Rambling #166

As we enter November, thoughts on the farm inevitably turn to the ‘winter jobs’ that lie ahead. Fencing, hedge coppicing, tool maintenance, equipment servicing, crop planning, alongside the ongoing harvest of winter crops. It’s a fairly long list that grows with each broken fork handle, rip in the polytunnel plastic, hole in the fence. And somewhere at the bottom, there tends to sit a couple of larger-scale, more aspirational jobs. This year, a new store for our tractor and some proper compost bays are on our Christmas list, but these items have a terrible habit of rolling over from one year to the next!

However, this year, there is one can in particular that we cannot afford to kick down the road. This year’s drought has put significant strain on our irrigation systems, and – according to a recent report from The National Drought Group – looks set to continue into 2026. The agricultural sector, amongst many others, has been urged to take steps now to increase our resilience for a prolonged drought.

So, over the colder months, we will be ensuring that our newest growing site, Allotment Field, has access to water. In the long term we need to build a reservoir that can be filled by a ram pump from a local spring over the winter and also rainwater harvested from the polytunnel and nearby grain store. I suspect that will take at least a year to come to fruition, so in the meantime we will make sure we are connected to the mains supply.

In more positive news, we’ve entered chicory season. The pinks and purples of the radicchio, and the endive’s maroon-speckled leaves always bring a burst of colour to our bags of mixed salad at this time of year. Their bitter crunch combines well with the sweetness of the Chinese cabbage and the peppery brassica salad. I include here a few photos from this morning’s harvest so you can see these beautiful plants in all their glory.

Thank you to everyone who has shared flyers with a friend or neighbour. We have been really encouraged by all your responses. We’re not always the best at shouting about what we do, but this has given us a taste of what happens when we dare to! We’re now thinking of other ways to involve more people in our box scheme, and would really welcome any ideas that you might have. So please do get in touch if you think there’s something else we could be doing to reach more people.

Christmas Arrangements

Full details will be issued by early December, but I just wanted to give you a heads up for a change of delivery days. Customers from Banbury and all villages north of North Aston will receive their Christmas veg and fruit on Monday 22nd December. Everyone else will be on Tuesday 23rd. There will be no veg boxes in the weeks commencing 29th December and 5th January

Many thanks.

Mark and the team.