16 May 2012
It's a busy day at Growing Well this Wednesday (May 16th). It's the one dry day this week and the volunteers are making the most of it on the fields. Another bed of cabbage went in after lunch using our trusty planting machine, while other volunteers are re-potting basil plants and continuing to prep our new tunnels for the tomato plants which are suddenly bursting out of their pots.
In the marquee we have the Soil Association Producer Group holding a meeting. Staff from the SA have come up from Bristol, including their chief executive Helen Browning. James is giving a talk about our work and then the Producer Group will be taking questions from local organic farmers.
May has remained cold and we have been holding off planting our outdoor crops until we can be sure they will thrive. Our propagation tunnel is bursting with plants ready to be planted out including spinach and beetroot, runner beans and broccoli.
Our Cropshare scheme begins in June, and we are watching our broad beans closely as their readiness marks the first significant crop of the season. We are open to the public on Sunday June 17th, why not come down and see how the beans are doing - fingers crossed they should be just ready for harvest.
By Beren Aldridge, 16 May 2012 –
16 May 2012
May has not been the driest of months but this did not deter children visiting the farm this week from enjoying themselves. Dressed ready for the wintry weather, children from Royal Cross Primary School for the Deaf in Preston enjoyed mucking about in the rather large puddles found around the farm. As part of their topic on animals they got a hands on experience of holding a chicken and cuddling the lambs. After lunch they had a tour of our polytunnels and tasted some of our lovely salad leaves. Guessing which seedlings matched the vegetables also proved a popular game with the group from Preston.
It was a first visit for Royal Cross Primary School but feedback from the teachers indicated it will not be the last, they suggested visiting fortnightly! Teachers and support workers felt the children learned so much being outside of the classroom and were busy discussing how another visit could fit into their next topic.
By Pauline ____, 16 May 2012 –
16 May 2012
Now the season is really getting underway and the sun seems to be staying out for longer, the courses that are currently running are coming to the end.
The young lads on the Practical Horticulture Skills course are busy mowing the site and keeping the area in front of the education marquee tidy for the visiting school groups. The Level 1 Diploma students are busy planting the last of the onion crop and starting to learn all about harvesting crops, the pests and diseases that can effect them and how to deal with them organically.
I am starting to plan for September when new Level 1 and 2 Diploma's in Work-based Horticulture courses will start with a new group of students. However whilst the sun is shining I am going to have to sit outside and do my prep at a picnic table enjoying the bird song as I work!
By Hazel Sharples, 16 May 2012 –
14 May 2012
This week I have been compiling Growing Well's Annual Report for 2012, and in looking back at the last year I was so pleased to see how successful we have been. Amidst the adverse media reports about how broken Britain is, people at Growing Well have been quietly getting on with getting better and getting on with their lives. Sixty people have spent more than 2000 days of activity on the farm during 2011, with twenty-six people leaving us during the year to get on with new things as diverse as university, jobs, community volunteering and parenting. Our team members travel from all over Cumbria to work at the farm, with a 90 mile round-trip by public transport being the record last year!
During 2011 we became increasingly aware of the sense of community that meets you when you arrive at Growing Well. The best way to get a feel for this (apart from putting on your boots and getting muddy) is to catch Michael Lishman's photography exhibit at the Artisan Cafe at Booths in Kendal right now. Michael has shot a striking and perceptive study of twenty-four people involved in our activities at the farm, and taken as a whole the images offer a deep impression of the lives touched by our community (my daughter particularly likes to sit under the picture of her and wait for the waiter to notice the resemblance!). Michael took the image above which was highly commended in the national Social Vision competition.
By Beren Aldridge, 14 May 2012 –
03 May 2012
No, it's not really a Crop Share recipe as our own garlic isn't ready for you yet, but it could involve a visit to Low Sizergh Barn and up into the woods behind the Growing Well polytunnels - there is a wood full of wild garlic right now - but not for long! The season will be over in no time.
In Sarah Raven's book (the really excellent Garden Cookbook) she suggests that she make lots in the spring as it freezes well for use through the year. I've not tried the freezing yet but I can't recommend this recipe enough (I love garlic!). If you're freezing it though, she suggests not using the bulb garlic with it - just the wild garlic.
Ingredients:
2 handfuls (about 100g) of wild garlic leaves and flowers, 200ml of extra virgin olive oil (and a bit more for sealing), 50g of pine nuts or walnuts (I've used cashews too), 2 garlic cloves, 50g grated Parmesan cheese, salt and black pepper.
Method:
Blanch the wild garlic leaves in boiling water for about 10 seconds. Refresh in cold water and pat dry on kitchen paper (I spin them in the salad spinner). Put the wild garlic, olive oil, nuts, garlic cloves into a food processor and blend to a puree. Transfer to a bowl and mix in the Parmesan cheese. Season with salt and pepper and store in a sterilised jar with a thin layer of olive oil on top to seal it.
(Clare)
By Clare Elleray, 03 May 2012 –