Summer at Ludlow Farm
Poppies
If you have visited Ludlow Farm Shop recently you probably can’t help but have noticed the sea of bright white and lilac flowers. This is a crop of poppies that we are growing in the fields that surround the shop.
Poppies are a new crop to us here, and so far, it is one that appears to be thriving on our light gravelly soils. We will harvest these poppies towards the end of August when the crop has fully matured, using the same combine harvester that we use to harvest our wheat crops.
Once harvested and we have ensured that the poppy seed is dry, it will be used for culinary uses, mainly in and on the top of seeded breads. Poppy seeds are exceptionally small; from the area we are growing, we expect something like eighty-nine billion, five hundred and eighty-three million, three hundred and thirty-three thousand, three hundred and thirty-three individual seeds; that is enough for a lot of loaves.
As the poppies go off flower, you may notice another of our fields turning from green to a deep purple. This is borage, another new crop to us.
Borage
Borage is a very fast-growing crop and will be ready for harvest around 100 days after it has been planted!
The seed from borage plants contains a lot of oil which is packed with fatty acids, which are sold in many health foods shops, to help with joint pain, healthy skin and apparently even hangovers. As well as producing seed, borage is loved by bees. The honey made by bees foraging on borage flowers has a very distinctive taste and is very clear compared to other honeys.
In the middle-ages, the druids believed that borage would bring them courage. Maybe borage honey on some poppy seeded toast might be the ultimate breakfast to start to the day.
Harvest will soon be upon us, when we will soon find the success of these new crops.
Hamish Stewart, Farm Manager
Latest news
Recipes & Food Tips
