This week has seen some serious ground and soil preparation – we’ve been composting, but head grower Joris has also been getting awfully excited about using a ‘deep cultivator’ to break up the soil, as well as our newly acquired rotavator (which is, quote, “fantastic”) called the Howard SelectaTilth – we can’t decide whether this name is a bit Wallace & Gromit or, more sinisterly, a bit reminscent of Hal 9000 from Space Odyssey.
In any case, it’s very useful indeed, giving us twice the conditioned soil we were able to use before by creating more bed depth and tilth. Previously we’ve been getting 4 inches of nice soil – now it’s up to 10 inches, which should have a dramatic effect on, as Joris puts it, our plants’ health and happiness. Our chard, for example, has had a tendency to bolt, which might have been down to it being unable to build a good root structure, so this should be a big help on that front. It also means more soil will be mixed in with compost, so it should make for healthier soil on our land in the long term – a very valuable legacy.
Other exciting news on the farm is that we’ve now planted the first bed of the second year of our crop rotation plan – that bed was next year’s garlic, planted where this year’s beans have been. Around 1000 bulbs were planted at the weekend, which is thanks to the young people from The Challenge (pictured above – thank you, guys).
They also harvested a quarter of a ton of shallots – so most of our shallots are now out of the ground. Not only that, they also helped clear and compost the beds of summer brassicas. And, last but not least, they managed to work our clay pizza oven very hard, making 50 pizzas, and we’re proud to say that she was up to the job.