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07/06/2008 Saturday 09.00 to 13.00 we will be at the Cliffe High Street, Lewes, Farmer's Market. Mizuna, mitsuba, karashina, nira, yomogi, soramame, daikon pods and wild rocket will be on sale, together with bags of ready-to-eat seasonal salad. We will also have some unusual fresh cut flowers.
30/04/2008 Woodland (click for full sized image)
Micro-climate		   New micro-environments including some woodland and wetland will be available to us later this year after agreement was reached today on the purchase of a further 27 acres of land adjacent to our Cooksbridge site, giving us a total of 60 acres at this location. This will allow us to grow a greater range of crops in their natural habitats and give us all the choice we need for the future.
  Warabi was harvested from our Isfield site recently and we have several more harvests to come! The taste is a little like asparagus. 		Warabi (click for full sized image)
Warabi
21/04/2008 Myoga shoots are appearing above ground at our Lewes site. Nira is starting new growth and we are dividing older plants whilst moving them to Isfield. The first new season seeds have now germinated at Isfield - daikon, shungiku, phacelia and clary sage - and we have transplanted the young ashitaba seedlings grown from 2007 harvested seed. Like many growers at this time of year we are working until dusk every day (8.20 this week) to ensure seed is sown in time for the harvests our customers expect. The days are immensely enjoyable, with cuckoos, geese, a woodpecker and a few rabbits keeping us company and warm sunshine with spectacular sunsets if we're lucky.
19/03/2008 First supply of 2008. This was purely to test out a new pipeline into London, set up by Caroline Bennett at Moshi-Moshi to combine supplies from the south coast - fish from Hastings and Eastbourne was transported in the same specially adapted refrigerated van and a number of London restaurants will take supplies using the same twice-weekly delivery system.
12/03/2008 Sea Buckthorn (click for full sized image)
Sea Buckthorn		   Our first precision seeder was finally fully specified and ordered today - the AP-1 from Agritecno Yazaki in Japan. Sophisticated, but it burns no fuel and we expect to order another seeder in a few weeks.
  The vast majority of this year's seed has now arrived but we are still trying to bring in a cold-tolerant sweet-potato variety for trials. The first seeds of 2008 were sown today - 57 Yuzu seeds, some already germinating after only being outside the fruit for a week. 7 yuzu seedlings have survived from 72 sown in February 2007.
  Finally, the young Sea Buckthorn are now sending out new leaves and we expect to transplant these to open ground early this year. Sea Buckthorn is an Actinorhizal plant that hosts a nitrogen-fixing Frankia strain of bacteria. It's not only legumes that fix nitrogen...
12/02/2008 Naked Oats seed arrived! This will be our first year growing oats and we are still trying to locate a supplier for spelt wheat. Our main vegetable and herb seed orders are only now being completed so we expect a later than usual start to the season this year. Our salad range will be even greater than last year with many new flavours, colours and textures not to mention the additional nutritional boost!
24/01/2008 Fuki plants have no leaves at this time of year but four flower buds - a substantial increase on last year. Established ashitaba plants continue to send out new leaves throughout the winter and even those that flowered last year are starting new growth. Yomogi has fresh new leaves at the base of last year's flower stems and mitsuba is also starting new growth during the current mild weather. Daikon readily survives the winter and some batches are starting new leaf growth but frost damages that part of the root above the ground, making it difficult to market.
20/01/2008 => Ashitaba seedlings are emerging, from seed saved from our flowering plants last year.
=> The black rock hens are now laying eggs but we have increasing doubts about the impact of hens on the slug population.
