Autumn is here, although it was strange to be working outside at the end of October in T-shirts! Our potatoes are all harvested, the polytunnels are planted up with winter salad leaves, the garlic is almost all planted and the broad beans are up. All the leafy green crops are looking good now after plenty of rain and warmth during October. The sprouts and cabbages are stunted due to the summer drought, but they will still grow a bit more and the leeks are slowly getting bigger.
Farm Walk. Thanks to those that came on our farm walk this year, the rain stopped in time for an enjoyable walk around to see the vegetables, the green manure crops, the new hedge as well as a bit of garlic planting.
The Ripple Farm watering hole. Visitors in October captured on the trail camera included a beautiful jay, a great spotted woodpecker, chaffinches, a songthrush, magpies, crows, a fox, a rabbits, a badger, plenty of pigeons enjoying the pond as well as one unlucky pigeon preyed on by a buzzard. https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.3288483614802558&type=3
Celery We grow a green celery, which is great for soups and stews (best cooked, but a bit chewy raw). Best to use the leaves within a few days but the stems keep longer in a plastic bag in the fridge. Soffritto is a mixture of onions, carrots and celery sautéed in olive oil, and used as the basis of many classic Italian stews and soups, perfect for autumnal cooking. Lots of the plants this year have lots of smaller stems, rather than one main head.
