The Autumn 2011 No.16

ORGANICThe journal of the Organic GROWER Growers Alliance IN THIS ISSUE The Turning of the Year News...... 3 With autumn just around the corner and the intense activity of the growing season beginning to calm down, this is the time that most Wakelyns Agroforestry open day...9 growers start to reflect on the season so far. Here in the North West we have had a far better growing season than the last four were, and Seasonal reports...... 10 I remember the words of a local farmer to me when I first moved to Pilling some 32 years ago now: as farmers, they expected “one good Interview with Rob Haward...... 12 year in five”. And so, true to form, we have just had a fairly good year and I hope this has been repeated around the country. A conversation Sárvári Research Trust open day...... 14 with growers has highlighted the fact that we have all seen very erratic pollination through till mid July, and have put this down to cold weather Peat-free growing media...... 16 and less insect activity than normal. We all saw poor yields of early broad beans, courgettes and summer squash, as well as poor early pollination of Sciarid flies...... 18 tomatoes and French beans inside polytunnels. This has improved a lot in the last five to six weeks, and as such we are now overrun with plagues of Nature notes: Soil Associations....20 horse flies and wasps. It never rains but it pours. Even our local markets are starting to show some increased activity, and Johnny’s six-row seeder...... 21 although sales are at a level of at least 12 years ago, here in the North West we are beginning to get a little more confidence back that people Docks - keeping them in check...... 22 are ignoring the bad press and seeking out local suppliers. This is a time we should all be promoting ourselves, since the big retailers have Building your own house...... 24 removed a lot of fresh organically grown produce from their shelves and are thus reporting reduced sales (what did they expect?!). Therefore the Simple inexpensive storage...... 28 opportunity exists for us to use our greatest asset, which is our holding, to show by example what we can achieve without the use of agrochemicals. Bees on your holding...... 30 We have open days and a promotional campaign planned for September when people return from their holidays and settle down a bit in their Growing for caterers...... 32 eating habits as the kids go back to school. We have always seen a good response from promotions at this time of year, when locally grown Profile: Glebelands City Growers 33 produce is still in abundance. We have had two committee meetings since the last OG, and the first in Growing raspberries...... 34 early June saw the appointment of the officers of the OGA. I was re-elected as chairman and Debra, who became a full committee member at this Apprenticeship corner...... 36

Agrokruh -growing in circles...... 38

Corporate organics...... 39

Events...... 40

Page 1 - The Organic Grower - No 16 Autumn 2011 year’s AGM, has been re-elected as treasurer. Following on from the continue to come in alongside their subs, so thank you all for your AGM, Pete Dollimore is taking on the role of membership secretary kind words. to ease the workload on Debra and myself, and Roger Hitchings Alan Schofield, Chair OGA has agreed to become general secretary. I see this as a good move and already Roger’s skills as secretary have produced concise, easy to read and action minutes, as well as a document on good governance, which we plan to go through carefully over the coming months to help keep committee work on a well-focused track.

The issues we discuss at committee meetings are varied, but to have a set format for the meetings from now on makes my job as chair so much easier. One issue that we feel important is the collaboration between the Soil Association and Garden Organic on continuing the exploration into small-scale certification. We first came across this as the Open Gate scheme proposed to us at the first Harper Adams conference three years ago. This was heavily criticised at the time by the Farmer and Grower Board at the SA, which called for both certifiers to work together on an alternative. This has now happened and yielded a working document. At our next committee meeting in early September we are meeting with Myles and Margi of Garden Organic to discuss this new proposal further. I will keep you all informed as to the progress of these discussions.

Another topic discussed at committee was the performance and availability of organic seeds and growing media this year, after we had received a few comments on the matter and considerable forum activity; Jonathan Smith put together an online survey to gauge the feelings of growers across the country. We have had some responses so far, but more would be welcome and also be much more representative a sample for us to work on. So if you have not already done so, please take a moment to fill it in – details are on the website. A full report on the survey will be in the next OG.

