January 2006
For latest veg
box news letters, see below right column (January 2006)
How
time flies...
I had quite a shock when I discovered I hadn't posted a newsletter since
November 2004. So here's a rapid update. Llangybi Organics has gradually
increased its numbers of boxes and customers. Word-of-mouth is the best
publicity, as we have discovered. We now pack veg for around 40 customers
each week: 18 boxes and 25 bags. (I know 18+25 doesn't = 42 but that's
because a couple of customers have more than one box or bag each.) 
So
we can claim to be doing quite well though (as explained in the latest
customer newsletter), we have been finding it all quite a struggle and
had considered closing down. However, our customers are so loyal and supportive
that we felt we should rearrange things a little to make life easier for
ourselves and - wait for it! - put up the prices for the first time since
we've started. We close down on 3 February, having completely run out
of veg, but now plan to re-start in mid-July, date to be announced. A
veg bag will then be £10 and a box £15.
The year has been difficult
with diseases and insect pests like carrot fly causing problems. As a
result, we've had almost no onions despite 
days
of work at Ty'n Lon, laying biodegradable plastic on newly-formed beds
and planting thousands of onion sets through the plastic. The plastic
degraded far too quickly (an experiment in weed control) and mildew made
the onions very poor. Other things did well, of course, which is one reason
why organic farms like ours always grow a wide range of vegetables. Win
some, lose some, but at least you get some. Potatoes, leeks and oriental
brassicas - our winter polytunnel standby - all did well. The brassicas
flourish in the polytunnel, not being much troubled by diseases; just
tiny slugs which I pick off by torchlight in the dark if I can find them.
(Slugs are largely nocturnal.) Hundreds of lettuces in the polytunnel,
on the other hand, failed because of downy mildew. Despite being varieties
specially bred for resistance to most of the 25 or so known races of this
pesky disease (Bremia lactucae), most were still so damaged by
infections that they couldn't really put them in the boxes.
Community Supported Agriculture: I've had a section on this site since the start labelled 'CSA group' in which I described how such a group might work in everyone's favour. But nothing has happened, so Val and I are going to pilot a scheme at Mur Crusto when we start again in July. The deal is that customers get 10% discount if they pay up front for 6 months and agree to help us out with weeding and so on for a few hours over the next growing season. It will be interesting to see if there's any interest.
Shippon/holiday
cottage: The shippon
reconstruction, more or less continuous since early 2003, is now complete.
That's one good reason 
for
neglecting newsletters: the project has taken a large part of my waking
hours... and some of my sleeping ones as I dreamt about various difficulties
and how to solve them. My final deadline for completion was Christmas
2005 so that it would be habitable for daughter Jenny and family to come
and live in it for a few days. We made it, but only just. But it was worth
the effort as it was wonderfully warm and comfortable, thanks to all the
insulation, underfloor heating and a woodburning stove. Eight of us had
Christmas dinner there, all produced in the brand new kitchen.
All the effort (!) has been worthwhile for it truly is an energy-efficient eco-cottage (its energy efficiency rating - SAP - is almost as high as it can be, way better than most houses in the UK). We hope to be letting it by Easter 2006.
Bry Lynas, 23 January 2006
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For earlier newsletters, visit the Archive.