Each week we fill 25 boxes with an equal share of the vegetable harvest for our Community Supported Agriculture scheme members. The first frosts over the last couple of weeks have made quite a difference to the range of veg available. Gone are the courgettes, cucumbers, sweetcorn and sunflowers of the summer - now we're enjoying brussels sprouts and parsnips that have been sweetened by the cold. I always get upset to see parsnips in shops well before the weather turns, as good frost makes a real difference to their flavour.
We're learning to eat with the seasons. There are still plenty of potatoes in our straw-insulated potato clamp, squash in the cold frames and many other crops still in the field, including swiss chard, leeks, celeriac, brassicas, carrots, lettuces and florence fennel, though the last three need protection from the frost with a layer or two of fleece.
Next year we're planning a 30 day-30 mile food challenge. The challenge is to eat only food produced and processed within 30 miles. Participants can choose up to three "wildcard" foods from outside the 30-mile boundary, three foods they can't live without, along with salt and spices, which have been imported for centuries. This should be easy here in fertile Suffolk, but apart from vegetables from our farm, I'm starting to wonder whether it might be harder than it looks.
Joanne Mudhar (was Brannan, she got married a few weeks ago) runs The Oak Tree Low Carbon Farm in Suffolk Read previous posts here.
