Enjoying the fruits of our labour
In the few spare minutes we get at this time of year it’s great to sit back and look at Vallum Kitchen Garden in its full glory.
We’re right in the middle of the season as I write, so we’ve got beds full of everything from kale to cucumbers, from oyster leaf to lettuce, which is no longer being eaten by hares thanks to the new fencing!
Speaking of oyster leaf, we’re forcing it now and I’m happy to report it’s working well.
At this time of year we’re working non-stop to get things into the ground and back out again, packed and on their way as fast as possible. As always, the demand for salads and cresses is high; we’ve also got a lot of demand for kale and chard this year too.
Since the last time I wrote for appetite, we’ve had our first crop of cucumbers and radishes and we’ve seen a lot of interest in our new varieties of tomatoes, which will be heading out very soon. I think we’ll see a lot of them on plates towards the end of this summer.
The courgettes and summer squashes are coming on well and we’ll hopefully see them on a plate in the North East by the time you read this.
It may be the height of the season, but we’re already planning for our winter produce. We’re starting to look at which plants we can hold back for clamping this year. I’m sure we’ll be looking at beetroot again, and we’ll be trying a slightly different method with clamping the turnips, too. But that’s for another time, and for now I’d better get back to work. These plants don’t pick themselves!
