New veg box prices from 7th April 2023

 Unfortunately, we are going to have to raise our prices from 1^st April (effectively starting with the veg box due on 7^th April) as we are no longer able to absorb rising costs. We are sorry about this and would not do so unless we really had to. Please can you make the necessary adjustments to your standing orders. Many thanks for your continued support.

 

Our new prices will be:-

Box prices

Delivery	£2
Small veg box	£8.50
Standard veg box	£13.50
Half a dozen eggs	£2.30
Dozen eggs	£4.60 etc..

 

Bread prices

	Small	Large
Bordelais sourdough	£2.50	£4.60
Multigrain	£2.50	£4.70
Spelt sourdough	£2.50	£4.60
Wholewheat sourdough	£2.50	£4.60
Cloudy white	£2.20	£3.60
Sliced white	£2.20	£3.60
Sliced multigrain	£2.50	£4.70
100% rye	£4.00
Baguette	£2.50
Tea cakes	£3.50

 

vegbox.bcf@bcents.org

 

Veg boxes 31st March

 

Richard loading veg boxes for his delivery round (St. Just, Pendeen, St. Ives, Ludgvan, Gulval, Mousehole, Porthcurno, St. Buryan, Sennen, and all the places in between).

This week we are intending to fill 80 veg boxes with all our own produce:-

£7.70 box - French breakfast radishes, mixed herbs, Carolus potatoes, watercress, mixed salad leaves, and purple sprouting broccoli.

£12 box - French breakfast radishes, mixed herbs, Carolus potatoes, watercress, mixed salad leaves, oriental greens, spring greens, kale, and baby stripey beetroot.

Lee, Thomas, Claire and Miriam

We had a delightful team of WWOOF volunteers in February, who have all now sadly left (but have been replaced by an equally delightful March team, thankfully!!), and everybody here at the community farm would like to pass on thanks and best wishes to Lee, Thomas, Claire and Miriam.

Miriam and Lee picking icicle radishes in Valentine polytunnel (before we took the damaged skin off which has yet to be replaced, so this polytunnel is currently open-air).

Spring Open Day

Yesterday we enjoyed a wonderful day on the farm, with a very well organised and attended open day, and even a day of spring sunshine. Many thanks go to everybody who lent a hand on the day, to everybody who attended and made the day so speical and positive, and especially to those who helped organise the day. Here is a small selection of photos...

Stalls in the farmyard - Sophie's Touch preserves, Ron's potted plants, Tin Coast Cheese, and the WEA.

The farm's refreshments stall.

Oliver sharpening tools in the workshop.

Nick and his carved wooden spoons.

Green woodworking lathe turning bowls in the farmyard.

Bowls from the lathe.

Permaculture courses

 

COURSES AT BOSAVERN

Introduction to Permaculture Design (Still places available - Book Now)
Monday 27th March at Bosavern Community Farm
We are delighted to be hosting this one day Introduction to Permaculture course which will be led by Jodie Tellam from the WEA.
This one day course is £24 but is free to eligible learners on a means-tested benefit or low income.
For more details follow link: https://enrolonline.wea.org.uk/Online/2022/CourseInfo.aspx?r=C3534331
Or call 0300 303 3464

ALSO

Certificate in Permaculture Design
From 24th April until 17th May at Bosavern Community Farm
The certificate in Permaculture Design is led by Jodie Tellam from the WEA.
This course is £372 but is free to eligible learners on a means-tested benefit or low income.
For more details follow ink: https://enrolonline.wea.org.uk/Online/2022/CourseInfo.aspx?r=C3534344
Or call 0300 303 3464
 

Spring open day

 SPRING OPEN DAY

Sunday 26th March, 12.00 - 4.00pm

at Bosavern Community Farm, St Just, TR19 7RD

This Sunday afternoon we have our Spring Open Day with craft stalls, family activities, tea and cake, wood carving demos, wildlife tours of the farm, a tool sharpening service, sales of plants, seed, seed trays, compost, tools - everything you might need, to get set for gardening this season!

Everyone is welcome and people are encouraged to arrive by boot, bus or bike wherever possible as the fields are too wet for parking at this time of year. There is a lovely footpath from St Just across the fields which will be marked on the day and very limited parking provision for blue badge holders and drop-offs.

Veg boxes 3rd March

Tomorrow's veg boxes are planned to contain:-

Small veg box (£7.70) - Carolus potatoes, mixed salad leaves, a kohl rabi, red Russian kale, a bunch of icicle radishes, and oriental greens (all grown here on the community farm).

Standard veg box (£12) - all the above, plus beetroot from Trenow Organic Market Garden near Marazion, plus mixed herbs and watercress (both from the community farm).

Miriam and Lee picking icicle radishes in Valentine polytunnel.

Ben picking kale on the market garden.

Lee picking kohl rabi in the Sausage polytunnel.

For more information about veg boxes please email vegbox.bcf@bcents.org.

