Oh Dear !!  I see that I haven`t written  since October last year. That indicates just how busy we have been.

2013 was an amazing year for us as we grappled with a growing business, understaffed and with too many fingers in too many pies. 2014 will be a year of consolidation as we realise our limitations!! There is an equation between age, ambition, reality, sanity and hours in the day somewhere and they have to balance out! otherwise all is lost. 

PHACELIA

Phacelia is I think my favourite green manure. This picture above taken today shows just how affective it is at reducing weed numbers. The soil beneath it is almost clean. This was sown after the garlic came out in August  was slow to germinate with it being still dry, so only grew about 18ins. It has now fallen over and will probably die back to nothing, but its roots will still be holding on to valuable nutrients through the winter. In the summer we let it flower  in some places and this is a real attraction for thousands of bees. I have been known to lie down in it on a summers evening and watch the bees in the canopy above me...... Magic.

The new garlic crop is poking through and has a weed problem ! even though 2 crops of mustard were grown on this prior to planting. A nice cold snap and our tractor drawn hoe will see to most of this  and the ridger should see to the rest but I think we might still be down with the hand hoes on the ridge tops.  As soon as it dries out a bit I will be through with the tractor.

Larkspur sown at the end of August  looking good.

Meanwhile outdoor sweet peas will be here

and some of the inside sweet peas are here

and will be here.