Ethos of the farm



General view on a Saturday morning
All photos in this blog by Wayne Landen



 Stakeholders commit to a minimum of 10 hours work per month, in return for approximately 1% of the total produce sold, at roughly 1/3 of shop prices. A stakeholder can be an individual, a couple, a family or two friends. To become a stakeholder costs £10 for a year’s membership.



Planting directly into the soil

This is a Community project, which means everyone is expected to work together in sympathy with each other, in order to build a strong and self-supportive community. We work as a co-operative i.e. in a very positive relationship with each other. A community effort has to have trust, and a certain amount of compromise, as fundamental components. 

Weeding

We do not seek to make a profit, and no-one gets paid for any work on the project.



Hoeing and watering

 We do not sell food to anyone other than stakeholders unless we have a glut which we cannot otherwise shift, but by growing a wide range we hope to avoid large excesses of any particular crop. All produce is shared fairly amongst stakeholders requiring it so sometimes if a particular crop is in short supply, rationing is applied.

 

Keeping everything well organised

We ask that each stakeholder spends a minimum of 10 hours a month cultivating their two vegetable plots, or fruit, along with the team that they have been allocated to. We like members to work together whenever possible as this helps to build community, although stakeholders may attend the farm at any time that suits them. We say: please keep in touch with your Team Leader, check with them what needs doing if you are going when they are not there, and also let them know if you can’t attend for a period of time for any reason.

 



Working between the bean rows

“Work” includes digging, removing stones, weeding, sowing seed and growing on young plants until they are ready to be put out on the plots, planting, harvesting, preparing food for sale and maintaining the adjacent paths. There are many opportunities for stakeholders to contribute to other parts of the community farm project, for example, by becoming responsible for a particular aspect of the project such as publicity or the website etc, as well as becoming a team leader or just by helping around the site, for example, by repairing a fence line or helping another team with an onerous activity. 

 

!0 hours of work per stakeholder produces good results

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Increasing the growing list



Isla with a cabbage

For the second year a team of 4 expert growers was appointed to decide what should be grown on each plot and the space allocated to that crop, the quantity of seed that should be purchased and the varieties that should be tried. Expert growers are available for consultation.

Broad beans


Subsequently each of the ten vegetable teams has been given two to four crops to grow in their area and the areas planted with each crop now more closely reflect the demands of all stakeholders than they did in 2010. So, for example, we aim to grow 8000 leeks, which will each stakeholder to buy about 80 leeks. Some who like leeks may buy more, those who come less regularly will have fewer opportunities and so will buy less. It is a skilled judgement call to know how much of each crop to grow and the area to plant and the expert growers are constantly refining the quantities of seed they need to sow, the varieties they sow and the time they sow. Typically in a year we will now grow around 30 different vegetables and sometimes several different varieties. For example, with potatoes a number of different varieties (some of them quite new) have been trialled. One year we experienced very damp growing conditions and blight destroyed much of the crop. This has pushed us towards growing some of the newer blight resistant varieties.

Lettuces grown in small tunnels
to prevent birds from eating

As well as the development of planting more crops for the winter period, there has been a push to better use the land. As I write in early July the last of the first earlies potatoes have just come out and the team is ready to plant their leek seedlings which should be ready for harvesting in the hungry months of February, March and April.

Pests and Diseases can devastate crops. When possible grow resistant varieties, but this is not always possible or desirable, as resistant varieties are often new and so often more expensive than traditional varieties. We generally steer away from hybrid seeds because of the cost and because you cannot keep seed from plants which have been grown for the following year as the seed will not breed true.

Fennel

Most allotment growers use a 3 year rotation of Legumes, Brassicas and Rootcrops or a 4 year rotation sequence of Brassicas, Others, Roots, Potatoes. However the "others" category at the farm was much larger than the other three categories, so it was further subdivided into 3; legumes, alliums, salads and others. This gives a potential six year rotation. However the placing of the three sub groups "others" in the rotation is not firmly fixed because we are also trying to grow a second crop in a year on some plots -generally overwinter - and so crops have to be fitted in to be planted after others have been harvested. Nonetheless, every effort has been made to ring the changes on each plot as much as possible, consistent with other constraints such as crop timing. It’s not really necessary to adhere to a strict plan as long as there is variety on each plot over time. Attention is also given to the type and quantity of manure, fertiliser or progrow which is being applied to an individual area. 



