High Summer Veg

Lots of crops are coming through really well. This means lots for the CSA members – we’ve got an abundance to share around. We’re loving hearing from our members how they’re enjoying their veg bags.
It’s now all the summer flavours: broad beans, peas, tomatoes, cucumbers and more.

Cover Crops & Diversity

You may have seen the beautiful sea of purple in some of our fields. This is phacelia, one of the plants in our cover crop green manure mixes. This has done extremely well despite being planted into the drought conditions. At the same time, some of the other species in the cover crop mix failed, or are very patchy. This is an example of how plant diversity makes farms more resilient. By planting a mix, we gave ourselves the best chance of getting a cover crop no matter the weather. And it would have been ‘the more the merrier’. If all the seeds had come through together, that would have been good too.

We focus on planting diversity in the Market Garden. It help us:

Mitigate climate risk because one variety may thrive where another fails

Make the most of the time and energy we spend sowing
(when we sow different varieties together at the same time, we get a more reliable, varied or longer harvest from one sowing job)

Extend the season across the year, with different things growing better at different times

and, last but not least

Provide our community with broader nutrition and AMAZING TASTES!!

Using data from the National Diet and Nutrition Survey, the British Nutrition Foundation recently announced that half of the UK’s vegetable intake is made up of just four types: peas, tomatoes (which is actually a fruit), onions and carrots.

Our CSA member shares have already included 20 types of vegetable and over 65 varieties with plenty more to come.
(and that doesn’t even include carrots and onions yet as they’re still a bit small!)

The Market Stall is Back

It’s been great to (re)start the farm gate market stall this month and see some familiar friends from last year, and new faces coming for the first time.

You’ll find things at the stall or in a farm veg bag that you won’t find in the supermarket (and some things you would – but ours are better!). We know not everyone is confident to cook with new things and you might not buy veg you don’t recognise. At the Market Stall, we’re always happy to explain what things are and what do with them. Come along and ask questions – we’re happy to chat. Thursdays 4:30-6pm in the farmyard – click here for stall details and directions.