Greetings Norwich!
I’ve been living in Brundall for a month now and the last boxes are just about unpacked. Before I tell you about how plans are progressing for growing some delicious veg this year, I’d like to take a minute and tell you a bit about myself.
I grew up in Canada and always wanted to travel. So when I finished school I spent four years working and exploring Canada. I then went exploring internationally and spent five years working on traditional wooden square rigged ships or ‘tall ships’ as they’re sometimes known. I moved up the ranks from a deckhand swabbing the decks to the 2nd officer in charge of navigation. While travelling I noticed how many ways there are for people to access food, especially on remote islands, and how precious a commodity a bag of flour or rice can be in other parts of the world.
I moved on land with my boyfriend Dave two years ago, and found work at Abbey Home Farm in Gloucestershire as an apprentice in their 17 hectare fruit and veg patch. My relationship with food has changed immensely since learning how a farm works. I’ve slowly realized that I believe in chemical free food for everyone, and that everyone should be able to know the story behind their food. I’ve realized that eating seasonally can be exciting. The first tomato or pea of the season, it’s their reappearance after a long absence that makes me smile. My long term goal became settling down here in the U.K. with Dave and then setting up a C.S.A. wherever we ended up, but lucky for you in Norwich your C.S.A. found me first.
So what have I been up to in the last month? I’ve walked Postwick and measured her up so that we can make a plan. I’ve taken time to make a crop rotation that is in line with Soil Association standards for Organic production. We’ve received a beautiful new seed drill and ordered our first plants and seeds. I’ve measured up Hewett and created a crop plan for the school site and I’m keeping in touch with the School Group about how we can involve kids in this project. And this past weekend I met some new faces during a work party at Postwick where we all grubbed in together and built our compost loo and polytunnel. The arrival of the tractor on site means that I’ve started preparing ground for plants today. I’ve posted up pictures of the work party and today’s work up on the Norwich Community Agriculture facebook page, have a look.
I look forward to meeting everyone in the coming months, and look forward to delivering our first vegetables. Until then wish us enough sunshine to prepare the ground and then enough rain to make those plants grow!
