John English, Assistant Grower, gives the latest update from our fields
“The mid-winter months at the farm are a welcome chance for us to recharge our batteries and start getting ready for the next growing season.
It’s also an opportunity to catch up with all those important maintenance jobs that there never seems to be enough time to do during the busy harvest months: repairing farm machinery, gathering in crop covers, mending fences and making sure the poly tunnels are secured against bad weather.>
Leeks
We have a few over-wintering crops left in the field, so there is still some weekly harvesting to be done. Leeks are a staple winter crop for our box scheme and they’ve done well this season. They will hold through the worst of the frosts and snow and we’ll be picking them until March. Although, stripping and trimming leeks, out in the field on a frozen January morning, is not the most popular of jobs for the staff!
Kale, cauliflower and cabbages
Our other over-wintering crops at this time in the season are kales, cauliflowers and cabbages; Savoys, January Kings and red and white hard cabbages. These were the final plantings of last summer and have greatly benefited from last year’s unusually mild autumn; the caulis in particular are some of the biggest and best we’ve grown. Although that weather was also ideal for slugs, which inflicted some damage until December’s frosts killed most of them off.
Winter salad
We also grow winter salad leaves in our poly tunnels, a mix of rocket, mizunas, chicory and oriental mustards and greens. These were planted last October and, if properly looked after, they’ll 'cut and come again’ several times and crop right through until the spring. The winter salad bags of hot and peppery leaves are very popular with our customers and they bring some welcome variety of fresh salad greens until the first of the spring’s lettuces are ready.
Preparing for next season
The sowing of some of next season’s crops is already underway; I have been propagating tomato, shallot and onion seeds in trays of compost in the poly tunnel. In the dark days of January, it always feels a bit strange to be starting work on tomatoes that I won’t be planting out until May and eating until July or August! But it’s a heartening reminder that the new growing year isn’t too far away.”
