10/08/2026
“One of my darkest days on the farm.”
George George Bennett took this pic at Sandy Lane in June 2020, drilling a new borehole. It came up dry - one of the worst days he’s had on the farm.
Five years on, and we’re facing another record-breaking week of hot, dry weather, with no meaningful rain in the forecast.
In their newsletter last week, Flourish capture the challenge many growers are facing this year;
“Everywhere we look, we see the effects of one of the hardest growing seasons we’ve experienced. Months of drought, relentless drying winds and exceptional heat have tested every part of the farm. Every day the team repairs irrigation pipes, battles to keep crop netting in place against the wind, and works tirelessly to protect crops from new pests and diseases that thrive in hot, dry conditions. We’ve spent years building healthy, living soils through regenerative farming, yet this summer we’ve watched those precious soils dry out and even blow away in the wind.”
We’ve pulled together a new blog (link in bio) with views and tips on how to cope from small-scale growers across our community. There’s no ‘right or wrong’ here - so much depends on the crop, the local conditions, the soil, the water available, the labour.
And even with irrigation in place, it’s far from stress-free. Watering swallows time that would go on planting-out and weeding. Many are making brave calls to prioritise Winter crops while watching Summer veg suffer by the day.
There are systemic problems here that keep coming up. We hope that through shared experience, we can start to address some of them together.
Thank you to George, Kristof Hayes Zsámboki Biokert Sandy Lane Farm Josh Goodery C.I.C. Joshua Little Marcle Organic Produce Nick Sheffield Organic Growers Aimee livinglarder and Fredrik Godis Grønt Lejre for taking the time to contribute at such a busy time 🌱
