Purple hearts; of glory...

The ones that got away.

Even with the best will in the world; you can't pay attention to everything all the time. 

Whilst dealing with the rather more prosaic vegetable production matters; such as getting leeks and kale in for winter sustenance. 'Fripperies' albeit tasty ones; such as these; can steal a march; and show their true colours.

Globe artichokes are part of the thistle tribe; and here their fuzzy mauve tops; make this botanical fact quite plain.

However; the dinner tables' loss; is our other fuzzy (buzzy) friends' gain.

All thistles make good bee forage. So although I have cut these flowers from the statuesque plants to encourage more edible buds; The blooms are left within the reach of those helpful pollinators; and naturally; where their beauty can be enjoyed by other appreciative eyes..  

a vision of loveliness for sure; but beware the spikes..

But ideally; you catch 'em before they've gone too far....

In truth; the hearty ones very rarely reach an actual table here... More of a 'private' indulgence...Being a niche crop; of questionable monetary profit; and certainly not to everyones' taste..

 Almost more a hobby than food... They take a bit of time to cook, dismantle, and enjoy.

One has to have patience, and 'endure' muckily buttery fingers; (olive oil is just as good) to get to the heart of it...

 Is it worth the effort?       That's always a question of personal taste; but I believe so...

About time...

We had a storm with a name.

'Katie' arrived at about 3am.

She had been forecast; but distractions abound; and predictions can be inaccurate.
But once awake; and contemplating the potential damage at that time of night; it is difficult to go back to sleep with an attitude of 'it'll probably be OK'.

That's an extra interesting element of living in a mobile home; the weather sounds very definite. Not quite as extreme trying to sleep in a small tent in a hooley; but there's an overall sense of movement in addition to the noise..

So don the waterproofs; gather headtorches; go find the drill; and perform a bit of very last minute hatch battening. Screwing shut the polytunnel doors for starters. They catch a gust something lovely otherwise.

Speeding wind has a tremendous capacity to lift sheets of anything....Just as well for those of you in the habit of travelling by air...

Not too much damage come the morning. Some of these thermal crop covers had blown off; but they didn't take overly long to replace.

 Unlike one year; where a particularly strong gale carried off a similar 50 by 20m crop protection sheet. Its weight usually requires two of us big strong farm girls to drag about; it makes us feel a tad like we're being bridesmaids for a giantess .....

 The errant cover was found; 18 months later by a gentleman walking his dog* in the woods over a mile away; across the river

The 'mystery shroud' as described by the local paper, had had its end hacked off whilst it was still hung up in the trees, so no great mystery at all; as to its value; or function; to the person who did that...And a dormouse had used it's hanmmocky nature as a temporary seasonal residence.....But the cover; since retrieved; is still in use here; albeit in its shortened form...

The eventual finder was particularly keen to impress upon the reporter from the local paper, that he was, the (very) proud owner of a Dutch Barge Dog. I'm still yet to meet one of those hounds; but I am prepared to be impressed.

And time, or the dearth of it; in this season; always occupies a growers mind. ..

The art; craft; and science; of growing vegetables does require prescribed timeliness to be observed. In fact it's one of the spurs to getting stuff done, even on days when foul weather is to the fore... A crop takes a certain amount of time to come to fruition. 

Though naturally day length and other variables play their part. And these cropping times can be extended a bit by some tricks of the trade.

  But each vegetable does have its proper season, and if you try to extend too far you will be disappointed.

 Customers understand this on the whole. Although if they've become used to purchasing from shops that offer year round availability of everything it takes them a while to get into the rhythm of things....Eagerly awaited tomatoes or beans or whatever delicacy might be in the offing taste so much better after a break, and picked and eaten when they still squeak with freshness.

The vegetable garden as a whole is a source of timely analogies. And frustrations. At this time of year it's 'all to be done at once; but if the weather isn't playing nicely then patience is called for....But that virtue is hard to cultivate when the greenhouse is filling up and trays of beans are bending perilously whilst they wait outside in the wind.

Onion sets 'Sturon' (7 kg of this variety) should have been in by now, but they won't reward hasty planting, and the planter herself isn't all that enamoured with sitting in the mud to do it....Even whilst wearing sturdy waterproofs..
Half of these went in this afternoon. just in time for the birds to have their fun pulling 'em all out again....Our feathered fiends have a reputation for being a bit 'light' in the brain department... Hard not to agree when you see them going down the line tugging the alliums out... "Is this one a worm? Nope. This one? no, not neither, and so on....

