Recovery Efforts

Sadly, we have suffered a serious loss of veggie plants at the Green Connect Farm due to all the heavy rain. In particular, our cucumber, zucchini, eggplant, carrot, kale, silverbeet and fennel have all taken a big hit in the waterlogged soil.

The recovery effort is now underway (weather permitting) and we are trying to catch up with preparing garden beds to get seedlings planted in the ground as soon as possible! Unfortunately, this means quite a lot of repeat work. The weeds hoed from beds before and during wet weather have not dried up and died, but instead have regrown so now require re-hoeing. The older beds eaten down by our sheep and goats have sprung fresh new carpets of unwanted vegetation (although the animals don’t seem to mind a return visit!).

But all this extra work takes extra time… and it feels like the run of wet weather is still haunting us. The rain is not quite over yet! An added challenge is that we are unable to use our tractor when the tracks are saturated and boggy, so transporting our beloved compost and deliveries of horse manure onto garden beds throughout the farm is not possible.

It has also been very disappointing to miss our regular markets this month (Kiama Farmers Market and The Wentworth Market at Port Kembla) as we must prioritise servicing our veg box customers during difficult periods. Our reliance on sourcing organic produce for our veg boxes has increased, although because other producers have suffered losses too, this is also a bigger challenge at the moment.

Thank you for bearing with us and for your continuing support.

Enjoy,

Emily Henderson
Fair Food & Farm Manager

In your box this week:

Note: We sometimes need to make changes to what we pack in your veg box based on the quantity or quality of produce that we can harvest and source. This is particularly true right now as we rely on our organic suppliers while we replant after substantial crop losses from the heavy rain. If you have any questions about what is in your box, don’t hesitate to contact us at [email protected].

Did you know?

Watercress is an aquatic leafy vegetable with impressive health benefits that dates back to ancient times. It is said that when Hippocrates founded the world’s first hospital in 400 B.C.E., he grew watercress outside it! The superfood chart-topper is packed with antioxidants, vitamin C and K, plus more. Raw watercress tastes fresh and peppery, a bit like rocket. It can be eaten raw in salads or on sandwiches or cooked too in an Asian soup or stir fry. You can substitute watercress in most recipes that call for rocket, kale, or spinach.