Godney greens

Greens certainly play an important role in our diets, but especially in times like the 'hungry gap' when little else can be grown in the UK, without artificial heat, but also at times like we are currently in. Greens are very important and essential in promoting and maintaining a healthy immune system. 

When typically we would in 'normal times' be supplying the Sheppey Inn their greens for Sunday lunch and the Bocabar as a weekly veg, in recent weeks we have been fuelling village folk with rainbow chard and collard greens. Both have been very popular, rainbow chard a little like spinach, but holding more body when cooked. The very different collard greens, which are popular in America, produce more of a traditional cabbage leaf with a taste to match.

The leaves we have been enjoying recently have all been grown in the polytunnel and have benefit from both the protection and the micro-climate that the tunnel creates. However, now they need to make way for the summer produce, especially tomatoes, aubergines, cucumbers and chillies, to name a few. 

However, growing greens outside is a challenge, as not only do people like to eat them so do a long list of pests, such as caterpillars, flea beetles and leather jackets. So appreciating their significance we have been working on installing a dedicated tunnel just for them.

The same size as our dedicated salad tunnel Melv made a start a few weeks back at getting the ground prepared before the frame was up - so he could let the mini digger do the work and allow the girls to finish off scarifying.

Once the ground was opened up it didn't take long to get the basic frame in place

Again, whilst access was easy Melv formed the basic structures for the grow beds and added the muck, to break up the clay soil, provide structure and provide the ground with a bit of a boost.

With as much of the beds constructed that we had timber to complete, the door frame and door, one originally off the main polytunnel, was in place - it fitted a treat.

Next it was the tricky it which required a calm day!! - The netting...

As the tunnel was going to be devoted to cabbage species and greens such as rainbow chard it was designed to provide protection from pests rather than heat and shelter from the weather - and so was to be covered in netting rather than polythene.

In previous years we have used small scale tunnels made from water pipe covered with net like above. Whilst these worked, they were very difficult to access for harvesting, often weren't tall enough for varieties such as purple sprouting and also were never 100% sealed and as a result caterpillars often found a way through and it doesn't take many caterpillars to strip numerous leaves.

Soon draped over the top, I must admit it took a little longer to get the net in position and tight, but as with many jobs in this business perseverance paid off and soon we could start to visualise the completed structure that we had always aspired to have was going to look like.

Finally just the sides and ends were left, which were far more straight forward.

We whizzed round, Sal on the netting, Melv on the timber to secure it from the strong winds that we seem to be having of late.

The end result was very pleasing and we couldn't wait to get the plants that we are holding in large pots in, where they would be safe and could flourish.

Here's to great Godney greens!!

A change of approach

It goes without saying that in these current times, the way we now get produce to our customers has changed dramatically and like every business we have had to adjust the ways we work to avoid contact and ensure both our safety and the safety of others.

The biggest change is that we now do deliveries 3 times a week to local villagers, in an attempt to enable people to have fresh produce regularly, whilst enabling us to stay in complete control of how we engage with people. Orders are taken via email and every Monday, Thursday and Saturday the truck is loaded up and we head round the village, armed with gloves and hand sanitiser.

This approach not only gets fresh produce to the village, but also provides a point of contact for many of the older folk that are self isolating and don't get any further than their back doors and gardens and so have minimal opportunity for face-to-face contact, although at a safe distance.

When we can, we also offer produce to the neighbouring villages of Polsham and Panborough and they have designated people who come and collect from outside the barn.

With regards to our local businesses, the village tearooms is offering a delivery service for indulgent treats such as cream teas and afternoon teas and the take-up has been incredible with their demand for salad trays as a result increasing dramatically!

Although our salad leaves only form a very small part of the platter, for recent VE day celebrations, their order was their largest to date, with over 110 bookings they needed 15 living salad trays - over 3.5kg of leaves!! This presented the opportunity for us to provide a selection of different colours and varieties, which looked bonny in the sunshine.

Change is always difficult and when combined with uncertainty can be a challenge, but now several weeks down the line it the way we work has become what they seemed to have named the 'new normal'. Like all of us, we just need to adapt our ways to do things different and the best we can to keep safe and others safe, but with fresh food locally. Where there is a will there is a way and at the end of each day I thank my lucky stars that I live where I do, have the job that I have and that we are both fit and healthy.

Feed for food for free

The Somerset rural roads are a picture at the moment, lined with cow parsley and of course with the current lockdown situation they are a lot quieter. During my early morning cycle rides the recent weather has produced beautiful light which has displayed the verges at their best.

Despite their simplicity, the white umbels of the feathery parsley are delicate and beautiful, and along the verge as a swathe they look a little like a dusting of pure white snow.

However, as a bonus, if you look closely there are also some other delights often hidden in amongst the pure white stands...

The creamy bell flowers of comfrey, and as a special treat there can also be the more unusual pink variety.