=> The year is starting with many uncertainties for us, as we no longer have the use of our land at Ringmer and have yet to find a replacement. We seek any plot of between half and twenty acres to rent or buy and any rental agreement need only be for one or two years, as we have our Cooksbridge land coming on stream late 2009. We would be happy to share land with a local community group. Please contact us if you can help. Assuming we find land in the next few weeks, we expect to resume sales of fresh produce in April or May. 		Ashitaba emerging (click for full sized image)
26/11/2007 Lewes Farmers Market (click for full sized image)
Lewes Farmers Market
3.11.2007 		As our 2007 season draws to a close we continue to prepare for the longer term and in the last few weeks have sown seed of Pyrus calleryana (a potential rootstock), Saskatoon (rumoured to be better than a blueberry!), Crataegus tanacetifolia (a type of hawthorn - food, pollinator and windbreak), Siberian Pea Tree (lentil) and more Sea Buckthorn (food, windbreak and possible rabbit fence).

Early morning harvesting recently has required us to use 3 layers of fleece put down the previous afternoon to ensure leaves are protected from sub-zero temperatures. Whilst the growing plant will survive these temperatures and guard it's leaves against damage, if harvested whilst frozen the leaves are not 'repaired' and become unsaleable as they thaw. We currently have mizuna, daikon and tatsoi available and only the last two of these are happy in the cold of winter.
04/11/2007 Four 'Black Rock' hens have been enlisted to join the battle against slugs. Our existing 'Light Sussex' breed (see 14th February entry) have not been as efficient as we had hoped so we are doubling the numbers and trying a different breed. The 'Black Rock' does at least have the bonus of laying well right through the winter. We now have two mobile hen-houses to shift on to fallow land as it becomes available between harvests and plantings. Black Rocks (click for full sized image)
03/11/2007 Saturday 09.00 to 13.00 we will be at the Cliffe High Street, Lewes, Farmer's Market. On sale will be the first harvest of komatsuna, a wide range of daikon (most colours except blue and yellow!), kabu, karashina, shiso, shungiku, mizuna, tatsoi, wasabina, wild rocket, land cress, orange swiss chard and bags of ready-to-eat seasonal salad. We have some naga-imo at £18 per kg if you care to order in advance.
31/10/2007 Another yam was sacrificed today for a special order. Two large and one small tuber had formed, with a fourth long shriveled tuber being the remains of the previous year's growth. After trimming and washing the saleable tuber weighed 482 grams. A few days ago the first crop of tubercles were harvested and planted, although whether these are big enough to form new naga-imo plants will not be known until next April. We intend to try other methods of propagating this plant.
Ashitaba seeds were harvested and sown today - some brown and ripe, some still green. Not all the flowers formed seed. 		Naga-imo tubers (click for full sized image)
17/10/2007 Today we exchanged contracts on 33 acres of the best soil within 50 miles of Lewes. Only 3.5 miles north-east of Lewes, we expect to start planting on this land in 2009.
15/10/2007 First yam harvested. One Nebari-imo (Dioscorea japonica) was dug up. Stickier and less-crisp than Naga-imo, we sliced this thinly and ate raw. Just like in Japan! You can see the latest pictures here.
06/10/2007 Saturday 09.00 to 13.00 we will be at the Cliffe High Street, Lewes, Farmer's Market. On sale will be daikon - including a special firey-hot daikon, a red daikon that is pink(!) and some green icicle daikon - kabu, karashina, shiso, shungiku, tatsoi, togarashi (Japanese not-so-hot pepper!), shishitou pepper, umakarana (like wasabina), edamame, wild rocket, land cress, orange swiss chard and bags of ready-to-eat seasonal salad. We may even have a seasonal quince or two to give away.
06/09/2007 Land Ho!
01/09/2007 Saturday 09.00 to 13.00 we will be at the Cliffe High Street, Lewes, Farmer's Market. Daikon, edamame, kabu, land cress, mitsuba, mizuna, nira, shiso, shungiku, togarashi (Japanese not-so-hot pepper!), wasabina, wild rocket, yomogi and bags of ready-to-eat seasonal salad will be on sale.
