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Busman's holiday

Cat Laidlaw — Sun, 04 Sep 2011 15:38:34 GMT

Whoosh!! Did you see it!? That was August. In the blink of an eye the last summer month seems to have barely been and now we are suddenly gearing up for the autumn. Having started at the beginning of the growing season all I've known so far is sunshine, warm weather and long busy days of worker bee-like activity. But August did seem to bring with it a deep satisfactory breathe akin to finishing a good day's work and standing back to admire the results. Not that the task list has eased off, but with most things planted and in the ground, the weeds slightly slowing down, and a good old drizzly English summer (compared to the near drought conditions of when I started), the last couple of weeks have certainly had a transitional feel to them.

Dry spells and forecasts

Cat Laidlaw — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 09:15:09 GMT

The latest Harry Potter film is out and a few spells up the organic grower's rolled up sleeves wouldn't go a miss at the moment. The Impedimenta spell, capable of generally impeding the target's progress, would come in handy for managing some of the weeding. Or the Aguamenti spell, which casts a jet of water, would save shifting irrigation pipes about. Either way, I often seem to get caught up in doing the everyday tasks and forget to actually notice how almost like magic the crops have suddenly grown from the seedlings we were planting not so long ago. In the space of what feels like just a week or two, they seem to have been been cast with an Engorgio spell and suddenly these bountiful looking courgettes, peppers, aubergines and more have appeared.

Into the swing of things

Cat Laidlaw — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 18:07:20 GMT

I'm now three months into my apprenticeship at North Aston Organics and I'm starting to feel a little more useful about the place and fully into the swing of things. Although, of course there's always something new to learn. No sooner have I got to grips at harvesting leeks, topping and tailing them with swift, deft movements of the Opinel knife that could land me as an extra in a martial arts film, it's time to move on and harness my sugar snap pea spotting abilities and seek out all their hiding places amongst the leaves and tendrils. No matter how many times you go up and down a row more peas always seem to magically appear!