However not only does the comfrey add to the beauty of the roadside verge, it also has some rather special qualities which makes it very attractive to us - it makes an excellent fertilizer. The plant has a deep taproot and large root system, and so pulls its nutrients from way down in the subsoil, where most other plants can't reach. Comfrey is high in just about every nutrient a plant needs, including the big three, nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, and many trace elements. These nutrients are stored in its leaves. By harvesting the leaves and letting them break down, you can create a rich, dark, nutrient-rich plant food to use around the garden. It’s especially rich in potassium, making it the ideal feed to promote flowers and fruits in a range of plants, including tomatoes - and there lies the link...

These leaves are going to feed our tomatoes, with over 20+ different varieties and so a large number of plants we need to be planning ahead of how we are going to feed them all!!

With our ambition to grow so many different types and such a large number planning how to feed them in these challenging times is important. So we set to harvesting comfrey leaves, mainly off our own land, but topped up from the roadside locally.

All harvested, a stripping we did go and leaves were separated from the stalks on a commercial scale!

Stems and flowers not wasted and used on the compost heap, providing both valuable structure and nutrients.

The leaves and all the goodness were put into two blue barrels, one which we leave to decompose without any addition and so to release their liquid neat.

The other we added water to - and with taps in the barrels we are ready to draw off after 4 weeks, to dilute appropriately and feed to our tommies - feed for food for free - lovely!

Its time to begin the magic of Godney Royals

Due to the high number of pests in our soil, as a consequence of being under grass for so long, we really struggle to grow a number of root crops and tubers such as spuds, which is very frustrating to say the least.

This year we really wanted to grow Jersey Royals and Pink Fir Apple and optimistically bought in a total of 1,000 spuds ready for chitting in the hope that we might be able to create some pest free ground. Both varieites were looking good, the Jersey Royals, which we know as the Godney Royals, an early variety, were showing lovely shoots, with a purple hew. 

The pink fir apples a little further behind as a main crop, were also chitting well, but the shoots a little smaller.

But both were ready for planting, and with the recent shift in emphasis in our growing and so an even further increase in the demands on our time, we just won't get chance to create a pest free area on our own ground.

However with the current pandemic we feel that it is even more important for us to try to find a way to get them in the ground as spuds play such a significant part in people's diet. Racking our brains about how, we approached our neighbours, Phil and Manda Ryder, and they agreed to kindly let us use some of their wireworm free ground - a lifeline for us and the spuds indeed. So no time to waste, we loaded up the barrow, filled the back of the truck and nipped down the road a few 100ms. 

Phil had been a star and had kindly prepared the ground for us with his tractor, with trenches already excavated, all that was left for us to do was to place the spuds in the ground, rake over and mound up. Without the preparation it would've taken us so much longer and may have not even be possible to get such a large number in.

A little short of space for the number of seed potatoes we had, we crammed them in with the thought that although space length ways may be a little limited they could expand width ways.

In a matter of a few hours all spuds were in the ground and the final job was to get them covered and soil mounded up on top of the trench. A really rewarding task and one we were so pleased to be able to have the opportunity to undertake. Planting seed potatoes really is a magical process, and one that never ceases to amaze me, how one slightly shrivelled seed potato can multiply to produce up to 20 perfect potatoes - now that is magic and definitely something to look forward to, especially in these challenging times.

Singing in the rain - music to our ears

The sunshine over recent weeks has certainly been appreciated, it has helped to lighten the spirits and make life at a difficult time just that little bit easier, feeling warm and looking bright. But all that said we are now getting to the stage where we would appreciate a drop of the wet stuff - well this week - its rained - yippee and we are ready for it. To compliment our outside rainwater harvesting tanks, Melv has been busy constructing a much larger water storage facility inside the barn.

Built from blocks and concrete our new water storage tank can hold 40,000 litres of rainwater collected off the large barn roof. Quite an engineering task, it all started with a reinforced concrete base.

Needing to be 'man enough' to support the weight of the water, the wire mesh and shuttering were all put in place, ready for the concrete delivery. Time was of the essence with 4 cubic metres mixing in the lorry we needed to be swift, so the dumper truck was ready and waiting.

The pad was soon down and Melv made a indent for the drainage channel, in the event that in the future we need to drain the tank for cleaning, step one was complete.

We were now ready for the block work, Melv used large hollow concrete blocks which he could tie together with steel rods and fill with concrete to provide the strength needed to hold such a volume of water.

With the large, but very heavy blocks, progress was quite quick and we could soon start to visualise the scale of the structure - providing essential water storage through the summer months.

With all walls completed, Melv then waterproofed and plastered the completed structure, outside...

and in...

With the over flow pipework installed, the next task was to connect the guttering and down pipes, to collect the water off the roof and then we would be ready for harvesting water.

The guttering on the section of roof above the tank and those immediately adjacent were easy to redirect and in no time they were all connected, by simply adding elbows and short sections of pipework.

As the Spring marches in, to be hotly followed by the drier summer months, the project is a big step forward in making our watering life so much easier. So it was music to our ears when the rain finally came this week and started pouring in...

Just in the nick of time - to catch the April showers and hopefully some May thunderstorms - it is lovely to think that we are now ready and waiting.

The Community Spirit

It makes you realise with the current situation and lock-down, how much we take for granted in the UK, for example that we will always be able to acquire items that we need. When we worked in the Seychelles we got used to items not being available, and I s'pose living on the island of Aride, we kind of expected to have to 'make do and mend'. 

