February News '25

Our focus as growers in February is split between dealing with winter challenges and preparing for the flurry of Spring activity. It's key at this time of year to balance our work growing with managing the risks of whatever the weather may confound us with next. What has been a mild, wet autumn and winter has been peppered with surprises of short snaps of more extreme weather. First came the high winds and it was all hands on deck to protect the glasshouses and polytunnels. The heavy rain followed, causing considerable crop loss in the fields. Next, the cold snap with snow flurries and frost and, as quickly as that came and went, the milder temperatures returned just to keep us on our toes. It's dramatic shifts like these that prove to be most difficult for the crops and with the onset of climate change this is only going to build more of a challenge in the future.

February also leads us closer to what's known in the farming calendar as the hungry gap: the period between late winter to early summer (typically March to early June) where locally grown veg in the UK is limited. Here, overwintered produce in the fields begin to dwindle, stored roots run out and the new season's young crops are not yet ready to harvest. As a box scheme we do our very best to keep your options varied through this tricky period but, in order to achieve this, you’ll notice produce is coming from further afield. Unless growers use heated glasshouses, which come with a hefty carbon footprint, importing is a reality at this time for all UK veg box farms and sourcing organic tomatoes from Spain, for example, uses less carbon then growing them in heated glasshouses here. Our website makes it easy to see what's grown locally and what isn't and it's straightforward to swap any contents if you do want to keep your box more local/UK based - the choice is yours. Thankfully, despite the challenging weather, we still have our own cauliflowers, cabbages, purple sprouting broccoli and leeks here at the farm that will help see us through!

Notes from the field

In February the propagation glasshouse really starts filling up with new sowing; kales, greens, spring onions and salad leaves and much of this is geared towards filling the hungry gap. Luckily, here at Barcombe, we are blessed with a large area of covered cropping which comes into its own during this period. Early plantings of greens, grown in the polytunnels under a layer of thermal fleece, will be ready to crop by early April and veg that we’ve overwintered, such as our bunched carrots, will also be ready around this time. So, as the stored carrots run out, it won’t be long until we taste those wonderfully sweet new season delights. As with everything we do it’s all about planning and preparation. A bed of tiny carrot seedlings in mid winter might seem like a waste but, come April, when there’s little else, they really come into their own. Asparagus, green garlic and salad turnips are other crops that we grow through the hungry gap and alongside the produce we buy in, we do our best to keep your boxes as fresh and varied as possible through a sparse time in the growing year.

Events: Slack Sauna

With the cold and wet we were very happy to welcome Slack Sauna to the farm last month. Despite howling wind and relentless rain, so many of you braved the elements and came for a first sauna and cold plunge experience, throwing yourself into the extremes of temperature and emerging relaxed and radiant - and ready for soup! We made Crown Prince squash and hazelnut soup with crispy sage and served it with the amazing smoky sourdough from Fermento bakery. We had such wonderful feedback from the event and it was really lovely to have met so many of our wonderful customers - plenty of lovely local faces and even some folk from London had travelled down! We are hoping Slack Sauna will return to the farm so watch this space for updates.

Seasonal focus

We know salad isn't the first thing that you might crave in February but we think our wonderful leaves are worth a little love this month. We're proud to offer a real variety, far more flavourful than those you'd find in the supermarket. Mustard frills, tatsoi, bucks horn plantain, mizuna and purple mizuna are regular favourites at this time of year, as well as the more familiar watercress, chicory and mixed lettuce (butterhead and Batavian). Salads aren't just for summer and these delicate bags of leaves are packed with personality and stay fresh for a week (unlike the insipid supermarket bags that turn to sludge after a matter of days)!
Environmental challenges are one thing but when you've got a temperamental crop anyway the two can be a recipe for disaster! Cauliflowers are our other seasonal focus this month; they are notoriously difficult to grow and particularly hate dramatic fluctuations in temperature so we count ourselves very lucky that here at the farm we've a decent harvest. They pack a mighty punch of vitamin C and K, are high in fibre and are so versatile in the kitchen, taking on different flavours depending how they're cooked. It's a particularly wonderful vehicle for spice, so check out our selection of essentials on the website for a few spicy store cupboard condiments. In our recipe of the month we've included the Kashmiri chilli oil from Third Culture Kat and a maple and chilli salt from Field Blends both stocked in our essentials range. They are a really quick and easy way to elevate a dish and build layers of flavour so go have a browse and let us know what you cook!

February's recipe

Parmesan cauliflower with crispy lemon beans, Kashmiri chilli oil & maple chilli salt

This month's recipe uses both our seasonal farm grown stars as well as two of our most popular pantry essentials to add a little spice - Third Culture Kat's deeply intense Kashmiri chilli oil and Field Blends chilli maple salt, the perfect blend of sweet and savoury. It's a hearty winter salad that has layers of flavour so, although it has a few different stages, it's easy to cook and assemble. It's substantial yet light, has lots of texture and really celebrates our winter produce. Click through to the full recipe and let us know what you think!

That's it for this month. As always, we so appreciate your support; we are a small team, passionate about local, sustainable farming and every box we pack and deliver is our commitment to that, from us to you. Thank you for sticking with us along this journey.

Don't forget, you can always follow us on Instagram if you'd like to see more of what we're up to. Happy February!