Fen Peas

Peas are going into perfect conditions but the dust is starting to fly. Now getting well stuck in to the Novella. The end of the week will see about 40% of the peas in the ground by the end of March. As we run in to Easter next week, we will bunch the drillings up to complete the Novella and start of some Geneva. Things are advanced though, OSR coming in to flower, huge amounts of wasps and ladybirds about as well.

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The clocks having gone forward brings with it longer daylight hours. The higher than normal temperatures, mind you what is normal now, and with the sun on their backs the peas are now romping along. Peas are now hitting the ground and growing rapidly. Whilst it is dry one of the Growers commented the other day that we have had much more rain in March 2012 than in March 2011, however it was quite noticeable that there had been quite a bit of moisture lost from the soil over the weekend. Now is the time to be looking at moisture conservation techniques, part of our Climate Change Strategy.

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The first run north of Boston is complete, 29% of the peas are drilled. As we move to south of Boston we gain a harvest day so the drills will have a few days off while those peas put in the ground this week have a chance to grow. So, little activity in the short term but it will all get fired up again later next week. The earlies are looking good and at the moment everything is growing in sequence. Hope that continues!

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The sun finally came out this afternoon as we started drilling Amalfi at Friskney. Conditions are perfect as you can see by the spacing. It looks as though we may get some rain this weekend so the rolls remain in the shed until we see how much we get. We have also started on the Novella as well. It all feels pretty similar to last year at the moment. Good conditions, getting on well and seed only just arriving in time! There was no doubt about it that last year's early start was down to the high number of daylight hours we had in April and May,so as the first fields emerge now is the time to start tracking daylight hours.

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We seem to have missed the early morning rain, but the fog has prevented early starts with the drilling. All the talk is of drought this week. Having been asked the question it's far too early to give any opinion about what effect it will have on the crop this year. There's a long way to go yet, we've only really just got started! It is going well and should be a busy week in the fens and along the A52 towards Boston. The soil is a lot warmer than this time last year so things are getting away well.

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What a difference two warm days make. The photo does not do the crop justice (very foggy morning) but the peas are now 60% emerged. The crops drilled behind this are also moving along nicely and there will be much more emergence over the next few days. It will now be pigeon patrol whilst the crops fill out. Interesting that the peas are already putting a long root down. Moisture is there but not in the abundance that it usually is.

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A bit of a messy week, but we will not complain about the welcome rain. We have now drilled 785 acres so good progress for this time of year. It looks as though the weather will be with us next week as high pressure dominates.We will continue to drill Style and start the Jaguar, Fashion, Amalfi and Novella. Soil temperatures are good and the first field drilled is now starting to emerge. As usual the Pigeons have started to land also!

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As well as a lot of activity above the ground, we are getting good growth below the surface as well. This was taken two days ago and shows that there is enough moisture there and the warmth in the soil to go with it as well. We now wait to see just how much rain the weekend brings!

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