A year (and a bit) in the life of a narcissi bulb
We pick and send scented narcissi from October to Easter but to enable that to happen there is quite a lot of farming that has to go on during summer to make sure everything happens as it should.
However not every year is the same. Every fourth year we lift our bulbs, process them and plant them in a different field. This prevents disease and keeps our bulb stock and soil healthy.
YEAR ONE
EASTER
The scented narcissi season comes to an end. The last of the flowers that meet our quality standard are picked and sent, the remaining crop is just left in the field.
MAY
The ridges of soil where the bulbs grow are broken down and the bulbs are lifted out and left on the surface to dry. The odd shower of rain doesn't hurt but persistent downpours at this stage can be problematic.
JUNE
The bulbs are first windrowed into neater rows which allows for further drying and starts the cleaning process. Once they are dry the ‘bulb-picker-upper’ is deployed and bulbs are stored in bins. Next bulbs go through the cleaning line and into net bags. After which the nets of bulbs are sterilised to kill off any bulb disease. Farmers on Scilly swap and trade bulbs to ensure they have the right variety mix for their farm.
JULY AND AUGUST
The cleaned bulbs are planted in ridged rows just like potatoes. The ridges help the soil drain more easily and creates the best conditions for the bulbs to thrive.
SEPTEMBER TO APRIL
For the this first year often sit back and do nothing apart from take nice photos! Often a first-year flower crop won’t be of high enough quality so we don’t pick them for commercial purposes, just for our kitchen table .
AND A BIT
NEXT SUMMER
We cover the fields with polythene and blow smoke underneath to initiate the bulbs. This is done to different fields at different times to stagger the scented narcissi crop through the following winter.
AUGUST
The first new leaves break the soil and the first buds become visible. The picking team will start picking the first scented narcissi in October and if all has gone to plan they'll be picking narcissi through to Easter.