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A hot July ended with a warm, damp and humid spell that stretched into August; ideal for the establishment of recently planted cauliflowers, leeks and cabbages. It also provided ideal conditions for blight to rampage through many of our potato crops. The disease is caused by the aggressive fungal pathogen phytophthora infestans, which can reduce a healthy crop to a field of blackened stumps in less than a week. Worse still, heavy downpours can leach infective spores down through the ridges to attack the tubers.
An ageing farmer recently confided that he hadn’t expected my father to see a second harvest when he took on Riverford Farm in 1952, what with his, “fancy cows, combine harvester, silage and new-fangled ways”. Two generations later this neighbour was willing to accept (slightly begrudgingly) that John Watson might have got a few things right. Steep learning curve
On the few occasions I have found fresh borlotti beans (normally in London foodie farmers markets), I have been outraged by their price. Swallowing my farmer’s indignation, I once shelled out for a measly portion of pods and was bowled over by their flavour. Begrudgingly I accepted that foodies can be right, and determined to grow them myself.
The soil is fully charged with water (‘at field capacity’ is the technical term) and with rain falling almost constantly this week, the brown, swollen river is only just within its banks. It may still be warm but as we struggle in the mud, the summer of 2013 feels truly behind us.
Issue 12: Fairness and five years.
Find out more about Wicked Leeks and our publisher, organic veg box company Riverford.