October is a busy month on the farm....

Harvest is in full force on the farm and the produce we've worked so hard over the summer months to nurture is finally ready to eat. Our box assembly lines are flat out, packing in our curly and cavolo nero kales, celeriac, bags of mixed chillies, shiny aubergines, all the salad leaves possible and of course, our beautiful squashes. The Delicata with it's animal print peel and gentle flavour, theUchiki Kuri, the fruity vivid orange globe perfect roasted whole, the green Hokkaido, with it's dry nuttiness and of course, the perfectly blue-grey Crown Prince, almost too beautiful to chop but so sweet and caramel in flavour it gives even more pleasure when eaten. Squash is such a versatile vegetable and can feed a family in one simple roasting. We are featuring several recipes over the next few weeks over on our Instagram account so do give us a follow if you'd like a few different ways to cook these beauties (and we promise, not a peeler in sight)!

Did you know we have an entire archive of recipes right here on our site? You can search by season if you're in need of some autumn inspiration so do have a delve and go cook something new tonight.

Talking of recipes....

to celebrate all things squash we've added a new recipe to the website, squash caponata using our Uchiki Kuri squash and some of Brad’s Atomic Grape tomatoes.
Traditionally, this Sicilian dish with sweet and sour notes, is made with aubergine but we think the sweet Uchiki Kuri works beautifully instead and gives a really mellow, caramel flavour to the stew. It's a one tray supper, super easy to cook, cheap to make and delicious hot or cold (it's even better the next day too so ideal for packed lunches or cooking in advance). Follow this link and get cooking! Do let us know what you think, we love to hear from you.

Seasonal Fermentation Workshop with Field Food

Since we're chatting all things delicious, our good friends over at Field Food are holding a seasonal fermentation workshop on Saturday October 19th with the award winning Rachel De Thample. The River Cottage’s fermentation guru, renowned for her expertise in seasonable, sustainable food, Rachel will show you how to transform fresh ingredients into wonderful gut-friendly ferments. The workshop will take place at Field Food's beautiful flint barn in the South Downs and will feature plenty of our organic veg, giving you the chance to ferment with the freshest, local ingredients and stock up your cupboards for winter.

Field Food's mission to bring the finest Sussex-grown produce to your table aligns perfectly with our values; they recently catered for our "Six Inches of Soil" event, and we’re looking forward to more exciting collaborations in the future. We're offering our Barcombe Organics community an exclusive 20% discount so just use the code ‘seasonalfermenting’ at the checkout. You can find all the details and book your ticket on the Field Food website.

October isn't just about abundance...

there's also a lot of clearing of summer crops to make way for new autumn growth. Whilst clearing away our summer salad staples this month, our growers, Daniel and Marco, discovered a few new friends hiding amongst the Agretti: woodlice, toads, beetles, caterpillars and a lots more critters they couldn’t catch!
Finding all these is another indicator of the biodiversity on the farm which we rely on. The toads are great for slug control but they also eat many other veg-loving insects. The beetle is an oil beetle where three species in the UK are now presumed extinct and many remaining species have suffered serious decline. They feed on the eggs and larvae of certain solitary bees, so this too shows that we have these bees on the farm. It’s nice to remember that it’s not just tastier food that organic farming produces; it also supports crucial food and habitation for a huge variety of wildlife who, in turn, help us grow.