Sweetcorn being harvested



Courgette varierties





Part of the pumpkin harvest





Onions being dried

Pests and Diseases can devastate crops. When possible grow resistant varieties, but this is not always possible or desirable, as resistant varieties are often new and so often more expensive than traditional varieties. We generally steer away from hybrid seeds because of the cost and because you cannot keep seed from plants which have been grown for the following year as the seed will not breed true. With over 30 species of crop grown and often several varieties of the same species there are inevitably some risks taken and some significant losses. More about successful varieties later. 

Most allotment growers use a 3 year rotation of Legumes, Brassicas and Rootcrops [i] or a 4 year rotation sequence of Brassicas, Others, Roots, Potatoes. However the "others" category at the farm was much larger than the other three categories, so it was further subdivided into 3; legumes, alliums, salads and others. This gives a potential six year rotation. However the placing of the three sub groups "others" in the rotation is not firmly fixed because we are also trying to grow a second crop in a year on some plots -generally overwinter - and so crops have to be fitted in to be planted after others have been harvested. Nonetheless, every effort has been made to ring the changes on each plot as much as possible, consistent with other constraints such as crop timing. It’s not really necessary to adhere to a strict plan as long as there is variety on each plot over time. Attention is also given to the type and quantity of manure, fertiliser or progrow which is being applied to an individual area.

This is how one team have rotated their crops over the past five years: 

Season and Year	Plot 3	Plot 4
Summer 2010	French beans	Runner beans
Winter 2010-11	Fallow	Fallow
Summer 2011	Squash	Carrots
Winter 2011-12		Italian rye grass (green manure)
Summer 2012	Garlic and Jermor shallots	Potatoes: 2nd early Anya
Winter 2012-13		(Pigs)
Summer 2013	Cauliflower Cabbage Cavilo Nero	Onions
Winter 2013-14	Broadbeans
Summer 2014	Broadbeans	Salads: lettuce, spring onions, radishes, fennel
Winter 2014-15
Summer 2015	Main crop potatoes	Summer cabbages , calabrese, cauliflowers
Winter 2015-16

Planting a hedgerow and fruit trees

We tended to concentrate on growing vegetables in our field during the first year because we could not afford to buy fruit trees.

A few of our members gave some soft fruit bushes and herbs which were planted in the area adjacent to the tool hut and social area in the first year. The ground was cleared of weeds first, but persistent weeds such as couch grass, convolvulus and nettles were not eliminated and these have persisted among the roots of these perennial fruit bushes. We have also learned that if fruit bushes are planted they should be planted into clean ground where perennial weeds like couch grass and nettles have been removed. Otherwise you will be forever fighting a battle against them. We have learned that the best way to approach this is to peg down mypex interwoven sheeting on the ground where the fruit is to be grown and leave it for around 12 months or more to kill off any perennial weeds. Then clean stock can be planted into a clean area.



Bank behind the pond before clearing



Bank after clearing

A gift of 450 trees from the Woodland Trust, plus the addition of about another 50 apple tree seedlings in November 2010 enabled us to plant the Foragers hedge to the North of the pond and the Pondside orchard to screen off the Farm yard from the fields. The soil in this area is very gravelly so growth has been slow, but, after five years we are harvesting small quantities of elder flowers and berries, rose hips, sloes from blackthorn, crab apples and apples. As yet we have not enjoyed any hazel nuts, but we have not given up hope.

The fruit trees go in

In March 2011 we began planting young apple trees into an area which had been rough grassland, but had then been bulldozed clear on a sloping South facing bank just behind the pond. These young apple trees, grown by the author of this blog, struggled for two reasons. First they were planted behind the pond which had been created several years early for gravel extraction. The bank behind was also very gravelly with little soil in it. Any topsoil which had developed was destroyed by the bulldozer while it was grading the site. When we planted the small fruit trees we added plenty of organic matter, but this tended to be leached out fairly rapidly. The bank soon became covered with plants from the previous coarse grassland; nettles, burdock and teasels which vigorously competed with the fruit trees for nutrients and there was insufficient manpower at the time to control the weeds. It is well known that fruit trees grown in a meadow lose around 30-40% of the nutrients available to the trees; ours growing on this gravel bank and competing with coarse weeds probably lost more. We didn't actually start a Fruit group within the project until the fourth year, so it was left to one or two keen people to try to manage the trees.