Following on from Helen Browning’s appointment as the new Come and join us! Soil Association director and her interview in the last OG, we are Join the Organic Growers Alliance and help to build an effective trying to get a meeting with her to discuss horticultural issues. representative organisation for organic horticulture. Benefit With the departure of Phil Stocker (see report on p7), we feel it is your business through increased opportunities for information imperative that the grower community is not forgotten by the SA. exchange and new insights into the craft of growing organically. Phil has been a good friend to growers over the years in his role Enjoy the sense of community that comes from contact with as director of farmer and grower relations, and his replacement other growers! Membership includes entry to all OGA events by an innovations manager (whatever one of those is!) leaves me at cost, subscription to this journal, access to other forms of slightly worried as to whom we can turn to within the charity to communication as they are developed and support from a discuss those matters of importance to growers in the future. recognised representative body in dealing with any regulatory We have been working closely with the SA on the horticultural and bureaucratic problems that may affect your business. symposium, which is in early October in Bristol, as well as with Full membership is open to anyone whose living depends ORC on planning next year’s conference sessions. Discussions on wholly or mainly on commercial organic growing. This includes the latter are still ongoing as we go to press. those employed in practical horticultural research and advice. £25.

Following on from my article in the Ecologist, I was approached Associate membership is available to nongrowers who wish by another freelance writer and gave an interview on the OGA, to support the work of the OGA. It covers the same access to which hopefully will appear in The Smallholder magazine this events and publications, but does not include the right to a vote autumn, as well as a new book being worked upon. in any ballot of members. £25.

We are still attracting new members to the OGA, and although not Student membership - as associate membership. £15. a stampede, a steady interest in what we do is being shown. A lot Join online: www.organicgrowersalliance.co.uk of wonderful comments about both the magazine and the website

Page 2 - The Organic Grower - No 16 Autumn 2011 Market news Latest Defra organic statistics These decisions are subject to European Commission approval and are intended to ensure ongoing support to existing organic The latest National Statistics produced by Defra on the organic farmers; enabling organic producers to make longer term planning farming sector were released on 11th August 2011, for information decisions about the future of their business. gathered during 2010. The key points were: I have instructed my officials to await the publication of the new • The UK total organic land area fell by 3% between 2009 and Rural Development Regulations before submitting proposals to 2010 to 718,000 ha. me for a new organic maintenance fund within Glastir for the next • The vegetables area (including potatoes) has shown a small RDP period (2014 - 2020). I would expect details of these proposed decrease for the second year running of 5% to 18,000 ha. new arrangements to be available for discussion with the organic sector towards the end of this year.” • For the second year running, the number of organic producer / processors in the UK has shown a slight decrease (4%) to Spain: Organic area growing 7,300 at the end of 2010 which is in line with the reduction One and a half million hectares are under organic agricultural in the total area of organic land. All the UK’s regions have management in Spain and the minister has announced a new shown decreases with Northern Ireland experiencing the action plan for organic food and farming. The organic area largest percentage drop of 14%, and the North West showing continued to grow in 2010 and constituted almost 1.7 million ha the largest percentage drop in England for the second year at the end of the year, an increase of 4% compared with 2009. A running of 5%. large part of the organic area is in Andalucia (0.9 million ha). Of • Fresh vegetables occupied 13.3% of organic land area in the the total organic area, 1.5 million ha were agricultural land, the UK in June 2010 (121,000 ha). 85% of this was in England remainder being forests and wild collection areas. Six percent of (103,000 ha). Potatoes occupied 1.3% of UK organic land the agricultural land is now organic. More than 1.1 million ha are (138,000 ha). 34,000 ha of fruit and nuts were grown on 6.6% fully converted, and as in 2010, Spain was the country with the of the organic land area. largest organic agricultural area in Europe. Most of the agricultural

