August 7th

• Beetroot
• Kohl Rabi
• Courgettes
• Cabbage
• Tomatoes
• French Beans
• Carrots
• Broccoli
• Sweetcorn
• Potatoes

August 14th

• Courgettes
• Potatoes
• Runner Beans
• Sweetcorn
• Tomatoes
• Onions
• Kohl Rabi
• Garlic
• French Beans
• Beetroot

August 21st

• Courgettes
• Potatoes
• Runner Beans
• Sweetcorn
• Broccoli
• Tomatoes
• Onions
• Garlic
• Beetroot

August 28th

• Courgettes
• Potatoes
• Runner Beans
• Sweetcorn
• Broccoli
• Tomatoes
• Onions
• Squash 11½ lbs
• Leeks
• Beetroot

]]> http://www.the-promised-land.org.uk/2010/08/boxes-for-august-2010/feed/ 0 http://www.the-promised-land.org.uk/2010/07/guys-diary-july-2010/ http://www.the-promised-land.org.uk/2010/07/guys-diary-july-2010/#comments Wed, 21 Jul 2010 11:10:30 +0000 dw77 http://www.the-promised-land.org.uk/?p=312 Hare Today – Gone Tomorrow

Hello everyone. By now, everyone should have had a good quantity of strawberries and raspberries and have collected 2 boxes. The report for this month will consist of a few of the problems and some of the highlights we have encountered.

Hare-y Times

Some of you may have been aware that a cow knocked over our rabbit fence and a hare got into the Promised Land and was causing some problems by eating the new brassicas that we had planted. James came down with his shot gun, and with the help of Katie and myself, we tried to force it out of the allotments. We went beating and eventually the hare rifled out of the potatoes, running with a great big target on his back in front of James and with no hesitation James fired 2 crisp shots. Please note, no animals were harmed in this story!!! James, once again, missed and we forced the hare out of the gates.

Equipment

To increase productivity and also make the allotments possible, James and Katie purchased a root planter. I will try to get pictures up of it, as quite frankly it is brilliant for an old piece of kit. It is also good to see that James can actually fit in the rust covered seat! There is also a new potato picker which is in 300 pieces after we bought it as we are currently reconditioning it.

Weather

Unless you have been in a far off country with a cool climate, like Egypt, you will realise that Britain has been ridiculously hot and seriously lacking water. Thankfully we have overcome this with our irrigation system and, as you have noticed by now, the produced has not been affected too much. A few carrots have suffered, a few peas and beans but on the whole, we are confident.

Wednesday Nights and Saturday Collection

I would like to say a big thank you to those who helped out on our first Wednesday Open Night. My own mother was there and she is using the night as a source of fitness, almost a green gym! It is completely optional and it has been taken in good spirits, with everyone helping in some form.

So everyone knows, on Saturday collections, there are opportunities to gather, have a cup of tea and coffee with home baked cakes from Chef Katie. Everything is very reasonably priced so please, bring a couple of pounds, meet with your friends, have a natter and collect your veggie boxes.

Please remember to bring your old boxes back please! We need the boxes for you to collect the next week’s veg!

Stamford Living

Those of you who read the July “Stamford Living” magazine will have noticed we were in there. After a nice report and a picture, I have been referred to as Farmer Guy by everyone on the Genever Farms! So, to keep this up, I will sign out till next month.

Regards – Farmer Guy!

July 4th

• Strawberries
• Raspberries
• Courgette
• Cabbage
• Peas
• Broad Beans
• Turnips
• Potatoes

July 11th

• Raspberries
• Broccoli
• Courgettes
• Cabbages
• Peas
• Broad Beans
• Turnips
• Potatoes

July 17th

• Broad beans (2½ lbs. when podded for the freezer)
• Peas
• Beetroot
• Broccoli
• Potatoes
• Cauliflower
• Cabbage
• Turnips
• Courgettes
• Raspberries

July 24th

• Potatoes
• Beetroot
• Broad Beans
• Cabbages
• Runner Beans
• Broccoli
• Cauliflowers
• Peas
• Courgettes
• French Beans

July 31st

• Potatoes
• Beetroot
• Tomatoes
• Cabbages
• Runner Beans
• Raspberries
• Cauliflower
• Carrots
• Courgettes
• French Beans

Strawberries: Everyone loves strawberries and the good news is that the earliest variety we have, the Honeyo, have started to flower, produce strawberries and some have started to turn red. Straw will be put underneath very soon and hopefully the taste will be worth the wait.

