The Fold Farm Blog March 2026
Easter is here! And with it comes the busy part of the year for us (even though we are always busy). Last month I was talking about the weather and hoping it was going to dry out enough to get the tractor equipment into the field to start cultivating the beds. Well, it did!
At the beginning of the month the field was dry enough to put the Plow through it and a short while later we were able to get the power harrow on it and to break up the lumps into a fine enough tilth to get some beds formed. We were able to get the potato planter going and I’m pleased to say we have now planted all the potatoes and right now as I am writing this the onions are being planted so great success there!
This time of year, with the coming of easter marks an important point in our calendar. It is no coincidence that easter falls when it does and when I saw last year that Easter would be early, I knew that that meant spring would be early too.
For us it marks the date when we can really get stuck into our seed sowings and this week we had a great volunteer session sowing tons of seeds including peas, radishes, rocket, Spring greens, sprouting broccoli, dwarf French beans, carrots, parsley, coriander, spring onions, lettuce, chervil, watercress and beetroot as well as other small bits like herbs and edible flowers and some more unusual stuff for our on site herbalist. It is wonderful to be able to sow so many exciting things. We look forward to seeing them germinate and grow in the months to come.
As well as being the time for seeds, this time of year with the added heat during the day is the time when all our leaf crops that have been sulking throughout the winter months suddenly start growing and we find that we have a great abundance of beautiful salads and greenery to offer to our veg shed shop and to our onsite café.
The relationship between the farm and our outlets is something that I have been meaning to talk about in this blog but have not talked about properly yet and is something which is intrinsically important and the reason that our veg farm exists in the first place.
The Café here is the beating heart of the site and the asset that brings the most patronage and footfall to The Fold. There is nothing that makes food taste better and have more integrity than organic home grown produce delivered fresh. What can be better than produce grown on site that has to travel no more than a few hundred metres from the field to the table? Here at The Fold, we really do epitomise the idea of farm to fork and we are extremely passionate about providing the best ingredients that are possible. It is also exciting working with the chefs to create something special and unique to each moment in the year and which keeps the menus interesting.
The same can be said for our on-site veg shed which also has produce come straight out of the ground and onto the shelves. The supermarkets wish they could achieve this level of freshness but that is just impossible. We do buy in several items to give our customers more choice for their groceries, but these are always organic and sourced as locally as possible, and I guarantee that the freshness and flavour of our produce cannot be beat!
We do sell citrus products (lemons and oranges) but the rest of our stock is seasonal as we want to give an honest display of what can be grown locally in the UK this time of the year. We will sell our own tomatoes, courgettes, cucumbers and many more summer delights but only when we can grow them ourselves. We feel that eating what is in season locally is something that is important but something that has been lost in the modern age. We can make the world more sustainable if we don’t haul products hundreds of miles to the dinner plate. Eating seasonally also connects people to nature in a time when so many are gazing out of the window feeling something is missing.
As I write this the blossom on our fruit trees in the orchard is starting to come out and in the next couple of weeks it will be in full flow. The next couple of months really will define the season and now is the time to sow, get the beds prepared and start planting. I am really excited to watch the year unfold and I hope all of you can take some inspiration from me, go and purchase a couple of seed packets and grow something!
It is a great feeling to watch seeds germinate and grow into something delicious. Now is the time to do it.
Speak soon
Jude
To follow what Jude and the farm team are up to, connect with them on Instagram HERE and Facebook HERE
