SPRING

The Spring Equinox, Ostara marks the return of the balance of light. Seeds are germinating, Seedlings are awakening to lighter and gradually warmer conditions. The Polytunnel is bare in places and in others the over wintered veggies are full of new vigour and growing fast.

There are a lot of delicious leaves, Oriental leaves like Osaka purple mustard leaves , pink passion chard and dazzling blue kale are still thriving but may begin to bolt as the weather heats up.

So far the project is doing well we have been using fresh produce to supplement the diet of our animals, especially those that need just a little extra care. We hope that the extra nutrient boost may make all the difference and anyway its just delicious especially when grazing is low outside.

This is Holly. She is one of our older residents. Her joints ache and she now lives in a warm shed, so we can give her extra care under the supervision of our Vet. Holly has regular medication to help with inflammation and pain. The warmth, care and extra green treats really do give Holly the best chance. We also know that increasingly we have older residents here at FRIEND. So thinking about old age care is very important. Holly loves her daily treats and that’s what its all about .

New seedlings are coming up and we are excited to be trying new things this year like Paddy cabbage from the Heritage Seed Library. Amongst others like Kalibos and Filderkraut ,Golden Acres and Wong Bok. We are looking at the benefits to humans too, in different ways of working with vegetables. We have been producing some incredible Sauerkraut and Kimchi. Lacto fermentation is very exciting and enhances the bio availability of the vegetable as well as adding in some incredible gut microbes to help declining gut health.

We are, fingers crossed, planning to run some day courses in Summer/ Autumn where we will be able to invite participants to gather vegetables, learn about lacto fermentation, make their own ferments and enjoy a freshly prepared meal. All this sat with the animals whose home this is. We hope it will be an elegant way to demonstrate what is on the plate and who is clearly off the plate and why learning about veganism and sustainable food systems, seed saving, harvesting, preservation is so important.

We are also seeing that the calendula reseeded everywhere, along with Borage, they are wonderful attractors. Without pollinators many plants will not fruit. We originally grew pollinations by the doors but now they are throughout the polytunnel. We will of course lift some and take them outside. Our project isn’t limited to just the polytunnel. We are aiming to establish habitats throughout the sanctuary to promote greater biodiversity. Spring is exciting and daunting too, there’s always so much to do and so little time to do it.

Growing is in full swing now the days are warmer as it moves into April. It’s unusually cold at night so tender plants are still inside. Durham Early planted in the Autumn is doing well.

Everything is waiting to go in, its been an odd dry, cold April.

May is coming and with it unprecedented growth we can almost feel Summer waiting in the wings.