This year we’ve planned for much greater continuity and a bigger range, (including: red kale, green kale, pointed cabbages, cavolo nero, swede, cauliflowers and savoy cabbages). Weather permitting we’ll be harvesting all of these for the next 3 or 4 months.

The fennel is, as ever, excellent and at 250g-300g a great size. We’re offering bunched red onions for the first time this year – the green tops eat well too and are great stirred in with new potatoes or added to a salad. As with the onions the green tops on the bunched red and golden beet are a great extra and can be used in place of spinach as can the beautiful ruby chard.

We’re almost at full production but we’re still waiting for a few early summer crops: Romanescu cauliflower will be listed next week and red and white cabbages by mid July along with brown onions.

The rain couldn’t have been better timed (or needed) and new plantings of leeks, kale, cabbages, beetroot and celeriac are being watered in rather than irrigated – a huge relief for everyone on the farm (especially those on the 24 hour irrigation rota).

The warm wet weather has also arrived just in time for the more mature crops and we’re now harvesting quite an impressive range of LEAF marque and organic produce, including: potatoes, red kale, green kale, pointed cabbages, cavolo nero, fennel, cauliflowers and savoy cabbages.

Above: Transplanting organic leeks.

Top: Corn marigolds with the river Orwell in the background. Providing habitats for beneficial insects is an essential part of the Nacton system: these field margins, filled with what many farmers call arable weeds, provide forage for honey bees and other pollinators and a home for predators like ground beetles and ladybirds that help us control slugs and aphids.

Traditionally the asparagus season ends on midsummer day when cutting stops and the plants are left to grow beautiful feathery fronds that recharge the roots ready for the next year. Midsummer day falls next week and so we’re nearing the end of the Nacton asparagus season – order this week for a last taste of spring!

Meanwhile the summer crops are growing well and looking fantastic and this week we’re continuing to harvest Savoy cabbages, pointed cabbages, new potatoes and cauliflowers. Amazingly, and a good month ahead of time, we’re listing red and green curly kale this week.

Potatoes, especially eaten with the skin on, are an excellent source of a wide range of nutrients, particularly potassium and iron and perhaps surprisingly vitamin C. They’re also high in fibre and packed with carbohydrates. As such they’re a great component in any balanced diet.

Maris Peer has a cream coloured skin and cream flesh. The texture is firm, and holds its shape well when cooked. This variety is suitable for salads, makes great wedges and chips and will boil well.

A little bit of rain has done wonders for the crops, but we still need more and East Anglia is now officially suffering a drought. The situation has put Home Farm in a very difficult position and we’ve had to make tough choices about planting and irrigation that could have an impact on availability for the rest of this season.

This week we’re continuing to harvest spring greens, Savoy cabbages, pointed cabbages, cauliflowers and new potatoes. We’re not cutting broccoli this week but it should return soon.

The image above shows a recent brassica planting, as you can see the soil is extremely dry!

Despite the continued dry weather (after a splash of rain this week the long-term forecast suggests another dry month) our vegetables are looking fantastic.

The availabilty list is growing by the week, and we’ll be lifting the first of the LEAF marque new potatoes for next week as well as continuing to harvest organic and LEAF marque spring greens, Savoy cabbages, pointed cabbages, broccoli and cauliflowers.

As you can see (picture above) the cauliflowers are looking particularly good at the moment.

This week we still have plenty of organic asparagus and spring greens, we’ve also got LEAF marque pointed cabbages for the first time this year. The new season organic calabrese and cauliflowers are growing well and should be on the list from next week.

The picture above shows the production team (in the distance) planting leeks on our organic land. As you can see from the dust it is still extremely dry here and we’ve got our fingers crossed for rain soon (but not while we’re at the Suffolk Show!)