Farm shop open daily 11 am till 6 pm

Our farm shop is looking exceptional these days, with plenty of new season produce to buy (tomatoes, cucumbers, garden peas, broad beans, peppers, chillies, aubergines, redcurrants, tayberries, raspberries, strawberries, rhubarb, summer cabbage, rainbow chard, globe artichokes, basil and garlic etc.), with a wide range of local and organic produce including Ruby June's curry sauces, Vicky's bread, our own honey, Polgoon apple juice and ginger beer, Sue Collier's Cornish cheeses, Treen milk, Essential's wholefoods, Food Of The Gods raw chocolate, Chypraze conservation grazing sausages, bacon and burgers, Kernow Inferno chilli sauces, Kyfyth Kernow jams, Treacle's Treats jams and chutneys, seasalt and seaweed etc..

We are open every day of the week from 11 am till 6 pm.

Veg boxes, 22nd July

Our small (£6) veg box on Friday - 1kg Maris Peer new potatoes, 100g mixed salad leaves, 400g tomato medley, a Hungarian wax pepper, a bulb of garlic, and 200g rainbow chard (with added extra of half a dozen free-range eggs at £1.50) - all produced on the farm.

Our standard (£10) veg box on Friday - 2kg Maris Peer new potatoes, 100g mixed salad leaves, 400g tomato medley, two bulbs of garlic, 200g rainbow chard, 500g bunched beetroot, 200g garden peas in pods, and 400g broad beans (with added extra of half a dozen free-range eggs at £1.50) - all produced on the farm.

Please email us on vegbox.bcf@bcents.org or phone 01736 788454 or call in to the farm to order your regular veg box, available with free-range eggs, milk, and bread.

Planting squash and pumpkins

Today we planted 200 squash plants in the market garden (18 days later than the equivalent last year, but they'll catch up, fingers crossed...). They were sown at the beginning of May, by a school group, and other volunteers, and have been potted on once since then into municipal compost.

Jackie, Franziska, and Alice starting to plant at the far end of the patch.

This year we have a squash patch measuring 26m by 9m, with 8 lines of 25 plants on a metre-grid system. We planted these through holes cut into mipex, surrounded by a wind-mesh fence, and covered with insect-mesh to further protect from the wind.

Franziska and Jackie taking a break from planting.

All planted, ready to cover in wondermesh.

Thie year we have tried the following squash - crown prince, blue ballet, gem (rolet), jack be little, jack o lantern, nice long, Boston winter, green Hokkaido, galeuse d'eysanne, and Cheyenne bush. Also thanks to Ben who doesn't appear in the photos!

Bosavern swallow

This year's theme for the Lafrowda Arts Festival was "the fast and the curious". For the fourth year running the community farm created a willow sculpture for the Lafrowda Day Community Procession, and because we have recently had swallows hatch from the nests in our barns, we decided to create an enormous swallow (latin name Gulpus giganticus).

Adding the flower garlands at the base of the swallow just before the procession.

Queueing for the procession to begin.

Sharka and Jo helping to push our swallow through the streets of St Just.

Soaring down Fore Street.

This two-storey willow-and-paper swallow was a beautiful achievement and was much admired in the procession, even doing twirls in Market Square. Many thanks to Alice, Jenny, Willow, Andrew, Sue, Jo and Liz (and anybody else who helped!) for realising the swallow, and to Jo, Sharka, Alice, Ian and Sue for parading with it on Saturday.

Veg boxes July 15th

Last week's small (£6) veg box, pictured above, contained Maris Peer new potatoes, fresh basil, chard, a Hungarian wax pepper, a crystal lemon cucumber, broad beans (or French beans), and garden peas.
Last week's standard (£10) veg box contained Maris Peer new potatoes, garden peas, a cucumber, chard, rhubarb, a pointed cabbage, a punnet of assorted tomatoes, and mixed salad leaves.

The bee mural is hung.

A local scaffolding firm volunteered their services to hang our new community-painted bee mural, and came to the farm today to complete their task.

The scaffolding arrives.

The seven mural panels laid out in the farmyard ready for hanging.

The first three panels hung on the back of the open barn.

The mural in all its awesome glory, with trellises for climbing plants on either side.

Thanks of course to the two scaffolders for their time and effort, and for Julia and all the volunteers who created this special work of art.

Mira

Mira serving in the farm shop.

Mira, from Switzerland, left the farm yesterday for a holiday on the Isles of Scilly, after wwoofing with us for 5 weeks. Many many thanks to Mira for her hard work in the fields and in the farm house.

Planting leeks

On Tuesday 12th July we had our biggest leek planting session so far this year, and now have about 3000 leeks hand-planted in the Market Garden. These are the four earliest varieties of the eight we will be growing this year (the rest are yet to go in...).

Four lines in, five to go.

Working on the fifth line - Arran, Mira, Ben and Deborah.

