Ahoy Folks, Happy New Year!
I bring some updates from the farm as we get really stuck in to Winter..!
Chick-chick-chickens, will be finally returning in just over 2 months, as the “Chicken Co-Op” proposition I floated was taken up with aplomb. 7 households (including my own) will be sharing the egg collection duties by rota, so suddenly we’ll have cracking, organic reared eggs available again as the time Spring gets going.
The veg continues to grow, though to be obvious this is the sparsest time for harvest, so the self-service kiosk is stuttering slightly (exacerbated by the recent deep freeze). By mid-Feb all the under-cover, over-wintered greenery ought to proliferate in response to the longer days, and I’ll have begun sowing for the new season.
I’m contemplating trying out something similar in nature to the above mentioned “Chicken Co-Op” for the veg/fruit this season, i.e. shared responsibility, shared harvest. I’ll attempt to hash it out fully in another email/post closer to the Spring, but currently I suspect it will look something like a season’s commitment of 1 – 1.5 hrs work a week (or fortnightly in the shoulder seasons) for roughly the equivalent in produce at minimum wage.
After the success of Springtime plant sales last year, I will plan to once again grow plenty of Veg, Herb, and Miscellaneous potted plants, so if you have any 3-4″ round or square pots gathering dust, please feel free to hang them on the farm or stall gate!
Wassail! I’ll plan to do a wassail this year, on Saturday 31st January at 12pm, just a short song for the apple & pear trees, followed by pizzas out of the wood-fired cob oven from 12.30pm till 2.30pm. I’m going to pitch this as a bit of a winter fundraiser for the farm, as it’s the leanest time of year for farm incomings, with a recommended donation of £6 per pizza. If you reckon you’ll make it along, it greatly helps me if you can pre-order via the Online Ordering section, so I can get a best guesstimate of ingredient quantities. Each pizza will come as a margherita, with a choice of 2 extra toppings.
And finally, on the topic of cob ovens and pizza, I’m planning on building a Mk2 cob oven at the stall (i.e. my back garden) this Spring, with a view to doing a fairly regular wood-fired pizza evening this year. If anyone is interested in getting their paws dirty stomping some cob this Spring, then keep your eyes peeled for a follow up post/email.
Thanks,
Nat
