August was busier than usual as some of our planting was a bit behind schedule but we’re almost caught up now and as always, we’re hoping for a sunny September for our onion and potato harvesting and to ripen the squash. Autumn is our busiest time for harvesting – as well as harvesting fresh ... Read more
Blog
Latest news from Ripple Farm Organics.
Displaying 81 - 100 of 148
Posted: Tuesday, 2 July, 2019 - 11:51
The rain towards the end of June was needed but a bit less would have been enough! With our light, chalky soils we were able to start planting again soon after but weed control was delayed for a week or so. We’re playing catch up on the weeds now as the ground is drying out fast again after the ... Read more
Posted: Tuesday, 4 June, 2019 - 11:18
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 ... Read more
Posted: Tuesday, 30 April, 2019 - 12:07
All of our potatoes and onions are planted , we’ve transplanted some early kale and sowed the first beds of salad and spinach, so good progress there. We’ve harvested some flat lettuce from a poly tunnel, as well as claytonia leaves for the salad bags – good to have some new crops. The wild garlic ... Read more
Posted: Friday, 8 March, 2019 - 10:10
We've spent a lot of time looking into alternatives to plastic bags for those leafy greens that wouldn't get to the consumer in an edible state without them. We've trialled various bags over the years but we've come to the same conclusion as others that have had more time to do the research than us ... Read more
Posted: Friday, 1 March, 2019 - 09:36
February 2019 gave us some very different extreme weather than February 2018. Instead of battling with ‘Beast from the East’ we were out harvesting in T-shirts, enjoying the sun but at the same time, feeling that it’s not quite right. The salad leaves in the polytunnels had a growth spurt, and the ... Read more
Posted: Tuesday, 5 February, 2019 - 19:01
January gave us some proper wintry weather , and the frosty mornings only gave us small harvesting windows each day. The leafy greens are getting harder to find now and the pigeons are becoming more of a problem, now there’s less for them to eat, all par for the course at this time of year though. ... Read more
Posted: Tuesday, 1 January, 2019 - 16:31
Thanks for all your cards and good wishes at Christmas and a Happy New Year to all. We’re hoping not to have to contend with ‘Beast from the East’ or a summer drought in 2019. The mild weather between Christmas and the New Year made for a relaxing break, no worrying about frost damage or wind ... Read more
Posted: Thursday, 6 December, 2018 - 09:26
Christmas 2018 and New Year 2019 Arrangements for Box Scheme Customers Veggie box deliveries will happen as normal before Christmas this year, the delivery on Thursday 20 will be last one of 2018, resuming on Thursday January 3. Canterbury/Whitstable/Faversham/Sheldwich To be delivered Thur 20 ... Read more
Posted: Thursday, 6 December, 2018 - 09:18
There was some frost damage to our leafy greens early on in November, but since then it’s been fairly mild and very wet - we should freelance as waterproof clothing testers! We’ve had a busy Autumn, with lots of greens to harvest – the crops that were planted late due to the summer drought are ... Read more
Posted: Friday, 2 November, 2018 - 10:13
October gave us lots of sunny and dry weather enabling us to almost finish our spud and squash harvesting, yippee! The squash were tucked up in our warm store before the cooler weather at the end of October arrived.The squash are particularly tasty this year having had so much sun whilst growing. ... Read more
Posted: Monday, 8 October, 2018 - 11:46
Harvesting of our store crops (potatoes, onions and squash) is in full swing; most of the onions are in store now, we have made a start on the maincrop potato harvest and have had a few afternoons windrowing our squash, ready to be picked up. We use secateurs to cut the stem from the plant, then ... Read more
Posted: Friday, 14 September, 2018 - 08:40
August/September 2018 News Although August is generally a quiet month for us in terms of orders, it was busy in other ways as we were (and still are) catching up with jobs delayed by the heat wave/drought. We still have kale, spinach and chard to transplant as well as the last of our outdoor ... Read more
Posted: Monday, 2 July, 2018 - 09:39
We've had a very dry, hot and breezy June, its now just over 4 weeks since we had a lot of rain, when we had localised flooding here in East Kent, that seems an age ago now, but in hindsight we were lucky to get that rain. Yay for new potatoes, courgettes, beetroot, basil, cucumbers (and tomatoes ... Read more
Posted: Monday, 11 June, 2018 - 09:21
May gave us plenty of sun (including 2 sunny bank holiday weekends (!!)) and plenty of rain (we prefer it to come more gradually though, we had more than 40mm last Tuesday) so after a slow start, the crops (and the weeds) are growing well. We have to rely on crop covers if we are to feed our ... Read more
Posted: Friday, 18 May, 2018 - 12:53
April gave us a heatwave and then a brief return to winter, let’s hope May is full of spring sun and gentle overnight rain! After a slow start to planting we’re gradually catching up – most of the onion sets are planted, a good amount of the seed potatoes is in the ground and we’ve transplanted our ... Read more
Posted: Saturday, 3 March, 2018 - 10:25
February gave us a fairly predictable combination of some frosty mornings with cold but sunny days, and some very wet but milder days. We were hoping for a gradual change to spring but then came the news of the sudden stratospheric warming over the north pole, disrupting the jetstream, and bringing ... Read more
Posted: Friday, 9 February, 2018 - 14:51
It's great that there is growing awareness and action around reducing food and drink packaging over recent weeks, in a big part due to David Attenborough highlighting the problems caused by plastic pollution in the seas on the recent Blue Planet series. We've had quite a few enquiries from ... Read more
Posted: Thursday, 1 February, 2018 - 09:58
January went quickly , a couple of busy harvesting weeks for us, then a couple of quiet weeks, which enabled us to get our seed sowing glasshouse tidied up and start sowing leek seeds. Martin has been ordering seeds for the coming season, always an enjoyable job! It’s amazing to see quite how many ... Read more
Posted: Friday, 26 January, 2018 - 08:16
Another chance to see Ripple Farm and c hildren from Lady Joanna Thornhill School, Wye and the Beacon school, Folkestone starring in an episode of Ceebeebies 'Down on the farm' The children were real stars considering it was snowing and bitterley cold in the wind. The episode focuses on kale, and ... Read more