March 10, 2012
We’re in the midst of our spring growing rush so we’ve got loads of things to do on Camel CSA’s community vegetable plot. Jobs this Sunday include: –
• Putting compost on onion beds
• Planting onion sets
• Digging out dock weeds (really important so don’t get bigger)
• Clearing the legume beds
• Sowing calabrese seeds
• Cutting the grass
And finally…
• Washing down the interior of the polytunnels
We also need to find time to tidy the sheds, carry out some simple repairs, and make an inventory of our tools and miscellaneous equipment.
Oh – and sort out the seed packets!
March 9, 2012
Camel CSA’s over-wintered cut and come again salad leaves are loving the longer days and warmer weather.
We’re growing a mixture of oriental and more traditional leaves – spicy red mustard, mizuna and mibuna, pak choi, curly endive, lettuce, rocket and parsley in one of our polytunnels.
We harvested several healthy crops before Christmas, then let the plants rest during the short dark days of mid-winter.
Now we’ve all got an enormous bag of healthy, crunchy, green leaves in our weekly veg boxes and should continue to enjoy a regular supply for several weeks to come.
January 18, 2012
You might think that Camel CSA’s growing team have their feet up indoors at this time of year, browsing through seed catalogues, surrounded by chilli garlands and sustained by large vats of vegetable soup.
No such chance! It’s time to do all sorts of jobs on our community vegetable-growing plot.
Apart from harvesting the over-wintered stocks for the weekly veg boxes, we’re starting to get the site ready for next season’s crops.
On Sunday morning expert grower Jane helped Sophie and Freddie, two of our junior members, to sow the first crop of early carrots in our second polytunnel.
While they basked in the warmth, the rest of us braved the cold Cornish wind and carried on preparing and planting our new soft fruit area.
As the ground there is quite poor and stony, we’re using the lasagne gardening method. This was a great success in our tomato, pepper, aubergine and chilli polytunnel last summer where it helped retain moisture and improve the soil.
The rhubarb crowns are already safe in the ground. The rest of the fruit bushes – culinary and dessert gooseberries, red, white and blackcurrants, summer and autumn raspberries – have been heeled in. They’ll be planted next weekend.
We’ve gone through an enormous amount of cardboard – big thankyou to Laura and Joe at St Mabyn PO and Stores. But we’re fast running out again. If you have any old boxes, please leave them in the potting shed, which is between the tractor shelter and the polytunnels.
Many thanks to expert growers Jane and Mark N and the rest of Sunday’s volunteer growing team – Cath, Charlotte, Danny, Freddie (6), Gillian, Mark N, Mike and Sophie (9).