Keith Abel of Abel & Cole was quoted in the Guardian as saying land is permanent grassland/grazing constituting almost 60% of that he expects a 40% increase in sales this year. He attributes this the organic agricultural land, followed by permanent crops (just to the same reason he believes organic sales have fallen overall - under 20%) and arable land. because the big supermarkets have taken organic products off the The key crops or crop groups are: cereals 166,000 ha, olives 126,000 shelves to make room for cheaper non-organic goods. “It is a self- ha and nuts 90,000 ha. The number of organic producers increased fulfilling prophecy: they take them off the shelves, and they sell by 10% and is now at 27,877; there are 2,747 processors (+ 11% less,” he said. “But that’s great news for me.” compared with 2009). Welsh support for organic farming Together with the presentation of the new figures, the Minister of Agriculture Ms Rosa Aguilar announced a new action plan The Glastir Independent Review Group recommended that organic for organic food and farming, following Spain’s first action farmers in Wales should no longer be eligible for the 50% points plan for 2007-2010. discount for entry into the Glastir All Wales Element but should have access to an organic maintenance fund within the scheme. Germany: Organic farming Alun Davies, Deputy Minister for Agriculture announced at the end continues to grow of July that he is committed to implementing this recommendation and to ensuring a sustainable organic sector in Wales. According to the German Ministry for Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection (www.BMELV.de), organic farming in “My officials are supporting organic farmers attending Glastir Germany once again achieved solid growth rates in 2010. With an surgeries to amend their applications to allow entry into the increase in the organically farmed land of 4.6% (2009: + 4.3%:), the scheme following the removal of the points discount. I have also number of agricultural holdings practising organic farming also listened closely to organic sector representatives and following rose by 4.3% (2009: + 6.2%). advice from officials have decided to offer extensions to existing Organic Farming Scheme agreement holders to cover the period By the end of 2010, there were 21,942 organic holdings, a rise from the end of their current contracts up to the end of Rural of 895 in 2009, and a total of 990,702 ha of agricultural land, an Development Plan (RDP) period of 31 Dec 2013. increase of 43,588 ha. The percentage of agricultural holdings practising organic farming rose to 7.3% in 2010 (5.6% in 2009) I have also decided there will be a further application window for while the percentage of agricultural land farmed organically went the Organic Farming Conversion Scheme later this year and in 2012. up to 5.9%, from 5.6% in the previous year. The solid growth

Page 3 - The Organic Grower - No 16 Autumn 2011 Market / business news rates of previous years for organic farming were confirmed, Be organic and proud: new sign for both for agricultural holdings practising organic farming and for agricultural land managed in accordance with the provisions of Welsh organic land the EU Regulation on Organic Farming. Wales’ first sign informing walkers and tourists when the land under their feet is The number of processing companies in the organic sector also organic has been launched. During The increased compared with the previous year. A total of 7,703 Royal Welsh Show, The Better Organic companies processing organic products in 2010 is an increase of 4.5% Business Links Project (BOBL) introduced in 2009. While the number of importers was roughly at the previous their new bi-lingual ‘Tir Organig’ signs. year’s level, the number of companies that both process and import Available free to certified organic farms in Wales, organic products rose by 6.7% compared with the previous year. the new signs can be used on fences, stiles or stones The number of pure trading enterprises increased by 8%. wherever footpaths cross or run alongside organic land. In 2010, there were a total of 32,714 operators, which included Mari Jones of the BOBL Project said: “We are extremely producers, processors, and importers in the organic sector. These pleased to be launching the new ‘Tir Organig’ signs. They operations are controlled in accordance with the strict provisions offer farmers a way to showcase their organic land to members of the EU Regulation on Organic Farming by the inspection bodies of the public and tourists. With a significant amount of for organic products authorised by the state and supervised by the farmland in Wales being organic, we hope to see significant federal states. Apart from these controls, which are conducted at uptake of the free signs to honour this achievement.” least once a year, additional risk-based controls and random spot checks are also carried out. Certified organic farms can order their free ‘Tir Organig’ signs Boxfresh-Flights taken over by by contacting the BOBL project on [email protected] and 01970 622248 Riverford Riverford Organic has bought the UK’s third largest box scheme operator, Herefordshire-based Boxfresh Organics and its Preventing fruit and vegetable wholesale arm, Flights Orchard Organics. This will add 4,000 waste in the supply chain deliveries a week to Riverford’s estimated 42,000, boosting This research, undertaken by IGD, the food and grocery experts Riverford’s estimated £44m turnover by 10%. Following the tragic and Cranfield University on behalf of WRAP, highlights the extent death of Boxfresh director Mike Hamilton in May, Mike’s widow to which fresh fruit and vegetables are wasted or lost in the UK’s Vicky and fellow director Des Walker announced that they would food supply chain. It is estimated that about £400-£500 million be bowing out at the end of September and Riverford would be could be saved through commercial improvements based on the taking over the delivery of their boxes. recommendations outlined in this report. Riverford MD Jack Slatter said “We are a good fit with Boxfresh This study was conducted to quantify the level of loss and waste customers, and in areas where we already operate, it eliminates a of fruit and vegetables through the retail and wholesale supply competitor and doubles our wholesale business.” The acquisition chain, before they reach consumers. price for the box delivery part of the business will be based on an earn-out arrangement under which Riverford will pay an Eleven fresh produce types were selected based on their undisclosed amount for each customer who transfers from consumption levels, post-harvest physiology and management. Boxfresh to Riverford. The wholesale business was bought for an The chosen eleven products were strawberries, raspberries, undisclosed sum. The agreement means that some staff will be tomatoes, lettuce, apples, onions, potatoes, cabbage, turnip, citrus, retained at the Ledbury packing shed and local growers will still avocados and bananas, these categories being representative of have an outlet for their produce. Upper House Fruit Farm will be fresh produce consumed in the UK. The research focused on UK retained by the former owners of Boxfresh, Vicky Hamilton, Des grown products in the retail and wholesale supply chains from Walker and Debra Reece who will continue to supply Riverford the field to final retail customer. with organic apples, plums and pears. By identifying how, where and why the products are wasted, these Read an interview with Rob Haward who will take over from Jack Slatter as resource maps have enabled the identification of where technology Riverford MD on page 12 and better management practices can develop more resource efficient strategies within the fresh fruit and vegetable sector.

