A very welcome 42mm of rain on 10 June got everything here, crops and weeds alike, motoring.

Our Latvian hand-weeding crew has been especially welcome this year and has stuck at it, doing a good job.

It’s interesting that although unemployment locally has risen, no one has approached me for casual work. Perhaps that’s unsurprising when you think how hard a day’s weeding can be.

It’s really noticeable how much worse creeping thistle is in cereals after potatoes, even three or four years later. It’s an added cost, which must be taken into account when looking at potato growing margins.

Looking across the cereals I’m really taken with the wheat variety Shepherd. In common with quite a few organic crops, it’s not on the Recommended List. But it’s as disease free as possible so far, and judging by the look of it in late June will yield well.

Shepherd must be especially good at foraging for nutrients because it’s been noticeably greener than the other two varieties here – Einstein and Buzzer – all through the growing season.

Firth spring oats also look really good and I don’t think I’ve ever seen a cereal crop with less disease in it. I just wish it was possible to stop them getting taller from here on, as without growth regulator they’re a bit prone to lodging in a wet year.

I’m looking forward to seeing how these varieties compare against others in trials at the National Organic Cereals event in Suffolk on 9 July.

I find that the more I know about organic farming the more I want to learn, and events like this are incredibly valuable. It’s organised by Organic Farmers & Growers and I recommend it to anyone who might want to dip a toe into the organic world.

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