Warm and sunny, it must be summer...

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

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

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

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

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!

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