This bout of
Arctic weather has caused us many problems at Llangybi Organics. As you know, we had to cancel last Friday's bags and boxes and, if things continue as it looks like they will, may have to do the same for Friday 15th. Everything is, in short, frozen.
Jill reports, "The veg is feeling chilly, we might have lost the carrots and beetroot - and possibly others eg cabbage? Here's two photos of the veg field - you will see that there hasn't been much thawing despite the last few days days of sunny weather!" Jill has done her best to protect the root veg by covering all with fleece months ago. The fleece does keep everything warmer, but only relatively so.
We have much the same story to tell at Mur Crusto farm where we've recorded record lows down to -12Celsius. The slight thaw today (Sunday) has revealed serious damage to the overhead irrigation in the polytunnel with the plastic water pipes fractured and broken everywhere (photo left).
The veg in the polytunnel suffers less because of the protection of the tunnel but even so, the temperatures have dropped regularly to -4C making them all wilt until they thaw out and rehydrate. In order to help them recover, we have covered as many as possible with fleece which keeps them slightly warmer (see photo).
So we'll keep you posted on what happens next Friday. Meanwhile, let me leave you with a picture of our ducks, which are still laying eggs every day regardless of the low temperatures. They seem impervious to cold, almost like
penguins.
