Our latest project, FarmStart has started, with 6 people signed up for ¼ acre plots to start their vegetable growing businesses.
The land is rented from Abbey Leys Farm, an organic egg and cereals farm on the M56 to the south-west of Manchester.
The site as a whole is 2 acres, with a shipping container for storage of tools, and for use as a packing area once harvesting starts. Manchester Cabins were kind enough to offer us a cut price container in fantastic condition, and we’re all very grateful! The installation process was pretty hairy, involving a grabber lifting the container up over the telephone wires and depositing it gently on the flagstones we’d laid out as foundations (thanks to Bethnall Drive Allotments for those!)
We’ve also had a compost loo put in this week, as well as a stand pipe – big thanks to Ian for his work.
So now the business of planting seed is under way. The recent dry weather makes for perfect hoeing conditions, with any weeds just drying out on the surface. The problem is the lack of rain which makes germination difficult – growers are meeting next week to discuss irrigation systems to get the plants off to a good start.
Growers are also going in together on bulk order of materials such as fleece and phormasol ground cover. This bulk buying means they get the cheapest price, and is one of the main advantages for starting out as part of a scheme like FarmStart.
As part of FarmStart, new growers are given training on various aspects of running a vegetable growing business. Last week Jenny Hall came over from Merseyside to run a finance workshop, looking at book-keeping for small farming businesses, as well as the record-keeping requirements for the Soil Association.
Next up is how to package vegetables for sale, which is as crucial to marketing veg as producing good quality food in the first place – looking forward to it!
For more information on FarmStart Manchester, please contact Kirstin at kirstin@kindling.org.uk.