Today's veg boxes

 

Picking salad leaves for our veg boxes.

The first few overwintering onions went into today's standard veg boxes.

Standard veg boxes (£13.50) - onions, mixed herbs, lemon verbena, kale, rainbow chard (from Marazion), salad leaves, redcurrants, cucumber, garlic, and new potatoes (from Pembrokeshire).

Small veg boxes (£8.50) - kale, rainbow chard (from Marazion), salad leaves , cucumber, redcurrants, and new potatoes (from Pembrokesire).

Rain!

 

We are currently enjoying the first significant rainfall we've had since early May. The farm has been crying out for rain for over a month now, and our outdoor crops are well behind where they should be as a consequence, making this year's Hungry Gap one of the worst we've had in recent years. We do though have new season crops now coming through, from the polytunnels and outside - salad leaves, cucumbers, tomatoes, broad beans, French beans, onions, rainbow chard, 3 types of kale, redcurrants, and gooseberries. Through the Hungry Gap we have relied heavily on mange-tout, rhubarb, globe artichokes, fresh herbs, dried true garlic, and fresh elephant garlic, plus produce bought in from a national organic wholesaler. But the Hungry Gap is very almost behind us now (two weeks until our own new potatoes!) which is always a relief and a joy.

This Friday's veg boxes

 

Our garlic drying in a polytunnel.

Our veg boxes this week will contain a selection from the following:-

UK organic potatoes and apples,

Our own garlic, salad, mixed herbs, globe artichokes, broad beans, cucumbers, and rhubarb.

Veg boxes are delivered throughout most of Penwith (please contact us for details) and cost £8.50 for a small, £13.50 for a standard, and £2 for delivery, plus extra for eggs, bread, milk, yoghurt, honey etc...

vegbox.bcf@bcents.org

planting in Valentine

Inside Valentine tunnel this morning.

On May 2nd, as part of our Magnificent May, we put a new skin on Valentine polytunnel, and then began planting immediately. This year Valentine is to be our "wet" polytunnel, with overhead spray irrigators, to provide a microclimate that some plants love and red spider mite hate. Valentine is now fully planted with French climbing beans, cucumbers, and aubergines, all strung and staked accordingly, and the cucumbers and French beans have just started to produce small amounts.

Magnificent May

Ignoring the weather (remember when it used to rain in the spring???) we had a great month of May primarily because we had a house full of a wonderful team of WWOOF volunteers, who, alongside our team of local volunteers and two members of growing staff, got things very almost up to date in most areas of the farm. So a HUGE thank you to Noe, Awa, Patrick, Jamie, Polly, Alice and Joel, all of whom have now moved on to other places and projects.