Cobbs Farm Update: June 2022
It’s been another busy month on the farm…
The Asparagus season has been a little slower than we had hoped; a common complaint with growers across the UK. No one is entirely sure why it’s been like this but one theory is the relatively mild winter not allowing the plants to fully re-charge their energy reserves. Our Asparagus beds have been closed now for another year.
What have we been planting?
There has been a hive of activity otherwise as we try and plant out all the other exciting things going on this year.
Cut Flowers
Gladioli - We started with putting in our Gladioli bulbs, spaced over a few weeks to try and prolong the flowering season. Over 3,000 bulbs have been planted in a huge variety of stunning colours and we hope to be opening the fields to Pick Your Own in a month or so’s time.
Sunflowers - Another cut flower favourite is the Sunflower and we’ve planted around 2,000 seeds for cutting. We have also planted an additional 2 acres of agricultural Sunflower seeds – this will not only look stunning when in full bloom but also create an incredible habitat and feed source for the wildlife on the farm.
Sweet Corn
2 varieties of Sweetcorn have also been planted and I am pleased to say the plants are already poking their heads out of the ground!
New Preventative Measures
We have had to do an awful lot of preventative measures to stop the Pigeons, Crows and Hares on the farm damaging the crops, with plenty of scarecrows out in the fields and the occasional banger or two! So far so good!
Pumpkins & Squash
Our last planting task this month was to plant out the Pumpkin & Squash plants that had been propagated for us by Fentongollam in Cornwall. Over 10,000 plants in total which were planted over the course of 2 days. Very satisfying to see the fruits of your labour after a hard days work!
Whilst the rain has been a pain for most people, we’ve been very thankful as it’s meant we didn’t have to irrigate the crops after planting with our precious water. It’ll now be a process of ongoing management to bring them to harvest later this year.
The Vineyard
The Vineyard has loved all this wet and warm weather with growth racing ahead. We have been bud-rubbing (taking off unwanted buds from the vines) and will be starting the process of tucking in shortly. Never a dull moment!