We need plenty of people at our volunteer growing session this Sunday 11 April to prepare some more beds and spread compost.  There’s also celery and broad beans to plant out as well as beetroot and parsnip seeds to sow.

Please join us between 10am and 1pm on Sunday.  You’ll find us on the plot behind St Kew Harvest Farm Shop.  If you can, bring tools – hoes, spades, forks, trowels, rakes, wheelbarrows. 

Help us to get veg growing again

It’s time to get growing again

We do need all the help we can get to plant veg at this time of year so please consider coming along for a couple of hours next Sunday between 10am and 12 noon.  

You’ll be made very welcome.  We can guarantee you unlimited fresh air, plenty of exercise and some friendly company… PLUS you’ll come away feeling you’ve achieved something worthwhile.

Expert grower Mark Norman says:

“A small gang of us created a new growing bed, spread compost, and sowed lettuce and beetroot Detroit last week.  But we really could have done with some extra assistance. 

On Sunday 11 April there’ll be broad beans and celery to plant out, and more beetroot plus parsnip to sow.  Also compost to spread and additional growing beds to prepare.  Please bring tools – hoes, spades, forks, trowels, rakes, wheelbarrows…”

Visitors ignored the threatening storm clouds and came out in their droves on Open Farm Sunday to see our vegetable growing project in north Cornwall.

They built bee nests, joined guided tours, planted lettuces and nasturtiums, made scarecrows,  watched a sheep shearing demonstration, sat chatting in the sun and played on hay and straw bales.

Assorted individuals, couples and families travelled from a 30-mile radius to give us some constructive feedback on our efforts to make local food work: -

Fantastic project.  Amazing!  Brilliant!

An excellent idea – keep it going

Great for the whole family.  Liked the things for children to do

Lovely, interesting day – will come again

Loved the tour – very inspiring

Learned a lot about not needing to dig.  Hurrah – compost!

Need to encourage more people to learn where food comes from and to eat seasonally

Excellent initiative – more farm events would be great

We provided a barbeque, home-made-cakes and cold drinks.  Hot drinks and cream teas were available at the farm shop.

 In scenes reminiscent of Eric Carle’s children’s classic The Very Hungry Caterpillar, our guests and helpers munched their way through a  shoulder of organic moorland mutton, a mound of sausages, beefburgers, veggie burgers and vegetable kebabs, several bowls of homegrown salad leaves, radishes and spring onions, 8 slices of rhubarb loaf,  10 rhubarb muffins,  12 slices of coconut sponge, 16 chocolate buns, 24 pieces of lemon drizzle cake, 30 iced cupcakes, 40 flapjacks…

And the verdict among Camel CSA members? 

A job very well done! We are so lucky to have a group of such enthusiastic, committed, capable, lovely people

I think we have all pulled together really well

We have managed to spread the word to so many people and explain what we’re doing and why we’re doing it

It was so lovely to see it all coming together and the atmosphere it created

Most of all we have been able to show that we are a “community” working together

We can’t wait to be part of this again!

Give expert grower Jeremy Brown a ring on 07971762227 to find out when it might be convenient to help out on Camel Community Supported Agriculture’s vegetable beds.  Weather permitting, of course!

He’s there every day as a member of the farming family who own the land and who have generously offered it rent-free to Camel CSA for the first few months.  He grows his own vegetables on the adjoining plot to sell at St Kew Harvest Farm Shop.

Jeremy can arrange to meet you on the site and explain what jobs need to be done.   These might include sowing seeds in the potting shed, spreading compost on new beds and weeding around our emerging crops.

Last Sunday we got several new beds raked, fresh compost spread and more seeds sown, including an extra row of peas and some more radishes.  We planted out beetroot and chard seedlings and hoed up weeds in the pea, onion and shallot beds. 

The devastation to the first rows of peas that had to be replaced was caused by the pea and bean weevil, not slugs.  Apologies all round.  Either the resident pheasant or a partridge has been having a go at the spring onions, but the damage is not lasting.

A big thank you to Sunday’s energetic crew – volunteer expert growers Jane, Jeremy B and Mark N and volunteer members Carolyn, Charlotte, Diana, Kitty, Mike H and Mike S.

We had a useful discussion during the tea break about the kind of activities we want to organise for the Open Day on Sunday 7 June – Open Farm Sunday.  Any suggestions welcome. 

Click here to view our entry on the Open Farm Sunday website.

