Autumn at the Barn

Harvest Season

As Autumn takes hold and temperatures begin to fall, along with the leaves, we’ve been busy harvesting what remains of our summer glut and prepping the beds for winter. Don’t worry if you haven’t started on this yet, you’ve still got time! We had a huge butternut squash harvest this month of 59 kgs. The plentiful rain of our long wet summer probably helped the fruit swell – at least there was a silver lining to a very damp year! We’ve been manuring these beds every year for many years now, so it just goes to show that continuing to care for your soil structure really does pay off.

We have replaced the squash with kalettes that we have been holding in pots under net to protect from our friends the cabbage white butterflies. Swiss chard, which has better winter hardiness than some other varieties, has gone into the summer courgette beds. We’ve planted winter lettuce, and plan to experiment with galvanised wire hoops to keep the fleece off the leaves to extend our outdoor ceiling season. Our very popular perennial kale cuttings are doing well and have been potted on to grow a little. You’ll find them for sale in our shop soon.

Preparations for Next Year

The nesting season is over, and the birds have left our hedges. We have now been able to conduct the annual pruning without disturbing them. Understanding nature’s seasons and giving plants and animals the space they need to reproduce is a really key part of growing green. We are gradually taking our beautiful hornbeam hedges back to reduce shading on our raised beds. We’ve also pruned our summer raspberries, which are now ready for feeding and mulching later in the season.

Veterans Bloom have been busy sowing sweet pea seeds and preparing the ground for tulip planting.We are really looking forward to getting them snugly into the ground once the weather turns a little colder. They also planted a selection of Pesian buttercups for flower picking in April. Our Festive Wreaths Workshops are coming up at the end of the month, and the veterans spent a happy few hours gathering material from the site for drying for use in the wreaths. We also did a spot of lifting and dividing – a great way of getting more plants for very little expenditure. Separating plants such as Achilliea gives many smaller plants; we’ve potted some of ours up and you can find them in our shop. 

Autumn in the Polytunnel

We have been busy with all three of our adult Social Therapeutic Horticulture groups (Nature Nurture, Veterans Bloom, and Sow and Thrive) managing the switch over in the polytunnel from summer to winter crops. We had a great crop of tomatoes this year, which we have now removed. The green ones have gone to the amazing kitchen volunteers and Christine to work wonders with and transform them into something delicious. Our summer glut is transformed into delicious jams, chutneys and preserves throughout autumn, so remember to check out our shop if you’re visiting!

The Sow and Thrive students learnt how to save seeds from tomatoes by fermenting them, and how to save seeds from butternut squash. We are also ripening a couple of cucumbers for them to save seed from. This is a really useful and disappearing skill – and it saves money! Pick healthy plants to save seed from, helping ensure a good crop the following year.

The Nature Nurture group have been doing most of the polytunnel change over, assiduously harvesting the last of peppers, cucumbers and tomatoes before weeding and adding organic matter to the beds ahead of planting a variety of brassica salads. We will soon crop the celeriac from the tunnel and plant more Persian buttercup and perhaps some broad beans.

In the Outdoor Classroom

We are very much embracing Autumn in the outdoor classroom and welcomed our Sunflower Group back from their summer holidays with apple pressing to make apple juice. We have also made delicious apple muffins and chips from potatoes planted in the spring with them. This sort of experience helps to demonstrate the circularity of food growing, and gives them ownership over the food they are trying.

We’ve welcomed the Cornflowers from Park Community School to the site this autumn, they are our third young persons green therapy project along with the Sunflowers and the Poppies. We have had a collaborative relationship with the school now for over 7 years, and supply the with organic fruit and vegetables on a weekly basis. On their first visit, we made a delicious autumnal soup over the fire, the perfect way to enjoy our fresh seasonal veg.

Out and About

Earlier in the season, the Education Team visited Park Community School. The school houses a farm, and the team were delighted to meet the pigs. It was also interesting to visit the Tea Room at The Coach House, Staunton Country Park, which the school manages and where former and current students work. It is a really inspiring school that really cares for their students and offers them great opportunities.

The Sunflowers enjoyed a morning at Pallant House gallery as part of their community outreach scheme. We admired a beautiful painting of sunflowers and had a go at soap sculptures, inspired by the work of Barbara Hepworth.