Things are well and truly underway with the growing season. This week we managed to plant out around 450 squash plants at Rushford and place an old tyre delicately around each one. This is a handy tip passed on to us by another local grower and the hope is that the tyres will warm up in the sunshine and create a sort of micro-climate around each plant. As a result we would hope to get an improved squash harvest compared to last year – even if the weather remains unsettled for the rest of the summer. Meanwhile we have been attempting to do battle with a sudden wave of weeds that has swept over the potatoes. We have hand-weeded 600m of a total of 3,000 meters. It is important to keep the potato ridges clean as it makes for much easier and more efficient harvesting – and this is one of those jobs which will save a lot more time in the future if it is done right now.
Over at Longfield the majority of the salad and leaf crops are planted out, along with the fennel and herbs, it often takes us by surprise this time of year just how quickly the field changes from a patch of cultivated soil to a flourishing market garden over the space of a few long days. Jobs over the next week will include planting out several hundred sweetcorn seedlings, a few hundred cauliflowers and a renewed weeding campaign.
Thank you to all those of you who came along to our fourth annual summer open day on Saturday. The weather was fantastic and the cakes were spectacular. We are still looking to take on more members for this year so, again, please pass on the word and tell people they are welcome to pop in to Longfield anytime to have a look around.
This week’s share will be available from your usual collection points slightly earlier than usual, from Thursday 20th June. There is a bag of salad and a bag of spinach or chard for everyone. Please note LARGE shares receive a slightly larger bag of both salad and spinach/chard than SMALL shares. The two sized bags will be kept separate at your collection point and clearly labelled. Please make sure you know which size share you have and take the correct bags, otherwise we tend to spend a lot of time harvesting extra produce for those who miss out.
Until next week – enjoy the longest day – and the inevitable sunshine!