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!

Well, it's been a while since we posted anything, so here's the last update of 2008 from the G and S farm!

All the stress of Christmas will hopefully soon be behind us, as Christmas deliveries go out next week, on Monday and Tuesday. Only the non-farm related stress of the day itself left to survive!

Our turkeys put up a fight this week, in a last ditch attempt to avoid the christmas dinner tables of the north east, but thankfully everything is now under control. Until the next thing goes wrong that is...!
On that subject, it looks, from my window at least, as if the Longfram village christmas tree is on the verge of falling over, probably taking our electricity/wall with it!

Thanks to all our customers for your business over the last year, and we look forward to seeing you all in the new year. We will be back delivering on the 7th of January.

See you all then,
Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year,

Lee, Beth, Sue, Steven, Katie, John
The G and S Organics Team

Well another week over as we march closer to the Christmas holidays. We hope you are all looking forward to the holiday and New Year as much as we are.
Lots of planning going on at G and S. Lee is spending hours agonizing over seed catalogues and muttering about heads of cabbage per acre!
The whole team - well, nearly the whole team - was out in force on Monday planting fruit trees. Thank you to all who volunteered to help. Just be grateful you didn’t have to play out. We had every kind of weather on Monday: Weak sun, heavy hail and driving rain. A fantastic day, however; all the trees planted. We have staked, composted and mulched them in, so look out in spring for beautiful fruit blossom and hopefully no late frost to kill off the fruit.

no trees...

Trees!

The turkeys are all looking happy and healthy, enjoying running around the farm. The weather doesn’t seem to bother them. In fact, we have to call and call them for teatime and bed.

Some great cook-ahead ideas this week to get you in the Christmas spirit and reduce the stress on the day.
By the Way, Check the website for special offers, we are doing our best to help all our customers tailor deliveries to better suit their needs.

Let us know what you are planning for Christmas and when you will want your delivery. Please note Christmas orders close this weekend. To book a delivery slot tel.07894622256.

Deliveries will be as normal on the 18th and 19th of December. Christmas orders will be delivered on the 22nd and 23rd. No deliveries at all on the 1st and 2nd of January, then we are back to normal on the 8th and 9th of January 2009.
So stock up now!

Well what a change in the weather we have seen this week! We actually had a little snow in the village, quite rare for this time of year. We don’t normally see any until the new year. All the puddles and the drinking butts for the animals have been frozen over in the mornings for last few days. going around and breaking the ice so the animals can drink is just another job to add to an already long list!

Here is a view of Lee's brand new(!) digger.

We are currently digging trenches to border our fields. this is part of our long term plan to improve the quality of our heavy clay soil. The trenches should help drainage and make the soil lighter. We will eventually dig a grid of channels accross the fields, to improve water and air circulation. these will drain into our stream, which in turn feeds our pond.

At this time of year, much of our time on the farm is spent preparing for next year. Anything that doesn’t move needs to be painted, and anything that does needs to be greased.
We have been putting beds into the walled garden, mixing in compost to improve the soil, and mulching to suppress weeds, ready for planting in the spring.

I’m sure you’ll all be pleased to know that Rufus, the Labrador who injured himself on the new fences, has now made a full recovery, and is ready to injure himself again as soon as he gets the chance! Hopefully he will resist the temptation, even though we know he loved all the attention it got him, as the vet’s costs are astronomical!

We are looking to put the Tup in with our ewes next week. This should give us lambs in April of next year. We will keep you up to date on their progress each week in the newsletter.

Oh, and don’t forget to get your Christmas order in on the website, as the deadline is December 1st. It may seem a long way off, but it will be upon you before you know it!

Latest News from the G and S farm:

Nothing ever runs smoothly, it seems this week. On the positive side, the fencing is finally finished, with the exception of a couple of gates still to hang. It looks fantastic. Unfortunately the dogs took a little while to realise that the fences are now secure, sturdy structures. Rufus, one of our Labradors, tried to jump the fence expecting it to still be slack, and ripped his leg. He has had to go to the vet 3 times so far, but seems to be loving the extra attention, and can't wait to get in the car to go for another trip! (Which is OK for him, but very expensive for us!)

Lee has a new toy, a digger, although new is probably the wrong word for describing it:

It has been working virtually non stop since it arrived, with the exception of the times it gets stuck in the mud! Mainly digging ditches and general drainage work.

Our turkeys have arrived and are settled in, happily pecking about in their new home. Their arrival has really made us aware that christmas is fast approaching. They are selling out fast, so if you want a G and S farm turkey at the best price, delivered to your door for christmas, head over to the website now and get your order in.

There is still plenty to do on the farm, still some vegetables left to pull up and store, as well as making seed lists for next year, and composting and general tidying up and maintanance.

We've certainly had more than enough rain recently, but at least we can enjoy the beautiful sight of a rainbow when it rains, even if its to wet to do anything...

see you all next week.