I have a bit of a personal mission... That mission is to inspire people to grow at least one thing for themselves to use in their kitchen be it herbs, vegetables, an fruit tree or anything at all useful. Why? Well around 200 years ago around 80 to 90 percent of people worked the land as farmers, veg growers and food producers. Now only 1 to 2 percent of people in the UK are working the land producing food for people to eat. Most of these are large scale conventional farms where the staff are mostly tractor drivers advised by consultants on what to grow.
I consider proper farming to be the old organic way, smaller scale perhaps, and still using some tractors, but where the knowledge and skill remain with the workforce. Of the UK population only 0.008 percent of people are in this category, which means that hardly anyone has the knowledge needed to grow food and survive if our food chains run dry.
I would like to change this. When I went travelling through Eastern Europe in our camper van many years ago, I was impressed by all the front gardens I saw there, full of fruit and veg. I believe it would not take much to inspire people to get back to the mindset of growing our own produce at home and I think it would greatly benefit the UK if we did.
I guess this is a very long-winded way of explaining why when I was asked to write a blog for The Fold to help promote our work I jumped at the chance. Hopefully I can inspire at least a few to take up the spade and trowel and get growing!
We have been busy since I took on the Head Grower position four months ago. I took the job because I was impressed with all the infrastructure and passion that The Fold has to offer but with only a small team here last year there has been a lot that needs doing to get the farm in a position to start growing this Spring.
One brilliant thing is the fantastic support that the fold has from volunteers. We have many people turning up each week, and in some cases several times a week to help on the farm and other projects. I am keen to welcome as many people as possible into our group as this aligns directly with my vision of getting people growing. There are many reasons why volunteering can give back to those who give up their precious time. It’s great that some people come for the social side of it and the group sessions we have on a Wednesday are always a right laugh. I look forward to that day of the week most of all. Others come to learn horticulture; with over a hundred different types of produce growing here we can offer a great deal of valuable experience in exchange for someone’s time. Volunteering in the outdoors and working the land are also great for mental health and for fitness in general. If you feel like getting involved, you can apply on our website.
With the help of our volunteers we have done a lot already. Most recently this involved clearing all the brambles and overgrown understory in our orchard, and carrying out the pruning on all the trees ready for spring to come. It feels great making an impact on an area that was slightly neglected in the past. What feels even better is that we were then able to hold a fabulous wassailing event there shortly afterwards with over a hundred people carrying burning torches singing and drinking cider. It was a special evening and I’m looking forward to more of these in the future.
This week we started planting more fruit trees, this time in our main crop field. We have ‘beetle banks’ breaking up the large growing area which wildlife (especially invertebrates) can hide in. We have three of these running across the field in order to raise the biodiversity of the growing space. This makes it less vulnerable to pests and diseases by providing safe havens for predators such as beetles that eat slugs and other bothersomes. Around forty-two fruit trees will be planted along the middle of these beetle banks and will provide fruit (in a few years) as well as an upper canopy for insects to hide in. It also provides a bit of a wind break across the field. We have planted one of the three banks and will do the others in the next couple of weeks.
This month we’ll be continuing doing some repairs on our propagation glasshouse, which is a bit leaky at the moment. This needs to be done soon as I want to start the first crops of the year (onions, spring greens, sugar snap peas, turnips, carrots, beetroot, radishes, cauliflowers, early kale and dwarf French beans) in the next couple of weeks. We have a great maintenance team here who have been really helpful to me so I am confident we can get this done.
I also need to finish the crop plan for the year which I am only halfway through, fingers crossed on that!
Finally myself and our director Suzanne recently attended the Oxford Real Farming conference which is held each year in January. This year there were over four hundred speakers and lecturers talking about sustainable farming in different seminar rooms and was attended by over two thousand people in the organic and sustainable farming community. It was a fantastic place to network and share ideas and to look to the future of organic farming. Well worth going to. The best part was that I met up with some old friends from my organic farming apprenticeship and stayed out late with them in the pub!
People, especially friends, are the most important part of life, and I encourage all of you to get out and meet your mates or better yet to come and get involved with us here at The Fold and to make a difference to what we do and learn some great skills!
Speak Soon.
Jude
To follow what Jude and the farm team are up to, connect with them on Instagram HERE and Facebook HERE
