Looking back at the season
EMMA HAMS
Almost everything from the growing year of 2022 is being harvested which means it’s a good moment to look back and share some ups and downs.
This season, we had to deal with a drought which meant we had to water the field crops. On the fields we use long tapes with little holes (drip tape). They are heavy to move around but do the job well. In the middle of the season, we had the joy of a new tractor for the garden (now named ‘Daisy’) which came with a lot of opportunities and meant we could make a watering system using the tractor that saved us a lot of time and hard work. At this point we had just planted the leeks and the last kales, so this new watering system is the secret to our success with these crops this year. We were able to reuse the water that we used to wash other vegetables, so we had basically no water wastage.
Some other crops that were great this year where swede, potatoes, squash, and white cabbage, so hopefully you can all enjoy these vegetables for a long time over the winter.
I also really enjoyed the flowers; it was a great success to have the mixed beds in the field. They bought a great variety of colour and it was amazing how every week there was a new sort that thrived. These mixed beds will be back next year and hopefully even some more to provide bouquets for the shop every Thursday.
In the tunnels it became quite warm, I have to say! But with our early starts we managed them quite well. Only last week did we clear out the last tomatoes, so it was a long season for them, especially because of the mild autumn. Although mild, this autumn has come with some struggles because it is wet which means crops are more likely to suffer from diseases, like the lettuces and brassicas in the tunnels. The caterpillars are also loving it and having a big meal in the kales!
I do want to put swede in the spotlight. I have to confess I am not often a huge fan of this big brassica, however I tried a recipe last night and it was super tasty so please try it out and let’s all get creative with swede!
