Field Notes: 30th - 4th August 2024

Aug 14, 2024

30th - 4th August

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

Harvest has officially begun here on the farm, and thanks to last week’s sunshine, we successfully combined the rye crop. Now, we’re just waiting for another sunny spell to harvest our heritage wheat!

The start of August marked Lammas Day, the ancient Pagan festival celebrating the annual wheat and corn harvest and the mid-point between the summer solstice and autumn equinox. Traditionally, the whole reason for summer holidays being at this time was for children to help with the harvest. As blackberries appear in the hedgerows, it feels as though the countryside is taking a break, too, preparing itself for the autumn. 

We also welcomed our summer work experience student, Esme, to the farm last week. She spent time learning about the different aspects of the farm, from exploring our shelter belt and agroforestry strips, to working with the Kitchen Garden People and delving into the world of insects with Alex. She had a great week and learnt a lot - we wish her all the best in her future endeavours! 

Events Recap: What’s on at FarmED?
Lunchtime Talk - Trees, Bees & Honey Please

Our treehives were buzzing!  

Last week, Esme and Tanya from the TreeHive project at FarmED hosted a wonderful lunchtime talk titled ‘Trees, Bees and Honey Please’. It was held down by the bee hives, allowing everyone to enjoy the beautiful valley view and the buzz of the bees. Tanya and Esme guided us through the history of beekeeping, tracing it back over 4500 years ago to ancient Egypt. The group learnt about how honeybees operate in the wild, how they differ from other bees, the essential equipment you need to get started, and how to select the most delicious and sustainable honey. Guests also had the opportunity to get a hands-on look inside the tree hives and even try on a beekeeping suit!

With some attendees interested in starting their own hives and others who are more experienced beekeepers and eager to learn more, it was wonderful to have such a mix of people. Afterwards, everyone enjoyed a lovely lunch and a tasting session featuring wild comb honey!

Book Club: Summer Meeting

The groups choices!

On Wednesday, our lovely book club came together for our summer meeting. Instead of discussing one book, this month we decided to do something a bit different and talked about our favourite books on sustainability, food, farming, climate, and nature. It was brilliant to hear everyone’s favourites, including "Braiding Sweetgrass" by Robin Wall Kimmerer, a beautiful read about indigenous plant knowledge and the interconnectedness of nature, to "The Lost Flock" by Jane Cooper, which recounts the tale of heritage sheep farming, and "The Nightingale" by Sam Lee, a beautiful exploration of folk songs and their ties to nature.

Everyone left with a reading list as long as their arm and feeling inspired from the discussions we had. It’s lovely to be surrounded by a group of like-minded people and we’re excited for the next meet-up already!

Next month, we’ll be discussing "Meadowland" by John Lewis-Stemple. Interested in joining? Email fiona@farm-ed.co.uk to be added to our WhatsApp group. 

Garden Treasures: What’s been happening down in the kitchen garden?

The polytunnels are turning into a jungle!

The Anglo-Saxons called the month of August “Weod month” because it’s a time when weeds and other plants grow rapidly. This week, The Kitchen Garden People certainly done plenty of weeding, especially bindweed, which seems to crawl across the vegetable patch in every direction. Along with the Thursday volunteers, we’ve also been busy weeding the brassicas (kale, chard and cauliflowers) and mowing the cover crop to liberate the french beans. 

It’s been blisteringly hot, yet on Wednesday, we were blessed with a summer thunderstorm. There’s something about hearing lashings of rain on the polytunnel that seems to make time stand still. It also saved us a job when it came to watering and the plants were soaking it up. 

While Dan and Emma are taking a well-deserved break, Eddie and Ethan have been in charge. They had their biggest Friday harvest yet last week, with an abundance of tomatoes, courgettes, cucumbers, cavolo nero, basil, edible flowers, and lettuce. 

A great way to preserve this season’s harvest is to try your hand at pickling and canning - something we do here at the FarmED Cafe and highly recommend to all our customers! 

This week, they also planted gherkins in the polytunnels, and have had many adventures with rabbits evading us. A group of garden bumble bees nesting in the path down to the vegetable patch have been greeting the team every morning and it’s felt like a delightful reminder of the vibrant ecosystem we’re nurturing here at FarmED and a reminder of the important role pollinators play in the market garden.