NEWSLETTER –JUNE 2008

Hello, and welcome to the June newsletter. In the last newsletter, I mentioned that we were in the hungry gap period of the year (late May & June) where the over-wintered veg has finished and the new season’s veg has not yet started. We are now beginning to come out it, and the boxes are starting to look a lot more summery!

The new crop potatoes are all coming from one of the tunnels and will last probably until the end of next week. As I have previously mentioned, these all have to be dug by hand, which is hard work for a creaking forty-something with a suspect back! Therefore, as an experiment, I planted some outdoors on the same date as the tunnel ones (outdoor spuds can be lifted by tractor!). These have luckily avoided any late frosts (might not be the case every year, but worth the gamble!) but are about three weeks behind the tunnel ones – just right to follow on in a couple weeks time! Incidentally, new potatoes MUST be kept in the dark to stop them going green.

Elsewhere in the boxes, we have a very productive crop of climbing French beans. These don’t need going around with a knife like a runner bean does – just top and tail them. The courgettes are also coming along. Not such a plentiful crop as last year, possibly because they’re in the outside bay of the glasshouse.

The purple spherical objects that have appeared in the large boxes are Kohl Rabi. There will be more soon and they can be grated and used in a salad or chopped up into a stew. The lettuce and salad onions are now outside grown and are in plentiful supply! The spinach is a bit slow growing but last week’s rain has certainly helped it, and there should be enough for all the boxes to have some soon. The broad beans, however, have virtually failed twice! Something dug up the first batch and the re-sown ones didn’t germinate very well.

Work-wise, I’m busy planting at the moment. The brassicas are mostly in and then we’ve got two batches of leeks to plant in early July…. and hay to make ….. and the weeds to keep under control ….. and irrigating to do … and so on, so never a dull moment!

NEWSLETTER – MAY 2008

Hello, and welcome to the May newsletter. Well, we seem to have gone from winter to summer in the space of a week, bypassing spring in the process! Not before time, though.

We are now in the most difficult time of the year for producing vegetable boxes. The majority of the over-wintered crops are coming to an end and the new season crops, especially this year, are not ready yet. To combat this, we grow a number of crops under glass and polythene to tide us over. These include the lettuce, radish and salad onions currently in the boxes. We will hopefully have courgettes and climbing French beans by the end of the month.

Out in the fields, we have a nice crop of cauliflowers, which will last for a few weeks, and the spinach has started growing again. This will provide some welcome leaf now that the curlygreen and sprouting broccoli have finished. This week or next week will probably see the end of the leek crop – a bit later this year due to the late spring.

A word about potatoes: The old crop is coming to an end and they are starting to sprout. Conventional potatoes can be treated with sprouting suppressants but organic ones obviously can’t. Therefore we have to remove the sprouts while we are packing them. The effect of a potato sprouting is to remove moisture from the potato and they start going soft and wrinkly. I am feeding the worst ones to the sheep, but I did a test on some potatoes that I considered too soft for the boxes. I boiled some and did a couple as jacket spuds and they were fine. Therefore if you get some soft ones don’t despair, they should be all right cooked. The new potatoes will hopefully be ready by the end of the month and I’m hurrying them along as much as I can by keeping them well watered!

Now the warmer weather is here, it is advisable to keep as much of the veg box either in a cool place or in the fridge. The leafy items (spinach, lettuce etc) would benefit from being damped down first, as it is the loss of water that starts the ageing process. Nearly everything is stored in the cold store here between harvesting and packing, so, if it was me, I think I’d put it all in the fridge! Remember, there are no artificial preservatives in Organic food to enhance shelf life!

As usual, I have now stopped doing the bulk sacks of produce until the autumn when keeping conditions will be more conducive.

NEWSLETTER – APRIL 2008

Hello, and welcome to the April newsletter. Well, after last week I was hoping to say that spring was finally with us but we have lurched back into winter today with some flurries of snow! It’s a long time since we’ve had snow this late, or at all! I can remember it snowing on the 4^th May once. The date sticks in my mind as it was during the lesson leading up to my driving test, so that shows how long ago it was!

Apologies to my regular reader for not doing a March newsletter but I was busy lambing. It went reasonably well this year and nearly all of them are out in the fields, gambolling away! I have got a few Wiltshire Horn sheep now. These moult in the spring so you don’t have to shear them. There’s a photo of the ram in all his glory on my website.

