Latest News
Rain Stops Play (again…)
I remember sitting in the office mid July last year writing the summer newsletter and contemplating soggy days when we should have been picking raspberries. As fortune would have it the soggy weather has returned today, allowing me an admin day away from a very busy schedule of weeding and picking crops. The year, it would seem, has gone through a full cycle…
What strikes me the most about this past year is the amount of pride the farm team can take in the progress we have made.
Our young guys on Future Jobs placements have made a huge impact on the weed management at the farm and we have had the opportunity to teach them skills that they can take on to their future careers. A case study on one of the guys was featured in Future Jobs – Future Communities. The document was written by Hannah Jordan for SCVO and shows the very real value of a skill development scheme for young people who have found it hard to get work. We are planning to take on more young people through August and September so if you know of any young people who would like to work with us and who fit the criteria (18-25, unemployed for more than 6 months), tell them to get in touch.
The development of the land and our capacity to grow crops continues to gather speed. The conversion of the last three acres of rough grazing to vegetable plots is moving along satisfactorily although we still face a lot of weeding this year followed by more of the same over the next four years. We are aiming for a no till (or minimum till) system in these plots, which allows the soil profile to settle and a good population of worms and other beneficial beasties to develop. It will also mean that we don’t have to do so much digging in the future! We have planted Cauliflower, Pumpkins, courgettes, sprouts, horseradish and a few experimental tomatoes in the first plots. The tomatoes are alive and well but a little windswept.
The orchard is growing well and a lot of the older trees will produce a good amount of fruit this year, so much so that we are considering making apples the main feature of our farmers markets at Balerno. It seems that among the first varieties to produce fruit in a serious way will be Liberty, Egremont Russet, Katy and James Grieve.
Our newest flock of chickens have been laying well. Some have even been producing 8 eggs a week at times. None of the farm team can figure out where they squeeze the extra day in! Being born in the winter, all their hard work coupled with the crazy very-hot-then-very-wet weather has sent them into an early moult. We have a new Chicken Arc (funded by the Blackford Trust) which will be populated with our next flock – 50 Highline Hens from Blairgowrie – in October. The arc will be built by a team from PriceWaterhouse Coopers at the end of August.
We still have some older birds that are ready to retire. We are keen to ensure that they enjoy a prolonged and happy life so for a small sum of £5 each we are selling them on. They currently produce about four eggs per week each which is not enough to be commercially valuable to us but will provide the best eggs you can get for your Sunday breakfast. If you would like a few birds or if you know someone who would then contact the farm staff (0131 333 5202 or rob@cyrenians.org.uk)
We are currently looking for Farm day Volunteers to help with administration, deliveries and general horticulture - call Tom or Rob (0131 333 5202) to find out more about our excellent opportunities for day volunteers.
We are also looking for Farm Champions. A farm champion is someone in a busy office who has 30 minutes a week to help us organise sales. The idea is that we let you know every week what we have for sale throughout the seasons, by sending you an email. You then circulate the email through your office, take orders from your friends and colleagues and collect the cash. We will deliver the goods to you to distribute to the people who placed orders and you pass their payments on to us. We think this is the simplest way to get the best food from the farm to you as fresh as possible. It means that at least one day a week you can leave work with some wonderful ingredients for supper without having to negotiate a busy supermarket. If you are interested in this simple approach give us a call at the farm (0131 333 5202) and we’ll let you know when we are passing your office and when we could deliver. We have had great success with this in several offices in town including HBOS and Anderson Strathearn. It’d be wise to contact us soon for this, we are going to have a busy year this year so you want to get your name on the list before the rush.
At this point we’d like to thank all of our customers from offices over the city who are already taking part in the scheme including RBS, ECAS, Young Carers, Alliance Trust and our staff at Norton Park.
Crops we are growing this year:
salads (including rocket, amaranth, oak leaf lettuce, baby leaf spinach, herbs, calendula and nasturtium), parsnips, carrots, beetroot, kale, sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, garlic, onions, pumpkins, courgettes, tomatoes, potatoes, broad beans, purple mange tout, runner beans, rhubarb, raspberries, strawberries and more. We will have even more of our amazing eggs, jams, chutneys and hopefully some honey too. If you don’t have the time to be a Champion you can still find our produce at retailers such as Real Foods, Earthy and Grow Wild we will also be attending Balerno Farmers Market from May onwards.
A large proportion of our raspberries this year will be used to make a Balsamic Dressing by the Little Doone Food Company. We have tasted these products and we can recommend them as a great condiment for salads.
Team challenges:
Summer is a ‘hot’ time for us with regard to team challenges. We have had some great help from teams at BSkyB and Royal London and we are looking forward to extra help from Wolfson Microelectronics, RBS, BskyB and others. All of these challenges are extremely valuable to us as they provide an excellent source of volunteers and investment. The teams that come to the farm get a great day out, a fresh look at team work and can contribute to the growth and sustainability of our Social Enterprise. If you would like to know more about them take a look at our website www.cyreniansfarm.org.uk
STOP PRESS:
The weather has brightened up now and the freezers are stuffed with fruit. We are looking for more freezers to store more. If you know of an old one needing a new home give us a call.
Congratulations to one of our trainees Daniel who has just passed his Forklift Licence.