18/08/2007 A second big kabocha harvest from our land at Ringmer, despite two months of neglect. This year we have a new traditional Japanese variety, 'Kogiku of Kanda' (see picture). Also from Ringmer, some over-sized kyuuri which have grown despite waist-high weeds and the absence of any supporting poles. The first myoga has been harvested but, like the edamame, this has suffered from this year's cool temperatures and lack of sunshine. Buds are few and rather thin - it is unlikely that we will have any available for commercial sale. Kabocha Kogiku of Kanda (click for full sized image)
Shungiku continues to be devastated by disease, now officially identified by Defra labs as Bremia lactucae. Our grateful thanks to Rollo Pyper for his help with this. Edamame root nodulation has occurred for the first time this year, thanks to the introduction of Bradyrhizobium japonicum to the soil. Whilst this has helped growth, it has not made up for the lack of sunshine and warmth. This year we are growing 15 different varieties of daikon, the strongest-tasting of which is now available ('Karami 199') and both black and red-skinned varieties will be available in a few more weeks.
Please note that our London deliveries to Japan Centre are now on Fridays not Thursdays, and fresh seasonal produce should be available from 2 p.m. on that day.
04/08/2007 Saturday 09.00 to 13.00 we will be at the Cliffe High Street, Lewes, Farmer's Market. Daikon, edamame, kabu, mitsuba, mizuna, nira, shiso, shungiku, tatsoi, wasabina, wild rocket, yomogi and bags of ready-to-eat seasonal salad will be on sale. There will also be a cooking demonstration!
28/07/2007 The good news: kyuuri have been available for a couple of weeks now, daikon, kabu, mizuna, karashina and wasabina are all growing well and suffering from fewer pests thanks to the cooler weather. The bad news: cool weather and a lack of sunshine this season has meant that edamame yields are very low. Other news: nasu is flowering, as are some ashitaba plants, and we have some peppers forming on the togarashi (nanban) plants. Our hens are very happy feeding on hakusai, tatsoi and a range of other material that we can often only speculate on, however the wet weather has meant that slugs and snails are multiplying faster than our hens can find and eat them.
19/07/2007 First London delivery of 2007. We plan weekly trips every Thursday - harvesting from 00.30, fresh produce should be available in London from 12 noon at the Japan Centre in Piccadilly.
16/07/2007 New Delivery Van (click for full sized image) A third delivery vehicle is now in our possession! With a Euro-IV compliant engine, CO2 emissions of 214 g/km and 36 miles to the gallon this is the best we could find for London deliveries and to combat the charging structure of the forthcoming Low Emission Zone.
09/07/2007 A big thank you to Chie who travelled down from London to help with harvesting and the market, and to Ayumi from Lewes, for helping make Saturday's market a success. The first sunshine and warmth for a long time added to the atmosphere and we hope all who came to the market had an enjoyable day. The new and popular (althougth un-announced) salad leaf was wasabi-na - vivid green, ornate, crisp and juicy with a light taste of wasabi. This seed was brought back for us by a visitor to Japan and we will be growing more! Lewes Farmers Market (click for full sized image)
07/07/2007 Saturday 09.00 to 13.00 we will be at the Cliffe High Street, Lewes, Farmer's Market. Mizuna, shungiku, kabu, daikon, baby daikon, shiso, karashina, tatsoi, nira, mitsuba, yomogi, wild rocket, chicory and bags of ready-to-eat mixed salad will be on sale. We may also have some hakusai for the first time since 2005.
17/06/2007 Sunday 18.30 to 21.00 we will be at the All Saints Centre in Friars Walk, Lewes. This is billed as 'A Summer Celebration of Local Food and Drink' and is an opportunity for producers and makers, caterers and food retailers, restaurateurs and publicans, to meet in a convivial atmosphere. There will be a bar, BBQ and cooked food available to purchase and all members of the public are welcome - there is no entry charge. We will have samples and explanations of what we do and how we work.
