Inspection complete

I'm pleased to announce our soil association inspection went well yesterday, all records present and correct!
Its the third year in a row we have had this particular inspector so will have a change next year to ensure impartiality, which i think just goes to show the integrity of the soil association and those that work within it.
We were please to hear how wet she thought the farm was especially as she is out inspecting farms all over the north every day. We seem to have picked the worst year to move onto such wet land and the year after has been just as bad. Although the average air temp seems to be picking up.

Beth and I are feeling a bit of a 'food hangover' this morning. We took the kids ice skating in times square again last night with me being forced to be on the ice as a a guardian for George. Not sure who was more fearful but he ended up doing laps with me hanging on to the side watching and getting in the way of all the other unsafe parents waddling round the barrier. We finished the evening with in a chinese on stowell street as a special request for Billys birthday and ended up eating the usual noodles coated in greasy salty sources and even more unforgiveable the pork ribs. I can see how this may be contradictory to what we believe in and for the most part we make ethical decisions but occasionally our resolve is weakened. I'd like to think that the intensively farmed pork and chicken that is sold into this industry isn't kept going by our few visits each year. Does anyone know of a good asian restuarant with an ethical sourcing policy?? We love asian food and would love to eat out without the guilt that comes with it.

We once had a butcher who worked for a local butchers shop before coming to us who liked to tell us about the barrels of red sweet and sour chinese source they used to make the 'value' suasages a 'good' colour! Needless to say he didn't last long.

Christmas Part 2

the fruit bushes bordering the 'walled' garden

some more bushes - blackcurrant, whitecurrant, redcurrant and jostaberry.

odd mushrooms growing in the polytunnel!

salad coming through..

in 3- 4 weeks we'll be cutting this for your salad bags!

the new fencing back under water

We hope to put a rather large duck pond in to use the excess water for meat although we may end up with norths wild duck population coming to stay and don't fancy paying for all the organic feed that i'm sure they would help us get through.

a pic of the long gone turkeys, have to say they look a lot nicer on the table!

Its been a fanatstic weekend here at G and S with Beths brother and family returning from an extended stay in Australia. This was the perfect excuse for Christmas dinner II.

We boned and rolled 2 big fat turkeys that we had frozen before christmas, stuffed them with a mix of pork mince, sage, lots of crushed garlic, oats and some cooked chestnuts. Topped off with plenty of streaky bacon. We cooked it under foil for a couple of hours and then crisped the bacon with the foil off...it was the most succulant and tasty turkey i've tasted and was so easy to carve. In fact we are still carving our way through it! We'll be offering this as a service this year i think although it is a bit time consuming when we have the least time.

All the rain and snow from last week has left us underwater again, the good news is that it has loosened the soil round the carrots that had previuosly been frozen in which means the pigs got through them in no time. we moved them further down the carrot bed yesterday so they are happy again. The bed they have left will then be rotavated as soon as the weather allows or we may try just running our discs over and then harrowing to create a seed bed. Needless to say whatever goes in that bed will get a good start to its life.

More good news is that the first sowings of lettuce/salads are showing themselves...its amazing to think with the lack of daylight hours and low temperatures that thay are willing to make a show of it so eagerly. They were sown on new years day and have een pretty much ignored since in the polytunnel. (which the winds are taking there toll on now, we'll have to get the duct tape out soon)

The ewes have pretty much finished the grass and will be fed hay, or haylage from now until we get some new growth in spring. We will start feeding them with some barley and beans around end of feb early march to make sure there lambs have plenty of nutrients during the early stage s of growth. Hopefully we will have some good weather for lambing this year..pleased we only have 23 ewes to do..some of the locals will have upto 1000 ewes to work with!

Greetings From the G and S Farm!

First of all, a belated Happy New Year to you all from the team here at G and S. We Hope you enjoyed the festive season.
As this is the first post of the new year, it's time to let you know our plans for the year, and for the next few years. Yes, we are that organised!
Currently the pigs are enjoying clearing out the old carrot beds ready for sowing in the spring. When the beds are clear, we can start our new crop rotation pattern.

Crop rotation is essential for preserving the quality of the soil. Here are some details of what we are planning, and why we are doing it. We hope this interests you, because it will directly affect the food you get in your boxes of the coming months, and even years.

Our seven year crop rotation plans are now ready to be posted on the website.
Seven years is the recommended rotation for many reasons, the main ones being:

· To allow the ground to recover from hungry crops like Brassicas.
· To ensure a break between crops, hindering some of the crop pests and diseases.
· To restore and feed the soil.
· To incorporate farm yard manures as fertilisers.
· To inhibit weeds.
· To create clean grazing.
· To give us a wide variety of crops for your boxes.

Our fields will be divided up into several plots, and here we will plant our "field scale" (industry term...!) crops. In the walled garden we will also be planting more attention-seeking crops such as salad leaves.
In any one of our field scale plots, the following crop rotation will be running, starting from a different point on the cycle in each plot to maximize variety. an example of a rotation scheme for a single plot is as follows:

2009- Potatoes - Orla and Milva varieties - planted in May for harvest in October.

09-10 Pigs/Poultry - to remove the leftover potato plants and prepare the ground for the next crop. October to March

2010- Broad beans, sowed in April for harvest on August

10-11 Sprouting Broccoli. Both Purple and White, Sowed in August for harvest in May

2011 Salads. Celery, Chard, Lettuce and others, planted on May for October Harvest.

11-12 The Pigs and Poultry are back to finish off what's left. October to April

2012 Squash/Courgettes. Butternut and large hallowe'en types (such as crown prince). Planted in April for harvest in September/October.

12-13 Guess who're back? that's right, those all purpose waste disposal units, the pigs and poultry, from November to March

13-14 Root crops, such as Chanteray Carrots, Parsnips, Beetroot, turnip and Swede. Planted starting in March and continuing through the year, these will be harvested from October through to March, with the pigs following as the early crops are finished until there is nothing left.

14-15 Brassicas, such as Red, white, green, savoy and even winter cabbage! Planted starting in march and continuing to plant over the following weeks, and harvested from August onward until tehy are gone.

14-16 Following the cabbages, grass will be planted as an Organic soil improver. This will be in for up to a season and a half, taking us up to March of the 7th year in the cycle. Manure will be dug in in June to add fertility and organic matter, and the whole cycle will start again.

Well, I hope that wasn't too long and in depth, and that you found it interesting to know what we are up to now and in the future.

See you all Next time!