6th July Newsletter |
| Posted on Jul 20 2007 at 4:36 PM |
Linscombe Farm Newsletter
Last’s week’s newsletter started with the words “This season is certainly proving to be something of a challenge!”. At that stage a hint of humour could still be found in the situation, but this week, surveying the crops, it’s very hard to be optimistic about how on earth we are going to manage to grow the crops for this coming season. At the beginning of the season, we plan to harvest early crops from polytunnels, but by July we fully expect to have an abundance of produce maturing in the fields. Not so this season. As we stated last week, crops transplanted into the fields some weeks ago really have not grown as well as we would have hoped, and crops which were planted in the spring and now flowering, such as broadbeans, are yielding less due to the reduced numbers of pollinating insects, also due to the rain.
Months of planning has gone into ensuring continuity of supply of crops from the polytunnels and now we have harvested the majority of those crops. There is no “quick fix” to be able to replace crops which are not yielding in the waterlogged fields; it will take a month for the fastest growing crops, if seeded in the tunnels now, to come ready for harvest. To some extent we always allow some leeway to cover for some crop losses, which explains why you have had rocket in every box so far this season! Normally, we would never expect to put the same crop in a box four weeks in a row, but this season we have had no alternative. Another solution is to increase the quantities of crops that are yielding.
The same is happening everywhere this season – well, except in some countries, such as
As you know, our box scheme is unique for growing absolutely everything ourselves. Why do we have this policy? Because it gives our customers the assurance that the vegetables are genuinely fresh, which means they contain the most nutrients possible, which means they are healthier for you. It also means that we can guarantee the quality of the vegetables we are providing you with and inform you about variations in quality or appearance (eg the larger Accent pots this week, see below). Perhaps most topically, it means reduced transport, so your purchase of your Linscombe box is a positive environmental step to reducing carbon emissions – probably something everyone now truly realises the importance of?! Shame it can’t have the immediate effect of shifting “La Nina” and stopping the rain.
Potatoes in the box this week include a sample of “Red Duke of York” (heritage parentage), Blue Edzel and Accent, the white potato as sampled last week. As you can understand, this variety has grown somewhat larger what with all the rain (!) and due to small tuber numbers under each plant, but it still has a traditional new potato texture despite its size, so don’t be put off. Cutting up the larger tubers to match the size of smaller ones is the best way to ensure they all get cooked through at the same time, without overcooking smaller ones. Please note Basil sharing bag with sugarsnap pea sample this week.
Enjoy your vegetables (and rocket) all the best, Phil, Helen, Tom, David and James and team.
Optional Extras now available (these prices for box customers only):