Week two - settling into the farm

If nothing else this blog is going to serve to help me keep track of time on the farm, and perhaps entertain a few people along the way (this week I tore my trousers falling  through a small piece of farm whilst playing my ukulele to the pigs – yes, I’m  still too shy to play to people). It is starting to feel like I’ve been here for months, don’t assume that to be negative, I am ridiculously comfortable in my surroundings. The damp (and earwigs) have mostly left Shadow, and having now dealt with early mornings for two weeks, cooked a breakfast, lunch and dinner and mastered shower timing I feel like I’m settling into a routine. The adjustment though huge, has been pretty smooth and not at all painful.

Four days a week I’m working on horticulture, which means being out in the fields, or polytunnels at 7am. It’s beautiful to be moving for an hour before breakfast watching the sunrise (above) and using my body until sundown, which is creeping ever earlier as Winter draws closer. The other two days I’m part of a team of four working hard to pack up the farm boxes in time for deliveries, these are long, but so much fun despite the sleep deprived mania (more on that later). On the seventh day, I rest.

In the world of hort the beds are being prepared for Winter now and we're bringing in all the field irrigation to prevent frost damage, we are however, still harvesting tomatoes and peppers which is amazing as late in the year as this. The soft fruit orchard is having a thorough overhaul and I am eager to see the fruits (pun intended) of our work come next spring. We continue to harvest carrots, leeks and turnips which are staples in the farm boxes and shop and salad daily for the cafe and pub - such beautiful fresh food!

I’m hoping that I will see out a full year at Church Farm which will allow me to understand the changing of the seasons in the world of growing. Having said that we’re set for frosts next week so the third week blog might have a slightly different tone... For now I’ll leave you with a picture or our beautiful Berkshire piglets which make me smile on a daily basis, there are 358 pigs on the farm at present and lots of babies. The farm itself is open to the public to walk around so if you come to visit you'll see lots of these cuties yourself.