We’re pleased to say the lovely weather we’ve been having lately has allowed spring work to progress. Ploughing of land, which was left untouched after last harvest, is complete. We had to wait until the middle of February because as part of our Stewardship agreement we leave stubbles so that small birds can feed on them, presumably any seeds and insects that are present.

The land then soon became dry enough for the sowing of spring barley. This year we are growing a variety which we hope will be good enough for the malting trade – it needs to be good for the best beer! The land is cultivated after ploughing, and then sown and finally rolled.

We have also ploughed, cultivated and sown our spring beans, which were then rolled down, you can see this happening in the picture above.

Borage will follow soon and finally the potatoes will be planted. Patience is needed for the potatoes because they mustn’t be planted into cold soil otherwise a number of diseases can take hold and it can affect the plant’s development.

We’ll keep you posted with news from the farm, hopefully accompanied by pictures of green shoots very soon!

Rob