Farmer Focus: Our soils are becoming self-structuring
© Devon Pumpkin Patch October has certainly made up for September’s damp, dull start to autumn.
Soils dried out nicely and crops have been drilled in great conditions – a contrast to last year’s November drilling campaign which was not very enjoyable.
The five-way blend of Mayflower, Bamford, Solitaire, Champion and Palladium has come up through the weedy linseed stubble and mustard, linseed, buckwheat catch crop evenly.
It has just received its flufenacet, diflufenican herbicide and an insecticide for the aphids.
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We’ve trialled a few autumns without any insecticide and always seen damage in the spring.
With today’s low margins it is not financially viable to take the risk when aphids have been found in the crop.
This is one of the many little knock-ons when the margins aren’t there. The environment doesn’t benefit if we can’t make a living growing food.
Having said that, there’s always some extra excitement seeing new seeds pushing up the rows at this time of the year. It still surprises me how well it all looks behind the Moore Unidrill.
Our soils are becoming self-structuring now with very little visual damage from harvest seen at all.
In between drilling a bit of wheat we have been selling pumpkins, squash and gourds.
It was a slow start to the month, but the past weekend and half term week have been busy and catching up on lost ground.
Although the Halloween carving is still the main pull, there has been more of a shift towards eating what you pick, with more interest in the variety types and the best roasting and soup varieties.
It’s nice to see people picking food from exactly where it’s grown knowing it should have a dual purpose.
With the weather holding out, we stayed open until 31 October for the second time in five years. This should do the margins some good and we’ll be back for more fun next year.
Once we’re packed up, we will look forward to enjoying some time off over the winter, with a couple of weekends away along with some game shooting with friends and family to recharge the batteries for 2026.
I’m sure we’ll need it for the challenges ahead.