Page 4 - The Organic Grower - No 16 Autumn 2011 Research news

Soil carbon storage after grass- Bio-fuel crops compete with clover leys wildflowers for bees A laboratory incubation study in Denmark with grass-clover Pollination of intensively farmed, flowering crops could affect the ley soils of six different ages (0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 16 production pollination of wild plants in neighbouring fields, according to a years) was carried out to determine initial soil carbon (C) and study by German researchers. In their short, one-year study, they nitrogen (N) stocks and their effects on initial greenhouse gas found fewer bees visited wild plants that are close to oilseed rape

(GHG) emissions (N2O and CO2) following incorporation of the fields. Although the long-term picture is less clear, the researchers soil from grass-clover leys. Compared to the soil from the recently warn that increasing cultivation of bio-fuel crops could possibly established ley, a significant increase of total soil C and N was reduce wild flower populations. observed after two years, which generally increased with ley Bees pollinate both wild flowers and crop plants, providing age. GHG emissions were not significantly different among the invaluable ecosystem services to agriculture and biodiversity. soils from younger leys (0-5 years), but N O emissions increased 2 The decline of bee populations in recent years is well publicised, markedly in the soil from 16-year old grass-clover. This might but this could have negative consequences for the environment be due to an early carbon limitation occurring in the soils from and food security. However, biodiversity is also threatened by younger leys, which was also corroborated by decreasing levels of flowering crop plants, which in some cases are more attractive to cold-water extractable carbon and early shifts within the microbial bees than wild flowers. In a field of oilseed rape, a bee can visit community. However, higher emissions from the older ley soils 2,000 flowers in an hour, simply because the flowers grow so were offset by their increase in total soil C. densely, whereas in a neighbouring field of wild plants, there will This indicates that the longer ley phase lasting at least for two be fewer plants that are more spread out. production years, may be beneficial in terms of overall carbon There are conflicting theories about how crop plants affect their wild sequestration in systems with temporary grass-clover swards. neighbours. From one perspective, bees could be drawn from the http://orgprints.org/18978/ wild flowers by the more attractive crop flowers, resulting in reduced pollination of wild plants. However, from the other perspective, wild plants growing very close to crops could actually benefit from large bee populations in the area, as they may also visit adjacent wild flowers.

The researchers, partly-funded under the EU STEP2 project, measured the effects of increasing proportions of oilseed rape on 67 agricultural land and grassland sites in Lower-Saxony, Germany. Their results revealed that when a larger proportion of an area is planted with oilseed rape, the total number of bumblebees per oilseed rape field, and number of different species of bees per field, is markedly lower.

The researchers also found that wild cowslips, which rely on bees for pollination, produced fewer seeds when they were in areas containing lots of crop plants. The average number of seeds produced by cowslip flowers decreased by a fifth in areas where 15% of land within a kilometre radius was planted with oilseed rape, compared to land where no oilseed rape was planted.

