Stats for February: 398 hours of volunteering by 32 volunteers, over 17 sessions; 3 new volunteers and 1 work experience placement.
Stats for 2024: 865 hours, 39 active volunteers, 7 new volunteers, 1 work experience placement.

February was still cold and wet, but the first cherry plum blossom appeared on the 1st! A sure sign spring is coming.

The barn saw a lot of changes this month as the shop was finally moved to the cabins with a big effort at the start of the month. Our first day trading in the cabins was Tue 6th Feb.

Immediately we reorganised the barn to create a designated storage and prep area for the shop and leave the rest of it clear. This was just in time to host the February edition of Southampton Clothes Swap on 10th. After that we were able to reinstall the Pre-Loved Shed in the barn. And then at the end of the month our first batch of chicks and ducklings arrived, hatched by our new animal care lead, Cari Stewart.

Produce from the land was still coming in small quantities – leeks and a few salad leaves. The watercress was going strong still and we unearthed some lovely Jerusalem Artichokes.

Visiting or serving in the shop was a miserable experience in the rain as both doors opened directly to the outside and it was a wet walk from one cabin to the other. At the end of the month we managed to fit a marquee between the two cabins. We had to cut some poles down to fit the last section, but with a bit of jiggling it worked and we have a rainproof space from door to door. A great relief. We weighed it down with our homemade sandbags, using coffee sacks and the sand that now flows from our spring. Thankfully the whole structure was tested by heavy winds a few days later and we were relieved to discover it stood firm.

The raspberries that had been growing under the apples and pears (bed 25) were transplanted to make a new bed near the outdoor kitchen and we mulched under the trees with a large wool carpet, hoping to keep it much tidier than in previous years. We also enlarged the rhubarb bed by the outdoor kitchen.

We created a new path around the back of the outdoor kitchen, giving a lovely way to go around the perimeter of the farm. We levelled the heap of compost beside PT3 (from the cucumber beds last year, just before they became the wildflower bank). The team saved about a dozen sacks of compost for use in potting-on later in the year.

Around Valentine’s day the frogs converged on the pond for their annual spawning – a busy time! We had to work hard to keep the ducks away – several times they broke through our fences, but eventually we seem to have won.

We had a surplus of garlic which was determined to grow and not be eaten, so Gordon created a new garlic bed on the bank at the top of the farm.

In the polytunnel, tomatoes sown in January were ready for repotting.

Routine work continued: refurbishing the compost bays and filling the hot boxes; pruning fruit trees and currants.

And Sonny Boy our cat kept his cool, dozing in the tool shed, favouring our basket of string.