Rob Davidson
Farm Enterprise Manager
I remember sitting in the office mid July last year writing the summer newsletter and contemplating soggy days when we should have been picking raspberries. As fortune would have it the soggy weather has returned today, allowing me an admin day away from a very busy schedule of weeding and picking crops. The year, it would seem, has gone through a full cycle…
What strikes me the most about this past year is the amount of pride the farm team can take in the progress we have made.
Our young guys on Future Jobs placements have made a huge impact on the weed management at the farm and we have had the opportunity to teach them skills that they can take on to their future careers. A case study on one of the guys was featured in Future Jobs – Future Communities. The document was written by Hannah Jordan for SCVO and shows the very real value of a skill development scheme for young people who have found it hard to get work. We are planning to take on more young people through August and September so if you know of any young people who would like to work with us and who fit the criteria (18-25, unemployed for more than 6 months), tell them to get in touch.
The development of the land and our capacity to grow crops continues to gather speed. The conversion of the last three acres of rough grazing to vegetable plots is moving along satisfactorily although we still face a lot of weeding this year followed by more of the same over the next four years. We are aiming for a no till (or minimum till) system in these plots, which allows the soil profile to settle and a good population of worms and other beneficial beasties to develop. It will also mean that we don’t have to do so much digging in the future! We have planted Cauliflower, Pumpkins, courgettes, sprouts, horseradish and a few experimental tomatoes in the first plots. The tomatoes are alive and well but a little windswept.
The orchard is growing well and a lot of the older trees will produce a good amount of fruit this year, so much so that we are considering making apples the main feature of our farmers markets at Balerno. It seems that among the first varieties to produce fruit in a serious way will be Liberty, Egremont Russet, Katy and James Grieve.
Our newest flock of chickens have been laying well. Some have even been producing 8 eggs a week at times. None of the farm team can figure out where they squeeze the extra day in! Being born in the winter, all their hard work coupled with the crazy very-hot-then-very-wet weather has sent them into an early moult. We have a new Chicken Arc (funded by the Blackford Trust) which will be populated with our next flock – 50 Highline Hens from Blairgowrie – in October. The arc will be built by a team from PriceWaterhouse Coopers at the end of August.
We still have some older birds that are ready to retire. We are keen to ensure that they enjoy a prolonged and happy life so for a small sum of £5 each we are selling them on. They currently produce about four eggs per week each which is not enough to be commercially valuable to us but will provide the best eggs you can get for your Sunday breakfast. If you would like a few birds or if you know someone who would then contact the farm staff (0131 333 5202 or rob@cyrenians.org.uk)
We are currently looking for Farm day Volunteers to help with administration, deliveries and general horticulture - call Tom or Rob (0131 333 5202) to find out more about our excellent opportunities for day volunteers.
We are also looking for Farm Champions. A farm champion is someone in a busy office who has 30 minutes a week to help us organise sales. The idea is that we let you know every week what we have for sale throughout the seasons, by sending you an email. You then circulate the email through your office, take orders from your friends and colleagues and collect the cash. We will deliver the goods to you to distribute to the people who placed orders and you pass their payments on to us. We think this is the simplest way to get the best food from the farm to you as fresh as possible. It means that at least one day a week you can leave work with some wonderful ingredients for supper without having to negotiate a busy supermarket. If you are interested in this simple approach give us a call at the farm (0131 333 5202) and we’ll let you know when we are passing your office and when we could deliver. We have had great success with this in several offices in town including HBOS and Anderson Strathearn. It’d be wise to contact us soon for this, we are going to have a busy year this year so you want to get your name on the list before the rush.
At this point we’d like to thank all of our customers from offices over the city who are already taking part in the scheme including RBS, ECAS, Young Carers, Alliance Trust and our staff at Norton Park.
Crops we are growing this year:
salads (including rocket, amaranth, oak leaf lettuce, baby leaf spinach, herbs, calendula and nasturtium), parsnips, carrots, beetroot, kale, sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, garlic, onions, pumpkins, courgettes, tomatoes, potatoes, broad beans, purple mange tout, runner beans, rhubarb, raspberries, strawberries and more. We will have even more of our amazing eggs, jams, chutneys and hopefully some honey too. If you don’t have the time to be a Champion you can still find our produce at retailers such as Real Foods, Earthy and Grow Wild we will also be attending Balerno Farmers Market from May onwards.
A large proportion of our raspberries this year will be used to make a Balsamic Dressing by the Little Doone Food Company. We have tasted these products and we can recommend them as a great condiment for salads.
Team challenges:
Summer is a ‘hot’ time for us with regard to team challenges. We have had some great help from teams at BSkyB and Royal London and we are looking forward to extra help from Wolfson Microelectronics, RBS, BskyB and others. All of these challenges are extremely valuable to us as they provide an excellent source of volunteers and investment. The teams that come to the farm get a great day out, a fresh look at team work and can contribute to the growth and sustainability of our Social Enterprise. If you would like to know more about them take a look at our website www.cyreniansfarm.org.uk
STOP PRESS:
The weather has brightened up now and the freezers are stuffed with fruit. We are looking for more freezers to store more. If you know of an old one needing a new home give us a call.
Congratulations to one of our trainees Daniel who has just passed his Forklift Licence.
Rob Davidson
Farm Enterprise Manager