On the veg front, the leeks and cabbage are still going strong but will start to go to seed by the end of the month. The sprouting broccoli goes from strength to strength. The current white variety is the best of the four that we grow. I hope you’re enjoying the Pak Choi. This is the best crop of it that I have grown, in spite of the wind blowing the cover off the polytunnel! There are plenty more parsnips still to come but the green and red kale is virtually finished now. There should be some glasshouse grown Swiss Chard in the bigger boxes within the next week or two and also some over-wintered salad onions.

As we get nearer to spring, please be aware that potatoes will be looking to sprout, so it’s best to keep them cool. I would keep them in the fridge but that may be a bit extreme! If they do sprout, you can still eat them – just remove the sprouts! What you mustn’t do is let the sprouts get too long as they will remove moisture from the potato and it will shrivel and become unusable. The leafy items in the box are definitely going to keep longer as well if they are damped down and kept in the fridge.

You will have noticed that the carrots are now washed. They will not keep as well as “dirty” carrots so I am stopping doing them in bulk sacks for the summer. It’s probably best to keep them in the fridge too. The only bulk item available now is the potatoes, prices below:

Before I sign off, just a reminder to keep those empty boxes coming back each week please!

NEWSLETTER - FEBRUARY 2008

Hello, and welcome to the February newsletter. Well, the weather has certainly improved since my last time of writing. It’s great being outside in the sunshine after a frosty start to the day. The air is so fresh! I’m sure that spring is only just around the corner now and I’ve done some ploughing already for the early plantings and sowings.

I’m busy lambing at the moment, so apologies if I look a bit sleepy delivering! I have been asked about lamb and pork. It will be August, probably, before I have some lambs ready and longer than that for pork, I’m afraid. I’m sure that you have all read about the plight of pig farmers in the press – well it’s all true. Pig feed is so expensive at the moment that I haven’t got any at all. When lambing is finished, though, I’m going to see what the situation is again as I miss having them around, but fear they may have to wait until after the next (hopefully better) harvest when hopefully the feed price will come down again.

On the vegetable front, this is the last week for the mizuna and the first major cut of Pak Choi, the green trumpet shaped item with white stalks. It can be eaten raw (stalks as well) or can be steamed or stir-fried. Appearing soon will be some red kale. This is red/purple with small feathery leaves unlike the big leaves of the green kale. It is more tender and is said to have a sweeter taste. It is similar to the purple sprouting broccoli except that it has no “bud” and can be treated in the same way i.e. light boiling or steaming. Further recipe ideas can be found on my website or www.vegbox-recipes.co.uk

As we get nearer to spring, please be aware that potatoes will be looking to sprout soon so it’s best to keep them cool. I would keep them in the fridge but that may be a bit extreme! The leafy items in the box are definitely going to keep longer, though, if they are damped down and kept in the fridge.

Onions are getting scarce now, so I am stopping doing them in bulk sacks for now. The eating apples are pretty much finished as well until August when the new crop will be ready. The remaining bulk prices are below. Please order them as you would your box:

Before I sign off, just a reminder to keep those empty boxes coming back each week please!

NEWSLETTER – JANUARY 2008

Hello, and welcome to the January newsletter. Although it all seems a long time ago already, I hope you had an enjoyable Christmas and have had a good start to the New Year!

We’ve had some pretty grim weather this month. I’ve been forced to stay inside a lot of the time so have finished going through the machinery, repairing anything that broke last season and greasing it all up ready for another summer’s onslaught! Between now and then, however, I’ve got the sheep to lamb. No rest for the wicked!

We still have plenty of winter vegetables for the veg boxes. We have good crops of cabbage, parsnips and leeks although the squash and sprouts will soon be finished. For those of you still in the dark about what to do with the feathery leaved thing in this week’s box, then it’s a Mizuna! It is Japanese mustard, has a mild peppery taste and should be used “raw” in a salad, or in a cheese or marmite sandwich, and can also be stir-fried. I think you can steam it too. We now have some lettuce and salad onions from the glasshouse to further enhance your salad!

There are a number of recipe ideas on my website but if they are not enough, then there is a very good website www.vegbox-recipes.co.uk which you may find useful. Last time I looked, there was a useful section on how to prepare the curly kale that’s in the boxes at the moment. There’s also a forum if you wish to exchange ideas and opinions with other veg box customers.

Please note that the cooking apples have now finished, but we still have some eating apples. The variety is Fiesta and they are very nice! I have one every day to keep the doctor away! Please order any bulk items in the same way as you would your box.

