May / June 2019 News

Time always seems to speed up at this time of year, a result of too many jobs to do I think. Planting is going well but we’re hoping for some rain this week before we get more crops in the ground. Our new potatoes are a bit late this year and would really appreciate some rain too – it may be the 2^nd or 3^rd week of June before they are in the box scheme. And when we’re not busy harvesting, packing, seeding and planting we have to keep on top of the weeds. We’re happy to have a carpet of weeds on established crops (good for the insects and the soil) but we have to give the new crops a chance to grow first. Martin does most of the weed control with various implements on the back of a tractor, but there’s plenty of hand-weeding to be done too.

Our broad beans have done well this year and will be in our veggie boxes and on our Farmer's Market stalls in June. Smaller pods are delicious roast whole, just top and tail them, trying to take away the stringy edge bit at the same time, rub all over with olive oil and roast in a fairly hot oven for 20-30 mins, turning halfway through. I just added salt and they were delicious!  I’ve also added pods to a dhal, cut into bitesize pieces. The podded beans can be steamed and eaten as they are or added to other dishes. Some recipes suggest you peel the cooked beans, you can do this but it’s a bit of a faff – I don’t usually bother. And cooked beans make a good hummus along with our green garlic (if I have fresh lemon, I add a slice of lemon to the hummus giving a good hit of flavour from the rind as well as the juice).