Around 60 adults and 20 children joined in the fun at Camel Community Supported Agriculture’s first Open Day and were rewarded with glorious sunshine and not a hint of rain . 

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!

Members are more than welcome to volunteer to work during the week – not just on Sunday mornings.

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.

A big thank you to the 17 volunteers who turned up last Sunday to work on the Camel Community Supported Agriculture project.

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.

The next six weeks are crucial for Camel Community Supported Agriculture as we have so much work to do on our two-acre site at St Kew Highway.

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.

Broad beans, early potatoes, Jerusalem artichokes and onions are beginning to show above the ground on the field being cultivated by Camel Community Supported Agriculture at St Kew Highway.

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.

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

It’s time to flex those muscles!

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.

Camel Community Supported Agriculture’s spring planting programme continues apace.  We’re relying on volunteers to tackle a whole lot more jobs this Sunday 5 April.

Expert grower Jane Mellowship says:

“There’s lots of sowing to be done and more compost to put on beds. We plan to do carrots, parsnips, turnips, swiss chard and plant another bed of onion sets. Also dock leaf removal for the willing!

“A new seed order is being prepared. It includes broccoli, fennel and sweetcorn.”

We would love it if you could join us this Sunday between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. Our expert growers will be waiting for you at the site behind St Kew Harvest Farm Shop.

Do come and help out.  You will learn what’s involved in preparing a vegetable plot, what’s on the planting schedule and also work up a good appetite for Sunday lunch.

Please bring strong shoes or wellies, waterproofs, drinks and a snack.  And don’t forget some gardening gloves!  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.

Above you can see 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.

Above: Some of the stalwarts who turned out on Camel CSA’s first volunteer day

Now’s the chance to get to know your onions!

We urgently need your help this Sunday 22 March to plant potatoes, onions and shallots on Camel Community Supported Agriculture’s site behind St Kew Harvest Farm Shop at St Kew Highway.

Jeremy Brown, of the growers’  team, has taken advantage of the dry sunny weather to form a number of new vegetable beds.

It’s now up to us volunteers to turn up on Sunday between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. to get the seed potatoes and onion sets into the ground.  We also need to spread a lot more of the compost kindly donated by TT Compost at St Teath.

Please remember to bring wellies, gloves and waterproofs (just in case).  If possible bring wheelbarrows, rakes and forks as well.

We look forward to seeing you on Sunday!

If you would like more information or have any questions email Alex at alex@olivetreeevents.co.uk or call Antonina at St Kew Harvest on 01208 841818.

Click here for directions to the site.

Exciting news for Camel Community Supported Agriculture!

The Brown family of St Kew Harvest Farm Shop have very generously offered to let us have the initial two acre plot of land rent free until July. 

 TT Compost Ltd at St Teath has kindly agreed to donate 30 tons of compost.  Cornwall Farmers has offered discounts.

 The Co-operative Group has granted us £1,400 to cover further land rental.

We are busy formulating funding bids to the Lottery Food Fund and the Local Action Group.  So far we have completed Stage 1 of the Lottery Local Food grant process.

Camel CSA’s team of expert vegetable growers has begun preparing and planting the land.  The first vegetables should be ready for distribution to our members by the middle of June.

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