The bank where the pondside orchard was planted



The forager's hedge behind
the Pondside orchard

A patch of rhubarb was planted adjacent to the compost bins in the second year. The ground was cleared of weeds first, but persistent weeds such as couch grass, convolvulus and nettles were not eliminated and these have persisted.



Pressing the apples for juice or cider.

The apple scratter breaks up the apples
into small pieces before they are pressed 

Looking after our soil


 Our basic aim is to feed the soil and the plants will grow. We avoid using manufactured and chemical products wherever possible, preferring to using natural organic products to fertilise our soil and replace the nutrients that our harvest of fruit and vegetables takes from the soil. Our preferred materials are our own made compost from plant remains and horse manure.

Our soil is good but rather heavy and
very stony. We are trying to improve it
by adding more organic matter

The 11 compost bins. Notice how the different designs on the
side ensure that the planks are replaced in  the correct order.

A pile of weed prior
to being composted

Initially we used our own compost made from all our crop leaves, stems and roots that are not to be sold plus all the weeds growing on the plots. We mainly use cool composting which is a slower method of composting than hot composting, but does not require regular turning of the heap. Initially we added our plant and weed remains and then a layer of brown material such as leaf litter, torn up newspaper or cardboard, straw or wood chippings. This slow method of maturation at low temperatures means that a relatively low proportion of the carbon in the pile has been converted to carbon dioxide during the maturation process. Furthermore the final product should be high in fungal hyphae and mycorrhiza which will promote root growth when applied to the soil.

However a problem was experienced with this method of cool composting: sometimes some of the more persistent weed roots remained in the compost. So in 1915 the decision was taken to remove the roots of 5 pernicious weeds which grow in abundance in the fields: couch grass, bindweed nettles, docks and dandelions. These roots and any seeding parts were placed in a large woven plastic bag which was placed in  a barrel. When the bag was full of plants the barrel was filled with water so drowning the weeds and causing them to die and decay anaerobically. After about a month the weeds had died. When all the weeds were dead the bag was removed and the contents of the woven bag were composted. The liquid was used as a compost tea which was available for watering on the plants. Generally it was diluted to 1 in 5 of its original concentration.
We have 11 compost bins in which we make compost and 8 40 gallon drums for making liquid feed.

Green waste going in the bin

We also use manure which is obtained from local stables and has been thoroughly rotted generally for up to five years. We tend to purchase manure by the trailer or lorry load often buying as much as 60 tonnes for use on about 2.5 acres of land in a year. The cost is chiefly for the hire of the vehicle. Manure is generally spread on the fields in October after the summer crops have been harvested and

Mike our compost supervisor digging out mature compost

before the plot is covered with black plastic for the winter. The black plastic stops weeds growing and prevents leeching of nutrients through heavy winter rains. The worms pull the compost into the soil   during the winter.

Newly added compost to bin 11 and the 40 gallon drums

Four of the 40 gallon drums. Approximately one drum is
filled a month and then left for four months.

Notice explaining what to do with the pernicious weeds

We also have used Progrow,  Veolia Progrow is a soil conditioner produced by Hampshire County Council  (from green recycled waste which has been allowed to heat to high temperatures). It  has a structure that will break down heavy clay soils and add humus to light sandy soils.  Progrow looks like small charcoal like pieces (not actually called biochar) which are dry and fairly light. We have used it extensively to lighten the soils. However it has a pH of 8.4 and when mixed with our clay with chalky flints soil we find that the pH is generally between 7- 8 and thus too alkaline for the health of some fruit and vegetables which prefer the pH to be 5.5-6.5. Some crops did not seem happy growing at pH's above 7 and when we investigated we found that it was due to boron deficiency due to the high pH.  So we have dramatically reduced and then eliminated our use of progrow. Where we suspect that a crop such as cauliflowers or kohlrabi is suffering from boron deficiency we have used a seaweed preparation called maxi-crop to add more boron. We are attempting to lower the pH and increase the acidity of the soil by adding pine needles and composted leaves. We could add sulphur chips or sulphur dust or sulphate salts such as potassium sulphate, aluminium sulphate or ferrous sulphate but as far as possible prefer to use natural fertilisers.  

Recently coffee grounds have been obtained from local cafés and used as a nitrogen source and a deterrent to molluscs who evidently lose their appetite in the presence of coffee.

It is important to avoid losing soil from the farm during harvesting or weeding, so we ask people to take care to remove as much soil as possible from both the food part of the plant before it is taken home and to shake weeds before they are added to compost heaps.