02/06/2007 Saturday 09.00 to 13.00 we will be at the Cliffe High Street, Lewes, Farmer's Market. Mizuna, shungiku, kabu, baby daikon, red asian mustard, tatsoi, nira, mitsuba, yomogi, wild rocket, land cress, chicory, lovage and bags of ready-to-eat mixed salad will be on sale. We should also have some gobou in limited quantities.
21/05/2007 Sansho succumbs to SID! One plant has suffered Sudden Inexplicable Death - leaves turned yellow-green and wilted. Remaining plants are fine (see previous entry). Our Nasu (Japanese eggplant), Togarashi and Shishitoo Peppers are now outside in a test of survival in the English climate and nearly 2,000 edamame are in the ground. Fuki continues to suprise, with one leaf now measuring 45 x 55cm. Finally tara-no-me has vandal-proof anti-climb paint - a clear gel surrounding the emerging shoots and stem (click on the accompanying picture to enlarge). Tara-no-me (click for full sized image)
Current produce availability: we can now supply mizuna, shungiku, baby daikon, red asian mustard, tatsoi, nira and very limited quantities of sansho, yomogi and ashitaba. Various English speciality leaves are available.
12/05/2007 Rain at last. Sansho is growing well. We now have 17 young seedlings in open ground and a couple of these are sending out vigorous side-branches. Fuki has multiplied three-fold. The plants turned black and vanished briefly in March but then suprised us by re-appearing in mid-April. Naga-imo and jinenjo continue to emerge from the ground with some shoots already 60cm long.
05/05/2007 First market of the season! Saturday 09.00 to 13.00 We will be at the Cliffe High Street, Lewes, Farmer's Market. Ashitaba, mitsuba, nira, shungiku, yomogi and mixed salad bags will be on sale. Some English produce will also be available - wild rocket, myrrh, lovage, angelica and chicory.
01/05/2007 We anticipate being able to make weekly deliveries into south and central London this year, probably from June. As soon as we have everything in place we will make a further announcement.
16/04/2007 Yuzu - the real ones - started emerging on 9th April, 63 days after sowing. We now have 7 seedlings, the most advanced of which is shown here. Never again will we confuse a sunflower with yuzu....
Myoga starteded emerging yesterday, 2 weeks earlier than in 2006 probably due to the absence of mulch.
Nasu (a Japanese aubergine) and Shishito peppers have germinated and will be trialled this year.
On the non-Japanese front we have some lentils and sea buckthorn (possible rabbit fence!) emerging happily. 		Yuzu Seedling (click for full sized image)
03/04/2007 We are pleased to note that ashitaba, sansho, tara-no-me, udo and yomogi have all survived their first winter. Whilst it will take another few years for some of these to provide a substantial harvest, prospects are good. On the down-side, it looks increasingly likely that our 'yuzu seedling' noted earlier may in fact be a common sunflower! Seedbeds are being prepared at our Ringmer site, where we expect to increase our area of kabocha and edamame this year. Hens are laying eggs but a large fox hole has appeared nearby so their future is uncertain.
26/02/2007 A yuzu seedling has emerged - one of 72 sown on 5th February. Yuzu (Citrus junos) is one of the few cold-hardy citrus and may grow in southern England.
14/02/2007 Four 'Light Sussex' 16-week old hens have been brought in to become new residents of our trials plot. We will experiment with their ability to eradicate slugs and other pests, by moving their run every few weeks between sections of fallow land and crop debris. We chose hens instead of Khaki Campbell ducks because we would not have been able to offer ducks the access to water that they need. Light Sussex Pioneers (click for full sized image)
14/01/2007 One fuki plant has a large flower bud.
First ashitaba harvest. Unusually mild weather has meant that angelica and ashitaba continue to send up new leaves and we still have mizuna and shungiku growing in the open!
