Storm damage and an overview of the year
Dear friends,
Welcome to those of you who have recently joined the mailing list. This newsletter will look back on what has happened this year including recent damage from the storm. Our tunnel was badly hit andwe have launched a crowdfunder to recover (see below). This is a longer read than usual as so much has happened!
The season began with a very wet, overcast and cool spring. The ground took a long time to warm up and lots of seedlings were eaten by slugs. One day I planted a whole bed of celery seedlings, the next day I came back to find around 1/3 of them had disappeared. It was difficult to witness the ongoing slug damage over the spring. More seeds were sown and plants replaced, but some gaps remained and the plants that did survive struggled to really thrive in the poor weather conditions.
Warmer weather came in the summer and things felt more positive. The sun was shining, we hosted a farm tour and veg was finally ready to be harvested. It was such a joy to be able to fill boxes with a range of delicious veg and hand them over to some of you to be enjoyed in your homes and kitchens. I so enjoyed hearing what you chose to cook and the recipes that were shared. There is a wealth of knowledge and cooking skill amongst you as well as an inspiring passion for good food. It is incredibly rewarding and reaffirming to be supported by a group of people who believe in what I am trying to do. I really believe we need to develop our local food supplies, to build resilience, to grow and farm in ways which prevent more damage to our environment and instead restore it to a healthy, abundant ecosystem. We are a part of the ecosystem and need to feed and nourish ourselves well too.
The summer ended and the difficult start to the year had knock on effects, which meant the veg boxes came to an end earlier than I had hoped for. I was disappointed to not be able to deliver on what I had planned, but I learnt so much about how to manage difficult conditions and have lots of ideas of how things can be adapted going forward. One of these ideas is to create a better “propagation station” – next year I will be using a greenhouse and some heated cable underneath seed trays to get seedlings off to a really strong start. Another area for improvement is veg storage to see us through the winter months.
The stormy weather we have seen this weekend is another powerful reminder of how much we rely on mother nature. Seeing these strong winds and the damage they have caused really makes me aware of our vulnerabilities and highlights the importance of putting things in place to limit damage. The polytunnel in the garden was unfortunately one of the many things damaged by the storm. Although it was secured in a number of ways, the wind got into it and couldn’t get back out again, resulting in the bottom end stake being ripped out of the ground, taking sand bags, the metal frame and cover with it. The wind twisted the frame and has bent a number of the bars. Luckily the cover did not rip and remained tied to the top end stake. The frame has been dismantled (with the help of an angle grinder for some badly bent pieces) and the damage assessed – some hoops, rebar, and the entire top bar will need to be replaced. The garden’s deer netting also suffered - 3 of the large support posts came down, having snapped at ground level. These too will need to be replaced.
Growing food is becoming increasingly challenging, but the only real option is to rise to those challenges. To adapt, persevere and gain in resilience, strength and skill. Giving up on the garden means giving up on the idea that food can be produced locally, without all the harmful effects of intensive arable farming. That’s not something I am willing to do. Perhaps I am a glutton for punishment, or an idealist, but I believe this must be done. As the saying goes: If not me, then who? If not now, then when? The supermarkets provide food on a huge scale, but we have seen in recent years the food shortages caused by supply chain issues. Farmers are being paid far less than they should by supermarkets and often find it difficult to break away from an industrial system that relies on fossil fuels, chemical pesticides and fertilisers, destroying biodiversity and soil life. More and more of the foods in the supermarket are ultra-processed and are doing us more harm than good. Globally we are producing a huge number of calories, yet people are increasingly undernourished as foods are decreasing in quality. We desperately need to depart from this system and create an entirely new one that can stand up to adverse conditions while also repairing our broken ecosystems and providing us with nourishing food. This will not be easy. It will involve a lot of hard work, determination, creativity and collaboration.
Sometimes it feels that on an individual level, we are too small to make a difference. Of course we must still do our best and any effort is better than none. The truth is we can do a lot on our own – and we can do so much more when we work together. Everyone has their own way to help and support what they believe in. By weaving our skills, talents and passions together we can make huge changes. This also prevents us from getting overwhelmed by larger issues.
To recover from the damage of the storm and become even more resilient I have set up acrowdfunder. This will help to fund replacement parts for the polytunnel (which will also be given increased wind protection) and fix the damaged deer fencing. Anything you can give to this will be greatly appreciated. I really could not have got this far without the support I have been given already. Any additional funds will go into further developing resilience. This could be investing in perennial vegetables, edible hedges that double up as windbreaks, good storage for winter veg, planting trees and shrubs that produce soft fruit, nuts etc.
Donate to Repair the damage from the storm and build resilience, organized by Elizabeth Courtney
Hi, my name is Liz and I run Haye Farm Market Garden. In Dece… Elizabeth Courtney needs your support for Repair the damage from the storm and build resilience
I will also be learning from all of the trials of this year, adapting methods to create a really robust and reliable system. Going beyond growing, I want to help encourage you all to enjoy cooking and eating wonderful food, so will also be creating an online space with lots of seasonal veg recipes, including ideas some of you gave me while collecting your veg this year.
The next newsletter will be in the spring, hopefully full of updates about healthy seedlings, a fixed polytunnel and all the tasty veg on the way. There will also be details on a free tour of the garden I will be hosting in May. It will be a pleasure to meet or catch up with you and show you what is happening in the garden at that exciting time of year when harvests are just around the corner.
For now I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. I hope you all have the opportunity to rest and reflect on your own experience of 2024. No doubt you will each have had a range of victories and challenges this year yourselves. May we learn from it all.
“You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. In fact, it may be necessary to encounter the defeats, so you can know who you are, what you can rise from, how you can still come out of it”
- Maya Angelou
Merry Christmas
Liz