Our first veg boxes
July 2, 2009
We’ve done it – we’re starting to eat our own food!
More than 15 Camel Community Supported Agriculture members receive their first vegetable boxes on Friday 3 July.
A great deal of human effort has gone into providing these first fruits of our labour. It’s hard to believe that we only started preparing our site at the beginning of March and sowed the first seeds just a few weeks later.
Our first share of the harvest will contain: –
- broad beans
- potatoes
- onions
- beetroot
- Swiss chard
- a bunch of curly or flat-leaved parsley
- turnips and radishes – possibly
- green salad
We’ve grown the first eight items ourselves at St Kew Highway. The salad leaves are being provided by Jane Mellowship, one of our expert growers, who has her own vegetable plot at New Polzeath.
Hard work
We’ve made enormous strides since March – entirely as a result of the dedicated volunteer labour provided by members and expert growers. Some people said we would never manage it, but we have proved that we can.
Many hours of hard work have gone into preparing the 40-metre long growing beds, spreading compost, digging up dock leaves, sowing seeds, planting out seedlings, hoeing and an enormous amount of hand weeding. We’re grateful to our expert growing team and all the volunteers who have turned up on Sunday mornings – rain or shine.
Last Sunday we thinned out and hand weeded the parsnips, weeded the Swiss chard, spread compost and dug up yet more dock leaves that were threatening to go to seed.
A big thanks to expert grower Mark Norman, to members Charlotte, Diana, Mike H and Mike S, and to visitors Donna and Marianne.
Another team of volunteers will be picking and packing the boxes every Friday morning. If you’d like to be included on the rota, please contact Mark Norman or phone Antonina at St Kew Harvest.
Box collection
Members must pay for veg boxes in advance. You’ll be able to collect your box every Friday between noon and 5 p.m. from St Kew Harvest Farm Shop, which is next to the Camel CSA site. Treasurer Cathy Fairman has been co-ordinating box payment and organisation. She says:
“Your name will be on your box, please take your own box and anyone else’s that you are delivering. Remember to give us feedback as soon as possible.
A special thank you to to Penny and Robert Manders and to Mike Haywood for volunteering to help Mark with the first harvest and packing.
Happy eating!”
Feedback on box content and any queries about veg box administration should be sent to Cathy at thefarm@bodminmoor.co.uk
