Recent photos

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...

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

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

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

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

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

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!!