Veg boxes 10th February 2023

 

Stopping for a lunch break on last Friday's delivery round, near Halsetown.

Our not-for-profit veg boxes this Friday are expected to contain:-

£7.70 box - potatoes, rainbow chard, dried chillies, mixed salad leaves, beetroot (from Trenow organic market garden), and a savoy cabbage (from Cargease Organics).

£12 box - all the above plus watercress, oriental greens, and a kohl rabi.

Milla

 

Milla harvesting komatsuna ("Chinese spinach" or "oriental greens") on the market garden.

Milla, who has been volunteering with us through WWOOF, moved on to her next placement on Sunday. Many thanks to Milla for all her help over recent weeks, and we wish her all the best in her future.

Veg boxes 3rd February 2023

Potatoes, dug yesterday, bagged today, delivered on Friday.

Our fresh seasonal veg boxes this week will include (all being well!):-

Small veg box - Carolus potatoes, kale, salad leaves, a red cabbage, and a cauliflower.

Standard veg box - Carolus potatoes, kale, watercress, a red cabbage, a cauliflower, some mixed herbs, spring greens, oriental greens, and purple-top turnips.

All grown here on the community farm except for the red cabbages and cauliflowers, which are travelling 14 miles from another organic grower.

WWOOF UK film

www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlGLXVFYxhs

Please follow this link to watch a beautiful new film, made last year by a film maker called Kate Colenbrander, who volunteered as a WWOOFer on four farms in the UK, one of which was Bosavern Community Farm. The film is a very good introduction to the ethos behind our farm, and similar farms, and the growing sustainable food movement in the UK and across the world.

If this film inspires you to join in, whether as a residential WWOOF volunteer, or in some other way, please contact us through the email on our website, or phone 01736 788454, or find us on the WWOOF website (or Facebook, Twitter, Instagram etc...). Or walk down to meet us and have a look around!

Propagation Station

 

Our Propagation Station polytunnel has been neglected all winter, being used mainly as a dumping ground and storage unit. But over the past two weeks we have tidied it out, organised it, repaired the door-frame, got rid of sacks of junk, got the hot-bed up and running (and Milla has sown aubergines, jalapenos, and globe artichokes in it), created two sowing and potting-on stations, and hung all the watering-cans from the ridge-pole. It is now fit and ready for the new season!

We have also sown three trays of mange-tout, always the first thing we sow at the start of January, and they are starting to sprout already.

Ben

 

Ben, who is the furthest right on this photo, helped us out as a volunteer on the farm for several months (please see our earlier post about the first time he left!), and has now moved on to a full-time paid role on a local flower-picking farm. Ben has been a great asset to us this winter, looking after our chickens over Christmas and New Year, and taking on our big veg box delivery round on several Fridays. Because of this we threw him a special tea-party on his last Thursday with us, which is when we got this photo. Many thanks Ben! We wish you all the best in your new job, and hope to see you soon.

Indoor v. outdoor garlic

We usually plant 5kg of garlic to overwinter in our polytunnels, which is ready to harvest in June or July, but this winter we have also planted the same amount outside in a sheltered bed of the market garden, to see how it does there in comparison. So far there's not much to tell between the two...

Outdoor garlic.

Indoor garlic.

Today's veg boxes

 

A wheelbarrow stacked high with Chinese cabbages.

Today's veg boxes are out on the roads in our two vans being delivered all over Penwith. Delivery to your door is £1.50, or you can collect for no delivery charge from our community hubs - here at Bosavern Community Farm outside St. Just, at the Fermentary in Newlyn, St. John's church in St. Ives, or the Redwing Gallery off Bread Street in Penzance.

Small veg box (£7.70) - potatoes, rainbow chard, spring greens, dried lemon verbena for herbal teas, a cauliflower from Cargease Organics, and beetroot from Trenow Organic Market Garden.

Standard veg box (£12) - potatoes, rainbow chard, dried lemon verbena for teas, watercress, mixed salad leaves, a Chinese cabbage, a cauliflower from Cargease Organics, and beetroot from Trenow Organic Market Garden.

Please email vegbox.bcf@bcents.org.uk or phone us on 01736 788454 to join our veg box scheme, or order one box to test.

Recent photos from the farm

Harvesting sprout stalks in the market garden - sprouts are not just for Christmas!

Sunset over Home Field.

Jos and Ben harvesting watercress in Imogen polytunnel as part of "picking and packing Thursday".

Rainbow over the farmyard - we love the skies at this time of year.

Milla packing watercress for veg boxes in the packing shed.

Chris loading one of our vans for his Friday veg box delivery round.

Ben and Ross out by the polytunnels.

Probably the best romanesco broccoli we've ever grown!

Picking and packing Thursday

We have just finished picking and packing our veg boxes for tomorrow's delivery (we will finish the salad tomorrow morning, and add the milk, yoghurt and bread, but all the rest is in) and this week's 75 boxes are all checked and packed away. Many thanks to our small but dedicated team of local volunteers for getting through it all!!