NEWSLETTER – DECEMBER 2007

Hello, and welcome to the December newsletter. OK, it’s not quite December yet but I’m SO efficient!! Tuesday boxes: Firstly, I would just like to let you know that the boxes will be continuing right through the Christmas period. However, as Christmas Day and New Year’s Day both fall on Tuesday, they will be delivered on Monday instead in those two weeks (ie Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve).

Thursday boxes: Firstly, I would just like to let you know that there will be no deliveries on Thursday 27^th December. Otherwise everything will continue as normal over the Christmas period.

The December 18^th/20^th/24^th boxes will therefore contain all your Christmas favourites such as Brussels sprouts and Parsnips. I’ve done my first exploratory dig in the parsnip patch today and they are very good. Along with carrots, I think they are the vegetable in which you can tell most the difference in flavour between carefully nurtured veg and synthetic supermarket veg! The sprouts, although looking good quality, are not very numerous this year so to ensure that there are plenty for Christmas, I am leaving them until then. If any of you have a sprout craving, I may be able to do some bulk sprouts if the picking goes well but it’s best to wait until nearer the time!

The red leaves in this week’s box are not beetroot leaves. They are Rhubarb Chard. This is a red version of Swiss chard so should be treated similarly. As a one-off, some of you have got a mini-marrow which I hope you will enjoy. There is a recipe idea for baked stuffed marrow on my website for anyone unsure what to do with it. Also, since the last newsletter, I’ve put a fennel recipe on there too. For anyone needing further recipe ideas, there is a useful website www.vegbox-recipes.co.uk which you may find interesting, and a link to a “splat the sprout” game www.happierbirds.co.uk/ which is quite distracting when you are trying to write a newsletter!

NEWSLETTER - NOVEMBER 2007

Hello, and welcome to the November newsletter. Well, autumn is definitely here now! The salad items are almost gone now to be replaced by more seasonal autumn vegetables. This is the last week for the lettuce. Next week we will be starting on the Chinese Leaves. These are versatile beasts! They can be eaten raw in a salad, can be stir-fried, steamed or even boiled.

I have now started harvesting the squash. These come in all colours and sizes – some having to be cut into two or more pieces because of their size! Generally speaking, squash can be cut into strips and roasted like a parsnip, baked (try scooping the seed out and stuffing them with cheese/meat/apple) or made into soup using any pumpkin (a close relative) soup recipe. For anyone wishing to be a bit more adventurous, but at the same time not wishing to be told how to do it by any of the foul-mouthed TV chefs, I have some squash recipe books for the bargain price of 75p each!

I am quite often asked what to do with fennel and turnips. There are several recipe ideas on my website www.stoneage-organics.co.uk but none yet for fennel. I have just done a Google search and found quite a good one that I will try to add as soon as I can. If anyone has any recipes they would like to share with other customers, then please feel free to email them to me (preferably in MS Word format!) and I will upload them too. Turnips can also be quite versatile. They can be grated for a salad, chopped up for a stew or made into soup. There IS a recipe for turnip soup on the website.

For those who have yet to have a lamb/half lamb this season, I will be doing some more towards the end of November. This may well be the last lot for this season (i.e. until next July/August) so don’t hesitate to order if you would like one!

NEWSLETTER – OCTOBER 2007

Hello, and welcome to the October newsletter. Well, autumn is here now! It’s quite cold in the evenings and it’s only a few weeks until the clocks change. I’m looking forward to a quieter period as I haven’t stopped since lambing time and have had to work through three months of having a bad back. It appears to have sorted itself out now but I must be careful not to do it again! Before the end of the month though I’ve got some grass to reseed, some straw to bale (it has been lying in the field for ages because it rains every time I try to bale it!) and the squash to harvest. There will be Halloween pumpkins too (see end of newsletter!).

The boxes are now also becoming more autumnal. The courgettes and tomatoes are drawing to a close but we have a bumper crop of dwarf French beans for you. The spinach/Swiss Chard is thriving in the wet weather and the lettuce are the best ones I’ve grown for a few years. I’ve even managed to harvest some maincrop onions which isn’t always the case! In fact, the boxes are currently 100% home produced.

I’ve now finished harvesting the apples. The eating apple variety is now FIESTA while the cookers are BRAMLEY. Please make sure that you order the correct ones – partly because they are different prices but mainly because you don’t really want to take a Bramley to work in your lunchbox!

The potatoes have now all been harvested. The variety is COSMOS. It’s been a low yield this year because the foliage got blight in the damp summer which stopped them growing much after about the middle of July. However, by removing the foliage, I have stopped the blight from attacking the potatoes themselves. Bulk sacks of potatoes are now available but the carrots, still a bit small to sell in bulk, should be available by the time of the next newsletter.

