Field Notes: 16th - 28th July 2024

Aug 05, 2024

Welcome back to Field Notes. Each week we will be bringing you news from FarmED: from what’s happening in the fields and hedgerows, to updates from the farm to fork Cafe and the conference barn: a space where people from all walks of life meet to find out more about regenerative agriculture. Come with us on a one-of-a-kind journey as we ride the natural highs and lows of farming life.

Field Record: What’s been happening on the 107 acres of Honeydale Farm?

With the school summer holidays just beginning, we’ve been welcoming new and old faces who have been visiting the Cafe for a sweet treat or some lunch in the sun. To keep the little ones entertained, we’ve introduced new farm-themed colouring sheets. Of course, everyone is more than welcome to have a wander round the farm afterwards too, spotting the various wildlife we’re lucky to have here. 

Our sheep have been moved back onto our herbal leys, where they’re doing a fantastic job of munching through the chicory. It’s always a joy to see them grazing happily in the sun.  
 
As we approach harvest time, there’s a buzz of excitement in the air. Like farmers all over the country, we’re getting ready for the busiest season in the farming year. Our combine has been dusted off and we can’t wait to get started. 
 
Right now, it’s all about waiting for the perfect weather. After all the rain we’ve had, we’re hoping for some sunshine to ripen the crops off over the next few days. Soon, we’ll be harvesting our heritage wheat and rye crops. The heritage wheat will be milled into our very own FarmED flour, which we use in the cakes and bakes at the Cafe.

Events Recap: What’s on at FarmED?
 
The past couple of weeks have been busy here at the farm, from a minibeast safari to a lunchtime talk all about chocolate…
 
Minibeast Safari

An oak eggar moth caught using a light trap 
 
Last week, we hosted our first Minibeast Safari, and what a brilliant day everyone had. Alex, our resident insect expert, led a group of 20 excited kids around the farm on the hunt for minibeasts. The sun was shining and, with nets in hand, they managed to catch and identify many different creepers and crawlers. They found meadow grasshoppers, roselle bush crickets, dung flies, and plenty of butterflies too, including cabbage whites, marbled whites, gatekeepers, and even an Essex skipper.
  
If you happen to be walking around the farm, keep your eyes peeled for these little wonders. The marbled white is particularly beautiful, with patchwork, stained glass-like wings, and a sign of a healthy meadow in June and July. 
  
The children were brilliant, darting around with their nets in search of insects. One of them proudly showed off a slug that they had caught - not exactly what we were aiming for on our minibeast safari, but an impressive find nonetheless! 

We handled the insects with care and they were all released back into the wild once we’d observed and identified them. 
 
Practical Beekeeping

Buzzing for action!

After his last course being such a success, Tony, one of our resident beekeepers, led a hands-on Practical Beekeeping course last week. While his first course introduced the basics of beekeeping, this one delved into the rich world of honey. From cultivating a honey crop in our wildflower meadows to extracting honey and selling it at our cafe counter, Tony guided a group of 12 budding beekeepers through the entire process. He also talked through everything happening at the apiary this summer, from how to cope with managing bees during the heat of July to preparing for the cooler autumn months. 

Everyone had a fantastic time and left feeling inspired and ready to take on their own projects. As one participant commented: “Tony is incredibly knowledgeable and passionate about his subject, which is inspiring to watch”. 
 
Lunchtime Talk: Regenerative Chocolate
 
Our chocolate sourdough went down a treat!
 
Last week, we debuted our much-anticipated lunchtime talk on everyone’s favourite subject—chocolate! Bobbi, the founder of regenerative chocolate business L’Esterre Chocolate, shared her incredible journey and how she built her business into what it is today. Bobbi is a fourth-generation cocoa farmer from the Caribbean island of Grenada. She shared her story so far, explaining how her family have always followed regenerative practices, from agroforestry to intercropping.
 
Bobbi founded L’Esterre Chocolate in 2023 with the aim of supporting her family farm in Grenada, and her business has been thriving ever since. She handles everything from bean to button, overseeing the entire chocolate-making process herself.
 
The talk was followed by a delightful chocolate tasting and a delicious meal prepared by our FarmED cooks, featuring even more chocolate! The group were served a beetroot and L’Esterre chocolate tart, alongside chocolate sourdough and salads fresh from the Kitchen Garden People.
 
See what Lunchtime Talk’s we have coming up by clicking here.
 
Farm Visit
 
We were also lucky enough to have a visit from Martyn Richards of Agriton UK this month for a masterclass in Bokashi, a Japanese method of fermenting waste.The Bokashi processes a fermented mixture of bran, molasses, and a microbial starter culture to very quickly break down all waste food to produce a traditional compost. It’s good for small spaces and for composting cooked food, perfect for our FarmED Cafe. In preparation for his course later this year, he set up his pile near our kitchen garden, laying woodchip and green organic matter along with a Bokashi activator to prime the compost. This essentially speeds up the composting process and enriches it with nutrients. He’s helping us to set up our own bokashi system on site and we’re excited for him to share his wisdom with us.
 
Garden Treasures: What’s been happening down in the kitchen garden?

Fun in the sun with our volunteers
 
Tomato season is now in full swing, and our harvests have only been getting more abundant as we enter the busiest time of the year. Aubergines, cavolo nero and celery have joined the usual crops of lettuce, spinach, chard, courgettes, cucumbers, red onions, carrots, tomatoes and kale. It seems like yesterday we were planting out our new caterpillar tunnel with aubergines so it’s a joy to see them now thriving. 
 
With the help of our wonderful volunteers, we’ve been busy planting a second crop in our recently harvested potato patch, adding salads, lettuces and herbs. The potatoes were harvested so early that it gave us a rare chance to plant something else, as most crops are already established by now. We struggled to find a time to plant in the heat but managed to get them in on a cooler day. 
 
It’s been hot hot hot here at Honeydale, and the sunshine has been providing our plants with plenty of energy. This has meant some early starts for the team to beat the heat and get jobs done before the sun is at its highest point, but we’re thankful to finally have some sunshine and the plants are loving it too. Our irrigation system, fed by the farm’s spring, is up and running and it’s been fantastic to see it in action after all the rain!
 
The rabbits have been keeping us on our toes as usual, leaving droppings and nibbling corners on our crops. It’s like a game of hide and seek trying to find where they are and redirect them away from our salads and lettuce in the polytunnels…
 
This, along with cabbage white butterflies coming out in full force, means we’re in a period of watching and waiting. Butterflies are a beautiful sight, but as they lay their eggs on our brassicas and the caterpillars start to emerge, we have to hope for the return of the parasitic wasps who will keep the circle of life ticking along and the numbers manageable. 
 
Last Thursday, digging up potatoes with our team of volunteers, we also spotted plenty of beetles making their nests underneath the plants, including a devil's coach horse, and lots of snail-eating beetles burrowing into the ground with their long pointy noses. Conversation somehow turned from beetles to dinosaurs as we were entertained by an aspiring palaeontologist who is about to start year two of primary school. His enthusiasm and passion were completely contagious.