I’ve made no progress in the net tunnel! The boys are on holiday for two weeks so I think I’ll have to get them to help. We’ve a few weeks yet in the garlic planting window so it’s not too urgent. We can’t get the idea of covering the net tunnel in polycarbonate out of our head so the croft apprentice is going to price it up. That might put an end to the whole scheme, we’ll have to see. It does seem like the obvious way to develop the business though. There are plenty of things that will grow outside here perfectly happily, but undercover spaces are essential really for Spring veg and variety in the Summer. An outside only veg scheme would be a lot of leaves and brassicas, not that there’s anything wrong with that but we’re all used to some sunshine on our plates these days. The vole explosion this year did demonstrate just how vulnerable outside crops can be. If I was an organic beetroot farmer, this year would have been a disaster!
The market prep is going well, the jelly set (hurray.) There’s not a lot of of it so I’ll be using the international gold standard to fix the price. Ozzy and I have also made plum and pear jam.
I think I’ve enough jam now so I’m moving on to basket weaving and felting. Felting always produces something usable. Basket weaving can go horribly wrong right at the end so is a bit more stressful! I’m trying to use up all the left over willow before I buy any more. I’d like to incorporate some of our willow but I need to wait for the leaves to come off before I can cut it.
This week’s Croft Shares will have:
Sprouts, purple sprouting broccoli, salad leaves, tree cabbage, red cabbage and some herbs.