NEWSLETTER – AUGUST 2007

Hello, and welcome to the August newsletter. Before I forget, to all those who have their boxes on a Tuesday, September 11^th’s delivery/collection will be on Wednesday 12^th instead. I received a letter recently advising me that Taunton is going to be “shut” on the Tuesday and that it is best avoided. I can’t remember the reason given but I expect it’s to put up the Christmas lights! I realize that I could still deliver to the outlying provinces, but it’s best to keep it all on the same day. Hope it doesn’t cause any inconvenience.

I suppose the headline news on the farming front at the moment is the recent foot and mouth outbreak. It is quite ironic (if nothing else) that after all the restrictions/licences/general restraint of trade aimed at farmers since the 2001 outbreak that this outbreak is alleged to have been caused by the powers that be themselves! Another interesting point is the differing reactions to the outbreak of the Soil Association and defra. The former have postponed all inspections during the outbreak while the latter have decided to drive the dead carcasses to the largest dairy area in the country for incineration. Shome mishtake surely?

While we are talking livestock, I should have some lambs available in early September. The current f&m restrictions allow movement of stock to slaughter, so as things stand, we’re ok. Usual format – if you would like a lamb, or a half, please let me know. It will still be a while before there will be any pork although they are growing quickly.

When I was in Tesco the other day (I have to buy my soap and toilet rolls somewhere!), I saw a sign stating that due to the adverse growing conditions this year, they are importing more produce than usual to satisfy demand. What nonsense! It has been a fantastic growing season and, obviously unless you live in Tewkesbury, there’s plenty of produce about. It is alleged that they are just using it as an excuse to buy in even more cheap rubbish and to hike their prices up. I’ll leave it to your intuition to guess who will pocket that increase too! Anyway, faithful reader, you can rest assured that I will not be using it as an excuse to put up my veg box prices!

The veg boxes are now really summery, unlike the weather! The tomatoes, however, have been affected by potato blight so there won’t be as many as hoped. The potatoes appear to be ok, though, current variety is COSMOS. These are from the outdoor crop now. Apologies for their recent muddiness – it was quite wet when they were lifted and I only just managed to get them out.

If you cast your mind back a few years, you may remember that I planted an apple orchard. The trees have been quite slow to establish but they have thrived on the wet weather this year and I have got a reasonable crop from them for the first time. I am selling them in 3lb bags (that’s 1.36kg if you’ve got a calculator) for £3/bag. There are several varieties in order to spread the harvest over the season. The first variety is Discovery, then it’s Tydemans Early Worcester and Spartan, with more to follow later. Please order them as you would your box.

NEWSLETTER – JULY 2007

Hello, and welcome to the July newsletter. In last month’s newsletter I might just have mentioned, purely by accident, that I wasn’t complaining about the weather. Well, apologies for that, now I AM!! Where’s our summer, or are we already in autumn? Usually during the summer I am careful about when to take my shirt off in the sun. This year, I have hardly taken my jumper off!

Anyway, having got my rant out of the way, things are fairly up to date on the farm. The main brassica planting has been finished and, by the time you read this, the leeks will all be in. Although there is still some more planting to do, the main job now is to keep it all weeded and irrigated (ha ha!) to ensure a good crop. If I manage to keep it REALLY tidy, there is a chance that I could do a farm walk in the autumn but I’m not making any promises! July is the month that it can all fall apart weed-wise and I’ve had to abandon any thoughts of a farm walk on several occasions when the weed has taken hold and I’ve been embarrassed to show anyone around!

I hope you are all enjoying the new potatoes, variety PREMIERE. They have been grown in the polytunnel to get them early but this year, probably due to the heat in April/May, they haven’t done as well as usual so I’ve been putting in some old potatoes as well. The thinking behind it is that you could roast the old potatoes and save the nice new ones for a salad. I doubt if I will be putting in many more old ones after this or next week. It’ll soon be time to have a look at the outdoor earlies, then we’ll have loads to put in the boxes AND they can be dug by machine!

After a slow start, the boxes are becoming more summery – unlike the weather! There are some nice young beetroot coming along and, after a temporary blip, the lettuce and onions will be back on song in all the boxes from next week. We should now have courgettes on a more regular basis and a better quality new crop of onions isn’t far away from being harvested. There are also a few tomatoes around and, in time, hopefully some cucumbers.