September, Spud Harvest Time

September is Spud harvest time, so far we have been harvesting them as needed, but all the maincrop potatoes should be harvested over the next few weeks now ready for winter storage. A sunny, not too wet September will keep us happy, the squash will ripen, the tomatoes and peppers in the polytunnels will keep cropping and we can harvest potatoes anytime we're not harvesting and packing orders.  

Potato harvester in action at Ripple, with one tractor pulling the machine, one driving alongside filling wooden bin as the spuds come off the belt, and 4 workers on top, sorting the clods and stones from the spuds.



Plenty of wooden bins still
to be filled, the 'Long Plantation' woods in the background.



'Amorosa' - reds and 'Valor' - whites



The harvester goes back to the workshop for minor repairs, Wye Crown claerly seen here looking up from 'Orchard Field' spinach, late sown leeks and kales under cover bottom right.

Stripy spinach - the central darker green rows are true spinach, and the outer, lighter green are perpetual spinach

Early leeks, irrigated back in the drought of April/May, and now ready to harvest,
looking pretty as a picture amongst the poppies

This year's squash crop is not looking so good after a relatively cool summer, many plants died in the cool conditions after planting, and those that are there still need more sun to ripen up.



Crown Prince squash, not yet ripe...



and butternut..

August 2011 in Pictures

August is a quiet month in terms of harvesting and packing, as many of our customers go on holiday, but then so do many of our staff, so it doesn't feel that quiet. A bit of a lull though before the main harvest of onions and potatoes gets going in September.


Onions, drying in the field, looks like a good crop this year.

 


The squash still have a lot of work to do after being planted so late, let's hope for a sunny September!




A patchwork of kales, Russian Red, Cavelo Nero, Red and Green Curly and Hungry Gap




Straw bought from a local farmer, in readiness to protect the carrots and beetroot over winter.
 Kings Wood in the background.




The last of the leeks in the Nursery Bed that are still to be transplanted.
The module grown ones are almost ready to harvest.




Looking in to the Victorian Walled Garden. Sadly, some of the old wooden glasshouses are beyond repair.




Newly sown chard inside the walled garden.





We have sold a few organic figs at Stoke Newington market during August, this is where they came from, one of the remaining fig trees growing outside the walled garden.

 


A trial planting of Thai Basil for markets.




Phacelia strip next to our early leeks, food for bees.




A pear tree left over from the days when these fields were full of fruit. The pears are only good for cooking and do make a tasty jam, combined with summer and autumn berries. If you look hard you can see Wye Church in the background.




The 'Lazy Bed Weeder' - although after an afternoon on this you don't feel as if you've had a lazy afternoon at all! We all get to take turns driving the tractor.



What we should be doing - June 2011

It's almost the end of June, and we still have hundreds of squash plants ready to be transplanted, but dare we say it, it's been a bit wet and cool over the last couple of weeks!!

But here we are in action, transplanting courgettes and sweetcorn a few weeks ago before the rain came, both these crops like a bit of sun, and the courgettes particularly dislike cold nights and windy days so aren't doing too well at the moment.

Courgette plants in plug trays

David Brown tractor loaded up with plants

Martin driving and checking the transplanting is going OK

Jane enjoying her work!

Jane and Sam on the transplanter feeding the sweetcorn plants in.
 For crops that we grow 3 rows to a bed, there will be a third person on the transplanter

Lovely, neat rows of transplaneted sweetcorn and courgettes

What's Happening in May (part 2)

No significant rain now since March 17th and over the last week or so only the occasional shower giving us the odd mm or two of rain we can't put off transplanting for any longer. We are using T-Tape (trickle tape) laid along rows of crops for irrigation. This is a long process as our water pressure only allows us to irrigate 2 or 3 rows at a time. We do usually have to do this for selected crops, depending on the weather, but with no significant rain due yet we're going to have to continue irrigating all transplants for now 

Irrigating kale



and leeks




Young plants ready to be transplanted





onions in Olantigh Fields, newly transplanted leeks to the right




New Season's rainbow chard soon ready to harvest

 

2nd outdoor sowing of carrots, in need of hand-weeding (they have already been weeded between the rows using a tractor mounted hoe

...and here are the carrots after hand-weeding

Cucumber, peppers and aubergines recently transplanted into a polytunnel



Working very dry ground for llek transplants