There wasn’t much sunshine on Sunday but an enthusiastic bunch of volunteers did manage to get the hay raking done on our meadow at Treraven Farm.

We proved that many hands make light work after topping up people’s energy levels with a delicious barbeque.

We cut the grass at this time of year and rake up all the mowings because we want to encourage lots of wild flowers. More native flowers will thrive and grasses will become less dominant as we manage the meadow in a way that will gradually reduce soil fertility levels.

Camel CSA volunteers planted nearly 40 fruit trees in the more sheltered corner of the meadow in January. Two hives of bees were introduced in early summer and are managed by a member of Wadebridge Beekeeping Group.

We’re reaping the rewards after some welcome sunshine. Community supported agriculture means all our members share the successes (and occasional failures). This week everyone is getting a couple of bonus items. Some lucky people have the first of the sweetcorn.

In all this week’s boxes:
*tomatoes
*cucumber
*French beans -yellow or purple
*flat parsley
*radishes or *chard
*sweetcorn or *aubergine or *calabrese
*courgettes (Mark Norman, Bodmin)
potatoes (Trerair Farm, St Eval)

Standard boxes also have:
*salad leaves
*red onions

* = grown to organic principles.  Please wash all veg thoroughly  
Produce grown by Camel CSA, unless indicated otherwise 

We love this moment in peak season when tomatoes are so plentiful. Our growers and volunteers picked 83kg to share out among this week’s vegetable boxes.

In all this week’s boxes:
*tomatoes
*bulb fennel
*spring onions
*cucumber
*French beans
*radishes
*courgettes (Mark Norman, Bodmin)
*potatoes ‘Kestrel’ (Mark Norman)

Standard boxes also have:
*carrots
*aubergines or red onions

* = grown to organic principles.  Please wash all veg thoroughly  
Produce grown by Camel CSA, unless indicated otherwise 

These beautiful aubergines lead a distinguished cast of home-grown veg in this week’s vegetable shares. The sweet peppers are also starting to ripen.

In the boxes this week there’s a selection of:
*tomatoes
*basil
*aubergines
*bulb fennel
*spring onions
*cucumber
*French beans – purple
*chard
*beetroot
*carrots
*courgettes (Mark Norman, Bodmin)
*potatoes ‘Kestrel’ (Mark Norman)

* = grown to organic principles.  Please wash all veg thoroughly  
Produce grown by Camel CSA, unless indicated otherwise 

These tasty tomatoes, aubergines and purple French beans lead the distinguished cast of home-grown veg in our weekly boxes, along with peppers, basil, bulb fennel, cucumber, courgettes, chard, beetroot, carrots & ‘Kestrel’ potatoes

There’s such summer bounty in this week’s veg shares including five different varieties of tomatoes and lots of French beans.

In all this week’s veg boxes:
*tomatoes
*carrots
*spring onions
*cucumber
*French beans – yellow or purple
*courgettes (Mark Norman, Bodmin)
*potatoes – ‘Colleen’

Standard boxes also have:
*bulb fennel
*radishes or calabrese
*beetroot

* = grown to organic principles.  Please wash all veg thoroughly  
Produce grown by Camel CSA, unless indicated otherwise 

A delightful short film about Camel CSA has been produced by Forest for Cornwall. It showcases how they help local organisations like ours to plant trees that will benefit people in the community.

We’re currently nurturing nearly 40 fruit trees that Camel CSA volunteers planted earlier in the year in the new orchard beside our vegetable growing site at Treraven Farm, Wadebridge.

Forest for Cornwall supplied the trees, including many traditional Cornish varieties, with the support of the Woodland Trust‘s Forest for My Place project.

We celebrated planting the orchard in January with a traditional Cornish Wassail and will be holding our annual Apple Day as usual in the autumn when we invite people in our local community to take part in apple pressing.

In the past many farms in the Camel Valley maintained a thriving orchard. Most have been lost over the years and we’re passionate about doing our bit to reverse this decline.

It’s been a thrill for us to establish a lasting resource that’ll bring people together, provide apples for the veg boxes, and become a fantastic habitat for birds, bees, bats, beetles and butterflies.

We’re racing to harvest the carrots before the rabbits get them! Standard veg shares have the first of the tomatoes this week. Aubergines, peppers and melons will be available soon.

In all this week’s veg boxes:
*carrots
*spring onions
*beetroot
*cucumber
*radishes
*courgettes (Mark Norman, Bodmin)
*first or *second early potatoes (Camel CSA) / Mark Norman)

Standard boxes also have:
*French beans
*tomatoes or calabrese
*parsley

* = grown to organic principles.  Please wash all veg thoroughly  
Produce grown by Camel CSA, unless indicated otherwise 

BBC Spotlight came to film us at Camel CSA this week about a new report focusing on the future of community food growing in Cornwall.

The inquiry by Exeter University’s Environment and Sustainability Institute and the new Sustainable Food Cornwall partnership found that community growing schemes are flourishing but urgently need access to suitable land, funding and skills to expand and thrive.

It concludes that existing growing schemes succeed against the odds as they overcome barriers including a shortage of land, inadequate funding, short-term leaseholds, lack of infrastructure and equipment.

Camel CSA is one of the case studies in the report alongside Bosavern Community Farm at St Just, Growing Links at Penzance, Loveland in Penryn, Newquay Orchard in Newquay, Soul Farm in Flushing, and Tamar Grow Local in Callington. 

We’re all part of a new Good Food Map charting the many agroecological producers and community growing schemes across Cornwall. It’s a work in progress that aims to recognise the huge diversity of sustainable food businesses across Cornwall.

Community Growing in Cornwall  The impact and potential of local sustainable food growing in Cornwall – produced by Sustainable Food Cornwall and the University of Exeter, supported by the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Leadership Board’s Community Growing Working Group.

We really needed it! Such welcome rain fell after we planted out runner beans and hundreds of leeklets.

The growers and volunteers have cleared the peas and broad beans from the polytunnels and sown autumn beetroot and winter carrots in their place.

In all this week’s veg boxes:
*spring onions
*carrots
*beetroot
*cucumber
*courgettes (Mark Norman, Bodmin)
*calabrese (Camel CSA / Mark Norman)
*first or *second early potatoes (Camel CSA) / Mark Norman)

Standard boxes also have:
*rhubarb
*French beans or broad beans
*turnips (Mark Norman)

* = grown to organic principles.  Please wash all veg thoroughly  
Produce grown by Camel CSA, unless indicated otherwise 

Meet Bella our additional seasonal worker. She’s full of energy, very enthusiastic and already getting involved in every aspect of our community growing venture.

In all this week’s veg boxes:
*kohlrabi
*mixed salad leaves
*beetroot
*peas or broad beans
*cucumber or *calabrese
*courgettes (Mark Norman, Bodmin)
new potatoes ‘Swift’ (Camel CSA) / ‘Foremost’ (Mark Norman)

Standard boxes also have:
*rhubarb
*French beans or peas
*spring onions or green onions

* = grown to organic principles.  Please wash all veg thoroughly  
Produce grown by Camel CSA, unless indicated otherwise 

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