Photos from September

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

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

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

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.