There is something nice about a new year, the feeling of fresh starts, and new opportunities.
Those of you follow us on social media may already know, but we are particularly excited to announce that we will be moving our growing operation onto a new piece of land in the next few weeks, where hopefully it can stay for the foreseeable future. Our patch is based on an existing certified organic farm in Buckfastleigh, in South Devon, which is right where we wanted to be. We cannot wait to put up some polytunnels and get growing!
Our seed collections we released before Christmas have been a huge success, and we will continue to sell these. If anybody has interesting ideas for seed collection themes then let us know we would love to hear. We are thinking maybe colour themed collections, like golden or purple could be fun.
When should you start sowing seeds? Although it can be tempting to sow seeds as soon as possible, we would not recommend sowing many things before March, unless you have access to heat and light, as there is so little sun energy available at the moment for plant growth. There are some things that you can start to sow in February under cover such as lettuce, oriental salads, and onions, and if you have space indoors then this is also the time to start your tomatoes, peppers, and aubergines.
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No matter how experienced you are, no two years are the same in a garden. There are so many factors which can have profound effects on the growing season. Be it a winter two months longer than expected (ahem, sounds familiar) or a record-smashing hot and dry summer (ahem) or one followed by the other (!), we never know what is in store for us. If we did, wouldn’t life be boring?
We love this time of year, as it is a dreaming period. We are dreaming of all the amazing crops we will grow and the satisfaction which that brings with it. We have images in our minds of abundance and flourishing life, which can feel lacking when we look out of the window at the moment (although if you look closely enough there is still quite a lot going on out there).
Of course, reality rarely matches our dreams. As soon as we start to sow seeds we are reminded of how vulnerable we are, and that things may not be quite as easy as they had seemed in our dreams! Mice eat freshly sown seeds, slugs eat freshly germinated seedlings, polytunnel gets too hot because we forget to open it at the weekend, compost dries out and bugs and rabbits share our harvest. Real life is not simple. But we do not let this ruin our dreams, we just have to not be too attached to every detail of our dreams coming true. Yes, we will create an abundant garden, flourishing with life, and yes, we will bring in great harvests. However, there will be complications too, and we must see the value in the complications, as this is where we can learn the most, and if life is not about learning then what it is about? A wise sage once said: “I have learned so much from my mistakes, I think I will make some more”.