The ground was tractor-rotovated, then marked by string-lines 80cm apart. A strip of municipal compost was laid along each line, then 10cm deep holes were dibbed along the string at 20cm spacings. The leeks were dug out of our polytunnel nursery bed (sown on 28th February), and one bare-root transplant was dropped into each hole. The soil/compost was then pushed back into the hole, and each leek watered by can.

Many thanks to everyone who helped with our leek day - Arran, Ben, Deborah, Romain, Mira, Franziska and Jackie.

innertuba

John arrived at the farm yesterday, having cycled from John O'Groats. He will be camping and volunteering with us for two days. John is no ordinary cyclist however, but a one-man musical touring show, featuring a recumbant and tuba-trailer!

John arrives by recumbant at our camping field.

John practising his tuba in the cob round-house.

John helping to waterproof the bee mural.

John has already played in a concert in St Just's Market Square with Pendeen Silver Band (the most southwesterly brass band on the British mainland) as part of the Lafrowda Festival, and will soon be cycling down the Lizard Peninsula to play with St Keverne band (the most southerly on the British mainland). You can follow his exploits, and find out more, on www.innertuba.org.uk.

Simon

Simon, in the centre, clearing edible chrysanthemums from the salad polytunnel, with Gilles and Manon.

Simon wwoofed with us for five weeks, and left to return home to Portsmouth on Friday. Many thanks from us all go to Simon, and we wish him all the best for the future.

Market and shop helpers needed.

Do you fancy selling some lovely fresh produce? Or just want to help your community farm out? We are always looking for more help in our farm shop, or at local farmer's markets, and will give you all the training you need to be confident. Our farm shop is open every day of the week from 11:00 to 18:00, but it's in the afternoons when we really need help. And we have stalls at one or two farmer's markets for three hours every Saturday morning, in Pendeen and/or St Just, and need someone to run our stall on occasion (not very week). Please phone Hugh on 788454 to offer your help. Many thanks!

Leek planters needed!

On Tuesday 12th July we will be spending the day planting leeks in the market garden, and any help will be gratefully received, between 09:00 and 17:00 (or any part of that time).

Bee Project update

Julia Kerrison, a local artist and teacher, putting the final touches to our community-painted bee mural, before its hanging this coming Thursday.

John Tobin, a local farmer and contractor, clearing the area behind our open barn, where the bee education centre will be sited.

Veg boxes 8th July

Small (£6) veg box - new potatoes, mixed salad leaves, rainbow chard, rhubarb, courgette, and a crystal lemon cucumber.
Standard (£10) veg box - new potatoes, globe artichoke, cucmber, garden peas, Hungarian wax pepper, broad beans, rainbow chard, rhubarb, and courgettes.

Hanging the bee mural

Our amazing new bee mural, created by local artists and schoolchildren, will be hung in our under-construction Bee Education Centre next Thursday morning, the 14th July, at 09:00. Anybody wanting to watch it go up, or learn about the project, or visit the farm, or lend a hand if needed, please come along!

Summer camping

Bosavern Community Farm is now open for a few weeks of camping over the summer. Please follow this link to find out our availability and to book your pitch:-

www.pitchup.com/campsites/England/South_West/Cornwall/Penzance/bosavern-community-farm/

This year we have added two new features to our camping field. The top photo shows our new shower cubicle, constructed entirely out of items "upcycled" from various parts of the farm - hot showers are included in the price of camping. And the bottom photo shows our fabulous new cob round-house, which this year will be the wet-weather-shelter and general common room. We also have a farm shop open daily 11:00 till 18:00, a recycling collection point, mains water supply, and newly mown pitches within our hay meadow with sea views. Plus campers can help out with farm tasks, such as collecting eggs and picking vegetables.

Prices are £7 per adult per night, £3 per 5-17 year old per night, with under 5s free. The number of pitches, and the number of nights when we are offering camping are limited, so please book early. Sorry, but dogs are not allowed, and under-18s must be accompanied by a responsible adult.

Bee murals move to the farm

Our bee murals have been created in St Just's Drill Hall over the past week, by farm and community volunteers, as part of our Bee Project (in association with Grow Wild and Kew Gardens). On Thursday morning they moved down to the farm, where they are now on display around the farm shop entrance. They need their finishing touches, and waterproofing, but we think they look pretty amazing already, so please come down and have a look (and get your shopping at the same time).

Veg boxes 1st July

Small (£6) veg box - chard, kale, new potatoes, courgettes, cucumber, and broad beans.
Standard (£10) veg box - new potatoes, fresh basil, broad beans, kale, chard, rhubarb, mixed salad leaves, and courgettes.

Manon

Manon, from Brittany, volunteered on the farm for several weeks, and left on Thursday to return to France. Many thanks to Manon for being a stalwart of our wwoofing team in June!

Manon clearing old salad plants from Imogen polytunnel, with Gilles.