The very warm weather has meant the crops in the newly completed polytunnels have all growing well. We have been harvesting Pak Choi for our events and the carrots are nearly ready!
This month we will be lifting and moving some of our asparagus into the new permanent bed and lifting and dividing some of the rhubarb crowns. These divided crowns will be replanted in the new permanent beds and left for a year to settle in before we crop them again.
This time of year is also a time to reflect on the successes and failures of last season and weave those lessons into the plans and seed orders for the coming year. Each year we like to add new varieties to our list and try interesting crop mixes.
This year’s the new varieties include Black Futsu and Cha-cha winter squash, Solar yellow, cosmic purple and ya-ya carrots, Gladiator parsnips, Fizz Kale, Purple Royalty Beans, Porvite Leeks, Sugar Buns sweetcorn, Atris peppers, Monarca aubergine, Lime Basil, Swing Cucumbers, and Oxheart tomatoes.
In relation to mixes we will be growing the cha-cha squash under the Sugar Buns sweetcorn and green manure under French beans.
The compost bays are also complete which is wonderful as we can now start stock piling some organic material!
We are also completing our planting plans for the year – each year we make sure we are rotating the crops around our growing areas and creating efficient plans for planting. We run seven and eight year rotations which move the main crop families – brassica, legumes, alliums, potatoes, roots, cucurbits and green manures – around the holding. The planting plans cover what we plant in each bed and when we plant and harvest. If you are interested in these details they are posted on the main south farm website.
- Text by Simon Saggers
- Images by Ria Mishaal
no comments