Another significant milestone. Our first salad from the croft!
For you rampant food producers out there with your polytunnels, greenhouses and fertile growing beds this is going to seem a bit of a damp squib, but we’ve just cropped our first bowl of salad from the croft and I’m doing my happy dance!
It’s a mix of endive, red lettuce, red veined sorrel, Uncle Bert’s kale, mint and beetroot leaves. All grown organically outdoors from seed here on the croft.
Other things are growing too in these long, light filled days of summer. I can see a few purple heads of sprouting broccoli emerging, and the potatoes will be ready in the next few weeks.
The leeks have been a big fail – they’re still tiny and very slow growing. Kales, cabbage, garlic, beetroot, potatoes, herbs, and salad leaves have all grown well. The carrots and parsnips are small yet but time will tell. The globe artichokes are tiny plants, a few leaves apiece, but they seem to be surviving. I’m hoping that they’ll muscle-up and come into their own next year. The berry bushes are establishing. The borage and comfrey are flowering.
I’m just relieved that it hasn’t all been some monstrous failure. We’ve had one meal from the croft at least!
The key learning so far is exposure. We knew it, but just didn’t have the time to do it. We need to get windbreaks up and hedging in this autumn before the main growing season next year.
Small milestones on our journey. Forgive a woman’s unseemly crowing.
Ravencroft Skye 
Aw, lovely. We are still using the supermarket here,,,,a strip of the the near orchard to be turned over for greens…
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Without a doubt a milestone!!!!
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Hopefully the first of many 👍😊
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Walking down to the veg garden to pick your own veg for lunch never gets old. It gets even better when the entire salad gets picked on demand every day.
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Can’t wait for that to happen! Next year, fingers crossed, once we’ve got the polycrub up and can grow tomatoes, cucumber, courgettes, aubergines…. 😊
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Leeks are difficult, but persevere and you will get an early winter crop. You will need to protect them from the wind. If they fail to mature, you can have some very fashionable “baby veg”.
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Thank you. I’ll leave them in and see what comes of them 👍
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Huge milestone and it looks so tasty! You’re right….hedges are a must. Those of us with exposed situations are really up against it. Your salad really does look delicious. This year I decided not to grow food and to have a cut flower patch. I’m giving the flowers away to friends and family to spread some cheer and in honour of Captain Tom. I’m trying to do a hundred bunches. Have done 9 so far! But to be honest, it’s a lot more enjoyable than trying to grow food crops, and I live very close to shops!
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Good for you. That’s a lovely idea! 💕
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Crow away!! You have worked really hard to get that salad; it deserves celebrating!
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Yay! Thank you ❤️👍
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