On The Farm in September & October
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Welcome to the latest look at life on the JEPCO farm. As the leaves change to golden and brown colours and we turn our attentions to wrapping up the season, we thought now is a great time to recap a busy September and outline the plans for October.?
The Indian Summer we experienced in early September was certainly a surprise after August’s mixture of showers and sunny spells, which have provided perfect growing conditions for the lettuce, radicchio, spring onions and spinach.??
The hot weather and bright sunshine have been beneficial for the crops to boost their last few weeks of growth; although we’ve had to be mindful of any damage to the tips of the crops and ensure they are well irrigated. We also had a squall (localised storm) recently, which produced hail and very heavy rain, but we've monitored and overcome.?
Our harvest teams did us proud as compared to last year’s harvest in September, we are 23% up year-on-year and in total through the month, we have harvested over 2,500 tonnes of crops, including 1,900 tonnes of lettuces, 85 tonnes of spring onions and 70 tonnes of spinach.??
October is changeover month at JEPCO farms. The Lincolnshire site is still maintaining a good harvest into week 41, but the focus moves to Suffolk and this farm has been a hive of activity in the last month, following the August planting of further iceberg, apollo and other lettuce to extend our UK season.?
Recently the team has finished planting the lettuce at Suffolk that will flourish into fully grown crops by mid-October. In the meantime, the irrigation and harvesting team are ensuring our customers receive British-grown lettuce well into our UK season.?
The end of the planting season in August also marks goodbye to the seasonal planting team, who head back to mainland Europe to continue planting in other warmer countries and areas like Spain, Italy and the South of France, or head home to Eastern Europe to spend the winter with their loved ones.??
Over the years, we’ve established some wonderful relationships with seasonal workers who are hugely valuable to ensure the farm runs smoothly.???
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Looking ahead to the rest of October, we will celebrate the first lettuce harvest in Suffolk which takes place in mid-October.??
An exciting moment in the JEPCO calendar, the Suffolk harvest is a proud milestone as we work very hard to ensure the fields and environment is hospitable to crops being planted this late into the season.?
The harvest will continue until into mid-November, when we switch over to imported lettuces from our suppliers in Spain and Italy. In week 42, we begin importing overseas spring onions, mainly from Egypt, as this crop’s season is much shorter and doesn’t perform well in colder conditions.?
We start our winter planning very early and whilst we began planting Spring Greens in August, in October we nurture the crops planted in late-August and steadily plant more seedlings in the fields and monitor seed progress in the greenhouse.?
Towards the end of October, we begin the winter maintenance work in earnest and start by checking machinery like tractors, trailers and irrigators. We carry out repairs, clean them and assess any potential mechanical needs for the following year.?
This time of year is a great opportunity to check in with clients and discuss how the season has gone, evaluate numbers and implement lessons for the following season. We welcome meetings at the farm at this time or to visit Suffolk, as it’s helpful for customers to see the changes. We are now busy planning summer 2024, looking at the fields we have earmarked for next season.?
We hope you enjoyed reading this month’s update and please 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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