ON THE FARM

Our farm at Stickney, Lincolnshire , has to be the driest spot in the UK right now! Crouched below the Lincolnshire Wolds, in a dry season we can watch the rain clouds blow straight over the top of our area, and douse the farms 10 miles south and west instead. Grrrr!!
However, rain on Monday- the first since February! gave welcome relief to both plants and to Luke, who, in addition to his very busy schedule, has had to irrigate at night, to conserve water, and take advantage of the windless conditions- during the day there's been a high gritty wind, even causing damage to polytunnels!
On with the planting, more leeks, brussel sprouts and cabbages- we are already planting for winter, perish the thought!
Meanwhile, a welcome touch of summer in the early courgettes and basil- plus a lovely sunny day almost too hot to work!

NEW POTATOES WE LOVE....

Yay! Our first hand-dug new potatoes from the glasshouse are now available on our farmers markets this weekend, they look and taste fabulous!Lincolnshire is known for the tastiest potatoes in the uk, and if, like me, you can't resist the odd few imports at the start of the season, it's an absolute joy to be able to eat the real thing.
We have noticed that quite a few of the so-called new potatoes that come in from Europe are varieties that aren't classified as early but maincrop- or even late mains! No wonder they taste disappointingly floury - they are picked because true earlies can bruise and discolour rapidly when they travel-another good reason to think about food miles when it comes to enjoying quality produce!
Meanwhile, in our 13th week with no rain- unprecedented in our 30 years of farming- our reservoir has suppied over 1000000 gallons of water so far- that's over half, and it's not even summer!We hesitate to pray for rain as, being England, it may never stop- but we really need some now! Judicious amounts request only please!

LEEKS 12 MONTHS OF THE YEAR!

While my customers are still eating leeks in their veg boxes we are already planting next February's crop! Today 5 very sore men and women staggered off the planter known as "back-breaker" after setting about 80000 leek plants in our latest field, just out of conversion to organic this spring! Bad nes is that there are still another 80000 to go! Farming is all about numbers- the sheer quantity of seeds and plants even a small farm such as ourselves needs is incredible!
Meanwhile, we have leafy celery, swiss chard, and some gorgeous glossy red gems to add to our farmers markets produce this week- see where your nearest market is!

THE HEAT IS ON!

Busy busy on the farm, as dry weather continues to hamper the planting season- we are watering the soil before preparing for planting, as its all too lumpy to plant!
Meanwhile the lettuce are now in full swing with 6 different types that we sell on special offer on all our farmers markets- a colourful and festive salad for everyone, lucky we filled the irrigation pit up- but it's going down!

FENNEL AND KOHLRABI

Fennel and kohlrabi are the front-runners of the spring veg- we have them on our markets and in our veg boxes! Look on our recipe page for what to do- or visit us on a market for a free taster!

WHERE ARE THE APRIL SHOWERS?

We are having a gorgeous spring, crops are growing at a frantic rate, check on our products page to see what's in season this week - amazing asparagus, green batavia lettuce, pak choi, spring greens- all that healthy stuff to clean out the pipes after a winter of roast roots and cabbage.
But a small amount of rain wouldn't go amiss! It is now 3 weeks since any rain fell on the farm, and small plants are extremely vulnearble to drying out in the fierce wind and sun. So Luke is not only doing land work, muck spreading, planting, weed control- he has had to stop to water everything already planted- a lot of it under fleece, which has to be rolled back, steerage hoed, watered, then re-covered- quite a job.
Thank goodness we filled our pit this spring!
Meanwhile,we are proud of our early lettuce this year- here is Morgan(youngest son, unwillingly drafted into cabbage planting in his uni holiday!) You may meet him on one of our markets- he will talk you into buying anything!!

Asparagus and Purple Sprouting!

Yes! A really warm, dry Spring has moved our asparagus forward by an amazing 2 weeks! This has to be the earliest for us ever.
And the beleaguered purple and white sprouting broccolli has really flourished- although some timely gentle April showers wouldn't do any harm. However, as always with the British weather, be careful what you wish for!
Farm work has been crazy busy- instead of moaning because we can't get on due to the rain, we haven't had a minute off, with planting and cutting! Our lettuce have been so excellent that we've managed to send pallet-loads down to London- never known in April, and if I do sound a bit smug, well ahead of the game this year!
Anyhow, these and much more can be found on our markets and website . Visit us soon!