28th and 29th June Newsletter |
| Posted on Jul 20 2007 at 4:39 PM |
Linscombe Farm Newsletter
This season is certainly proving to be something of a challenge! On the bright side, we are saving hours not having to rush around with irrigation equipment like we did last year. Four weeks ago we invested in some automated watering sprinklers for the seedlings on the hardening off benches. Such investments are always guaranteed to produce some rain, but this is now getting rather excessive – needless to say, the new kit remains unused and the transplants are getting rather waterlogged in their module trays and very desperate to be transplanted! No chance of getting a tractor on the fields at present, although a break in the clouds did allow some lettuce transplants to make it into the soil this week by good old traditional hand planting. Some worry as to the timeliness of maturity of other crops as their transplanting date is delayed. Enormous worry about the humungous weed populations now overtaking those crops which did get transplanted into the fields before the weather broke!! These crops are getting seemingly smaller and turning yellow especially the courgettes, which we are eagerly awaiting - don’t hold your breath for too long!
In desperation we have dug a fork into the ground to see if the garlic has rotted – luckily not yet, although it will if left underground much longer. You have the results of our digging expedition in your boxes this week. Potatoes have grown in proportion to the quantity of rain, and your rather muddy samples this week are Accent, which were all lovingly individually forked out of the ground by Ish, who was very excited to discover 25 potatoes under one plant (not of Accent but another variety we are growing that we were assessing the development of)! Broadbeans have finally yielded up and those in your box this week are deliciously tender and can be eaten PODS and all. Pods need tops and bottoms trimmed and are best chopped and saut饤. David & James needed some encouragement (as daftly I told them what it was!) but Tom gobbled all up and asked for seconds. Field onions too, are eaten in their entirety, either as salad greens or cooked. The lettuces this week, which are from the field, despite coming pre-washed (!) need our soil rinsing off due to the rain splash effect. Sorry if you get duplication of variety, but some have not tolerated the wet conditions and have rotted. Who can blame them!
As we approach the summer hols, many of you have evidently got fed up with the
Please tell this friend that they can purchase a trial or sample box, with no obligation to join the scheme. They just have to request a sample box when they send back the form. (Alternatively if you are feeling generous, you can buy your friend the sample box on your account!) If your friend then joins the scheme, we will credit your account with the price of the sample box that they originally tried, when they order their fourth box from us. So make sure they mention your name as their introduction to the box scheme! Get in touch if you have any queries on this.
Enjoy your vegetables, all the best,
Phil, Helen, Tom, David and James and team.
Optional Extras now available (these prices for box customers only):
Accent potatoes 1.50/kg Green onions 2.20/kg Please order whole kgs only.
If it stops raining, we’ll be able to offer discounted bulk prices on potatoes from after next week!