Poly tunnels

When we were offered the site there was an old frame of a poly tunnel in the field which we brought into use in the autumn of the first year. Since then we have been given two more tunnels which we have made into poly tunnels as well as the one shown below which was in rather poor condition and so we have replaced the netting and continue to use it as a growing cage. This blog describes how we have been developing and using our polytunnels.

An old frame which we were given in summer 2010 and now use as a fruit cage

Renovating the first poly tunnel

In winter months temperatures can go quite low, so the doors are always shut, with a little air filtration allowed in vents in the top of the doors. In Poly tunnel 1 we have the system which takes the warmer air from the daily solar gain, down below ground level into a covered pit of 300 water bottles which in turn warms them. Then the warmer air derived from the water bottles percolates out of the exit pipe during the night. The whole system is powered by a solar panel, battery and small fan. In the summer, we open the doors and put in the grilles to keep the wildlife out and allow the air to circulate. A Poly tunnel team was set up late in 2011 to manage the three tunnels.

Sue and Steve set up the solar gain box with 300 1pint milk bottles containing water

Warm air is extracted by a fan driven by a 12 v battery powered by a solar panel and pushed down into the solar gain box below ground level.

Currently we have three poly tunnels measuring 10m x 3.4 m, giving a total surface area of 103 sq m. In them the winter crops of Amsterdam forcing carrots, Mizuma, Mispoona, rocket, winter salad, over winter Chard are grown. It is possible to grow other crops, but not in sufficient quantities to satisfy the demand of the farm.

Good quality benching is very useful

Sue and Steve setting up the poly tunnel

Many crops are started off in our polytunnels

In the spring the main crops grown in the tunnels are tomatoes, sweet peppers, cucumbers and chillies. Crops are sown from January onwards. Sweet peppers need a very long growing season, so these are started off at home in the hot box (large propagator) by the team leader. Cucumbers are also started off with a bit of bottom heat at home, to ensure an early crop.

In the late winter and early spring one of the tunnels is available for the teams so start off their crops. Many Renovation seeds are sown here including onions, leeks, squashes and courgettes then transplant into individual pots, then harden off outside under sheets of glass before being planted into the plots.

Good husbandry is practiced and so few diseases develop in the poly tunnels. Some blight has occurred in tomatoes mainly as a result of blight on the potatoes being brought in. Now we are growing mainly blight resistant potatoes, but people who have been working on potatoes are discouraged from entering poly tunnels when the atmosphere is warm and damp. A little grey mould has been found on Cucumbers. With blight on tomatoes we have tried using Bicarbonate of soda, and eco washing liquid and olive oil in a spray, with good success on small outbreaks, but have resorted to Bordeaux Mixture in serious outbreaks, with great success.

The team uses good quality potting compost, some of which they make themselves in pots and trays. They try to apply “no dig” policy and at the start of each season when they cover the beds with manure and home grown compost. Sometimes a top dressing of chicken pellets is applied and in the case of the tomatoes, they apply tomato feed.

The team find that they can bring crops forward by at least two months using the polytunnel. Clearly the environmental conditions have to be right outside for leaders to consider planting out into plots or beds, but the fact that we can grow on plant materials earlier means that we can extend some crop seasons by as much as two months.

Thousands of seedlings start life here

Cucumbers growing in a polytunnel

At the moment the leader considers that the major obstacle to further continued development is a lack of power. We are currently using solar power to drive the pump to supply the water in the tunnels, but more could be done with more power. The polytunnel leader has considered hydroponics, but thinks that we do not have a suitable water supply for this. Currently our water supply is mainly from a pond which is shared with a model boat club who have added dyes in an attempt to suppress plant growth in the pond. The polytunnel team leader considers hygiene in the water supply is important and feels that there could be issues with our current supply of pond water. There could be a case for extracting water from the nearby River Itchen, storing it in IBCs, adding selected nutrients and letting it run slowly into the beds in the polytunnel.

Having more space, more poly tunnels and more people in the team would give the polytunnel team more crops, and a better facility for raising seedlings for external plots. We perhaps could experiment with other crops, including small melons, indoor grapes and strawberries. We would need two or three poly tunnels dedicated to strawberries in order to comply with our principle of supplying enough for 100 stakeholders. Growing in poly tunnels, by lengthening the season is very successful and productive and it is certainly an area where more thought and development is needed.