But still it was a challenge when there was no toilet roll available, or DIY items such as paint (only 'muddy peach' emulsion). There was never any milk and milk powder was in short supply, when they ran out of packaging, it took months to get a toilet seat for our long-drop toilet, we had to make our own calendar and mirrors just couldn't be found - the latter interesting for Melv trying to have a shave! 

But in the UK we have come to expect to be able to get what we need when we need it and more to the point very quickly. With the current lock-down, supply of many items has become a challenge and the closing of shops and stores has meant that acquiring products such as compost has been a concern for us, especially as it is so key to our business operation. It was therefore a huge relief that during one our recent deliveries a doorstep conversation with one of our customers led to an act of community spirit.

It was lovely that one act of good will led to another and later that day we had an offer of as much compost as we needed. Andrew Rowlands of Godwins, a local growing media producer and grower called to say he could supply us with compost, both peat free and multi-purpose when we needed it. Although the factory was currently closed to customers, he would be able to ensure that we could collect pallets as needed, as long as social distancing was maintained.

Godwins' peat free compost is a product that we already used and we were very excited that we now had a supply of the material in such difficult times. With the help of Mike Chitty, a Godney villager, and the loan of his trailer there was soon a pallet at our barn door, ready to be off-loaded.

With the assistance of the muck truck our stock supplies were soon replenished, as Melv off loaded the trailer in the bright sunshine.

With plenty of storage room in the barn it was great to get stocked up, giving us both the peace of mind, but also the freedom to pot on and grow as we needed in our attempt to provide continuity of supply for village people - Andrew included - who is now enjoying our living salads!!

Andrew's kindness is certainly going to go a long way to helping our small business' ability to be an important fresh salad and vegetable producer for the local folk of Godney, Panborough and Polsham, and so to fulfil our new ambition to be useful during these unusual times. 

To compliment the compost, Andrew also offered us a large supply of redundant 9cm plant pots, another offer we certainly couldn't refuse.  Again providing us with a better ability to pot on a larger quantity of plants, especially varieties such as courgettes, cucumbers, cabbage and beans. Planting out larger plants into the outside beds helps to ensure their survival and counteract being devoured by pests such as wireworm and cut worms.

They also inspired us to resurrect an old idea of producing potted herbs, such as coriander and red basil. 

These 9cm pots would be perfect for this, providing herbs in pots, which will have a long shelf life and provide people with the opportunity to have the fresh ingredients they need to invigorate and liven up their home cooked cuisine.

Tasty tomatoes...

Tomatoes are just one of the many things that we look forward to growing over the summer, but this year we are particularly excited as we have got some rather exceptional varieties, in both their appearance and taste.

With the traditionals - Alicante, Gardeners Delight and Tumbling Tom (below), already planted in the polytunnel and some starting to flower, we are now keenly potting on the less traditional species that will certainly make our customers smile and hopefully keen to try - as they are going to be amazzzzzzing.

From cherry to beef-stake, from lime green to those the colour of raspberries, from orange to chocolate, some shaped like pears, others like sausages. Here is a taster of what is to come...

Midnight Snack - 

 

A dark red, almost black/purple cherry tomato, just 4cm in diameter they are really tasty fruits and great for snacking at any time of the day. 

White Pink Stripes beefsteak -

Fabulously coloured, cream-peach with large, round, flattened and ribbed fruits, 400 to 900g in weight and 10/13cm diameter - huge! Peachy flesh with a sweet subtle flavour and aroma of melon.

Lime green salad - 

These are round fruits between 75g and 140g each, with a Chartreux lime green juicy flesh and an excellent spicy flavour.

Malinowy Retro -

This variety produces, very unusual large fleshy fruits  which are the colour of raspberries and the shape of Coeur de Boeuf (ox heart). Their flesh has an excellent flavour, which is soft and sweet.

Orange fizz -

A beautiful luminous San Marzano type, not only a good tomato but beautiful as well, with a lovely orange colour, ranged evenly on trusses. The fruits have an excellent, sweet flavour and a good yield.

Ananas ou Pineapple - 

Is an enormous pineapple beefsteak tomato, which has a skin and flesh which are yellow-orange, marbled with dark orange, weighing between 500 and 900g with a diameter of over 13cm. The fruits have an excellent flavour and the plants provide a good yield.

Green Sausage - 

A Roma type variety which is great for sauces and homemade ketchup, with clear green fruits, speckled with dark green, weighing at between 60 and 80g in trusses of 6/8 and 7/10 cm long. They have a thick green flesh with a pronounced delicious flavour. 

Aumoniere orange -

Very unusual pear shaped fruits which are ribbed with an orange skin and flesh, that are very even and attractively shaped, weighing approximately 100g, and typically 10cm in diameter. 

With over 20 varieties planned, these are just a sample of what local tomato lovers have to look forward to. We hope that there will be a tomato for all, whether they are a sauce maker, heatlhy snacker or salad lover, there will be a new variety to try - surely that is what summer food is all about - even in times like this.