Autumn is well and truly with us; no denying it now – hopes for a prolonged ‘summer’ (we’re optimists!), bathed in the vivid, deep blue skies that can often still warm the months of September to October, were literally washed away recently, give or take a couple of more kindly, brighter days. The rain has been overwhelming, hasn’t it? This year, it made the summer/early autumn growing season, which should be the most productive of the year, particularly hard. A combination of wet, cold weather, some of the most extraordinary monster slugs we have ever seen (almost like something from a film!)* and other pest/disease issues made things difficult, but other crops did well – leeks, parsnips, chard and kale, for example. The weather this season has taught us new tricks, however – we’re a resilient bunch – and we’re looking at how to mitigate similar issues in future, to prepare and cope with whatever the weather throws at us. Having said that, Autumn is still one of our favourite seasons; so beautiful, full of colour, shapes and light. It’s nature’s art in action and even in the rain, it is a joy to be able to walk through these lovely, surrounding landscapes.
So what’s in the box this season? In the coming weeks you’ll find: beetroot, carrots, kale, leeks, onions, parsnips, spinach and potatoes. If you have any recipes you’d like to share, or just ideas on how to make the most of these wonderful (non-GM) vegetables, we’d love to hear from you via our contact page or email info@lcmgstroud.co.uk and we’ll publish them here.
*….in case you were wondering, what did we do with the slugs? As you may know, we do not use any chemicals at LCMG. The slugs were carefully removed by hand and relocated to a different area, allowing nature (i.e., natural predators that would welcome this largesse!) to take its course. Fingers crossed they don’t find their way back to the crops!