Welcome to the website of Diss Community Farm, we are a Community group based in and around Diss who have come together to produce food in an ethical and sustainable way.
We have a field in Winfarthing, where we meet to work weekly, including harvesting whatever is ready. Whoever is working that day takes a box of freshly harvested vegetables.
See the About us and How to join page for more information.
The temperature hot for a flaked out dog but the heat musn’t stop work; jobs such as sowing plants, harvesting veg in a polytunnel and weeding among the strawberry plants.
Home-grown plants are ready for transferring to prepared patches, while the yield in our take-home boxes looks good; carrots, cucumber, chioggia beetroot, cylindra beetroot, spinach, peas and broad beans. And tastes good too…
It’s great that, although only May, under the protection of a polytunnel, early crops of peas and broad beans are being picked.
Healthy looking tomato plants are given the support of canes and string.
Other seeds sown at home by plant “parents” and now brought to the farm, include aubergine and pepper plants.
This year we’ve been aided in our rotavation of patches (thanks). These have then been covered temporarily to suppress weed growth.
Of course elsewhere weeds multiply, so the strawberry patch is being tackled.
A layer of weeds is added to a compost bin, followed by a layer of manure.
But what we do need is rain.
Outdoors, last year’s chard and spinach are still producing well, while under cover, salad veg are being picked and early broad bean plants are in flower.
Outdoors, autumn planted garlic and new broad bean plants are growing well – and weeds being kept under control.
Patches are being rotovated, pea seedlings and onions planted and leek seeds sown.
All getting a good start in the warmth. Far lower temperatures are forecast for next week but also some needed rain.
The new compost bins are starting to be filled with larger stalks etc to allow air to circulate in their bases.
Salads are still being picked and outdoors, garlic bulbs are shooting well.
Winter, a time for discussions to plan ahead, while last year’s growth has ensured there’s still produce to be harvested and shared.
Here it is early January, a bright cold work day at the Diss Community Farm. Our coffee break is in the polytunnel, including some lovely cake and the usual speciality coffee.
The Rothwell’s son Caleb was there trying out his new drone. The farm is a good place for that, but he wasn’t yet ready to take aerial photos.
We had a good harvest of leeks, cabbage, brussels, and parsnips.
Ongoing work included digging a lot of pig manure into the polytunnels. And look at those salads coming along in the other polytunnel.
Following on from Gary’s notes, a few days later 22nd December was a beautiful day for uncovering brassicas, harvesting brussels sprouts, spreading muck, putting finishing touches to the storage area and repairing the caravan.
Only three days before Christmas, yet look at the salad crops growing well under cover – and tasting great.
Here we are now in mid-December. We are still getting nice harvests of winter vegetables, fabulous leeks, cabbages, sprouts, parsnips and more. But we are slowing down.
Much of our recent work has been preparation for the winter. This year we are in excellent shape, rather than feeling there is too much to do. We have lots of straw to spare, so we have been putting it on our paths to make them less slippery, and on beds that will be used in the spring, to kill the weeds, putting pig muck in the polytunnels. We have built a new set of compost bins at the far end of the field, and a new storage area near the shed, for bits and pieces like stakes, mypex, etc.
We’ll now be coming to the farm only every other week for awhile.
