Apart from our grass fields being animated by lambs and calves and the odd daffodil begrudgingly enduring the frosts, snow and rain, there are no obvious signs that spring is around the corner here just yet.
We knew after two consecutive months of virtually no rain and a very dry autumn and winter overall, it was going to come hard and heavy eventually and it has certainly done that.
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Luckily, we got going when we could in February and a few hectares of babyleaf spinach and chard were drilled, which are on course for harvest at the end of April.
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So far, despite the cold snap, it is looking remarkably good and is enjoying the milder weather.
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It is always a risk, as with all crops, knowing if you are getting ahead of yourself, or taking a good opportunity to crack on, but because these crops are so sensitive and aesthetics are so important, the stress is compounded.
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This week (March 21) conditions have not been the best, but on our lighter soils we have been cracking on with more drilling nonetheless.
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There is a point in late spring when supermarkets move from imported European salad leaves to British leaves, so we are always trying to prolong the season and the earlier we can get crop leaving the farm, the better.
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Retail customers will be keen to get back to British produce too after a winter of challenging supply in Europe.
While the idea of only eating seasonally is nice 聴 or maybe not if you don聮t like turnips 聴 it is unrealistic to expect a nation that has been spoilt by imports for so long to go back to this way of life.
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There is plenty of opportunity for controlled environment cropping to be rolled out in the UK and to vastly improve food security without ruining the landscape.
If only our Government actually saw merit in producing more healthy food. Despite last month聮s empty shelves, I think they are still more embroiled in cheese and wine politics than fresh fruit and veg.
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On the new arable ground, fertiliser applications went on at the end of February and everything is looking much happier for it, particularly the winter barley.
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We are getting itchy feet on the first field going into organic conversion. Currently it is too wet to do much with.听
It will require another pass of the discs to chop up any grass-weeds before it is ploughed and drilled with spring peas, hopefully sooner rather than later.
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The organic conversion is exciting, but has got me feeling very impatient, or maybe it is just arable farming in general.
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In our world of leafy salads, you tend to only have to wait 30 days or so to see success (or sometimes lack of) from a crop.
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The more I think about how much we would like to try out and do, the more I think a 10-year tenancy is not nearly enough time.
