All change at Llangybi Organics

We are downsizing and it's my purpose in this post to explain why. But first, if you're a customer, you'll have received this email:

We at Llangybi Organics regret that we are unable to maintain production for the next season at its present level. Mur Crusto (Val and Bry) hopes to continue with a bag every 2 weeks from mid-August to the following Spring (2011) but growing a reduced range for a much reduced number of people. We will give priority to those who can help us now and then. The bag would not include potatoes, onions or squash but Ty'n Lon (Jill and Mike) are happy to consider growing these items if there is interest. To enable us all to plan for the next season, please choose one or more of the following options:

A. Join Ty'n Lon's potato etc co-op but this will involve coming to help on harvesting day.

B. Fortnightly bag from Mur Crusto and offering help now and then.

C. Fortnightly bag from Mur Crusto but unable to offer help.

D. Leave the scheme altogether.

Please note that we are continuing as normal at the moment and expect to continue until at least the end of March although, as always, this is weather-dependent. Some crops have been lost due to the exceptionally cold weather and so we will increase the amount of potatoes and carrots to compensate for the lack of variety.

We would like to thank you all for your support over the years and look forward to hearing from you as soon as possible.

Helpers Obviously those who can offer help now and then -- Option B -- will want to know how this will work out. What does that loaded phrase 'now and then' mean? Well Val and I don't know either at this stage so if you do choose Option B, we hope we can arrange for a get-together at Mur Crusto of all of you who are interested. We have ideas to suggest and will welcome yours too. The emphasis will be on flexibility and you will, of course, want to know what's in it for you.

Why we are downsizing None of us is getting any younger and we are finding the commitment and work of growing and harvesting for over 30 customers more than we want to continue doing. The polytunnels make things easier but the outside work is often quite unpleasant in freezing and wet weather. We have little in the way of mechanisation so most tasks have to be done - as they always have been since the dawn of agriculture - by hand. So Jill, Mike, Val and I have jointly taken the decision to downsize drastically. It remains to be seen how the new arrangements will work out. That's now down to you, dear customers. We await your responses. Once we know how many of you do want to continue in some fashion, we can begin to see how it might all work.

Polytunnel raised: CSA group's first success

Today, our wonderful new CSA group completed its first major action. We successfully got the polythene cover over the frame and secured it into the ground and at each end. Mike and Jill offer big thanks to Rosemary and Matthew (who worked yesterday on digging trenches), Deio (who works 'on demand' - and there have been a lot of demands lately), Mayumi (and her son), Christine (and her daughter), Joan, Mark and Jeff (Shrimala Trust), Helen and John (from Llangybi), Bry and Val (from Mur Crusto farm, the other half of the co-op). It was almost, yes, fun! The weather was fair and there seemed to be a lot of laughter and joking going on. Some good entertainment was Mike and Jill bickering about how best to achieve this or that task. But we all pulled together like a team. Our group was impressively international: Welsh, English, American, German and Japanese, and at least 3 languages could be heard from time to time.

I (Bry) am particularly delighted at the way things are working out with this group help. I've nurtured the idea since the start of Llangybi Organics and it really works! So once again, I have the pleasure of reminding group members that you are very welcome to come and help yourselves to veg - particularly at present where there is a massive surplus of green leafy things in Mur Crusto's polytunnel. (For some reason, Jill hasn't got anything growing in her new tunnel except a few scraggy nettles!)

I've put a photoalbum online here which depicts all the final stages of the Great Event.

Llangybi Organics Newsletter - February 2009

versiwn cymraeg
Firstly, thanks for sticking with us through the dark wet winter months and sorry for our sometimes rather muddy veg, or the occasional onion which has started to rot.

Future veg supplies - bags and boxes finish end of February. We have enough veg to continue with the bags and boxes until the end of February. Unfortunately we have lost a lot of veg because of the severe and prolonged frost, incuding some in the polytunnel. We intend to resume the veg again in mid/late July, but will contact you to confirm, nearer the time.

Eggs: If you want to buy eggs after our closedown, please contact Jill directly (01766 81091), (but not many eggs available at the moment).

Packaging: Thank you for returning the Soil Association bags and boxes for re-use as this helps reduce packaging.

Keeping in touch: The latest news from Llangybi Organics' two farms is online in the form of a weblog at: http://llangybi-organics-news.blogspot.com/ (i.e. here!). It's frequently updated (with photos too) and replaces the old-style newsletters on the static website. If you wish to find out the latest happenings, do connect. You can leave your comments too if you wish.

Thank you for your support during 2008.

