocking back crops that like heat (squash, courgettes, tomatoes, etc) and bringing on the dying back of bracken. On the whole leafy crops have done well though this season, with virtually uninterrupted wet spells meaning soil moisture levels have been kept well above levels you would expect for summer.

My bees have been working exceptionally hard this year however, which shows the pollen and nectar flow has been good. First they start on gorse, early in the year, move on to foxglove and campion, then honeysuckle, followed by brambles and finally heather - which is in full bloom now. Just a single jar of honey (weighing 1lb) represents approx. 50,000 bee miles!! They are incredible creatures...

Apples are starting to ripen well now and this is the first year the orchard has started to look like a decent orchard. I'm hoping in a few years time the trees will be 12ft tall and laden with fruit - just right for juicing. Who could resist some Scilly juice - and perhaps cider?!