A Gardener's Year at South Farm

April began with a blast of arctic wind and some hard frosts although we are now also getting nice days mixed in. As the ground is still pretty dry we have been able to get on with the sowing in the vegetable fields. Indeed when the wind drops it is really feeling like spring!

Habitat creation and management
We have completed our winter habitat planting. At South Farm we are always working on increasing our bio-diversity and this year we have added another tranche of trees around the holding. The more habitats we can create the more natural predators we can host. Although we are not certified organic we follow organic principles and it is interesting that in most of the studies, important differences were found between the biodiversity on the organic and conventional farms, with substantially greater levels of both abundance and diversity of species on the organic farms: Five times as many wild plants in arable fields, 25 per cent more birds at the field edge, 44 per cent more in-field in autumn/winter; 1.6 times as many of the arthropods that comprise bird food; three times as many non-pest butterflies in the crop areas; significant decrease in aphid numbers.We are proud to see ourselves as part of the organic farming movement that is widely acknowledged as reversing the trends in conventional farming that have caused the decline in biodiversity.

The tomato journey continues…
Last month we left our tomato plants nicely potted on and protected against the frost. The next stage is planting them into their final growing position and when to do this can be a tricky decision. We are always gambling with the season, trying to get the earliest possible crops, and some of our early plants on the edges of our double bubble wrapped polytunnel have suffered with the hard frosts cutting some leaves. However this does not necessarily mean the end of the plant – if it has happened to yours just prune the plant back to a healthy looking leaf truss and it will recover. This does demonstrate the gamble with frosts at this time of year. The sooner we get the plants into the tunnel and growing away the sooner we will be able to harvest lovely fresh tomatoes but if they go out and we have a hard late frost we risk losing the plants. So you need to really think about how frost will affect the location you will be planting your plants into. As a rule of thumb we aim to plant outside in early June, and in our unheated greenhouses from mid-late-April depending on the seasonal frost situation.

When you do take the plunge and plant out do so at approx 40cm spaces, watering the hole well. Bush types require no supports however other cordon types will need canes or string to support them. At South Farm we use a string system which requires a timber support in our tunnel roof. We then tie a string which hangs to about 10inches into the ground. The root ball of the plant is then wrapped in the string and buried into the soil. This gives a really firm base and provides a support for the plant as it grows. The planting out process is effectively another potting on process and as such take off some of the lower leaf trusses and bury a good amount of stem – the plant will again throw out new roots and it will help strengthen the plant. Once planted out the roots should be kept moist but not waterlogged.

Broad Beans
Your broad beans should now be putting on some nice growth – keep the plants weed free and well watered. Every time you weed and water try and add some organic mulch around the plants. This will help keep the water in the soil and feed the soil as it breaks down. As we are now entering the grass cutting season an inch or two of grass clippings will do the trick nicely. Enjoy watching the beans springing into full verdant growth!

We are always gambling with the season, trying to get the earliest possible crops, and some of our early plants on the edges of our double bubble wrapped polytonal have lost some leaves.