22/11/2006 Today is our last delivery of 2006. Given good growing conditions next spring, we would expect to resume deliveries in mid April or early May 2007. We are still desperately seeking land in the Lewes area, to rent or purchase, from 1 to 100 acres. Please get in touch if you can help.
04/11/2006 Saturday 09.00 to 13.00 we will be at the Cliffe High Street, Lewes, Farmer's Market.
01/11/2006 First harvest of Black Edamame and Black-Eyed Edamame. We tasted these today and are absolutely stunned at the sweetness!
28/10/2006 Saturday 10.00 to 15.00 we will be at George Street, Hove, Farmer's Market. Kabocha, daikon, shungiku, nira, shiso, tatsoi, ninjin, kabu, mizuna, hourensou, komatsuna, land cress and mixed salad bags should be on sale but please order in advance to be sure to get a particular item.
25/10/2006 Eighteen months ago we thought 4 a.m. was an early start. Now, for the weekly London delivery, harvest starts a few minutes after mid-night, so that fresh produce can be at a London restaurant by noon. Harvesting before dawn means that produce has a higher level of moisture and so has a longer shelf-life - most of our salad crops will keep well under refridgeration for up to 7 days (although taste and nutritional value are always best immediately after harvesting).
11/10/2006 Black-eyed edamame, from Ogawa, may produce a crop. Pods are up to 7cm long and starting to swell. Likewise black edamame (from Mr Tanaka at Ogawa-machi market) pods are almost as big and we may well have produce to sell in a couple of weeks.
09/10/2006 For the 3rd month in a row we sold out at the Lewes market, although thankfully we had some stock until 12.30 this time. A day that broke all records and a big thank you to Martyn and Natasha from Devon, and to Ikuyo from Tokyo for getting up before dawn and helping to run the stall.
07/10/2006 Saturday 09.00 to 13.00 we will be at the Cliffe High Street, Lewes, Farmer's Market. A new crop of tatsoi will be available, some sweet and superb-tasting ninjin (Japanese carrots), well-formed and colourful bright red kabu (these keep their colour even after cooking), white kabu, the first of the autumn hourensou, a limited supply of kabocha, also daikon, mizuna, kyuuri, nira, shiso, shungiku, komatsuna, wild rocket, land cress and mixed salad bags.
23/09/2006 Saturday 10.00 to 15.00 we will be at George Street, Hove, Farmer's Market. Myoga, daikon, red kabu, mizuna, nira, shiso, shungiku, ninjin, wild rocket and mixed salad bags will be on sale.
14/09/2006 To date we have harvested 27 myoga buds and have a further 20 on the plants. We consider this a highly satisfactory yield given the dry summer and the fact that the plants are only in their second year.
04/09/2006 First safflower (benibana) harvested. We will be sending this to a laboratory for analysis.
02/09/2006 Saturday 09.00 to 13.00 we will be at the Cliffe High Street, Lewes, Farmer's Market. A very limited supply of the first myoga ever to be grown and harvested in the UK, will be on sale. Also edamame, bright red kabu, daikon, mizuna, kyuuri, nira, shiso, shungiku, ninjin, wild rocket, mixed salad bags and possibly kabocha will be on sale.
26/08/2006 At last, we have some flowers on our daizu crops (including the black-eyed and black soybean), and on tonburi ('land caviar'). Too early to say if we will have a harvest, as the days shorten and temperatures cool....
26/08/2006 Saturday 10.00 to 15.00 we will be at George Street, Hove, Farmer's Market. Edamame, kabocha, daikon, mizuna, nira, shiso, shungiku, ninjin and mixed salad bags will be on sale.
22/08/2006 First myoga harvest! A milder ginger than the root species, two Japanese ladies tasting this first bud - sliced and eaten raw - were astounded at the superb flavour and rated it tastier, and slightly stronger, than that generally available in Japan.