And some timely sowing of sugar snap peas direct outside... Taking a risk with the mice digging them up and eating them. It's tricky to stay sanguine with the whole "Gardening with nature in mind", when the wildlife seem intent on destroying all ones hard work. Legumes are mostly started indoors then transplanted outside later to give them a head start over the weather and rodents.
But I thought I'd risk sowing a short 20 yard stretch outside.

Once upon a time I tried rolling the peas in garlic and chilli powder; prior to planting; as I'd read in some 'weave your own yoghurt; knit your own knickers' publication that this was an effective deterrent.

Devon mice are obviously a bit sharper or possibly hungrier? Than elsewhere... A couple of days later there were delicate little heaps of discarded pea skins with flavouring still attached. The contents having been greedily consumed...Doncha just love nature?  Hmmnn...

Giving Peas a Chance...Just sown ones in the foreground...Fleece ready to recover.... Kitty encouraged to patrol; though she seems rather more intent on putting her time towards guarding the intermittantly sunny porch right now.

And the soil upon which we depend as farmers, and consumers (so that's all of us then) has a factor of time within it. The soil that sustains our livestock and crops; maintains Life on Earth if you will.

 It's formed of course of the underlying bed rock which is very slowly weathered; plus organic matter from old plant material; and any other amendments we make. It takes a long time to make a few centimetres of topsoil; the time will vary depending on the parent material; but all the same; many many years even for the youngest soils....

Then if we hurry cultivations, or misuse the soil in some way, perhaps by leaving it bare at the wrong time of year, we risk losing all those years of gains that natural processes gave to us for free. We can lose it overnight in one calamitous heavy rain storm if it is washed down a slope, into the river and out to sea.. 

But hurry we do; it seems to be hardwired in our being; sadly to our own detriment; and that of nature...

And the capitalists favourite phrase of 'Buy land; they're not making any more' 

Might be  more usefully transformed for everyones' sake into

 'Conserve the soil; it takes lifetimes to make'

The difference a day makes...

From the ridiculously windy, to the calm after the storm...

There may not be many offsite camping excursions in the immediate offing. But here at the top of the hill, this part of the farm; known as Beacon could be just the place for a quick overnighter... Look there's already some firewood for sending messages...Reasonably dark skies, for stargazing, and none too shabby a view, for the morning.

And because the trees planted a few years back have grown up to a height; protected from deer browsing as they are by an understorey of brambles; it's almost impossible to see the work pending on the lower slopes beneath. 

So coming up here even for a short perambulation can be equivalent to 'getting away from it all'

 A bit like having ones very own local park to wander in. How lucky is that?

 Go to the shoulder of the hill however and the work is all laid out below; like a life sized 'to do list'...But at least the horticultural witchcraft (more of that later) appears to have worked it's spell and some of the 'to do' can now be done....Set fair for a few days now.

The red sandstone coast lies just over far distant hill; that high ridge being known as Mutters Moor. The briney is a good hour and a bit stomp via green lanes and the pebblebed heath, or just short of twenty minutes by bike; maybe a bit longer if you decide to go the hilliest route for fittening kicks.....Even more pertinent now, as I have two antipodean chums petitioning to be visited. And I guess there are a few steepish hills between here and there, not to mention the ocean going pedalo section...

This lot needed settling in deep and firm, even planted out of the gusting winds, they threaten to topple...

Muck (compost) and magic...These greenhouse raised, overgrown, leggy broad beans have been sitting outside on a bench 'toughening up' (properly known as hardening off) for nigh on two weeks now.
 The ground conditions however haven't been in the least bit receptive to their planting...So finally I relented and find them some space in the polytunnel.
They should crop sooner, even early June perhaps, and the little Kale plants in between will give some more welcome greenery. But, on account of the heat these brassicas will probably show their yellow flowers quite soon too...Could be useful, as they in turn will lure in more bees and other pollinators to give the bean flowers a good seeing to...Ensuring an abundance of well filled pods....

And now; almost immediately that the plantlets have been warmly housed away from the inclemency; of course the weather comes good.....

Correlation and causation.. Endless 'whitchy?' fun to be had; mixing those two up....

 I used to worry a lot about the weather; too wet; too dry; will it ever come good?  Of course experience shows that in the end that it will be OK. And cultivating variety (the most profitable crop) means that enough, will do well enough to provide an abundance in the end...

I still worry about climate, and how that might be changing, but that is I guess another wasted worry in the end if performed unilaterally....Without some collective action pretty quickly, that particular possibly unstoppable juggernaut is taking us into uncharted territory....

Now of course very few people; if they're truly honest; enjoy being proven wrong....

