Green eyed monster

You know when you really want to be happy for someone when they gleefully tell you a piece of news that they are very obviously delighted with, but have to force a phoney smile, almost a grimace, of congratulation because inside you are consumed by envy and resentment? No? Is it just me? Well yesterday morning that particular scenario played out on multiple occasions as customers at the farmers’ market beamed at me announcing in joyous tones “9mm”, “7.5m”, “11mm”. I tried to be happy for them, I really did, but all I really wanted to do was to slap them, tell them not to be so bloody cheerful, and go and crouch in the cobwebby corner and sob quietly whilst rocking on my haunches.

It was trailed in advance – Amber Warning!

What to expect

• Some communities likely to become cut off if roads flood
• Where flooding or lightning strikes occur, delays and some cancellations to train and bus services are likely
• Spray and sudden flooding probably leading to difficult driving conditions and some road closures
• Power cuts likely to occur and other services to some homes and businesses could be lost
• Flooding of homes and businesses is likely and could happen quickly, with damage to some buildings from floodwater, lightning strikes, hail or strong winds
• Fast flowing or deep floodwater is likely, causing danger to life

This Met Office announcement supposedly covered the area of East Anglia in which I ply my trade, and whilst I didn’t want to endure fast flowing deep floodwater, hail or strong winds, I was convinced that a decent downpour was on the cards to nourish my gasping crops, particularly because after the storm not a hint of rain was predicted in the long range forecast. At the time of leaving my house yesterday morning at 6.00 the road was barely damp, and in my rain guage at home do you know how much had registered? Less than 1mm! A measly 0.8mm, not much more than a heavy dew. It’s no wonder that I have a reputation for grumpiness.

Envy is not attractive, in fact it’s one of the seven deadly sins, so I need to enter a Zen-like state and deal with my demons and be happy for those smug self satisfied braggarts with brimming rain butts! I still have a way to go on my journey….

It’s lovely weather though isn’t it? It even looks like the Glastonbury festival goers will have a scorcher this year (another source of envy), though with shade on the site at a premium it does become something of an ordeal at times dodging the rays. However, I don’t need to concern myself with that this year having failed for the 8th in a row to secure a ticket. In the event it’s probably just as well because there is so much to do at the market garden, not least watering, so perhaps a blessing in disguise.

I am concerned about the orchard. I was hopeful of a good apple harvest this year, and everything seemed to indicate that my optimism was well founded, until I discovered thick webs clinging to virtually every tree, filled with squirming caterpillars of the Ermine Moth. Now I’m all for moths, and I’m happy to share with them, but this year’s infestation threatens the apple crop – already significant defoliation has occurred which can stress the trees. The adult moths cause no harm, it is just at this larval stage that they are so destructive. I can spray them with a natural biological control, but I only have a small 10ltr sprayer and the trees are large and there are lots of them, so it’s not really a viable solution. So I am just going to have to hope that the pesky caterpillars get a move on and quickly metamorphose into those beautiful white moths.

I have added broccoli to the shop this week but I am a little concerned that it will not have grown large enough quickly enough in time for me to cut towards the end of the week. I will irrigate it tomorrow to try to encourage it to put on a growth spurt. So order it by all means, but don’t be too surprised if it doesn’t make it into your box. If I leave it for another full week a lot of it will have gone too far and will have spoiled, it’s not a very flexible crop to grow. The pointed cabbage and cavolo nero have a much wider harvesting window and both continue to be available. There are also broad beans, but not mine. I have had a crop failure but have sown another batch of seed for a later harvest. In the meanwhile I am sourcing some from another organic grower as I know how popular they are. There are green oakleaf lettuces this week from a new batch of plants. I picked a few tomatoes today, which is probably a couple of weeks sooner than usual, however it will be some while before I have enough to offer in the shop, but encouraging nonetheless.

A word of advice. When the weather is as warm as it is now I suggest that you refrigerate as much produce as you can, because some items in particular – lemons, oranges, aubergines, cucumbers and courgettes just don’t keep well in the heat. And some of the bought in items like the fruit have been in transit for a while before reaching you. If you receive anything that has already gone bad please let me know and I will replace it. I try to exercise some quality control when packing the boxes, but sometimes I miss an item on the turn, for which I apologise.

What do you reckon these are? They look like peas don’t they?

They are the seed pods of hairy Vetch, gathered this morning on the dog walk from plants growing alongside clover and poppies in a field as a cover crop on the farm behind our cottage. Vetch is a legume, like peas and beans, and is there to fix nitrogen in the soil on nodules on its roots. The bed that I planted the winter squash in to last week had an over-winter cover crop of rye grass and vetch that I mowed and turned into the soil to improve organic matter, fertility and moisture retention.

This weeks main photo is of Iris foetidissima or ‘stinking Iris’. It appeared as a self-set plant last year right at the head of the grave of our dear cat Wilfred who was killed on the road about 18 months ago. Last year it had a single flower, but at the moment there are 5 or 6 blooms on it and it looks lovely and is a beautiful marker of the resting place of a loved pet in a quiet spot in a wild part of the garden.

Have a good week, and use the water from your butts wisely, it may be some time until they refill…..but at least yours are full!

Phil