What an amazing summer it’s been – and what great veg!

The heat has certainly brought its challenges. We lost a few crops because it was simply too hot and dry to get them into the ground, and both the quantity and quality of some crops have been affected. But overall, the veg has done remarkably well.

We know that growing without chemicals, combined with feeding our soil with plenty of good old-fashioned ‘muck’, gives our plants the best possible chance of coping with increasingly unpredictable weather. Healthy, living soil holds water, supports strong plants and helps build resilience – something we’re going to need more and more.

Mangelwurzel, tomatillos… and melons!

Being part of the co-op means that our shares sometimes introduce us to vegetables we might never have bought ourselves. This year we’ve had another couple of new ones to get to grips with: mangelwurzel and tomatillos. Cue plenty of internet searching for recipes!

We’ve also had our second year of growing melons. This time they were planted into one of the polytunnel beds, and they’ve done really well. We’re already planning a bigger crop for next year.

A grape escape

Last week’s share came with an unexpected extra: black grapes.

No, we didn’t grow them!

A family in Hexham has a wonderful greenhouse with a large vine which, this year, produced a bumper crop. They offered us some of the grapes on the condition that we could harvest them and organise their transport.

And so a little co-op operation got underway.

A well-orchestrated group of members helped with the harvesting, while Hextol Foundation transported trays of grapes to our fields. Just in time, our workshare members were able to weigh and bag some for the crop shares, with plenty left over for other members to enjoy.

A great example of what happens when people, organisations and resources come together.

Autumn: plenty to do, and plenty to watch

The dry summer is now having an impact on our autumn crops. Hot, dry conditions made late-summer planting difficult. Although we got the seeds in, many haven’t thrived as they normally would. The little rain we’ve had has helped, but we need a lot more to get things properly back on track.

We’re expecting some interesting results over the coming months. Some of our root vegetables have had sudden bursts of growth following the dry spells, which means we’ll be seeing more split roots than usual.

We’ll be lifting about half of our potatoes next week, hoping they’ve managed to put on a little more growth.

And there’s certainly no shortage of work. August to October is one of our busiest times of year – lifting summer crops, planting oriental greens, cauliflowers, cabbages, onions and garlic, both outside and in the polytunnels.

Meanwhile, the tomatoes have had a particularly good ripening season, so it looks like there won’t be quite such a long chutney-making season this year!

More than a veg box

All of this is part of what makes the co-op special. You’re not simply receiving a box of vegetables. You’re joining a group of people who grow, harvest, pack, share, learn and solve problems together.

Some weeks that means discovering a new vegetable. Some weeks it means getting your hands dirty. And occasionally it means harvesting a neighbour’s grapes and turning them into a surprise for the share!

If you like the idea of eating locally grown food, being part of a community and helping build a more resilient local food system, we’d love you to join us.

Not 1 but soon – 3 options for collecting crop shares: Hexham, Ovington and… Prudhoe

Following plenty of discussion we are ready to start a new crop share collection point.  Though our Ovington fields are not far from Prudhoe we know the river – and the railway line “the barriers always come down when you are heading across and on more than one occasion I have been caught both ways!” – put people are put off from joining.  So we are hoping having a centrally based collection point will encourage more folk to join us.  

Prudhoe Community Partnership have agreed to host collections at the Community Hub (next to Spetchells and behind the co op), good for parking.