07/08/2006 Despite having 50% more produce than the previous month, we still sold out early at Lewes Farmer's Market. So again, an apology to those who arrived after 12.00 on Saturday - tatsoi (over 40 sold!) and edamame were the novelties this time but the mixed salad bags continue to be our most popular item. A big thank you to Martyn and Natasha from Devon for helping with harvest and with running the stall, and also for teaching us a few things.....
05/08/2006 Saturday 09.00 to 13.00 we will be at the Cliffe High Street, Lewes, Farmer's Market. Daikon, mizuna, kyuuri, nira, shiso, shungiku, ninjin, komatsuna and mixed salad bags will be on sale. Possibly also the first edamame of the season.
31/07/2006 MYOGA FLOWER BUDS! On several plants - pictures to follow. It now looks likely that we will have a small harvest this year and will attempt to increase our plant stock in 2007.
22/07/2006 Saturday 10.00 to 15.00 we will be at George Street, Hove, Farmer's Market. Daikon, mizuna, nira, shiso, shungiku, ninjin and mixed salad bags will be on sale.
14/07/2006 First kyuuri harvested! A little over-ripe at 29cm and 510g but truly sweet and delicious! Many more are on the way and this looks like being a successful variety for growing without protection. We should have some stock for Hove and Lewes farmer's markets.
03/07/2006 Sorry to those who arrived after 11.00 on Saturday - we sold out of all stock, with demand much higher than we have ever experienced. A big thank you to Saara from Finland and Yoko from Japan for helping with harvest from 3 a.m and with running the stall.
01/07/2006 Saturday 09.00 to 13.00 We will be at the Cliffe High Street, Lewes, Farmer's Market. Among produce on sale will be daikon, mitsuba, mizuna, nira, shiso, shungiku and - if ordered in advance - yomogi! Wild rocket, lettuce and mixed salad bags will also be available for the less-adventurous.
24/06/2006 Saturday 10.00 to 15.00 we will be at George Street, Hove, Farmer's Market. Daikon, mitsuba, mizuna, nira, shiso, shungiku and mixed salad bags will be on sale.
10/06/2006 Saturday 10th June we will be at the Local Produce Festival / Farmers Food Market in Hollingdean, Brighton, from 10.00 to 13.30. This event is being held in the grounds of Hertford Infant School, Hertford Road. We hope to have the first of this season's daikon on sale, mizuna, shungiku, mitsuba, nira and maybe even a leaf or two of red shiso.....
01/06/2006 Hokkaido Fuki has emerged! Greatly appreciated by slugs so it is too early to say whether this could generate a crop.
27/05/2006 Saturday 10.00 to 15.00 we will be at George Street, Hove, Farmer's Market. Nira, mitsuba, naga-negi, gobo (last of the season) and kabu will be on sale.
24/05/2006 Two sansho seeds have germinated outside! These were sown on the 26th September 2005.
15/05/2006 Regular twice-weekly (Tuesday and Friday) deliveries resume this week.
12/05/2006 Yams in Sussex! Following the full moon, several naga-imo, nebari-imo and jinenjo have emerged from tubercles bought back from Japan.
06/05/2006 Saturday 09.00 to 13.00 We will be at the Cliffe High Street, Lewes, Farmer's Market. Gobo, hourensou, naga-negi, shungiku, mitsuba, mizuna and nira will be on sale. Some English herbs such as lovage, lemon-balm, angelica and mint. Ready-to-eat mixed salads will also be available.
30/04/2006 Myoga shoots have appeared, having successfully survived the winter!
21/04/2006 Hourensou, gobo, naga-negi and mitsuba are still the only crops available. We expect to have mizuna and shungiku in the next 2 to 3 weeks.
Major website update. Some pages may remain rather skeletal for a few months until we have the required material.
21/03/2006 Cold weather has meant a late start to the growing season. First farmer's market is likely to be May, in Lewes, and normal deliveries should start late April or early May.
NEW CROPS: benibana (safflower) - we have reached agreement to conduct trials on two varieties from the USA and are trying to source two more varieties from India.