The study indicates that careful land planning and wildflower conservation is needed to avoid the decline of wild flowers in agricultural areas planted with bio-fuel crops. However, the researchers highlight the results of other studies, which have shown that in the long term, flowering crops can improve pollination across a large area. They also suggest that the picture is more complex than it might at first appear. Even if wild plant populations are negatively affected over the course of one year, an increase in bee populations thanks to neighbouring crop plants could benefit the wild plants the following year.

Page 5 - The Organic Grower - No 16 Autumn 2011 Research news

Beetles role in reducing weeds Given that the green dock beetle prefers broadleaved dock as a host and will attack other plants, they could not be considered a biological Researchers funded by the UK Biotechnology and Biological control agent for Japanese knotweed. However, if they are attacking Sciences Research Council and the French Institut National de la the plants, they’ll certainly be doing more harm than good. Recherche Agronomique (INRA) have found that ground beetles In 2010, following a rigorous six year laboratory-based research reduce the amount of weed seeds in the soil. programme, Defra licensed the release, to selected sites in England Dr David Bohan, Rothamsted Research, who led the research, and Wales, of Japanese knotweed psyllid. This is a tiny, sap- said “Seed predation by naturally occurring beetles in farmland sucking jumping plant louse, which attacks Japanese knotweed does have a beneficial effect, reducing weed numbers in in its native area of Japan and other areas in South East Asia, and fields and potentially improving agricultural productivity.” is host specific and not attacking any other plants. The extensive research was required to identify potential control agents and The study, published in the August edition of the Journal of ensure they did not pose any threat to our native plants and Applied Ecology, used data from 257 conventionally managed wildlife, and the psyllid was identified as fulfilling all the criteria. fields throughout the UK to determine the effect that ground There was a further release at additional sites in 2011 and the beetles have on the number of weed seeds in the soil of sugar psyllid is expected to spread to other areas naturally. It will not beet, maize, as well as spring and winter oilseed rape fields. eradicate Japanese knotweed but could render it less aggressively invasive, thereby reducing the problem. The researchers found that grass weeds were reduced more than There is a short, but more formal report with links to the other weeds. Ground beetles appear to eat a significant proportion research and other information on the Rural Enterprise Solutions of the weed seeds that would otherwise go into the soil. With the website: http://www.ruralenterprisesolutions.co.uk/content/ right management, ground beetles could be used to significantly industryreports/viewitem.aspx?artID=9408 reduce weed populations. ‘Beetle banks’, which involve leaving an area of a field as a wildlife habitat, are already supported under Rhizobacteria in manure for growth the Environmental Stewardship schemes available to farmers. promotion Professor Douglas Kell, Chief Executive, BBSRC said “This project This study by researchers at the Atatürk University in Turkey shows that the balance of farm ecosystems can be vital to ensuring looked at the effects of inoculating manure with rhizobial sustainability in farming in the future. It also makes the link bacteria on the growth of broccoli. The project investigated between biodiversity and food security very clear.” the effects of root inoculations with Bacillus cereus (N-fixing), Brevibacillus reuszeri (P-solubilizing), and Rhizobium rubi (both Natural control of Japanese N-fixing and P-solubilising) on plant growth, nutrient uptake, Knotweed and yield of broccoli in comparison with manure (control) and mineral fertilizer application under field conditions in 2009 Rural Enterprise Solutions, based at the and 2010. Bacterial inoculations with manure significantly University of Plymouth, have been looking into increased yield, plant weight, head diameter, chlorophyll the natural control of Japanese Knotweed. The content, nitrogen (N), potassium (K), calcium (Ca), sulphur question was put to them by Martin Howard (S), phosphorus (P), magnesium (Mg), iron (Fe), manganese of the Tamar Valley Organic group who (Mn), zinc (Zn), and copper (Cu) content of broccoli, compared mentioned that green dock beetles had been with the control. The lowest yield per plant, plant weight, spotted munching their way through Japanese stem diameter, and chlorophyll content were recorded in the Organic knotweed on a farm in Cornwall. control, but the manure with Bacillus cereus (BC), Rhizobium Are green dock beetles a good candidate for Garden