Val & Bry, Mur Crusto, 01766 819109 Jill & Mike, Ty'n Lon 01766 810915
Website: http://www.llangybi-organics.co.uk/

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Cylchlythyr Menter Organig Llangybi - Chwefror 2009

Diolch am aros efo ni drwy fisoedd oer a gwlyb y gaea', ac am beidio â chwyno am y mwd ar eich llysiau, neu'r ambell nionyn sydd wedi dechrau pydru.

Cyflenwad o lysiau yn y dyfodol - bagiau a bocsus yn gorffen diwedd Mis Chwefror Rydan ni'n gobeithio y bydd digon o lysiau i ni barhau gyda'r bagiau a bocsus tan ddiwedd Chwefror. Yn anffodus, oherwydd y gaeaf caled dan ni wedi colli cryn dipyn o lysiau i'r rhew, yn y caeau ac yn y polytunnel.

Rydan ni'n bwriadu ail-ddechrau'r llysiau canol/diwedd Mis Gorffennaf, ond byddem mewn cysylltiad efo chi yn nes at yr amser.

Wyau: Os byddwch chi eisiau wyau ar ôl inni gau, cysylltwch â Jill (01766 810915) (ond does dim llawer o wyau ar hyn o bryd).

Deunyddiau pacio: Diolch am ddychwelyd y bagiau a'r bocsus Cymdeithas Bridd. Mae hynny'n arbed llawer o wastraff. Cadw mewn cysylltiad: Yn lle'r cylchlythyrau ar y wefan, mae gynnon ni weblog bellach. Mi gewch weld y newyddion diweddara' o ddau dyddyn organig Llangybi ar http://llangybi-organics-news.blogspot.com/ Bydd yn cael ei ddiweddaru yn aml, ynghyd â lluniau. Cysylltwch, a gadewch sylwadau ar bob cyfri.

Diolch ichi i gyd am eich cefnogaeth chi yn 2008.

Never mind the weather! Back in production today

Our 'new year' starts today. Above are (from left) Deo, Roger (telling a joke, no doubt), Jill and Val in the packing shed preparing the boxes and bags for our customers. This is our first veg for this year: summer 2007 until spring 2008. And once again we are indebted to Deo who has spent many days working voluntarily to help Jill and Ty'n Lon during spring and summer.

It's been a pretty dreadful summer for us. Weeds worse than ever because of the rain, which has brought diseases like potato blight which came early and in a new, much worse form than before. Because of the lack of warmth and sunshine, tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers have been slow to develop and ripen. The slugs are always on the verge of gaining the upper hand.
Even so, we battle on...

End-of-season party for volunteers

Left to Right: Jill, Val, Mike, Beverley (Roger's partner), Danielle (Deio's partner), Roger and Deio (who supplied the proper French champagne). Click the image for full size version.

Being a volunteer for Llangybi Organics has many bonuses. Above is one of them, a celebratory party for Deio and Roger, who have helped us so willingly through the winter. Deio, in particular, has been a stalwart, working with Jill helping with harvesting whatever the weather and then continuing on with the packing on Friday afternoon. Once, he brought Danielle and his daughter to help with the packing. That really went well!

Five reasons why you should consider becoming a Llangybi Organics volunteer:

1. The 'crack', as the Irish have it: good conversation, appalling jokes (Roger is joke specialist but, sadly, may be moving away from the area), serious discussions... it's all there on Friday afternoons
2. Multilingual chat: at least 4 languages are in variably common use by the packing team. Welsh and English, obviously, but also Spanish and some French.
3. Healthy outdoor work
4. Free vegetables as a 'thank you'
5. You're helping a small sustainable company supply high-quality veg and fruit to its loyal band of customers

If you think you might like to join in, contact Val or Jill by phone or email.

A new place for latest news from Llangybi Organics

I (Bry, the webmaster here!) am changing the Llangybi Organics website so that all Llangybi Organics news, long or short, gets posted on this blog page. There are advantages for me in that it's easier to do. There are advantages for you too:

• all news posts get listed by title, date and month automatically (the Archive in the right column of this page) so you can find any item you're interested in
• you can use a feed reader (like the free and excellent Omea) to pick up RSS/Atom feeds from this weblog. This simply means that you can find out automatically whenever we add anything. If you don't want to be bothered with feeds, just bookmark this page in your Favourites
• it means you can 'have your finger on the pulse' since we'll be adding posts every few days or weeks because it's so easy to do. Some could be just a couple of sentences and a picture. There won't be any formal newsletter any more, just a series of the latest newsworthy items - with pictures as needed.

So now you really can keep in touch... And you can also add your own comments to any of our news postings.