September News '25

As September arrives, the changing light and cooler mornings mark the beginning of a new season on the farm. The fields are full of colour and activity and your box reflects this shift with a mix of vibrant late summer produce and the first hints of heartier autumn fare.

Notes from the field

Summer is by no means over but the sun isn’t quite up when our early alarms go off now. It encourages us to get the rest of our winter seedlings planted in the poly tunnels, ensuring they have time to set their roots into the soil. This involves mowing back our green manures, allowing them to decompose into the soil, followed by a thin layer of compost before planting. Seedlings include: chard, spinach, winter greens, mixed stir fry leaves, muzunas, rocket, coriander and red Russian kale. We’ve staggered the planting of our late outside crops over the last few months. Our chicory beds are bulking up - perfect for winter salads and our red curly kale is already being enjoyed! The leeks are coming along nicely but need a little more time. They’ll sit happily in the ground now until spring, giving us a constant crop to harvest. We’re particularly excited about the annual squash harvest. They’ve really enjoyed the warmth and are looking bold and beautiful! A very dry July and August meant that we had to ensure plants were watered in well but their resilience, beyond this initial watering has been pretty incredible. They seem to be able to tolerate very dry conditions. Time will tell…. September continues to offer so much; the cherry tomatoes are still thriving and there’s still plenty of fruit on the aubergine plants, although they’re slowing down. Our chillies are abundant and the green beans and courgettes are the gifts that keep on giving!

Farm Events
Artwave, open day & film night

This year, we’re holding not one but three events in one weekend at the farm! The annual Artwave festival is returning on Saturday 13th and Sunday 14th and we’ll be exhibiting work and holding demonstrations and activities across the weekend with local artists: experiment with natural and mineral dyes with Cath Bristow and Martin Brockman who will be using our own produce and clay, Karen Potter will be demonstrating her glass mosaic techniques, try your hand at basket weaving with Lisa Dear or get your hands dirty with our own Adele Scantlebury, making tiles with farm clay - something very much part of the farm’s history. Come down and get involved or browse the work of these talented artists and more in our events glasshouse. We’ll also be running this alongside our Autumn open day with a pop-up veg stall, tea, coffee and home made cakes. Take a wander at your own pace amongst the glasshouses and birdsong and marvel at the farm’s busiest growing period.
On the evening of Saturday the 13th there will also be a celebration of Italian food and film. Our friends Fermento & Field Food will be cooking up a feast using our fresh farm produce with an array of salads, wood fired pizzas and dessert, followed by a screening of BBC4’s The Truffle Hunters. Set in the forests of Piedmont, it’s a heartwarming documentary, as much about dogs as it is about truffles, and it’s a real treat to see it on the big screen.
Tickets are limited so visit the events page on our website for more info or book your tickets here.

New Product
Seaford Sea Salt

Now stocked in our Essentials range, Seaford Salt comes in two sizes, 60g or 100g jars, and is a unique local offering, perfect as a gift or a kitchen staple. The coastal area between Beachy Head and Black Rock contains a blend of both North Sea and Atlantic waters which mixes with the salt marshes of the Cuckmere and Ouse river estuaries, giving it a high salinity content and a unique cocktail of natural minerals. Now, you don’t even need to get your toes wet to try it, just visit our Essentials page to add one to your box this week.

Seasonal focus

Squash is a firm favourite amongst our team here and when the season comes around a little earlier than usual there are whoops of excitement in the packing shed! It's versatile, high in fibre, fights inflammation and lasts ages in a cupboard. We've 4 ideas for any variety of squash you might get in your box for the months ahead so get cooking! Just head to our recipe page for all the squash ideas you could need this September in our '4 Ways With' series.

Squash & tomato laksa

We love the freshness of all our summer produce but always feel ready for heartier autumn feasting when the squash arrive, when warm stews and bakes begin to beckon. We’re not getting out the winter socks just yet though, and this month’s recipe is a great cross season dish. It's fresh and zesty yet still a bowl of warm comfort for the cooler evenings.

We were delighted to have been the special guests at Field Food's new season of Into the Night last month; a lovely evening of food & fire at their beautiful barn in Southease. It was a very special gathering of meeting people, including some of our lovely customers, sharing stories and enjoying our produce at its very best, cooked with real style and skill. We feasted into the night - what better way to say goodbye to August.

It's been a wonderful summer and the rich spoils of September are a real celebration of all our work throughout the year. There will be lots to choose from across the coming months so keep your baskets topped up and we'll keep sowing and planting and doing all we can to bring you the best of nature's harvest.

Happy September!