Potatoes: As you walk by, you can see the four rows all doing exceptionally well. When you drive by fields full of potatoes, just think that your plots look better and are more advanced!!!

Brassicas: The growth of the cabbage, cauliflower and calabrese is fantastic. They have taken hold and are now approximately a foot high!
Onions: The drilled seed onions have not produced like we have hoped and we will plant all of them from sets next year. The set onions have produced very well and will be high yielding.
Roots: The early carrots have just started coming up. Due to the lack of water the development has been slow but they are picking up and as soon as the ground dries out after Tuesdays rain, then I will drill the next set of carrots, beetroot and swede.
Block Crops: These are now fully planted. Sweetcorn, courgettes, tomatoes and squash! These were planted a little late because of the late frosts.

Beans and Peas: These are now almost all in. The runner beans have taken hold, French beans have emerged, peas are coming on nicely and the broad beans are starting to have countless pods developing on them. Not long till they are ready!

Work: We have been doing a lot hoeing recently and this should improve the growth. We have also added some fertiliser which has added growth. The masterpiece though is the water tank and irrigation system, which is now up and running, with great results, allowing us to control the water everything gets.

(Pictures by Ivy – while I try to stop being a technophobe and learn how to use the computer and camera!)

Well a lot has happened since the last report, not so much on the physical planting front but on the organisation and taking action front. We have had a couple of concerns and questions which we hope to answer for everyone in this report.

Organisation

Not surprisingly, during the snow period, we conveniently had to do planning work indoors. Actually, it was fortunate coincidence and provided us with a chance to work out the plan for the whole year and how we were going to plant the individual plots. On the whole, we actually found that we were able to fit more plants in the allotments than previously thought, which is brilliant, however finding out that I will have to plant 16,000 carrot seeds was a shock! We do have a drill which should mean this takes very little time, luckily. Due to all this indoor work, we were able to order everything and we have just received the onions, garlic and shallots, the potatoes are in a warehouse waiting to be collected and wire mesh has arrived.

Pest Control

“Be wery wery quiet, I am hunting wabbits!”
Since the last report we have acted a fair bit on the rabbit situation. The snow allowed us to see their tracks and work out where they were coming from which is going to give us the upper hand! We have also recruited the services of a pest controller but do not worry, it is not Elmer Fudd! He will be ferreting, gassing and caging rabbits. Ferreting allowed him to catch 31 in one mornings work last week! The total count will keep going up!

We are also going to put up more rabbit fencing, along the road side of the field and also in the bottom corner, nearest to the village. Unfortunately the ground is too wet to do any work at the moment though.

I trust everyone had a fabulous winter break with snowflakes, snowmen and snowballs but I am now back to working off my expanded waistline due to sherry, ale and turkey, a whole stone has been added! Those who went to the meeting will have seen me, hiding in the corner, out of sight, trying to avoid any public speaking! My name is Guy Cunningham and I will be working on the Promised Land with the aid of James and Katie Genever. We all felt that it would be a great idea that a diary should be written, keeping everyone up to date with what is going on, the joys, heart ache and comedy moments. I hope you enjoy….

October 2009

We marked out all the plots, with 3 roads and made a start on the rabbit fence. The fence on the Casewick side goes about 10 inches underground to stop them burrowing under, with the rest of the fence curled out ten inches for the same reason.

We collected the brassicas (spring cabbage, chard, spinach, broccoli, calabrese) and the cloches and started planting.