rubi (RR), and Brevibacillus reuszeri (BR) inoculations increased biological control of Japanese knotweed? The yield 17.0%, 20.2%, and 24.3% and chlorophyll content by Photo: normal hosts for these beetles are docks and 14.7%, 14.0%, and 13.7% over control, respectively. Bacterial sorrels, particularly broadleaved dock. They do attack other plants inoculations with manure significantly increased uptake of but only in a few plant families and it’s not clear if green dock beetles macronutrients and micronutrients by broccoli. lay their eggs on Japanese knotweed or, if they do, whether the larvae The researchers concluded that seedling inoculation with BR and fully develop to produce future generations. Japanese knotweed and especially RR could be a partial substitute for costly synthetic docks are in the same plant family and green dock beetles do feed on fertilizers in broccoli production. (Hort Science). Japanese knotweed, but only when beetle numbers are high and all docks and sorrels have been eaten.

Page 6 - The Organic Grower - No 16 Autumn 2011 Movers and shakers

Phil Stocker leaves Soil Association Phil Morley has worked at a senior level in UK and European horticulture for the past 15 years. A graduate of the University of Phil Stocker is to leave the Soil Association after 14 years Leeds, Phil has a background in agronomy and organic farming to take up the exciting and challenging role of CEO at and was keen to apply his passion for organic production to the the National Sheep Association (NSA). Helen Browning challenges of commercial horticulture. Originally employed by echoed the thoughts of many when she said “It is hard to UK tomato producer Wight Salads, he developed the then nascent contemplate a Soil Association without Phil Stocker. He has world of large-scale organic production in glasshouses. lead our farmer and grower work with an extraordinary mix of He helped Wight Salads to become the largest independent knowledge, unfaltering diplomacy and focussed endeavour. organic tomato producer in the EU, operating nurseries in the Although his skills and knowledge will be hard to replace I am so UK, Spain and Portugal. He has participated in organic standards pleased that Phil has such an interesting leadership opportunity development from an industry perspective for the past 12 years ahead of him. The NSA is very lucky to have secured him and is now a member of the Soil Association Horticultural and I know that he will be a huge success in that role. Having Standards Committee as well as participating on several other worked so closely myself with Phil over the years, I will miss him industry and research forums. personally very much indeed. His counsel is always sound, his temperament unflappable and his sharp wit always to the ready.” Through his role as Head Technical Agronomist at Wight Salads, Phil has also worked with many of the major UK multiple retailers Phil said: "After 14 years working for the Soil Association, the and has an excellent understanding of technical, growing and decision to leave and take up the post of Chief Executive of the organic pack house operations in the fresh produce industry. National Sheep Association brings many emotions. Sadness Over the past decade, Phil has taken part in leading and co- borne of leaving such a passionate, enthusiastic and forward ordinating over £800,000 of Horticultural Development Council looking organisation, even greater sadness of moving on from funded research. These projects have included some ground- the relationships built with many farmers and growers who breaking work recently completed in insect pest management and are part of our movement. But the honour and excitement that soil biology in organic situations. comes from taking on such an important and influential post Commenting on his appointment, Phil said: “I have been within the NSA is immense and I have no doubt that it will involved with large scale organic commercial horticulture for result in many of my existing relationships being continued - over 15 years, developing novel and sustainable systems from both with farmers and the Soil Association. I also take much an agronomic, research and innovation perspective. During this satisfaction from knowing that I will leave the Soil Association time I have also worked closely with many of the UK’s largest in very good heart, with a commitment to its farmer and retailers. It is this practical applied approach to business together grower members fully embedded in all its work, and with a with an understanding of retailers and marketing which I hope very bright future for all those involved in organic production." will bring significant value to Soil Association producers in

