Watched an interview on Sky News with some minor government minister which didn’t fill me with confidence. Basically his answers to questions were to trot out the party line about de-escalating the Iran war and everything else could be translated to platitudes, waffle and evasion covering ignorance. As if we can do anything to de-escalate the conflict, don’t make me laugh.
One question that really shook me was when the interviewer, Trevor Phillips, asked what contingency plans the government had to cope with food shortages. The answer (waffle) doesn’t matter, it’s the fact the question is now being asked by a serious commentator.
I’m afraid we’re in for a tough few years. Whilst food price inflation is inevitable, shortages are a whole new level. Hopefully, it won’t come to that.
Potatoes
Potato Beds set into rotavated area
The area where the old raised beds were in the field plot has been cleared and rotavated with the Merry Tiller. The idea is to let it grass over, and become a sort of soil bank. Land that is very much improved from the condition it was in that could be brought into production easily if needed.
There’s an old metal greenhouse base set into it, more a demarcation than a raised bed. That’s had Sarpo Mira planted. I was a short a few tubers, so cut a few of the largest in half, ensuring there were eyes on both halves. Pretty sure they’ll be alright.
One of the remaining two raised beds now has Sarpo Axona planted. These are seed potatoes from last year’s crop.
Tomatoes
Over in the potting shed, more seed sowing. I’ve sown five or six seeds of each variety into pots, these will be pricked out into 8cm pots to bring on. They’re in the propagator set at 22ºC. Varieties:
- Consuelo Cherry
- Purple Cherokee
- Nagina
- Sungold
- Crimson Crush
- Black Opal
Sweet Peppers
The sweet peppers Asti went into large (eight to a tray) modules, two seeds per module. They’ll be thinned to one per module and thence to the wicking pots in the greenhouse.
Parsley
Sowed 4 8cm pots of Triple Moss Curled 2. These will get potted up rather than planted outside.
Cabbage
Pricked out the Earliest of All into pots which are now in the small greenhouse. Sowed the following:
- Red Acre (new seed)
- Copenhagen Market (replacement for Earliest of All)
- Michihili (Chinese type)
New Path to Small Greenhouse
Slabbed Steps Path to Greenhouse Under Construction
Getting to the small greenhouse involved walking up a grassed slope. Not a big deal, but when the grass is wet it gets treacherous. So I’ve got a chap putting a paved path in for me.
Rather than just laying the slabs sloping, he suggested shallow steps. I think he was gently trying to point out my balance on a sloping, wet path isn’t as sure as it would have been ten years ago.
We’ve got the slabs and bricks required, so the only cost is sand and cement. Plus the labour, of course. My contribution, apart from paying, is delivering materials and making tea – the fuel of builders.
We’re half-way through the job, another day should see it done.
I’m not too filled with confidence that our food chain is resilient, given that we import more than 50% of our food in the UK.
This year due to a multiple of factors, we could be in for shortages of a few crops, particularly those requiring more energy, like strawberries, cucumbers, peppers and tomatoes. I have a few different varieties of these of the go, to increase my odds of success.
Thanks to a brilliant year last year for strawberries, I’m in the lucky position of having approximately 250 good sized runners, a mix of Cambridge Favourite, Sonata and Florence, which I’ve potted up in the polytunnel as well as creating a new (heavily manured,swapped bags of well rotted horse manure swapped for strawberries) dedicated strawberry bed. Also spotted a huge strawberry planter (the size of 2 dustbins!) in the back of the garage today which I’ll repaint before filling up.
I’m trying to prepare for wet, dry or extreme heat, El Nino on the way suggests it could be a very hot summer this year. Either way it can’t hurt to invest in a new water butt or plan some easy shade.
We are planting a couple of new fruiting trees to replace a few elderly apple trees lost last year. Gone for Discovery apple, my favourite, and a dwarf Victoria plum and also have some native small saplings – hazel, silver birch and a fir to plant out, to help provide more shade to help cool the back of the house.
I believe the import figure is nearer 60%, and that doesn’t include the animal feedstuffs we import for farm animals. We no longer have the ability to produce fertiliser in the UK. The price of rice has doubled in the Philippines according to Sky News. On the other hand, London wheat futures seem low rather than high – that’s the one to watch.
Sounds like you’ll be running a pick your own strawberry farm!