We're featured in Geographical magazine

A recent article about rising sea levels on Scilly has been published in Geographical magazine and features our farm prominently.
http://geographical.co.uk/nature/climate/item/1481-scilly-s-changing-climate

Fungi on the farm

This autumn has been a cracking year for fungi. They've been late - peaking in November rather than October, but the continued wet and very mild weather is absolutely ideal for fungal growth. Even now there are stacks to be seen when walking round the island.

On the farm there have been some particularly interesting fungi seen recently:

See lots more photos of fungi on our Scilly Yurt Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.467157543463173.1073741832.234680490044214&type=3

Getting the squash in

Squash are one of the great vegetable crops. A few decades ago all you got was pumpkins in Britain, but the North Americans know all about squash, and have done for much longer than us.

The main difference is that squash are generally smaller than pumpkins, with a much denser flesh and higher sugar levels. In short they're much more useful in the kitchen and more delicious on the table.

For us they're a mainstay of our winter cooking and a supply for our winter veg boxes. The varieties we grow quite really well (some as long as next summer!) and taste fantastic.

This year's wasn't the best ever but quite reasonable. Here are some adorning the shelves of the glasshouse, where they'll stay until needed. 

If ever you want an easy crop to grow that keeps for ages and tastes great, then grow as many squash as you can. Three rules for growing them: 1. the seed needs at least 22C to germinate, 2. squash plants need lots of space, and 3. bring the fruit indoors (assuming they're winter storage types) by the end of September as they need some warmth to 'cure' - i.e. set a hard skin and sweeten the flesh. Otherwise they're easy!

Very unusual fungus

This was a very unusual find in a field that we use for making and composting woodchips. Never seen before on the farm, it's a 'red cage' fungus, Clathrus ruber. 

The fruiting body is a really strange looking thing that has a lattice structure like a cage or basket, but is red and appears slightly slimy. 

Apparently it's not edible, but also quite rare. Whatever, it was a pleasure to look at and I hope it returns (or rather appears) again next year.

A tale of black caterpillars

One field on the farm is not for growing vegetables, it's for storing machinery, chipping up branches and making compost. In this field, the weeds...well let's say they don't get managed quite as much as in other fields!

However this is a good thing for wildlife. As a rule of thumb, less disturbance equals higher biodiversity, and in this field this is true. It grows fine crops of nettles, the first burst in March and April, which then go to seed and die back. Then a second burst come through in August and peak in September.

The nettle is a plant that gives us humans a nasty sting,but it's incredibly useful both for us and for insects. You can find any number of aphids and other small flying insects on nettle plants. It makes great soup, is an important medicinal herb and the Nazis even made uniforms from nettles in WW2.

But what could be a more pleasing sight than these black caterpillars devouring nettles? It's a plant I feel happy for them to attack as much as they like (there were plenty more plants, nettle lovers...), but look at the colour of the insects - beautiful.

Furthermore these are destined to become, I think, one of the most beautiful butterflies, the Red Admiral.

So next time you see a patch of nettles just look out for those black caterpillars.

Early potatoes

Potatoes can be a very rewarding crop to grow. It starts off in the dark days of winter when you start "chitting" the 'seed' - i.e. allowing the potatoes you plant to grow little shoots.

Ridging up the early crop

When it comes to about mid February we are always keen to get the first early potatoes in the ground, upon which we have always put seaweed on the autumn before. This gives the soil a lot of nutrients and masses of organic matter. Both of these are crucial for the quality and taste of the potatoes.

There will always be a point when, despite the cool temperatures and sometimes wet and windy conditions, we're keen to just plant and get the new season crop underway. Then they sit there underground for several weeks, the roots slowly growing and shoots slowly rising up to the surface.

At some point in March little shoots will emerge and a sense of relief comes over us growers. "Spring is on the way!" we will say. However, as with this year, you can then experience several weeks of cool winds and a lack of rain. Under these conditions the potato harvest can be set back two weeks or more.

We can use horticultural fleece to bring on the crop, often with dramatic increases in growth - both for crop and weeds! However this is also frought with the peril of the spring gales, where fleece can be quickly removed from the field and deposited in the hedge!

Freshly dug early potatoes, today!

If April is a good growing month (warm with some rain) then we aim to start digging early potatoes in the first week of May. This year we were about two and a half weeks later than that, due to the cool spring.

However, most importantly, we're happy to say that they're tasting great...and are curently on sale on our veg stall! Digging the first bucket of outdoor early potatoes is really rewarding...

Dawn Chrous

One good thing about having a baby that wakes you up early is that you get to hear the beautiful Dawn Chorus at this time of year. In homage to National Dawn Chorus Day last weekend, here is a recording of birds at about 5am on St Martin's.