Well, this week has felt like the start of spring and we’ve got our fingers crossed that the sunny, mild weather is here to stay and that we won’t be hit by random snowfall next month! Here on the Rocket Farm, we’ve just started sowing veg seeds for the season ahead, and potting on fruit plants and herbs too. Plus we’ve got some new polytunnels so that we can grow even more this year…
We’ve got thousands of seeds sown already, lots of onions, leeks and spring onions which take a little while to get going, along with root veggies like pansies, celeriac and carrots. These are all sown now so that they reach the right size by the time spring gets fully underway. (If you were growing your own veggies from seed you’d be looking to sow many of these seeds in seed trays in the greenhouse or sunny windowsills around about now too, so you can imagine the work you save by ordering plug plants from us!) Soon we’ll start sowing brassicas, but there’s still a bit of time before we need to get faster growing crops, like salads, courgettes an so on.
By covering 4 more polytunnels we’ve given ourselves an extra 20,000 sq. feet of growing space this year. Fingers crossed we don’t get another big snowfall like last year (which cruelly broke several of our polytunnel covers and significantly set us back in the growing season!) but if we do, we should still have enough seedling survivors that we can keep calm and carry on!
We’re also making progress with our new Bird & Butterfly Meadow – we’re turning 50 acres over to wildflowers to help provide a natural, food-rich environment for birds and butterflies. It’s good timing with all the news about insects being in decline. We’re definitely doing our part, and hopefully local farmers and landowners will follow suit!