my new role as a member of the Soil Association Business Helen also said that they have decided to hold back on immediately Development team. I am very much looking forward to meeting replacing Phil until they know the skill set of the successful applicant up with producers and retailers in this new context and together for this post. The Soil Association is currently finalising its new I am sure we can make a real difference to the ongoing success of strategy, approach and structure. They are also recruiting for a new the organic fresh produce market.” post of Director of Innovation, and once that person is in place “We will have a clear idea of the skills and knowledge required to allow Farmer & Grower Board us to recruit for a suitable replacement.” Phil will remain at the The Soil Association is seeking nominations from individuals Soil Association until the middle of November and after that time who are interested in joining the farmer and grower board. Helen will help to fill any gaps in farmers and growers relations. They are seeking representative from all types of farming and growing businesses from all over the UK. You can nominate Phil Morley joins Soil Association anyone regardless of organic certification body, although nominees must be current producer members of the Soil Soil Association Certification has announced the appointment of Association. At present growers are represented by Alan Dr Phil Morley as Fresh Produce Trade Consultant. They say that Schofield, Ian Noble (Riverford), Alan Smith (Sunnyhayes fruit this is part of Soil Association Certification’s ongoing commitment farm) and Pete Richardson (Coleshill). to provide the best possible technical and industry knowledge to ensure both the integrity of organic products and to support the Forms are available on the SA website and must be completed and development and growth of the organic market. returned by 30th September 2011.

Page 7 - The Organic Grower - No 16 Autumn 2011 Other news New bio-insecticide gets approval Introducing CAFS Met52 Granular bio-insectide, a new biological insecticide from Coventry University has joined forces with Garden Organic, to Fargro has recently gained Off Label approval for use on leafy form a new academic research institute to support and promote vegetables and brassicas. Launched in February, it was initially sustainable, healthy farming and food systems in both highly approved for the control of vine weevil on ornamentals and a industrialised and less industrialised parts of the world. wide range of fruit crops, in open field, substrate and container The Centre for Agroecology and Food Security (CAFS) crops. It is based on Metarhizium anisopliase var anisopliae strain F52 will combine the expertise of the University’s Sustainable from Novazymes. It has also gained a SOLA (Specific Off Label Agriculture and Food Applied Research Group (SAFARG) with Approval) for the control of cabbage root fly in brassicas and Garden Organic’s extensive, international network of farming lettuce root aphid in leafy vegetables. The manufacturers say that organisations to deliver and share best practices in sustainable it has been extensively researched in Britain, Europe and North agriculture all over the world. America and trials have demonstrated long term control for up to 2 years. They also say that it is viable over a wide temperature Based in both the West Midlands and in London, CAFS brings range and that the development of resistance to it is unlikely. together social and natural scientists with over 30 years of international research experience in Europe, Africa, South

America and Asia to engage in both practical research and policy ORC Participatory Research & developments. CAFS will work on the following research themes: Demonstration Network launched • Agri-Culture and Food Democracy: to explore cultural and political dimensions of food production, food security and The Organic Research Centre’s (ORC) Participatory Research & food sovereignty. Demonstration Network was launched at Abbey Home Farm on the 21st July. Dr Bruce Pearce, ORC’s Senior Programme • Stabilisation Agriculture: to enhance the ecological and social Manager, who will coordinate the network, said: “Over the past resilience of agriculture to withstand and respond to natural 30 years we have aimed to put the farmer and producer at the and human-induced disasters. heart of our research and advisory work. This network has been • Transition and Transformation Technologies: to develop established to further improve our engagement with the industry technologies that ensure food nutritional security and and strengthen these links”. ecosystem health.

Mark Measures, who will also work with the network added • Fair Routes to Market: to enable innovative approaches “There are particular benefits for producers within the network. to allow access to the products of sustainable agriculture. We want to work with them to find solutions to running a more The ultimate aim of the new applied research centre is to undertake successful organic farm and to ensure that our research is relevant relevant, pioneering research to influence policy and ensure and focused on their needs” that methods of food production and supply are sustainable This event was attended by thirty organic producers, advisors and and socially just, particularly in parts of the world with difficult scientists. Bruce Pearce introduced the day, giving the reasons and political and economic conditions. aims for the network’s establishment and then gave his experiences from the scientist’s point of view, of undertaking participatory The Commons of Soil research. This was followed by a talk from John Newman, farm A new book The Commons manager of Abbey Home Farm who has engaged in a range of of Soil by OGA member research projects over many years, and there was reassuring Patrick Noble has now been agreement between the two of them. A workshop, facilitated by published. It is available to Mark Measures, included an outline of research needed to improve order from any bookshop or organic systems enabling the running of a more successful organic direct from Patrick. farm. These ideas were then illustrated by a tour of the farm where producers spoke about their experiences of research, what they 01745 540207 have gained by it and what their future needs might be. [email protected]