07/02/2006 Crop plans for 2006 are now complete. We are trebling our land under cultivation compared to 2005 but unfortunately have lost a further 7 acres on which we planned to grow.
NEW CROPS: azuki bean, soba, ninjin, tatsoi and tonburi are added to the list of trials for 2006 and we expect to be able to supply these later this year.
21/12/2005 Tubercles of naga-imo, yamato-imo and jinenjo planted. We now have a 3-year wait before the first harvest....
12/12/2005 Back from a 6-week agricultural study tour of Japan we are again open for business.
We now have the following crops available in limited quantities: kabocha, red kabu, hourensou, mitsuba, gobo and baby daikon.
NEW CROPS: fuki and dokudami have been planted for trials. Sato-imo, yama-imo, udo, goma, ashitaba and a very sweet daizu bean have been brought back from Japan and will also be trialed in 2006. We thank Mr Suga-san in Kamisato-machi and Mr Kaneko-san in Ogawa-machi for their help. More details to follow.
29/10/2005 Deliveries and markets are suspended. Next supply date is Friday December 9th.
22/10/2005 Tripped over another hedgehog in the dark whilst harvesting this morning.... yesterday spotted a hedgehog hiding amongst leaves between rows of mitsuba.
22/10/2005 Saturday 10.00 to 15.00 We will be at George Street, Hove, Farmer's Market.
15/10/2005 Saturday 10.00 to 16.00 We will be at Ship Street (Friend's Meeting House), Brighton - Fair Trade and Farmer's Market.
Nira, kabu, shungiku, shiso, mizuna, mitsuba, naga-negi, daikon, gobo and kabocha will be on sale.
Ready-to-eat mixed salads (160g @ £1.60) will also be available.
08/10/2005 Saturday 12.00 to 14.00 in the foyer of the Cornerstone Community Centre by St John's Church, Church Rd., Hove.
Pre-ordered vegetables including kabocha available for collection and a selection for sale on the spot. This will be the last day of the edamame season!
01/10/2005 Saturday 09.00 to 13.00 We will be at the Cliffe High Street, Lewes, Farmer's Market.
Nira, kabu, shungiku, shiso, mitsuba, daikon, gobo, kabocha and edamame will be on sale.
Ready-to-eat mixed salads will also be available.
26/09/2005 Sansho seeds fresh from the tree arrived today from Akita prefecture in Japan and have been sown as if newly fallen.
24/09/2005 Saturday 10.00 to 15.00 We will be at George Street, Hove, Farmer's Market.
Nira, kabu, shungiku, shiso, mizuna, mitsuba, naga-negi, daikon, gobo and edamame will be on sale.
Ready-to-eat mixed salads will also be available.
18/09/2005 The first kabocha have been harvested: 1 Hakuba (1.926kg), 1 Daibutsu (2.700kg) and 1 Kokkou (2.704kg). All three will cure for seven days to improve sweetness, after which they could be sold. This crop is the sole exception to our policy of harvesting produce only on the day of sale for freshness.
17/09/2005 The first shiso flower buds - on red shiso sown May 8th.
17/09/2005 Saturday 10.00 to 16.00 We will be at Ship Street (Friend's Meeting House), Brighton - Fair Trade and Farmer's Market.
Nira, kabu, shungiku, shiso, mizuna, mitsuba, naga-negi, daikon, gobo and edamame will be on sale and possibly kabocha too.
Ready-to-eat mixed salads will also be available.
10/09/2005 Saturday 12.00 to 14.00 in the foyer of the Cornerstone Community Centre by St John's Church, Church Rd., Hove.
Pre-ordered vegetables available for collection and a selection for sale on the spot.
04/09/2005 Mixed Salad Bags - what was in them?
