The season gets going

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

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!

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

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

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

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

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.