Foreign labourers at the patch

Well, we had the New Zealand delegates helping plant potatoes over the weekend with the crucial help of Rhiannon and Alec..and in the end of the final row, Mousey. We planted 10x100 foot rows of new potatoes (6 of Red Duke of York and 4 of Sharpe's Express) and used the potato ridger for the first time. I even took a little movie with a view to continuing my 'goldoni series' but the whole card sadly got wiped.

Thanks to all our helpers...can we have a bit of rain now please?

Sunflower Vegetables...The movie (1)

I thought I would try and bring you a truly mullti media experience from Sunflower Vegetables....so click here...Digging Down at the patch .... This is my first effort at putting a little film up here...but hey it was pretty straightforward so perhaps there may be more...and perhaps they might be of slightly more exciting things than a tractor digging in green manures! This does look like a Goldoni promotional video!!

Wazzawazzas of the mind

As Phil surveys his garlic the wazzawazzas of the future are being born......

(more wazza recipies to follow soon...and to those of you that do not know what a wazzawazza is you better invite yourself round to dinner!)

No Harlequins yet

There are literally thousands of ladybirds in the field. I've been checking and so far I haven't seen a single Harlequin. This is Harmonia axyridis which has been called 'the most invasive ladybird on Earth'. Its been recorded in the area (Woods Mill and Saddlescombe) so it is only a matter of time before it arrives....either which way....watch out you Aphids! You thought you could get away with drinking our Willow Sap...Well think again coz we are setting the beasties on you!

Spring has sprung!

Finally spring has sprung. It is warm and sunny and the pumpkin patch is abuzz with ladybirds and bumble-bees. Today Phil took down the green manures and dug them in ready for the first big plant which is in two weeks time. Meanwhile I was sent off to spread rock-dust which is not nearly as fun as driving tractors!!

Evening sunlight down at the pumpkin patch

Crop rotations are the latest obsession, as we are counting the days till the green manures come down and the veggies go in. Phil's plans have been slowly crystalising and its all now feeling very real. This photo was taken yesterday. I love the gorgeous sunlit evenings at the field.

Spring Willows

Three days later Phil had pruned 1,500 willows. Some had started to bud early, but with such a mild winter I guess it's not surprising. They are now all trimmed and should be nice and bushy for later this year.

I tried a bit of wicker work with the clippings....I think I need to keep practicing!

East to West and West to East

Here you can see the Garlic and looking the other direction, the green manures. Italian Rye Grass billowing in the wind and Field Beans growing big and strong. These will all get mowed and then dug in as soon as it is dry enough...so that won't be for a while then!

L’Aïl de Trois Acres

You saw it beeing planted...here it is two months later.....healthy and swaying in the January gales!

Pumpkin John

We already miss John so much and have leant so much from his calm and kind ways. We thank him for all the opportunities he has given us and hope that we can honour his legacy. Our thoughts go out to his family. It's still hard to believe that he isnt there anymore, spreading manure, sharing a joke, watering the pumpkins, snipping the hedge. We really miss him and send him our deepest love.

Greek Goddess or Football refugee?

Here is Anna Marie separating Garlic ready for the boys to plant. In the background Phil is talking John through the crop plan for next year.

What a lovely sunny November day - You can see our willow windbreaks sneaking into the picture on the right. We are tightening up the fences to keep the nibbling deer out for good, as they have had a good munch over the past few months!

Why is Anna Marie working on her own?...Well the boys are listening to the football on radio five live and not being much fun, so she has stropped off for some peace and quiet!

Teaching a dog new tricks

I'm not talking about Paddy, who is planting Garlic with Phil in this picture. But about Finn, who has learnt not to walk on the beds in the field. Rather than getting from A to B in a straight line she has to zig zag accross the field following the path system and not running over Phil's finely tilled beds. All is well and good until someone turns up to visit and she gets excited and forgets herself and charges across the field to see them! Hmmm

This picture shows the third day of garlic planting. Within just a couple of weeks they had set good roots and we now have little green tips showing! We have planted about four times more than we did this year as it has been such a successful crop for us and it keeps well and sells well.

Bhaji's into eternity

Well, we won't be running out of onions for a while! We have four crates worth in our office at the moment, which should see us through to the next harvest! For curry-heads like us a bottomless supply of onions (and garlic) is fantastic. I suspect we will sell some soon as I think we actually have more than we need.

Carrot success for Sunflower Veg

These carrots had humble beginnings...As I discovered this Summer, planting carrots is actually really fiddley. The seeds are tiny and a wind-up to separate and plant. Just when I was nearly finished Paddy and Mousey turned up and before long Mousey and I had thrown/pushed each other into the freshly planted beds (I don't think Phil saw thankfully!). When the seedlings came up they were very patchy (due to me not paying enough attention when I was planting I think) and we were considering whether to replant completely. But they they turned into the most fantastic crop. We have had Carrots with every meal since August, and later this week they are all coming up and going into Tea-chests full of compost so that they will last through to the Spring.

BTW take a closer look at the dog in the top picture. I think she looks extremely suspicious!

I'm not slagging off supermarkets...but

Blueme Dave took this size comparison picture of our garlic compared to a supermarket garlic. I know size isn't everything...but when it means you can get away with chopping one clove rather than five...then size counts for alot. What's the secret to the supersize garlic? Phil the master-gardener seems to think that it is to do with the seaweed that we put down and the early planting.

Anyway the cycle is complete as our house is full of garlic ready to go in this year....we are just waiting for a break in the rain.