Hi !!!

My previous article was about how to prevent pest attack in an organic way. It doesn't mean that we want to fight all the insects. On the contrary, several of them are very useful and we need strategies to attract them.
That is why I'm going to talk about the Phacelia. This crop is interesting for several reasons.

-Firstly it attracts insects, especially the ones which eat the very damaging aphids. Also, it's a good flower for the honey bees. Listen to this !!!

- Secondly it's important to always have the soil  covered to prevent erosion and waste of minerals. In that way Phacelia is a crop with high covering power and easy to grow. Also, it facilitates a clean crop bed which minimizes the weeds. The weeds are smothered by the phacelia.

- The last point is that this flower is a good green manure, so, an excellent crop to use as a soil improver before the main crop is planted.(which, next year , will be alliums).

Hello everybody,

A new busy week begins. We have to harvest flowers and plant some vegetables (brassicas, leeks, sweet corn...). So the problem is, how to protect vegetables from pests such as slugs and other insects in an organic way.
I am going  to talk about two differents means.
- First, we can use some pellets against the slugs. They contains iron and potassium which destroy the digestive system of the mollusc. Anyway, it dosn't impact on the others animals which could be useful for the crop.
- Another way to protect the young plants is to cover them with an enviromesh. It's a net with very little holes to prevent insects, and bird attacks. It could also protect from the bad weather.
The problem is that if the enviromesh  prevent pests, but it also blocks  the good insects ...

That is why we have to weigh up the pros and cons for each solution that we plan to do.

        Wednesday it was time to harvest a part of the production. That why flowers and vegetable were ready to be sell on the Thursday South Molton's Market.

       Unfortunately, it was a rainy day. It dosn't matter, Sweet Peas were enjoyed by the customers and fresh potatoes made the happiness of all those who love to cook.

      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.