This coincided with the high winds, any eagle eyed walkers would have either seen the cloches flying across a field or wrapped round a cow! Needless to say, much of my time was taken up by chasing these cloches.

A special thank you to the Ekins family for their assistance with the planting of brassicas.

November 2009

The brassicas were completed and the perennials (raspberries, strawberries, rhubarb, etc.) were next on the list. Four varieties of strawberry and 3 varieties of raspberry were planted all with different fruiting times, the plan being that there will be a more constant amount of produce over the summer. The gate was also erected, old railway sleepers were used which give a lovely old rustic but stable gate.

December 2009

The very start of December saw the planting of some broad beans and garlic. This was one of the colder experiences of planting with 5 layers the norm and the Genever’s kettle got a good hammering from me! We also tried to stem the flow of rabbits entering the Promised Land from the spinney next to the grain sheds by placing new rabbit fencing around that field.

Guy’s diary continues here

Crop Growth

This has been very pleasing, chard and spinach are developing very well, calabrese and broccoli are being eaten as dish of the day by the rabbits, however we have replaced as much as possible. Rhubarb is developing and it grows in the dark, so with the snow cover we are expecting some good healthy rhubarb.Garlic was growing shoots after just a few weeks however with the freezing it has pushed much of the garlic out of the ground, we only planted a quarter of the garlic so far though.

Rabbits!

These are our main problem.With the high winds of October and November blowing the cloches off, the rabbits had a good go at much of the brassica plots. They are also interested in a specific variety of strawberry which is unusual, however the albion will grow and be strong. We have increased the rabbit fencing and we will be putting out traps and looking for them at shoots, there is a price on Bugs Bunny now! The problem sounds worse than it is as 80% of produce is still there and growing.

Crows!

Another pest.

We planted broad beans and the crows have pecked at them already, dug them up and eaten them.

We will try other forms of controlling them, however, watching James’ shooting skills the other day, I think the moon is in more danger!

Overall:

I would like to point out that this is a very honest account of what is going on at the Promised Land.

We have only planted a quarter of everything so far, with the exception of the perennials, and with our pest control improving and the good growth of the produce, we are confident of producing some tasty, locally grown food for you.

Feedback would be welcome, so I know what you would like to hear in the updates, what ideas you may have and any questions. At the end of the day, in the summer we are hoping that this brings a good community spirit and with your help and feedback, we can keep improving.

Please follow the links on the website for Katie or James’ email address.

New Gate - work in progress

New Fence and Netting – to keep out the rabbits

East Fence

South Fence

Winter Greens under Polythene – to keep out the winter and the pigeons

Winter Greens

Winter Greens

First Fruits – heeled in

Raspberries

Strawberries

October 2009 - Guy making a start

A few people still haven’t confirmed their plot size requirement and let us have their deposit. Please can we have it as soon as possible as we plan to start setting up the plots next week.

Perennial Plot Choices

These plots will be established in the next few weeks. Below is a list of what we plan to have in a standard plot and also some options. Please can you let us know asap if you would like something leaving out of the standard plot and also what options if any you require. If you select an option the area of the standard plants will reduce to accommodate them. These perennial crops will take a couple of years to establish, so the crops from them may not be too great in the first year or two.

Vegetable Choices

We will also start planting some of the vegetables in the next few weeks. Please have a look below to see if there is anything that you would rather that we didn’t plant. We are choosing vegetables that will give us the longest production cycle and continuity of supply. Therefore there may be things that you wouldn’t normally buy but we feel that you should try them and we will come up with recipes to inspire you to use them. More information here.

Please let us know your choices by Wednesday 14th October so we can order the plants. If we have not heard from you we will plant the standard selection. Sorry for the short time scale but we need to get the plants ordered soon.

James and Katie Genever

October 2009 – If you missed the village hall meeting or would like to see the slides again, click below ( needs Adobe Flash Player installed to view)