Hi, I'm Anna, the French trainee for this summer on Radley market garden. I'm going to share with you all the news of the farm. So sorry in advence for my English, it could be better after a few weeks. =D

     Summer is the best season for flowers and vegetables, that why everything is buzzin. This following picture show you how beautifull this place is.

       Don't forget to follow Radley market garden news. This is a LOVELY place.

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.

"We're doing lots...but not getting much done" (!)

It's still warm, but after all that lovely moisture, everything is growing at an impressive rate. First squash have been on the stall, as have all three varieties of beetroot (the latest being the beautiful Chioggia, see below)

 

 

 

 

Elsewhere, there is a cucumber fest on the cards (loads of them!) and the heritage tomatoes are looking and tasting absolutely fabulous (see below)

 

 

 

In the flower department, Penny has been saving the seeds from the sweet peas in preparation for next year, while the ground has also been prepared for the autumn sown larkspur.

 

In fact, in general, we are getting the place nice and shipshape, including seedbed preparation for the rainbow chard which will soon be in just in time to give us a crop at the end of the year and then regrow for the spring.

 

Finally, we were proud to provide the flowers for two North Devon weddings last weekend...while on the Saturday morning market stall in South Molton, we are now selling every stem!

 

 

Here's a taster of the beautifully white larkspur, ammi majus and achillea.

 

Thank you all so much for your continued support. After the farming disaster that was last year, it's a positive time for us, but plenty of work still to do.

 

George.

 

 

 



The sun is shining...the squashes are getting fat

Garlic harvest is done. Really done! Here's a grumpy looking Ant, Ben and Keith after a gruelling afternoon in the fields:

And here's what it looks like after it's all been strung up to dry in the barn, that's around 13000 bulbs:

Much of this will be lovingly plaited into fives, sevens and even twelves by Penny, making a great long-lasting item to hang up in the kitchen. Penny also takes care of transforming all those flowers from the fields into beautiful bouquets for the market and various shops across North Devon, as well as catering to weddings and to other special events. A couple of months ago, Devon Life featured her's and Ant's work with British flowers in a lovely three-page spread. If you like, please do have a look at the following link - Flower Miles

Up in the oversized vegetable garden, there is an abundance of courgettes, while several varieties of squash are threatening to be ready for consumption in the near future (including Sunset, Onion, Crown Prince, Rolet, Jack O' Lantern and Butternut).

Finally, our produce is now available on a beautiful display stand outside the wonderful John's Deli at Instow. Enjoy! George.

More flowers anyone?

Another successful day at market, where the Barba di Frate flew off the metaphorical shelves and the flowers continued to prove popular - people seem more and more interested by our fresh, local and polytunnel-free/spray-free approach.

The majority of the garlic is now up, bunched and hanging to dry in the barn - multiple varieties available this year including some French (Peyrasse), some Spanish (Vallelado) and even a bit of Greek (Limni).

When a moment is free, we attack the weeds by hand, giving the carrots, onions, brassicas etc. the chance to breathe and grow.

Elsewhere, a positive first meeting with Fees Flowers who sell gorgeous British blooms every Friday at Exeter's main train station, St Davids - our produce could be on her stall soon. Also, a new partnership is blossoming with the deli 'Johns of Instow & Appledore' (look out for our van as we pass by...)

The days fly by...where does the time go!?

George (P.S. back hurts, knees hurt, hands hurt...)

Summertime at Radley Cross

My nephew has joined us for July/August! Over the next few weeks, he'll be giving his impressions of the organised chaos at Radley Cross Market Garden. Ant.

Arriving at Radley Cross just a week ago, I had told various people that my uncle 'grew garlic and a few flowers'. Transpires that, across his 5 acres, he grows substantially more than that (as well as an impressive array of weeds - "no pesticides or fungicides here" he tells me). We head up to the top field for an hour or two of picking most mornings - beautiful courgette follows beautiful courgette (green and yellow, see image below), the beetroot (red and golden) grows bigger and better, the Swiss chard becomes more popular by the day...and then there's the garlic! Two rows (roughly 2500 bulbs) harvested yesterday and strung up to dry today - meanwhile, those bulbs that have almost dried are ready to sell and will last you until early next year.

Down below the farmhouse (see image below) the larkspur and cornflowers, having thrived in the open air and wowed the public across North Devon, are sadly coming to an end. The clarkia and statice however have come to life and make you a beautiful bouquet, while the first sunflowers have started to show their faces. The weather has been hot and dry, so the fields had a welcome drink last night as the rain briefly returned.



We tour various local and farm shops selling our wares, looking forward particularly to the market in South Molton every Saturday morning where you can find us outside opposite the entrance to the market, braving the elements and selling  the freshest vegetables and flowers, all hand-picked just hours earlier.
Current hot favourite : Barba di Frate or Monksbeard, a unique Italian vegetable, very rare in the UK but grown from seed in the fields at Radley Cross. A mild-flavoured slightly bitter green, it is particularly good with seafood or simply braised with olive oil and garlic and served as a side dish. See you soon! George.

Potato planting 2013

In go Charlotte, Pink Fir Apple and Marfona  into a lovely seed bed. These are following last years garlic and onion crop which also had mustard growing over winter and tons of manure before planting. A VERY cold afternoon on the planter !! but so lovely and dry.