Well, what a week it has been for all. It’s no longer all about going to work then coming home it’s all about the challenge to get to work and for once only in our lives, is it logical to leave work! For all of us at Nearly Naked, especially concentrating on everyone out in the fields, it has been a week to remember. We made an early decision to harvest what we could on the Tuesday before the worst of the weather arrived so we managed to get the leeks and Swedes in. We then carried on with the picking yesterday (Friday). Firstly we couldn’t get going till 11, when the frost had pulled away a bit and secondly it was still bloody cold! I was wearing fingerless gloves but decided to remove them after finding it was better for your whole hand to be painfully cold rather than just your fingertips!

The Brussels sprouts taste a lot better after it has had a frost on them but believe me they were not overly keen on coming of the stalks! There were gloves ripping everywhere and even signs of sharp knife like wounds on the hands from the intensity of the frost but we got them off in the end.

The carrots, well, we really felt like we were mining. At one point Kevin suggested putting a dynamite rod in the carrot bed to try and blast them free. Perseverance paid off in the end but our ability to wash the mud of then was stripped from us through nothing but frozen water- This is my way of apologising for the slightly dirtier carrots (reminds me of my organic days!).

The cabbages managed to remove the edge of our knifes and were frozen solid. We have tried to let then thaw out a little but I expect they will still be rather cold in the centre by the time you get it.

The red Russian kale was by far the easiest to pick as it is way above ground level and all that is required here is to snap of the mature leaves and then let the frost retreat from it before tying them into bundles.

As for the onions and potatoes, it was just a case of covering them all in straw to keep the frost from them. Potatoes go black when the frost gets to them and onions go soft as all their structure collapses.

The cold weather is due to stay around for the next week or so now with snow once again forecast for Sunday so do all be very careful and don’t drive unnecessarily.

Don’t hesitate to ring Sam or go on-line if you would also like a box delivered to you on Monday to keep you going through the week. We have prepared ourselves for difficult delivering on the Monday but have put a plan into place which will make it easy for us!

As a farmer I have to admit these kind of circumstances are not rare as we are constantly up against nature through disease, pests and such like. Its what makes the job, and believe me you have to have a real love for the land and farming to stick at it as it often feels you are fighting an uphill battle. So I can safely say “I love it”.

And don’t forget to use the snow as an excuse to make a snowball and throw it at the neighbour you never liked as he/she leaves their house. Just blame it on the “joy of the season”. I have done it a couple of times and I just about got away with it twice, but on the third attempt I was punched!

Ben