Brae Farm Harvest Notes May 26, 2025

Hi everyone,

Our biodynamic compost heap is done. We make this once a year from equal parts manure, straw and autumn leaves, and soft leafy green waste, plus our biodynamic compost preps to kickstart the process.

We'll monitor the temperature with a compost thermometer over the next few weeks, as the heap heats up and shrinks. It should be ready to use in about five months, just in time for our main spring plantings in October and November. We'll use it on every vegetable bed, alongside our green waste compost that's made throughout the year.

We had three hard frosts in a row this week, which has spelled the end of the basils, fig leaves, and sweet potato leaves. We have a little bit of damage on cos lettuces, and we've lost all the youngest leaves on the Mexican marigold. The ice plant texture has softened slightly, although there is no visible damage. Otherwise, the garden has held up well, and most of the winter crops will have sweetened in the cold. It might have also knocked out some pests that have enjoyed the unusually warm, dry May. We would not normally see aphids this late, but they've been a problem on the gai lan and the spigarello. 

New to this week's harvest, we have miner's lettuce and badger flame beetroot. In abundance are large swedes, leeks, golden turnips, golden beetroot, mini mak daikon, baby fennel and parsley.  

The first romanesco are forming heads, so we expect them to arrive sometime in June. Snowball cauliflowers are getting to a softball size. There are quite a few of both coming on. I've planted larger successions of romanesco this year. The hispi cabbages are looking really beautiful, and we have enough for 1-2 a week all winter. 

I've cleared all the punterelle from the first planting. There are 3-4 sizing up in the next succession, but they would benefit from another week's growth if they're not needed straight away. 

We have a lot of medium-sized leeks. They will hold and keep growing slowly until the end of winter, but it's a question of whether the kitchen would prefer 20 a week all winter or 200 in a shorter space of time. If smaller quantities are wanted, it would be good to start moving them.

Jo Lawson
Head Gardener