On The Farm in March & April

Welcome to the latest look at life on the JEPCO farm, as we sow the seeds of a successful season.?

Since our last update two months ago, our preparations for the new season have stepped up a gear and despite the rainy weather conditions making the Lincolnshire farm pretty muddy, with some careful management and using any dry opportunity available, we have successfully planted around 7.5m lettuces and drilled the early spring onions and spinach.?

This season, we anticipate it being one of our busiest year’s yet, where we are set to harvest around 36 million heads of lettuce, distributing produce amongst our retail and business-to-business customers.

Planting iceberg and apollo seeds began in week eight, a little earlier than usual. This is to bridge the gap in supply from our European partners across Spain and Italy, who will potentially stop harvesting early this year because of unseasonably cold weather in recent months. If the growth is looking good, pests are minimal and the soil temperatures are steadily rising, we expect the crops to be ready on time, around the 7th May.?

The spring onions and spinach have also been drilled, which have been in greenhouses over the winter, to avoid frosts damage early on. They are double fleeced to keep them warm and aid growth, as they are smaller and more vulnerable to the elements.?

We’ve also been servicing the last of the machinery that we use throughout the season. The packing rigs and wrapping machines went for a service and are due back on site shortly, in the best possible condition for the busy season ahead.?

Down in Essex, the apollo lettuces that are grown in our glass houses, have been supplementing our harvest from our Glebe hydroponics unit in recent months – producing around 10 tonnes a week through March and into April. Some of these crops are distributed to Greencore, one of our biggest buyers for hydroponically grown lettuce, but we have extra crops for interested customers which are available from week 15.??

April also sees the arrival of the rest of our seasonal labour team, who will take on different responsibilities including planting, fertilising and irrigating, harvesting and packing. This year, the team is arriving from Bulgaria, Ukraine and Romania bringing their hugely valuable skills and knowledge. We couldn’t operate at the levels we do or service as many customers in a year, without our seasonal labour team, who stay until the end of our harvest season in November.?

All in all, the season so far is running smoothly and according to schedules. We’re confident customers will have the crops requested in their plans, provided April continues to be a warmer month and heats the soil temperatures to accelerate the growth of the crops.?

Keep following our LinkedIn page for regular updates on this year’s season and the crops’ progress.?

Until next time!?

Geoff?

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