Tŷ CochFarm shop · BonvilstonFarm shop

The calendar

In season this October, and when the rest comes back.

Twenty-four crops from the fields behind the shop and the months they are on the trestles. This page reads the date: what is in the field now is at the top, the calendar below has this month marked, and what starts next month is listed. The shop follows it, which is why there are no strawberries in December and no asparagus in October.

Long rows of leeks, kale and brussels sprouts in a Welsh vegetable field in autumn mist, a wooden crate at the end of a row, rolling hills behind

October

14 crops in the fields now.

Ending this month: Salad leaves, Tomatoes, French and runner beans. Nothing new starts in November; the winter crops carry on.

  • Salad leavesCut-and-come-again from the tunnel
    Last of it this month
  • TomatoesFrom the tunnel; heritage kinds in August
    Last of it this month
  • French and runner beansRunner beans to the first frost
    Last of it this month
  • BeetrootGolden and candy-striped too
  • CarrotsBunched in summer; stored in the barn in sand
  • Onions and shallotsDried in the barn from August
  • Squash and pumpkinsCrown Prince keeps until February
  • Apples and pearsThe orchard; juice pressed in October
  • LeeksThe winter vegetable we sell most of
  • ParsnipsLeft for the first frost, which sweetens them
  • Brussels sproutsOn the stalk at Christmas
  • Kale and cavolo neroBetter after frost
  • CabbagesSomething all year: savoy, January King, hispi in spring
  • Main-crop potatoesStored in the barn; the same price all winter

The year

Twenty-four crops, twelve months.

CropJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Asparagus
Purple sprouting broccoli
Rhubarb
New potatoes
Broad beans
Peas
Strawberries
Raspberries
Salad leaves
Courgettes
Tomatoes
French and runner beans
Sweetcorn
Beetroot
Carrots
Onions and shallots
Squash and pumpkins
Apples and pears
Leeks
Parsnips
Brussels sprouts
Kale and cavolo nero
Cabbages
Main-crop potatoes

In seasonThis month, October

Pick your ownOut of season

Pick-your-own runs in June and July. The field opens in the first week of June 2027, about 224 days away; ready-picked punnets are not on the trestles until then either.

How it works

Why the calendar

A vegetable out of season has travelled.

Everything on the trestles was in a field within twelve miles in the last day or two, and the calendar is what that means in practice. In the hungry gap of April and May the shelves are thinner and the purple sprouting broccoli, the rhubarb and the first asparagus carry the shop; from June it is a flood. The potatoes, onions, carrots and squash are stored in the barn so that the winter is not only leeks, and they cost the same in February as in October.

Build this week’s box from it
Hands pulling a bunch of carrots out of dark soil, a wooden crate of carrots and beetroot beside them

Questions about the seasons

Is the calendar the same every year?

Near enough. A cold spring moves asparagus and strawberries a week or two later; a dry summer ends the beans early. The months here are the usual ones and the shop tells the truth on the day.

Why do you sell things that are not grown here?

We do not, except from the six Vale farms on the shelf: goat's cheese, cider, rapeseed oil, pork, herbs and soft-fruit jam. No bananas, no lemons, no avocados. The café uses lemons, and we confess it.

What is the hungry gap?

April and May, when the winter crops are finished and the summer ones are not ready. It is when the shop is thinnest and the box has the most purple sprouting broccoli; we say so on the boxes page.

This week's box, built in a minute, on the step on Thursday.

Small, medium or large with this week's contents listed, eggs, bread and milk if you want them, and the total before you order. By Tuesday noon; collected from Thursday or delivered Thursday and Friday within eight miles, £3.50, free over £30. No subscription.

Build a boxWhat is in season