Outdoor salad.

The final third of our new outdoor salad bed has been the best so far, with few flea-beetle holes, few weeds, and lots of salad leaves (which also enjoyed the recent rain).

Our outdoor salad bed with its three successions - the first bed covered on the right getting ready for re-sowing, the central bed with its old salad, and the bed on the left with its fresh young salad just ready for its first pick.

Alice hoeing paths in the new salad - red frills, rocket, mizuna, mibuna and sessantina.

A mix of the new salad, supplemented with borage flowers from the market garden, plus nasturtium flowers and leaves plus wild rocket from the polytunnels.

Fruit

This year we have hugely increased our fruit output from the farm, mainly thanks to our new fruit-cage. This week we harvested our first blackcurrants, redcurrants, and gooseberries from it. We also have a big area of outdoor rhubarb, plus both strawberries and physallis (Cape gooseberries) from the polytunnels. These are all now available in the farm shop if you are lucky enough to catch them (they sell out fast!).

Our rhubarb and strawberries have almost finished for the season, but the physallis and currants are just starting, and we also have tayberries to come.

Planting brassicas.

On Tuesday 21st and Wednesday 22nd July we planted more than 3000 brassicas, which is most but not all of our brassicas for this autumn and winter. Thanks to our propagation tunnel erected in March, we were able to raise all these seedlings ourselves this year. We still have some seedlings growing on to be planted in August, and we will need to supplement (by buying in) what didn't work out, but it was a big leap for us and generally successful. The brassicas (kales, cabbages, Brussels sprouts, cauliflowers, calabrese, and broccoli) were planted in the old chicken field, where our birds had pecked around and manured for 2 years, after which we ploughed, harrowed/rotovated and limed it.

Pablo, Doug and Giordano pushing in seedlings after the tractor has passed.

Pablo filling a few gaps in the almost completed field.

95% of the brassicas are now covered in mesh to stop the pigeons eating them - and they will have loved the rain from Thursday night onwards. Now we have all our leeks to go in...

Veg box 24th July

Our small £6 veg box from Friday (cat not included - Boss just likes being in photos) contained a bunch of baby carrots, rhubarb, peas in their pods, new potatoes, broad beans and a cucumber. The standard £10 veg box also contained a bag of salad leaves, fresh basil, Swiss chard, and extra potatoes.

Lafrowda and the Bosavern Bee-Gees.

Another year's Lafrowda festival is over, with yesterday being the main day, and it was as excellent as always. Bosavern Community Farm again took part in the community procession on finale day (but we opted against having a stall on Fore Street this year - there's only so much you can do), following up last year's hilarious Were-Rabbit with this year's pun-tastic Bee-Gees.

Alice and Nikki starting the Bee-Gees at one of the willow workshop sessions in the Drill Hall.

Alice making our sign whilst staffing the farm shop.

Deb, Alice, Sue and Ian parading through a packed Market Square in St Just.

The Community Procession coming back down Fore Street, with Jimi Hendrix, The Rolling Stones, and Bootsy.

Heading through Bank Square one final time.

We would like to thank Alice, Nikki, Jo, Liz, Jenny, Andrew, Jim, Mel and Helen for creating the amazing Bee Gees; Deb, Sue and Ian for carrying them in the procession; and to the whole Lafrowda crew for another superb festival.

Veg box 17th July

Last Friday's standard £10 veg box is pictured above, and contained new potatoes, peas in their pods, Swiss chard, physallis (a.k.a. Cape gooseberry), climbing French beans, broad beans, mixed basil, a cucumber, two rocoto chillies, and two courgettes (one of these in this picture is a patty-pan squash). The small £6 box contained new potatoes, peas in their pods, broad beans, Swiss chard, a cucumber, and mixed salad leaves. Please contact the farm on 788454 if you would like to join our scheme!

Jonas

Jonas, from France, left the farm earlier in the week after 2 weeks volunteering with us, to head to his next wwoofing destination, and we thank him for his work during his time with us, and wish him all the best in his onward travels.