April 2003

Did you ever hear of a farmer or grower who didn't complain about the weather? Well you'll not hear of one in this newsletter I can assure you! The weather this late winter and early spring has been, to say the least, unusual. We've had week after dry week of cold sunny weather, often with frost at night. One such night damaged our very early potatoes in the polytunnel as you can see in the picture (left). Rain has been almost vanishingly scarce. The east winds and sun combine to draw moisture out of the soil and little plants which are struggling to put out new leaves. So, astonishingly at this time of year, we've had to start watering on a fairly large scale.

Having said all that, the dry weather has been welcome in other ways. It's easy cultivating the land for a start because there's no sticky mud. Green manures tilled or ploughed into the soil tend to die rather than sprout again - which is useful.

Veg Box Scheme   The co-operative venture between Mur Crusto and Ty'n Lon Uchaf is working well and we are slowly increasing our number of customers. Of course there have been hiccups but, to our general surprise, we've kept going through the cold of the winter, partly due to Mike and Jill's leeks and potatoes and partly to the continuous production of lettuces and oriental greens in the polytunnel. Every Thursday when we pack our veg, we keep saying to each other, "Will we have enough for next week's box?" ... and we do. So far.

Our aim is to increase the number of customers to between 30 and 40 by late summer. We do not intend to grow bigger than this since none of us has the space or the desire. A reasonable income is all we ask.

Feedback about our boxes - bags actually - has been very positive. That makes us feel the whole thing is worthwhile.

Fruit   Both farms have planted orchards over the last 3 years and by autumn this year, we may have some fruit. We should have strawberrys, including some planted in the polytunnel for early crops. And we should have plenty of raspberries for the first time plus smaller amounts of tayberries, blackcurrants and gooseberries. As and when these various fruits become available, we intend to offer them as an optional extra to go with veg boxes. As we're increasingly trying to get everyone to collect from Mur Crusto (drop-off points are a bit of a nightmare for us), the obvious thing would be to offer customers an option to "pick-your-own" fruit whilst they are here.

Pig news isn't such big news   Mike and Jill's sow has given birth to a massive litter... of two piglets. I always thought these animals produced at least a dozen. Perhaps this animal has decided to do her bit for our overpopulated planet.

That's all for now.

22 April 2003 (photos taken same day)