ORGANIC VEGETABLES

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Rhubarb.
These crowns were planted back in 1999 and are about to be dug up, they have seen their best and have been replaced by a new planting. We have used Timperley Early, and started cropping in 2001. It has been a constant battle to keep on top of the weed, particularly couch and returning enough nutrient back to the crop. Results have been disappointing, plenty of FYM in the autumn and some organic poultry manure, keeps us ahead of the game but only just. The result is small quantities of very good quality rhubarb, that never gets too stringy or woody.

Ruhbarb crows emerging from winter
Broad beans looking well Broad Beans
Broad Beans have generally done well in our early years of organic production. Birds have been our biggest problem, they do like digging up the untreated seed and will completely wipe out your crop. The only way to keep them out is with a mesh or a fleece. The four drillings serve us well and give us a cropping period of about 6 weeks.We are generally lucky to avoid the blackfly, they can make such a mess of the crop.
Runner Beans
Organically we have had some real disasters growing the runner bean. However with a little bit of persistence and a change in the rotation, the crop has performed better, but still can look a bit yellow, synonymous with not enough plant food. However 2010 has been an exelent year. The beans are of a good quality, but probably not as big or as long as a conventional crop. One of the biggest problems here is keeping the deer out, especially the Roe, they are very partial to Runner Beans. The area is planted under low tunnels and can suffer from slug damage.

Runners in full flower

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 Courgette
Courgette can be a bit fickle, they do like their heat. It fits in nicely with the other summer crops that we do and there is a keen demand for good quality courgette. They never look as green and as vigorous as the conventional, but yield reasonably well. We have a few problems with mildew, but in general survive quit well.
Dwarf beans or French beans.
New crop in 2010 for us, grown remarquably well this season, but the dry weather did keep the weed at bay, so making life a bit easier. Give it another go next year, picking cost one of the biggest drawbacks.


Sweetcorn.

Makes a return this year, we now have ground that is not totally over run by Fallow deer. Despite dry weather we have irrigated all of the sweetcorn, and there are some magnificent crops out there.

Squash
Is a member of the pumpkin family, and they come in all manner of shapes, colours and sizes. Butternut is generally the most popular and well known squash, but is very difficult to grow in this country, as the summers are not hot enough although we do persist. So we are growing Green Kabocha, Acorn, Gem, Harliquin and a few other bits and pieces. This is one of the most truly versatile vegetables we have ever grown, and to learn more about them, visit our pumpkin and squash web site.
Pumpkin.

There is an area of about 2 acres down to pumpkin. They are all of the culinary size, about 1-2 kgs. Normaly Baby Bear or Becky. 2009 was particulary difficult and lost most of the crop to the wet weather. 2010 is looking much better.

   

To e-mail or phone the bean grower, type in this address, m.smales@farmline.com then type Lyburn Farm in the subject box to get past our anti spam or m.smales@hotmail.com

or Phone Mike on 01794 390451 or Jono 07775 883464