Posted on Sat, Oct 24, 2009
I'm really getting stuck into the parsnips now in the garden, you get a strong sense of winter when they start to come out of the ground, dirty, covered in mud but smelling very very sweet... But once we carry them up to the storage unit, cut the tops and wash them, they are transformed into something else; a sweet smelling, beautiful white vegetable that you can eat all winter and warms your belly.... I'm looking forward to Cilla (our chef) making something great out of this biodynamic produce soon. The cabbages are also coming on well, some of the later ones we planted are getting gobbled by the pigeons but just as long as they stick to those i'll let them be... if not then all the brassicas will have to be covered up with fleece, and the garden won't look as inviting as it does at the moment. We are having raw cabbage in the salads and steamed as a vegetable with our meals at the moment. It's a great winter warmer and as the winds and rain draw at this time of year it'll help to keep us all warm and healthy.
The Biodynamic Agriculture Training 1st years have been away on their farm tour this week so I've not been having much help in the garden. Most of the jobs I couldn't really start, knowing that there will be 5 students coming to help in the afternoons makes me find other jobs that i can do more independantly. So i helped in the estate cutting some trees down that were blocking light and made a start on the coppice project near westwood.
All the apples have been picked from around the campus, Colyn, Martin (another Biodynamic Course 2nd Year), Anne Marie (the grounds guardian) and myself finished off the last of the trees on Friday.
Oh and theres one other small thing that happened this week, I put a deposit down on a new/second hand tractor. Its a John Deere 955 with a loader and forks and it'll come with a stoneburier. I'm fairly excited about getting it all sorted and really hoping to get it delivered to the college by December, all being well. It's taken a lot of research and time to find one and I finally spotted it an managed to make a deal, once i've visited it in Bristol and checked it all out i'll be giving them the final cheque, they will deliver it to the college which is great because I didn't fancy driving it from Bristol to Sussex....