First of all I would like to thank you for your birthday wishes and kind words, you made an old man very happy. As it happens it was like any other day, well until I got home and was met with cards and gifts. I know that I am difficult to buy for, because like most of us these days, if I want something I generally just go and purchase it, so I wasn’t sure what rabbit would be pulled from the hat. It was a good one! I unwrapped a shiny new Trailcam, for catching images of mostly night-time visitors. I have had one for years, but it really wasn’t much good, so I was excited to see how much improved the latest technology was.

That evening I set it up in my garden at home, but was disappointed the following morning to find nothing had been captured – other than me filling the chicken feeders from the food bins stored in the greenhouse. I took the camera to work with me and fixed it to the stem of an apple tree in the orchard, close to a track in the grass worn by the hooves of deer that regularly pass through. This time I was confident that there would be something for me to view the following morning, and boy was there?! There were dozens of photos and videos spanning from dusk until dawn. That night the orchard was frequented by a large number of deer, some of which passed very close to the camera, then there were badgers – 3 at the same time in one video, there was a fox that trotted through, stopping briefly to cock its leg at one of the apple trees, a pair of Muntjac early on Tuesday morning, and of course D’Arcy the hare. Not only was the clarity of the images very good, but the audio on the videos was such that you could clearly hear animals chomping away and owls in the background calling, as well as planes going overhead on their descent to Stansted airport. I couldn’t have expected any more – I was chuffed.

This clip made me chuckle. It’s a moment when a deer and a badger came nose to nose in the dead of night, and scared each other equally! Once they have parted company, if you look closely in the background there is another badger and deer going about their business, wondering what all the fuss was about.

The apple juice is ready! It’s ready but I haven’t got it yet. I will probably collect it on Tuesday. I am always curious about how it will taste; it was a mix of cooking and early eating apples, so I am hoping that it will be quite nicely balanced. I have labelled it as ‘medium’, but time will tell. There is not likely to be a great deal of it this year because the yield from the trees is not brilliant, the fruit has fallen very early this year, and it’s generally not as big as usual.  – love every drop.

I watched the weather forecast closely last week and noted that there should be some precipitation on Thursday, so I did some cultivation on beds that were clear of crops and sowed some green manures/cover crops. The patch that had brassicas growing on it has had mustard sown on it. This will grow quickly and will be killed by the frost (if we get any) and will get turned into the soil. It acts as a biofumigant and is grown to naturally clear soil-borne pests and diseases without using chemical pesticides. The other areas have had a mixture of Italian rye grass and vetch sown on them. The rye grass will help retain nitrogen in the soil, whilst the vetch, as a legume, will fix nitrogen in it via nodules on its roots. It will all be tilled in next spring to add lots of organic matter to the soil.

The summer crops are all but spent now after an exhausting growing season. Courgettes are done, as are the cucumbers, tomatoes have slowed right down and those that remain are mostly the small cherry types. I hope that there will be enough for this week’s orders. The peppers are still going but are not ripening, so I am now selling them green. There are plenty of chilli peppers coming on.

In the shop this week there are the first Romanesco cauliflowers, plus savoy cabbage, perpetual spinach, broccoli, red cabbage and a return of French beans. There will be beetroot, carrots, onions, mushrooms, leeks and sweet potatoes. As I remove the tomato plants I will be harvesting green tomatoes for you to fry, pickle or make chutney with.

I had quite a surprise early last week when I was sitting in the greenhouse having my morning coffee. My chair was placed in the interconnecting doorway to one of the three separate rooms that make up the large glasshouse. I was sat with my back to the two ‘rooms’ behind me, sipping my coffee while doom scrolling on my phone when a squirrel ran at a brisk canter straight between my legs carrying a fig in its mouth and headed for the external door. Because it came from behind me I hadn’t a clue that it was there, so it didn’t half make me jump! Cheeky thing.

I have been supplying ‘Cradle’ the vegan restaurant and bakery in Sudbury with vegetables since it opened coming up to 10 years ago. In January of next year the lease on its premises expires and will not be renewed. It has been great working with Christophe and Holly, whose enterprise it is, and seeing what a success they have made of their business, but it has not been without its challenges, hence their decision to call it a day and move on to do different things. Christophe will be leaving at the end of the month to take up a new position as a chef, leaving Holly to continue baking and keep the cafe going for the next few months. Cradle has been an oasis of high quality imaginative cuisine in North Street, surrounded by a myriad of depressing fast food joints and Turkish barbers. Sudbury will be the poorer for its absence.

The week ahead is looking really rather pleasant, so make the most of it if you are able to.

Phil