But I can honestly state that very little would give me greater pleasure than to discover that the climate change deniers have got it right....

That really would be some kind of 'witch craft'... Put all that extra carbon into the atmosphere at a hitherto unprecedented rate; whilst at the same time reducing the carbon sinking capacity of soils, ocean flora, and terrestial vegetation.....
And....

'Nothing Happens or Changes......?'

Hmmm? That really is 'Collective wishful magical thinking.....' methinks.

Or; did someone suspend the laws of physics; and not tell me?
 That's the trouble with living in the country; news takes a while to get through...

Very effective distraction technique...The blueberries depicting a treasure map of...?
Nope 'tis a secret....

But never mind all that environmental angst; how about a bit of 'living in the moment'....?
 An absolute classic this one. With eggstra contributions from our feathered fiends on account of the damage caused by Wednesdays' 'Gustybuffeting'* that had the eggshop inverted.....But there's rarely an upset, that doesn't have an upside, if you're willing to look closely enough....

Especially as; on this particular Thursday there was only it's generous creator; and myself; and two spoons.....
And....A veil is discreetly drawn....I'll leave the rest to your imaginings.

But first t'was nestled 'pon a bed of just picked salad. Showing the oriental greens' inclination to flower with the lengthening days...Once fully bloomed they do fill the polytunnels with a honeyed scent. Bringing in yet more bees and their mates. It's quite a treat just to stand at the door and inhale, and hear the busy drone.

So variety, again.. Seen here: mizuna, claytonia, pak choi red, and green, red mustard, rocket - wild - grrr, and tame, Morroccan little cress, red salad bowl lettuce, joi choi, oh and some red mizuna....The budding flowers like tender mini broccoli are even more nutritious than the leaves...

* I thought perhaps a new 'sturdy' underwear range?



It was whilst harvesting this salad that I involuntarily invoked the ire of the custard creator. Not an advisable course of action in any circumstance..Thankfully it wasn't directed at me...

Phew! Some folk, to their great peril have trodden that hazardous path in the past. I for one, would not stray down that thorny perilous route.
 There's brave; and then there's foolish.

The subject of her disgruntlement?

'The powers that be'...

 Oh no; not them!

The meanderings of conversation had brought us to the subject of our needing a fresh delivery of red diesel to fuel the tractor for the season.

Normally, that bill is paid for through the Single Farm Payment. A 'EU' bestowment, which replaced farm subsidies some years ago.

I expanded a while back as to how this payment has been withdrawn from all UK land holdings under 5 ha' . This plot comes in just short of that by 0.4 ha'

http://broadviewfromasmallfarm.blogspot.co.uk/2016/01/a-winter-bounty.html

Now I know we could very well have a convoluted discussion as to the rights and wrongs of any landowner receiving this 'blanket' payment. We might meander through the issues of compliance with environmental regulations; quite rightly imposed by the EU; whilst farmers produce food priced as a global commodity; and so on; and so forth...

But; I've already glazed over just thinking about it; so doubtless you will have too dear reader......

But it does provoke; a not completely unjustified reaction; along the lines of "It's just not fair"

There was a suggestion made by 'She who should not be messed with', along the lines of driving a tractor trailer load of manure to deposit in front of our own august seat of parliament. Where, as it happens this 'devolved to member states' decision, was made ...Therby expressing our displeasure in the manner favoured by our more politically proactive continental neighbours in agriculture.

But I countered that it would be waste of good soil building fertility; that should really stay on the farm; and although it might well be great noisy fun holding up the traffic on the A303 as we chugged eastwards; I can't really afford the diesel for a trip like that...Especially not now...

So as smaller farmers we no longer get the dosh that our larger brethren still continue to receive; they with no upper limit of payment..

Despite the fact that globally; smaller farms are more productive per acre than larger ones...

Ho and indeed Hum; but at the same time Oh well never mind.

'Small' is still beautiful in so many other ways...

Freshness, nutrition, connectivity, community, efficiency, interrelation, diversity, resilience, mutual support.......Sometimes intangible; immeasurable benefits; but none the less real for that..

Repeated 'studies have shown' that globally; smaller farms are more productive per acre than larger ones...You don't have to be massively cynical to speculate just as to which vested interests might be driving UK food policy...

http://www.technologywater.com/post/69995394390/un-report-says-small-scale-organic-farming-only

And no longer getting the payments means no more worries about having to comply with the 'meddling' (but generally ignored here anyhow) edicts to keep the brambles back, which are protecting the newish trees, which are harbouring beneficial buglife (And OK not such welcome numbers of bunnies, foxes, and badgers) , and shielding happy campers from the southwesterly winds, and in turn temporarily giving the growers eyes respite from everything that needs doing straightaway.....