In three short hours our community food growing group achieved what one person working alone would have managed in a week!  That’s one of the big advantages of belonging to a co-operative.

Grateful thanks to the three volunteer expert growers – Jane, Jeremy B and Mark N - and to volunteer members Alex, Cath, Charlotte, Diana, Fiona, Ian, Jeremy S, Jerry, John, Kitty, Mike H, Mike S, Mark M  and Yvonne.

Together we spread compost, hoed weeds, tended the broad beans, shallots and onions, planted out cauliflowers and cabbages, sowed radishes and dug up yet more dock leaves.  More seeds were also sown in the polytunnel.

Unfortunately a whole row of peas had been eaten by predators, but our enthusiastic volunteers got some new seeds planted in just a few minutes.   It would have taken an allotment holder most of the morning.

Jeremy B, one of our expert growing team, thinks we should blame slugs rather than our resident cock pheasant.  Fortunately the rabbit netting has proved secure so far.

We’re looking forward to welcoming you again this Sunday between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m.  We’ll be preparing additional beds, spreading compost, planting out more brassicas, and sowing calabrese and leeks.

Remember to bring strong shoes or wellies, waterproofs, gardening gloves, drinks and a snack.  Also tools, ideally wheelbarrows, shovels, spades, forks and rakes.  If the weather’s good you might need suncream and a hat!

Click here for directions to the site.  If you have any questions call Antonina at St Kew Harvest Farm Shop on 01208 841818.

We’re holding an additional volunteer session this Thursday 23 April from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.  Our usual weekend session is next Sunday 26 April from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Please make an extra special effort to come and help out at one of these times.  We need to prepare a number of vegetable beds, sow more seeds and plant out cauliflower and cabbage seedlings.

Remember to bring strong shoes or wellies, waterproofs, gardening gloves, drinks and a snack.  Also bring tools, ideally wheelbarrows, shovels, spades, forks and rakes.  If the weather’s still good you might need suncream and a hat!

Click here for directions to the site.  If you have any questions call Antonina at St Kew Harvest Farm Shop on 01208 841818.

Mark Norman, one of our three-strong team of expert growers, has this stark message for us:

“If we don’t get all the planting done in the next six weeks we won’t have enough vegetables later in the year to fill our boxes .

“We need as much volunteer help from members as we can get at this stage so we make the most of the planting season.”

Today we spread another 30-metre-long bed with compost and planted kohl rabi, turnips and radishes.  We hoed between broad beans and onions to get rid of annual weeds, and earthed up the early potatoes.

Grateful thanks to expert grower Mark and volunteers Cath, Charlotte, John and Mike S.

We shifted a mountain of compost in glorious sunshine on Easter Sunday.  Beetroot seed and red onion sets were sown in the new growing beds.

Special thanks to our three expert growers – Jane, Jeremy and Mark – and to volunteers Antonina, Catherine, Charlotte, Danni, Mike H and Mike S.

We hope to see even more of you between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m next Sunday.

Camel CSA - why we got involved

Watch our latest video to find out why some of us decided to get involved.

We’re hoping for a good turnout from Camel Community Supported Agriculture members on Easter Sunday to get more seeds into the ground.  We also need strong people to put in some hard labour spreading compost on the beds.

Jane Mellowship, one of our team of expert growers, looks forward to meeting you on the field.  

“Jobs include planting second early potatoes, preparing beds and sowing red onion sets, beetroot and turnip. We’ll probably be sowing in the polytunnel as well.”

Join us this Sunday between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. at the site behind St Kew Harvest Farm Shop.  It’s going to be sunny, so do come!

Please bring strong shoes or wellies, waterproofs, gardening gloves, drinks and a snack.  Also bring any tools, ideally wheelbarrows, shovels, spades, forks and rakes.

If you would like more information or have any questions call Antonina at St Kew Harvest on 01208 841818.

Click here for directions to the site.

Some of our growing team regulars (left to right) Gav, Jane, Diana, Kitty, Charlotte, Jeremy

We feel we’re starting to get somewhere!

There was a good turnout on the field on Sunday. The Camel Community Supported Agriculture team worked hard to create additional seed beds, spread loads of compost, and get broad beans, peas and onions into the ground.  

More seeds were planted in the polytunnel.  Some of us tackled the remaining dock leaves with a vengeance.

Many thanks to Kitty, Ian,  Mike, Jane, Gav, Jeremy, Charlotte, Frank, Mark and Diana.