My favourite month at the farm – January

By Tamara Schiopu @aka_mrs_tolhurst

I prefer January. Despite all the “blues”, and storms, and mud, and days shorter than you can notice…

After frantic December veg orders, packing and Christmas shopping, January feels like a long stretch of laziness and relaxation. The fire is kept roaring for most of the day. The crew come thrice a week to my house for coffee and sumptuous biscuits and cakes. I love drying their wet gloves and muddy waterproofs during the morning break. It is a small gesture of gratitude for their toiling in our still fields.

We like having friends over for dinners on long January evenings and I have so-so many vegetables to choose from, I struggle to decide what to cook. Creamy pies, stuffed squashes, roasted rainbows of veg, warm salads, dumplings and broths. And lots of ferments, of course!

Work at the farm is at lowest levels, if such exist. It gives us a chance to dream about better seasons ahead. To “cook-up” fresh marketing twists. To choose the best crops to grow.

We like Veganuary and New Year Resolutions, they bring us new customers and we ought to keep them happy and interested, at least for six months, before we get into our “Bounty” season in summer. January sets the mood and the drive for us at the farm, it refills our energy stores and launches the crew into another busy cropping season ahead.

This excerpt is taken from our recipe book My Vegan Farm Food, by Tamara Schiopu and Samantha Kroes. The book will be published in 2025