In almost a blink of an eye, the crops and weeds have all slowed right down here at Warrah Farm. Harvesting will also slow down until the explosion of growth in spring. Winter can be thought of as a time for soil’s healing. That does not mean we aren’t still growing things. The pace is just very different. At the moment we have cabbage, kale, leeks, carrots, radish, chives and broccoli in the ground. Our Nursery Skills Program allows our Warrah Society participants to witness the full growth cycle all the way from seeds to their plates.
The farm is once again seeing more activity from Warrah Specialist School students. They help maintain the citrus trees, and now we have delicious oranges, lemons and grapefruit available for sale in the Farm Shop thanks to their help. They also have helped stir and spread biodynamic soil preparation (BD500), and gather cow manure from our resident cows to make a Cow Pat Pit (CPP). This will be collected after three to five months and will help to boost the farm’s vitality and fertility. The teachers at the school have created a wonderful story to help the kids understand and learn what they are doing, and why.
Soils can become depleted or “farmed” out. The presence of life in the soil seems to disappear, and it acts only as a medium to anchor seeds and crops. When Biodynamic principles and methods (like the CPP and BD500) are applied, there is a return of soil health and life, and the vitality of living systems return.
Our team has been delighted to see that during the lockdown, customers turned their attention to growing their own food. We sold more than two season’s worth of seeds and seedlings in April alone! The massive interest in backyard veggies has prompted us to put together a series of blog posts utilising the vast experience of our farm team. These posts will lead into a hands-on course for customers on backyard veggie growing. Subscribe to our newsletter at warrahfarmshop.com.au to stay up to date on news about the course.