These sold out very quickly yesterday and you may be curious to know exactly what the flavours were. Each bag contained baby kabu root, kabu leaves, shungiku, mitsuba, aka-jiso, ao-jiso, wild rocket, nasturtium and flowers of daikon, nira, shungiku and nasturtium.
03/09/2005 Saturday 09.00 to 13.00 We will be at the Cliffe High Street, Lewes, Farmer's Market.
Nira, kabu, shungiku, shiso, mitsuba, naga-negi, daikon, edamame and gobo will be on sale together with some exciting mixed salad bags.
27/08/2005 Saturday 10.00 to 15.00 We will be at George Street, Hove, Farmer's Market.
Nira, kabu, shungiku, shiso, mizuna, mitsuba, naga-negi, daikon, edamame and gobo will be on sale.
20/08/2005 Saturday 10.00 to 16.00 We will be at Ship Street (Friend's Meeting House), Brighton - Fair Trade and Farmer's Market.
Nira, kabu, shungiku, shiso, mizuna, mitsuba, naga-negi, young daikon and edamame will be on sale, possibly gobo too.
Available in mixed salad bags or separately.
18/08/2005 First edamame harvest. This is 'Ryokuheki' yielding approximately 20 pods per plant.
06/08/2005 Saturday 09.00 to 13.00 We will be at the Cliffe High Street, Lewes, Farmer's Market.
=> Thankyou to Natasha (down from London) and Yuko (who flew in from Japan) for invaluable assistance with harvest at 5 a.m. and with sales throughout the morning.
=> First hakusai harvest. Also harvested one gobo but the batch is not yet ready as the root should be longer.
03/08/2005 The first male kabocha flower has opened (clearly males are busier than females) and hand fertilisation was performed. Unfortunately some females with low stamina had given up waiting and closed.
31/07/2005 Kabocha flowering but we have 5 females ready and waiting with no males ready!
26/07/2005 Autumn and Winter Produce: we expect to be able to offer gobo, daikon, white kabu, red kabu(!), mitsuba, mizuna, shungiku and hourensou (similar to spinach). Some naga-negi may be ready.
26/07/2005 An Appology: due to a combination of sudden high demand and some bad planning on our part, we regret that no more daikon will be available until August 24th (+/- a week).
23/07/2005 Saturday 10.00 to 15.00 We will be at George Street, Hove - new Farmer's Market.
16/07/2005 Saturday 12.00 to 13.30 in the foyer of the Cornerstone Community Centre by St John's Church, Church Rd., Hove.
Again, pre-ordered vegetables available for collection and a selection for sale on the spot.
02/07/2005 Saturday 12.00 to 13.00 in the foyer of the Cornerstone Community Centre by St John's Church, Church Rd., Hove.
Here we will have pre-ordered vegetables available for collection and a limited selection for sale on the spot.
21/06/2005 First Shiso harvest.
19/06/2005 Sunday Market - behind Safeway/Morrisons in Lewes: 08.00 to 13.00 come and buy our produce!
09/06/2005 First Mitsuba harvest.
06/06/2005 Kabu ready for harvest - excellent appearance and excellent flavour when eaten raw.
Mizuna second (protected) crop ready for harvest. Excellent appearance but mild flavour.
Lesson: an un-protected crop affected by pests may have poor appearance but will generally have the best flavour!
02/06/2005 New faster delivery vehicle (Ridgeback Cyclone) acquired.
24/05/2005 Shungiku harvest has started - excellent appearance and taste.
Mizuna available at a discount due to poor appearance (attacked by Phyllotreta). Excellent flavour!
15/05/2005 First myoga shoots have appeared above ground.
25/04/2005 Myoga rhizome has arrived fresh from quarantine in Japan.
09/04/2005 Nira, Naga-Negi, Hakusai and Gobo have now germinated outside.
01/04/2005 Daikon germinating outside.
28/03/2005 Shungiku and Mitzuna germinating outside.
03/12/2004 Namayasai LLP founded and officially incorporated.