Tomorrow's markets

Tomorrow are the last farmer's markets before Christmas! We will have stalls at both St. Just (09:30 till 12:30) and Pendeen (10:00 til 13:00), where we will be selling our own honey in large, medium and small jars, plus a range of seasonal vegetables, inlcuding stalks of Brussels sprouts at only £1.50 (certified organic). So please come and support us, and other local producers, by stocking up for Christmas locally.

Seb

Seb (bunching black radishes for veg boxes in the above photo) came from France to help us for a few weeks - many thanks Seb for your involvement on the farm, and have a great Christmas!

St. Just Christmas Farmers' Market tonight

Christmas in St. Just starts tonight, with the walking nativity (scheduled for 18:15 in the Plen-an-Gwary, or the Miners Chapel if wet), Christmas lights turn-on with Pendeen Silver Band at 19:00 in Market Square, and the Christmas market in the W.I. Hall from 17:00 till 20:00 with mulled wine and live music. We will have a stall at the market tonight, and again in the morning 09:30 till 12:30 for the usual Farmers' market, so please come and support us and the other local tradespeople.

 www.facebook.com/StJustFarmersMarket/

Recent improvements

Our new array of veg box shelving across the back wall of the packing shed, built out of reclaimed tonne-boxes. The back wall was painted (with a waterproof tanking slurry) by local Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme volunteers.

We've struggled for nine years with poor visibility for our farm entrance, so our new entrance with reduced hedge height (down to 1m above road height) is a great improvement.

And better visibility downhill too.

The new "Seedbox" workshop-cum-classroom-cum-whatever in the packing shed, with heating, lighting and wheelchair access. It had its first use at the Winter Fair, and held its first workshop this Wednesday (weaving with the Roaming Rag Company).

A new skylight panel fitted above the farm shop entrance to replace the old broken leaky one.

Many thanks to Rebuild Southwest for leading on most of these projects, and all our other volunteers who leant hands when needed (in particular lowering the hedge and building the shelves).

Today's veg boxes

Today we put together 51 veg boxes, which is a new record (Chris is currently out delivering most of them around West Penwith - St. Just, Pendeen, St. Ives, Gulval, Penzance, Newlyn, Mousehole, St. Buryan, Sennen, and places in between). This week they contain a selection from (depending on size and personal taste) - savoy cabbage, swede, coriander, leeks, Ambo potatoes, carrots, beetroot, chard, kale, and radishes. Next week there will be stalks of Brussels sprouts (and maybe parsnips) - hooray!!

Volunteers helping to pack our veg boxes.

Winter Fair

On Sunday 8th December we enjoyed a very special Winter Fair here at the farm, centred in the re-vamped packing shed, and with a high turn-our despite the bad weather (maybe we're just used to it by now?). Our new entrance into Home Field was fully operational just in time, as was the Seedbox multifunctional space where Kate and Willow ran craft workshops, and our packing shed was organised and looking wonderfully festive (the best it's ever looked).

Pendeen Silver Band playing carols in the packing shed.

The Christmas market in the packing shed, with eight traders and fundraisers.

Pendeen Junior Band began the musical entertainment.

Many thanks go to Pendeen Junior Band, Pendeen Silver Band, and the True Foxes for providing live music through the afternoon, Shelley for organising the day, Andy for providing great food, all the stallholders, and all the volunteers who helped prepare for and run the fair - thank you all!

Steve, Amelie, and Marie

British Steve and Belgians Amelie and Marie have all wwoofed with us recently, and we'd like to take this opportunity to thank them for all their hard work and community spirit whilst being here on the farm with us.