Crooked End Farm Organic Blog

Grand opening!!!

The event will be running from 12-5pm on Saturday the 5th of November at Crooked End Farm in Ruardean. There will be hot meals from our brand new cafe, wood carving demonstrations, apple pressing demonstrations and scarecrow making workshops. There will also, of course, be the opportunity to have a look around the farm and see our tiny little piglets! We are also developing an area of land with a view to making a community garden, which all are welcome to check out and give some suggestions!

Blackberry had her piglets last Friday, we have 11 beautiful downy piglets in the barn. Blackberry is a fierce mother and will fend off anyone who comes near her babies as I hear Manu found out. She is, however, happy for her babies to be admired from a distance. Mabel’s slightly older piglets are growing rapidly now they are outside and seem to enjoy all manner of weather.

We are all enjoying having Anya and her 2 boys back from Cyprus for a couple of weeks (although I have heard Anya cursing the not so Cypriot weather we have been experiencing!). We are also looking forward to Bruce returning from his latest trip to Afghanistan , we desperately need his help in moving the chicken houses so we can put lights in them (that is not the only reason we are looking forward to his return I hasten to add). Fingers crossed this will increase our egg production which has not been at it’s full potential of late. I have tried talking to the hens, offering tasty scraps, gently squeezing them and showing them the roasting tin but to no avail, hopefully lights will do the job!

This weeks’ veg boxes will contain at least 5 of the following
· Potatoes
· Carrots
· Onion
· Red Pepper
· Cherry Tomatoes
· Closed brown mushroom
· Parsnip
· Beetroot
· Garlic
· Cauliflower

Best wishes from all at Crooked End

Crooked End Farm Organics LLP
Crooked End Farm
Crooked End
Ruardean
GL17 9XF
01594 544482
sales
http://www.crookedend.co.uk

Crooked End Farm Organics LLP is a limited liability partnership registered in England and Wales
Reg OC 336158

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Another week has just flown by – and we are another week closer to the
shop grand opening celebrations which will take place on the 5th
November (surely a date to remember!). There will be activities for
kids including scarecrow making and face painting, and an opportunity
for the more grown up amongst us to have a look around the new shop and
the farm itself – come and see where your food comes from. More
information next week.

We are still waiting on Blackberry to produce her piglets – she has
been moved to the recently vacated maternity wing (i.e the barn) and is
enjoying Shirkara feeding her beetroot. And the hens have been causing
Ralph some consternation. He has been creating better parking within
the farm itself for customers to use. However with every scoop of earth
he removed so a small flock of chickens would descend to hoover up any
tasty morsels.

Now that the weather is getting colder and damper we are a little
concerned about leaving out veg boxes when we deliver them. What we
would like to suggest is that for those people who are not there when
their order is delivered, could you please leave out either a large bag
we could cover the box with or let us know of a dry place where we
could leave it. Thank you.

This week the veg boxes will contain at least 5 of the following;

Brussels sprouts – a divisive subject I know.. if you don’t want them
please let me know.

January King cabbage

Calabrese

Butternut Squash

Beetroot

Leek

Salad

Spinach

with of course potatoes, carrots and onions as standard.

Now, I know we’re only in October, but I may start talking Christmas
orders soon…..

Best Wishes

Annette and all at Crooked End

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Crooked_End_Product_List_24-10-11.pdf

Glitches and hitches seem to be the order of the day. As the shop has a
computer installed so the computer in the main house decides to throw a
wobbler hence why the weekly newsletter is so late this week.

We are getting many compilments on our new shop which we are thrilled
about, it is so light and bright and inviting. Hopefully we can say the
same for the outside soon when the courtyard area is landscaped. We
shall be installing the cooker as soon as the supplier has found a
replacement to the one they dropped……. hopefully over the weekend.

But what else is happening on the farm? Mabel and her piglets have now
been moved outside and seem to be loving it, the littlest one needs to
be bottle fed every few hours during the day (see attached photo of
Monty and piglet!) – and now Blackberry, our other sow, is also
expecting a litter within the next couple of weeks.

Our ewes are making sure they look their finest as they get ready for
tupping over the next few weeks – let’s hope they have a successful
lambing season in 2012. One overenthusiastic ram has decided not to bother
with the preliminaries of “flushing” and has hopped the fence and got to
work – lambing will start a little earlier than we’d planned next year.

So, to veg, the boxes this week will contain at least 5 of the
following varieties (there will be onions and carrots as standard)

Baking potatoes
Celery
Aubergine
Courgette
Pepper
Vine Tomatoes
Cucumber
PSB

Has anyone else heard a rumour of snow before the month is out ??????

Best Wishes

All the Crooked Enders