By now, you might be familiar with the fact that Spring Tide falls into the category of a biointensive small-scale farm. Small-scale implies that we are lightly mechanized and that almost all the work is done by hand. Hence the “biointensive” part : to minimize the weeding (100% unmechanized), we grow the crops tight together and we have narrow paths between our beds – we don’t need any engine to be able to fit in there.
That being said, we do need to use tractors sometimes. First, we have a walk behind tractor, the BCS, a very precious tool for small-scale farms. Rebecca was explaining in her blog post last week that we mostly use it with the rotary plough to raise our beds. You can imagine the amount of time and physical labour it is saving us, as the alternative would be to dig up trenches with a shovel! Also, we intend to maintain these raised beds from one year to another, and will hopefully only have to reshape them in 3 years.
The farm also owns a much bigger tractor (massive actually!). We only use it periodically, but it comes very handy every time. In the last couple of weeks for example, we have been able to move loads of compost with the bucket directly onto the beds where we needed it. A big time and energy save – even though we still have to shovel compost into wheelbarrows and walk them where we don’t have access with the tractor.
The tractor was also used to cover crop a new block we are opening. After being tarped for a year to kill the grasses, it was time to sow a green menure for the summer in order to structure the soil, deter wire worms, etc. We disced with the tractor, then broadcasted a mix of buckwheat and brassicas, and disced again to cover the seeds. We did it just before a big rain to give the cover crop the best chance of germination. The crop will be later mowed and incorporated in the soil to add organic matter to it. A block being about 1/5 of an acre, you can picture here again how big of a work it would have been without machinery!
Shoveling compost out of the tractor bucket
If we are opening new fields, it is not because we want to increase the volume of crops we’re growing. We are thinking long term and want to increase our rotations in order to give our fields more rest, our soil more time to regenerate. By rotating the crops, you are also breaking the life cycle of pests and keeping healthier soils. Otherwise, you’re depleting it.
Another project we have been giving a bit of time to lately is our perennial beds. Our flower enthusiast, Rebecca, has started to build permanent flower beds that we filled with new perennials such as Verbenas, Echinaceas, Black-Eyed Susans. We are very excited for the first peonies, planted last year, to bloom!
As for Jessie, she is working on the herb garden (sage, rosemary, thyme, lemonbalm, mint…) as we plan to offer them with more consistency. It is not always easy to find time to weed and maintain permanent beds but we really intend to do so. Also, they add so much beauty and delightful smells to the farm!
This week, with all the fresh greens, why not trying a comforting Palek Paneer recipe? Here is how to make it:
- heat a bit of olive oil in a skillet over medium heat and cook one onion in it until slightly tender.
Add some garlic, coriander, turmeric, garam masala, red pepper flakes, curry powder, cumin, and salt to taste. Cook and stir until fragrant.
- add 10 ounces of spinach (you can also mix chard and kale with it), a few diced tomatoes, some grated ginger and one cup of water. Simmer for 20 minutes. Remove from heat and cool slightly.
- transfer the spinach mixture to a blender and blend until smooth.
- heat some olive oil in the same skillet over medium heat to cook and stir the paneer (fresh Indian cheese) until lightly browned.
- stir in the puréed spinach mixture and cook until heated through.
You can serve this classic Indian recipe with rice.
The display of our first market in Liverpool
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