So; better crack on with some of it then....

Will be sowing some of this today. An Italian delicacy that a friend switched me on to quite some years back....It's shy to germinate; and a bit of a fiddle to harvest. Hence umlikely to be hitting supermarket shelves in any appreciable quantities any time soon.
 But it's generally very popular once folks have got a taste for it. Traditionally braised in Olive oil then dressed with lemon juice...It's something a bit like samphire, but grows happily on drier soils ... Ideal for these sandy south facing slopes..

Supplied by these good people...

https://www.google.co.uk/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=seeds+of+italy

Who in accord with the 'Supadug' lot, also close down for a portion of the summer, to give their staff a break...It could be the new ethical shopping criteria... Do the workers get a proper holiday??

Liabilities into Assets

In case the 'subcontinental' readership might be concerned at a lack of productivity on a Friday...

There's been a steady but relentless accretion of paper sacks over the last few months; of the sort that the chicken feed is delivered in.

 It almost seems as if, that when you stack a lot of things together they start to breed and multiply through mysterious forces, until the volume of 'things' can threaten to overwhelm.

So; having fruitlessly offered them about for purposes unspecified; it was either a big fire; always particularly tempting on a Friday for some reason; or put them to  some use...

These blackcurrant bushes are just coming into leaf; the weeds and grass around them are equally keen to do their springtime thing; and would threaten to overwhelm if not kept in check somehow. 

So first a half handful of heat treated chicken manure, as shown below, to feed the plant over the season. Then around each plant lose a few bucketfuls of leek trimmings; one of the few varieties of pack house waste that can't be processed either via the hens or the pigs. 

Add on top of that a 'double doughnut' ring of paper sacks to impede the weed growth; and finally top it off with a barrowful of thickly spread, half rotted wood chip, courtesy of a local tree surgeon who needed to dispose of a liability. 

by this time next year most of the layers will have rotted down, fed the blackcurrant, which will in turn have fed several folk, and most likely the job will need repeating all over again.

 Keeps some of us out of mischief for a day or two... 'Man Fridays' youthful stand in seemed quite happy shoveling mulch out of the loader bucket and barrowing it in place.

To ensure a happy fruit bush the ground needs to be moist before applying this treatment, no worries on that front here.

Now I've got a bit of a soft spot for this stuff...

https://www.google.co.uk/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=compost%20technology%20limited

Of course most importantly it's effective nutrition for anything that might need a balanced slow release feed over the season.

It also smells fairly pleasant; I know you may not be convinced but I'm not the only person who thinks it has an almost coffee / chocolatey aroma...It is heat treated after all.

And it's produced by a smallish firm, who deliver quickly, and will usually throw in a free bag of the stuff, or a pair of gloves if you buy enough at a time. And the same business doesnt take orders for a couple of weeks in August because that's staff holiday time... 

Quite right too; all year round availability can lead to being taken for granted...

But really; best of all...Check out 'Super Dug' .....Manly jaw; broad shoulders; stylish titfer; and darling striped trews..... 

Who wouldn't want him helping out around the veg plot?

I reckon he could do with a bigger wheelbarrow though... This one is verging on a trug.

Many Quinces, Quincii?

It's tempting, if you have the space, to plant something a bit different just because you can...

I love the look of quince trees. and the fruit are voluptuously feminine, gloriously fragrant, and generous in their cropping...
This year the crop is huge, so now the question is what to do with 'em all?

Autumn gales are here at last and it would be a shame to see them wasted on the floor.

Given their smell and almost impenetrable hard flesh, they make really a good car air freshener.

This firmness however, makes them a challenge in the kitchen, where traditionally they are made into jam; a thick paste for serving with cheese; or as a friend tells me, are rather good poached in cassis...Starts to get interesting now.

Might offer them to one of our chef customers who enjoys doing interesting stuff with our proper local produce.

Medlars

Old English precursor to the apple.
Mespilus germanica
Autumn fruiting, but traditionally left on the tree until after the first frosts, for the purposes of 'bletting'. A perhaps more palatable word for becoming semi - rotten; by which time they have an allegedly custard - like consistency.
I don't think our in house custard creator has much to worry about competition wise.
Further linguistic curiosities....The French name for this fruit - Cul-de-chein  translates as 'Dogs bottom'.. Oh I say!

You can sort of see from the calyx end of the fruit how that might have come about?