Ellen Pearce and Dennis Touliatos reflect on late summer at the Plot.
After an exceptionally hot summer, in August the downpours began. Of course, in other parts of the UK, rain was desperately needed, but one such downpour cancelled our mid-August tour of the farm due to flooding around the barn.
This seemed to set the tone for the changeable and often wet weather in the coming weeks.
The Plot’s market garden section of Summerhouse Community Farm has been coming into production during the season, helped along by the installation of a rabbit proof fence which was co-funded by the FoodFriends and weekly volunteer sessions – thank you to all our amazing supporters!
We have begun sharing veg again, initially with the supporters of the crowdfunder who bought veg box rewards. The certified organic polytunnels at White Lund continue to give abundance in tomatoes, cucumbers and French beans, and the outside Plot at Summerhouse Community Farm is now producing kale, beans, courgettes and squash. The recent participants on the fermenting workshop are pictured below picking their courgettes to ferment!
Getting to know a new site always takes a while, and while our grower friends in other places would probably be delighted to see a slug as an indicator of wet conditions, the sheer volume of slugs on the site, despite the dry summer, has been astonishing!
As we head into Autumn we’ll be looking forward to Autumnal recipes with roasted squash, apple crumble and drying some of the beans for good times ahead.
If you’d like to come and see what we’re doing at the farm, please do join our rescheduled tour on Monday 19 October, 12.30 – 1.30pm. The tour is FREE of charge, but please reserve your space in advance here.
Pictured below – the participants on the recent fermentation workshop at Summerhouse Farm picking their courgettes to ferment at the Plot.
