New toy!

Today we had our local dealer from Exeter come down to give us a demo of what's going to be the machinery we use on the top field in the expansion.  It was so exciting! It worked a treat and should do the business.  What you can't see is my big smile and two thumbs up… But they were there off camera!

Crossing the bridge!


Today I headed down to Cornwall with Zoe as both our projects were part of a networking event with our funder UnLtd.  Lovely to head out of town and network with some other lovely foodie projects.

Don’t you just love tools?

I do.  For the past ten years I've worked on boats or on farms, and both places the right tool can make a really difficult job a breeze.  I also love well made, hand forged tools.  They fit really specific niches, just like these broadforks we bought from Johnny's Seeds in the USA.  When they came I unwrapped the handles and could smell the oil someone had rubbed into the wood, just one indicator of good craftsmanship – taking the time on small things makes a massive difference when it comes to tools.  The two forks on the left are for aerating the soil without inverting it, just a gentle levering action. The fork on the right with more times is for loosening out carrots, parsnips, potatoes, leeks, etc.  As we grow bigger we also plan to grow smarter and tools like these that are invented specifically for market gardening contribute to that. 🙂

Poetry in the glasshouses

Under our kiwi tree at tea time today we had a lovely poem told by our volunteer Ellie.  I can't say any more…. But if I did I'd say that maybe poems at tea and lunch time ought to be a new thing!? (it was amazing!)

I’m not going to lie…

It's all about seed sowing on the farm this week… Our big seed order from Tamar Organics arrived on Monday. So far we've sown: carrots, kohl rabi, onions, lettuce, tomato, aubergine, peppers and chilli's.  We've sown over 5000 onions! Hope our CSA members are hungry!

Seeds!

Our big seed order arrived yesterday so today was time to catch up on all the seed sowing we've missed in the past few weeks. Thanks to the level 1 students for helping us sow carrots, tomatoes, peppers and aubergines!

Helpful Dartington

Dartingtons tree guys were hard at work once again.  Chipping up the hedge trimmings from a few weeks ago.  These chippings will make good paths in the foxhole community garden – so thanks to Dartingtons land team for coming back and sorting it all out for us!

Dartington’s What’s New

Well, if you haven't seen it yet we're in Dartington's What's New that goes out to loads and loads of people, with info about how you can sign up for our membership.  Head to our membership page on the webpage for more info!