Onion sets are go!!

Cool kids in the Kale 

Thanks to Satowa who has kindly given us a write-up of her day at CropShare, read on to see what she thought of her day! Thanks to Axel Minet and Lily O’Mahony-Gibson for ace photos.

 Planting out onion sets through biodegradable plastic

“Despite the wind sabotaging plans to build the new feeder polytunnel (yet again), half of us were not deterred from going out into the field to make headway into the 3000 onion sets, while the other half (myself included) decided that sowing in the polytunnel sounded like a warmer bet.

Satowa sowing seeds into modules

“For me, it was also a nice chance to learn another activity at the farm, after having fun poking holes in plastic sheets almost exactly a year ago.

Biodegradable black plastic freshly planted with onion sets 

“Today we sowed white and red cabbage (the scientific species of which we had fun wrapping our mouths around), some spring onions (which were very carefully counted and quality checked), and calabrese and leeks.

Reggie gives newly sown seed in modules a good soak 

“In an efficient organically-formed assembly line fashion, a few filled the trays with compost for others to indent and drop the prescribed number of seeds, cover, and whisk away. As always, I enjoyed the company and hearing about others’ ideas, projects, and experiences, as well as chuckling at the banter tossed around along with mugfulls of compost.

Cheers! A mugful of soil will see you right! 

“Perhaps most importantly, no health and safety conditions were breached despite a few close calls. Eventually, those in the field decided that the party really was in the polytunnel and joined us, just in time for lunch (and hacking of wooden frames, which I still haven’t figured out the purpose of).

(P.S. Although Farmer Paul and Hugh would happily break up wooden pallets for a laugh, this did actually have a purpose- construction of a base for a new shed!)

 Farmer Paul and Hugh fight over a pallet, apparently its a Fenland thing

“Lunch was also delicious, with all sorts of breads and hummuses and a fantastic carrot chutney. We also celebrated Farmer Paul’s upcoming birthday in style with an exciting sparkling show (again, compliant with conditions) and delightful chocolate cake that went down happily with raspberry crumble, even on a brimming belly.

Farmer Paul is 21 again!

“Thank you to the CropShare crew and everyone that I met today for a really lovely morning. I felt very much at home in the “peaceful countryside”, and I am looking forward to enjoying the kale that I took away. I can only hope that this year has been as successful as we were in sewing seeds of knowledge in my brain… and I hope to come back again soon!”