Growers and gardeners have many challenges – at the moment the weather is perhaps our biggest challenge. Maybe you remember this time last year? Hot during the day, dry, and colder at night. This year it’s wet and cold. Which means, in common with other growers, we are ‘late’ getting our plants into the fields. However the chiffchaff’s announced spring in early April and the swallows are busy in the skies, the weeds are coming on a treat, so there are signs we have made it to Spring!
Needless to say we’ve been busy Ovington fields as we make the transition from winter to summer crops. March and April saw much activity in the polytunnels (they help to keep us, as well as plants, warm!), and we are just beginning to plant crops in the outside fields. This will leave a short period known as the hungry gap in May. Here’s a summary of what we have been up to.
Our new polytunnel insulation system has worked well – amazing what you can do with bubble wrap. We have used bubble wrap to create a tunnel within a tunnel protecting a central bay in Bill’s tunnel. This is gently gas heated to provide warmth to the seedlings on the colder nights. This has been exceptionally effective in supporting continued growth as the seedlings which will not grow at less that 5 degrees. It has become a vital technique this Spring and will help shortening the lean May we might have otherwise experienced.
The greatest success story of the spring has been the autumn planted varieties of spinach, chard and winter lettuce. Wintery tunnel crops that have been sitting still for so long have thrived with the longer daylight hours and slightly warmer weather. Such a great sight when they suddenly ‘take off’. We have been reaping the benefits via delicious leafy greens and amazing salad mixes. There has been an abundance available to our crop shares which has been just wonderful – leading to weekly conversations, that start with, what did you do with your chard (spinach, leaves) last week? A great start to the year.
With our propagating shed and then polytunnels bursting at the seams, and the fields too cold for young plants the cold frames have been well used this year. As soon as they are ready broad beans, spring onions, brussel sprouts, leeks, beetroot, are hardened off in this half way house, getting them ready for planting.
Then there are the beds to get ready for planting. As soon as it stopped raining and the soil got a little drier our workshares and growers got to work on the fields, preparing for the summer crop planting; digging, weeding, composting and laying down mypex. Planting has begun – hurrah! – with broad beans, a range of brassicas (cabbages, cauliflowers and brussels sprouts, beetroot and spinach).
This months star attraction Purple Sprouting Broccoli. Worth a mention our gorgeous purple sprouting broccoli which our crop shares have been enjoying! It sits in the ground for such a long time and means we’ve got a living crop all through the winter. Then it’s a delight to see flowering and a joy to harvest. This year we are experimenting with a variety that grows in a shorter time frame in the hopes of getting some again later this year. Let’s see how it goes.
Pests and Weeds
It is so easy to forget about pests and weeds in the winter until they both start arriving at this time of year. Pests, such as slugs in particular have arrived although they are not too bad as yet. We would love to hear of how anyone deals with their slugs in particular. They are tricky customers and we would be glad for any tips.
Looking ahead to May – Polytunnel transition
The spinach and chard are soon to end with the crops being pulled out to make space for our summer crops like tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers. In the polytunnels we have been growing seedlings of broad beans, beetroots, leeks and alliums ready for planting in the fields in May.
