Whether for the resurrection of Jesus, the first returning swallow, a chestnut bud bursting into life, or a pair of pigeons flirting on a branch, it’s hard not to feel an evangelic joy at the return of life after a long winter. Even the most congenitally miserable farmer might crack a smile this year, and acknowledge the brightest, driest, and easiest spring that many can remember.
Easter was traditionally the time for hard-pressed farm staff to plant main crop (i.e. harvested later than early or ‘new’) potatoes; this year, there will not be many that are not already in the ground. The first peas are emerging well in their orderly rows, and a few autumn-sown broad beans are already in flower, as bees emerge from their slumber to fertilise and feed on them. As the first swarms of midges gather at dusk over our hedgerows, the swallows are back to feed on them.
My father always used to talk about the drought of 1976, when he slept by the irrigation pump. It’s a bit early to be worrying, especially with rain forecast, but unabated celebration is hard for our industry. Sadly, the best farmers are always preparing for the next catastrophe. In 40 years of growing veg, this is the first year we have irrigated in March. There is plenty of moisture in the soil at depth, but a light watering helps newly planted lettuce seedlings to reach out their roots and quickly achieve intimacy with the soil. We are also watering the empty seedbeds, to get as many weeds as possible to germinate. The weeds can then be killed by shallow cultivation or a flash of heat from a burner, before we sow our salad crops. These ‘stale seedbeds’ can reduce the need for hand weeding by 90 percent.
The fine weather has generated a final flurry of purple sprouting broccoli, cauliflower, wild garlic, and leeks. The quality is excellent, but with all this sun, reproductive urges will become irrepressible; later this month, the leeks will bolt, and the others will flower, bringing these greens to an end. The resulting ‘Hungry Gap’, before the UK’s lettuces and other summer crops are ready to harvest, will be bridged by our farm in the French Vendée. The fields there are in full swing, with Little Gem and Butterhead lettuces already being harvested, and the first chard, turnips, and kohlrabi not far behind.
This farmer is starting the new season with joy in his heart, and thanks for the extraordinary harmony it is our job to protect.
Our News from the Farm posts come from Riverford. They are the digital versions of the printed letters which go out to customers, every week via Riverford’s veg boxes. Guy Singh-Watson’s weekly newsletters connect people to the farm with refreshingly honest accounts of the trials and tribulations of producing organic food, and the occasional rant about farming, ethical and business issues he feels strongly about.
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