March

The boys and I traipse out on a sunny afternoon, boots thick with mud, to help their dad move old hay from the barn. Both Torrin and I think this is a ‘fun family activity’, and the boys are on board too (luckily!)- within minutes both of them are covered in hay, throwing it from the trailer to the hedge line where we’ll later make windrows of compost with it.

On the ride back to the barn for the second load I cuddle the boys into the front of the trailer and we watch the farm go past. At tractor speed this is quite leisurely, and from up high I can look down on the chicory in the green manure that I notice is suddenly growing again, throwing out much bigger leaves than in it’s first year. That means the roots are growing too, deep tap roots that pierce the pan of earth that we regularly move and plant in, to reach down to the undisturbed layers. Those layers are full of minerals that the chicory brings up that long root so the next generation of plants growing at the surface can access them. They’ve also done a brilliant job of anchoring the ground over winter and ensuring we’re not losing any topsoil in all this wet weather.

            Joe has been prepping the min till beds- he uncovered quite a few elephant garlic that were missed from last year’s harvest and have grown wonderfully under the warm plastic all winter! We’re planting outdoor broad beans, the shallots and the first succession of outdoor spring onions as soon as we can find a gap long enough in the weather. Having Joe here over winter is such a blessing- where we normally struggle to catch up with all the clearing, prepping, sowing, chopping and processing jobs over winter, he’s just nibbled away at them until suddenly big changes have just magically happened, and that feeling of spring- of soil being turned and warmed, of new life beginning, of waking from dormancy- is everywhere.

            It is no secret that I find this time of year very difficult- I think it’s the same for lots of us, that just when we think we’ve survived winter, February comes along and ruins our plans. Normally annoyingly upbeat, I really struggle for motivation this time of year and cling on to the odd bursts of colour in an otherwise dull garden to help me along. The hellebores for example are doing a lot of the heavy lifting when it comes to keeping my spirit afloat, them and a little clump of tete’ a tete’ narcissisi that gleam from near our doorstep. Any dry half an hour, or god forbid an actual afternoon of blue sky, you’ll find me in the garden, searching for signs of spring, of the year turning, and the dreadful fog of February finally passing. Luckily we have such an exceptional team that my lacklustre performance is buoyed by their continued brilliance, and our busiest days packing boxes and wholesale orders in the shed are joyful.

            Back in the barn Torrin clears the last load of hay and we scuff around in the dust. We have to move the hay now to make room for some bonding cubicles for our sheep, due to lamb in a few weeks time. Torrin will build a temporary wall so they’re protected from the worst of the weather and we’ll have beautiful springy-tailed lambs turned out onto new grass in no time. After that we’ll clear this shed out and the plan is to make my Dad a workshop here, somewhere warm to work rather than his current iteration which is next door to the shop and very exposed. And once that area is clear we can expand the packing operation into that part of the shed…and on it goes, continually changing bit by bit, as the year turns and time passes on.

Broad beans peeking

Good right now:

We’re at the very end of the European citrus season- everything is very ripe and quick to go over, so keep your oranges and mandarins in the fridge at the moment- the flavour however is still delicious. From now on we’ll start to see a rapid change and progression in offerings as spring hits Europe and moves its way north so do check the options online each week.

Already we have Globe artichokes and strawberries from France, passionfruit and blueberries from Spain, and locally lots of greens- sprouting broccoli in fits and starts, excellent salad, spinach and chard, kale will begin to taper off and instead hispi cabbage, spring greens (my absolute favourite), spring onions and herbs will all take their place.

We’re heading into the hungry gap too- so we’ll be moving from producer to producer quickly over the next three months as we navigate the ends of the local and UK winter crops and the beginning of the new season.

Look out for broad beans, fennel (the fennel is so good at the moment!), asparagus, the last of the blood of oranges- the variety is Sanguinelli now and they are beautifully speckled, nice and firm and refreshing. Cauliflowers fluctuate between local and Spanish but they’re both absolutely delicious. Lettuce heads are wonderful- we’re using a new co-operative of farmers in Perpignan to bring the greens in and they’re so skilled- their produce is exceptional and really reasonable.