June
The heat has arrived, finally after a long, cool spring that kept the plants dormant and tender for longer than we’d like. In the field the planting has begun in earnest, every day new lines of crops fill the space, and the farm begins to feel productive again.
We’re cropping broad beans from a tunnel full of bumblebees- their primary pollinator, and cutting celtuce, or stem lettuce, for box schemes and kitchens, and finally bunched beet, thousands of plants packed in the tunnel together, are being pulled and packed in fives or sixes. Their jewel- coloured orbs and long purple- green leaves filling the shop and boxes with the sight of summer.
And with June comes produce from the other growers in the locality too, boxes of multicoloured lettuce arrived last week from Glebelands in Cardigan, rainbow chard arrives from Adam and Dee on the coast and glorious garden peas from Rufus and Ffion at Hael. I am constantly reminded of how lucky we are to be able to buy from such talented growers on our doorstep, and what an incredible thing it is to be interlinking and shoring up each other in the face of uncertain food chains, transport issues, climate worries.
As children my sisters and I were ferried across the three counties in vans to deliver and collect veg from anyone and everyone with a certification. I have favourite memories of my first experience of a professional kitchen at Cnapan in Newport- scrubbed steel and marble tops, a pantry to die for, smiling chefs rifling through boxes. One of the places I remember the most strongly was a farm near Pembroke run by our dear friend, who has now sadly passed away, John Steer. He was an excellent grower of leeks amongst many other things, and I remember those cultivated fields and wild hedgerows full of sloes. He had a calm, gentle manner and was full of interesting knowledge about wildlife and veg. We had other friends inland who grew amazing potatoes and sold them across the country, I remember glimpses of farmyards, rain hammering on tall tin roofs and falling in deluges as we reversed the van in as close as we could to pack it with heavy paper sacks of spuds.
But all of these memories are just these fleeting images, because one by one the farms closed. The farmers went conventional, or retired altogether. For a long time there were very few Organic growers of any size around, and we relied on the Herefordshire growers a lot for UK produce and our own growing fitted around them. Designed to elongate seasons or supply what they couldn’t. Farming is often a lonely business too, and these closures kind of separated us off in a way, singled us out. A few years ago we opened the farm for a walk and John came along too, as did his friend, and ours, Romeo, who had a great box scheme just outside Haverfordwest. I was so touched by their continued interest and support- these growers who helped me grow up too.
Just a few years ago the team at Ritec Valley, Nick and James, also called it a day. They were the last of that old guard that I grew up knowing about, buying from in their season, supplying them with fruit and exotics for their box scheme. They were also my first contacts when I joined the business, and their massive order every Wednesday was huge part of my week.
And whilst I was so sad to see them leave, I’m so grateful that I could immediately let the new team of local growers know that we’d have space for more produce from them. And every time we have new boxes, new chefs, new shops come on board there’s a little kernel of joy that sparks in me to know we can support these new growers a little more. That we ourselves can grow a little more of the weird and wonderful varieties that we (and you!) love, and that hopefully, with steady onward movements and strong connections between us all, we can keep this little hotbed of organic activity in west Wales going well into the future.
With that in mind, we are hosting a day of farm walks on the 11th of July. Come visit the farm, we’ll walk you around the growing and the wholesaling operation and you can see where your food comes from. It’s also a really lovely way for us to meet some of our box customers now that we don’t speak to everyone and hand write all the invoices! Children are welcome and the walks last about 1-2 hours. The fields are relatively flat and whilst there are no steps there is some uneven ground, if you’re concerned about accessibility please let us know and we will do our very best to get everyone down to the polytunnels!
You will need to book your place (it’s free) via the Eventbrite link below:
Great right now:
Broad beans, lettuce, salad, spinach and chard, new season kale, bunched beet, spring onions (when we have them- they sell out quick!) celtuce, courgettes.
Soft fruit season is well and truly here and the stone fruit are exceptional now. Watermelons are here already but we should see Charentais and Honeydew join the list soon. And whilst those sugary storage potatoes are delish, we’re all waiting with baited breath for the first Pembrokeshire new potatoes from Wyn at Caerfai on the St Davids headland.