Cobnut Harvest 2017

This year all the local cobnut-growers predicted an early harvest and the crop looked promising.

Plenty of nuts on the trees

 While some had started picking by mid-August I preferred to have the nuts at a riper stage and we started in glorious sunshine on September 4th.

Perfect nut-picking weather

A week later three volunteer pickers, students from Germany, arrived to help with the crop.  They worked enthusiastically and carefully.  

Sorting and packing

  

Of course they had time off to visit places of interest including Ightham Mote.  Here they are on bicycles setting off to visit Old Soar Manor: an easy ride from the plat but uphill all the way on the return. 

Good luck for the return journey!

There was more help from friends and relations 

including the very young who were not deterred by 

a wet and windy day.

Young helpers eager to lend a hand

A bucketful of nuts between the two of us is not too heavy!

Next, pickers from Hurstwood Farm arrived to tackle the main bloc, coming rather later than I would have hoped when autumn gales had blown most of the nuts onto the ground.They gathered most of them up but found the going tough.  

Those nuts have been de-husked and I understand are destined for M & S stores this Christmas: do look out for them!

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With the harvest done I have started baking muesli again. 

the new-look label features the National Trust logo

The label has changed to reflect the National Trust origin of the nuts and the Bramley apples this year are coming from a grower very near to the plat,  Robert Mitchell.  My granola-muesli can be found on sale at Shipbourne Farmers' Market and at a new deli in Tunbridge Wells, 'Foodies delicatessen'  at 40 Camden Road. Other outlets are in my sights and there is a website now for ordering online at  www.gillyjones.com

On the last weekend of September Ightham Mote holds its Apple Fair and we were there as usual, selling cobnut oil and muesli as well as cobnuts in bags. Thank you to the volunteers who helped on the stall!

Finally, I am sending cobnuts again this year to Northern Ireland, this time to Belfast Zoo.  You might wonder what kind of animals require cobnuts and it is somewhat ironic that while my number-one foe on the plat is grey squirrels, in Ireland the endangered red squirrel population is recovering; and guess what they prefer as a tasty treat?  Last year my nuts went to a woodland in county Tyrone and to the National Trust property of Mount Stewart in county Antrim.  Word gets around in that part of the world and I was pleased to receive an order this year from the red-squirrel breeding programme at Belfast Zoo.

Loading the boxes bound for Belfast Zoo

And that wraps it up for the 2016-17 season but work starts again and this month I'll be welcoming students from Hadlow College who are coming to dig holes and plant up young cobnut trees to fill some gaps in the rows. There will be more about that in due course.

Wrapped up and ready to go

Open Farm Sunday at Mote Farm

June 11th was the day that a number of farms in the area opened their gates to the public - and Mote Farm at Ightham Mote was one of them.

The sun shone and the  public flocked in.  A cowshed which had been cleaned up for stalls selling produce provided a friendly meeting place for farmers and growers to get together and exchange news and views.

Phil Broad (blue shirt) and Debbie (back to camera) who farm here and organised the day

Cobnuts were represented with the Cobnut and Bramley apple Granola-muesli and the Hurstwood Farm Cobnut Oil selling well.

A friendly meeting place for four-footed friends as well

 The day attracted many families with small children learning where their food comes from,admiring the chickens and bantams and enjoying tractor rides to visit the cows with their calves.

 For small boys (and big ones too, probably) it was real 'tractor heaven'.

Just some of the tractors, balers and threshers on display

It was a great day and hopefully its success will inspire the farmers to do it again next year.

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Back at the plat, at the end of June the cobnuts are quietly growing.  The combination of warmth and interludes of rain seems to be suiting them just fine.  I hope it can continue and if it does we could have an early harvest.  

pink mallow is abundant at this time of year

Soon it will be 15th of July, St Swithin's day and traditional weather lore says the weather on that day sets the pattern for the next forty days.  I shall be watching the calendar carefully. 

doing what they do best....

Hello again from the cobnut plat

It is June and the orchids are flourishing on the plat.

The Common Spotted are actually nothing to get over-excited about; the clue is in the name for they are indeed quite common, especially where there is hazel, or in this case cobnuts. Nevertheless they are a fine sight and the rows will not be mown until the flowers have set seed and no harm can come to them.











Growers of crops are reluctant to predict the harvest at this stage of the year but at present there are good signs of the little nutkins so fingers will be crossed.

Look carefully to find the baby cobnuts

After a long dry winter and spring, the rain of recent days has been very welcome, especially for the young trees which have been planted up to fill some gaps.

Blue markers indicate the newly planted trees

My value-added product goes under the name 'Gilly Jones's Cobnut and Bramley Apple Granola-muesli' , which is quite a mouthful in more ways than one. It can be found on sale at Shipbourne Farmers' Market and other local fairs and I'll be there with it at the Ightham Mote Open Farm Sunday on June 11th. You or your friends can also order by emailing me at snow.drops@yahoo.co.uk

Cobnut and Bramley Apple granola-muesli

Things go quiet on the plat now until late August and early September, when the crop will be harvested but do keep in touch. Helping hands will always be welcome in September.