The network is currently working with producers that it has More info at: worked with over many years but if others would like to www.bryncocynorganic.co.uk join or would like further information visit the ORC website: at tinyurl.com/3vbm3ep

Page 8 - The Organic Grower - No 16 Autumn 2011 Wakelyns Agroforestry Open Day - June

For the past few years, staff at Organic Centre Wales have almost been to the open day at Wakelyns Agroforestry. We think about it and then suddenly remember that it’s right in the middle of the busiest time of year (June 22nd), and that Suffolk is a very long way Little from Aberystwyth. But this time it was different. This year our

director had a sudden rush of blood to the head and said ‘Let’s just Tony go’. So we all piled into the car before she could change her mind… Photo: Wakelyns Agroforestry is an organic research farm in There was also quite a strong horticultural element to the day. Fressingfield, Suffolk, part of the Organic Research Centre, Elm Grahame Hughes, from Hughes Organics in Norfolk gave us an Farm. It is a truly remarkable place, both for what it is and the organic grower’s view, coping with the dry, and more recently, context within which it sits. For me, the day was a master class on as I read from his blog, the wet as well! One of the responses to the importance of diversity, exemplified by the ‘cropping alley’ changing weather patterns that Steve Dorling of UEA proposed system; rows of trees separated by cropping alleys which are a earlier in the day was to breed crop varieties with a longer six year rotation of potatoes, short-term clover leys, cereals and growing season, for example purple sprouting broccoli (PSB) that then back into a clover ley. The trees help the crops by building crops through the summer. This sparked an interesting debate on soil organic matter through the roots and leaf litter, increasing whether, from a marketing point of view, this was a good move nutrient cycling and improving water holding capacity, which as PSB is such a seasonal crop. The farm walk was for me the most is something we have come to realise the importance of this interesting bit of the day. I had long heard about the cropping year! The trees themselves produce timber, biomass energy and alley system, and it was exciting to see it and understand how fruit and nuts, while providing shelter and habitat for wildlife, the system meshed together. I was also particularly interested in from micro organisms to birds and mammals. For their part, Martin Wolfe’s work on population breeding. The idea here, which the crops help the trees in reducing tree-to-tree competition is the exact opposite of conventional breeding programmes, is and increasing productivity per tree. that every plant is different from each other and the environment selects those which are most suited to that particular farm. This It is all the more striking because Wakelyns is surrounded by cereal is a very organic approach, and entirely consistent with the way crops. Coming from Wales, I felt like I was travelling through a food production needs to move in the coming years, but currently vast featureless ocean so that when my colleague confessed to a illegal under seed legislation. A small but neat illustration of the fantasy about swimming through wheat, it made a weird kind kind of barriers we face. of sense. In a place where diversity means growing oil seed rape every now and then, Wakelyns stands out like an oasis. And it was in this frame of mind that I left Wakelyns. A little wiser on the technical front, but for me, the main benefit was a The day itself was in two parts; presentations in the morning from renewal of my commitment to getting the organic message across. staff at the University of East Anglia (UEA) together with other We all acknowledge the problems; we all know we are running farmers and growers, and in the afternoon a farm walk, led by out of time to solve them so why, when organic farming systems Prof.Martin Wolfe. The presentations covered a range of topics, provide so many of the answers, is it so overlooked? We’ve taken including a project to promote more environmentally sensitive huge steps over the last fifteen years or so to bring the horse to farming practices in the catchment area of the river Wensum. Other water – now we need to make it drink! presentations included ‘weather and climate challenges’, currently very topical as the regions was grappling with a drought, and Tony Little ‘future land use change in the east of England.

This article isn’t a detailed account of the event, but I was struck, yet again, by the huge contribution that organic farming can make to so many of the issues we discussed. It seems perverse, for example, that whilst we are concerned about peak phosphate, others are Growers of a wide selection of fruit trees on various root stocks quite literally chucking it down the river and wondering how to cope with the consequences. Time and again, the importance of soil organic matter came through, in relation to water holding capacity, reduced leaching, soil structure and soil biology. In an FruitTContact us for a detailed catalogue and availability.rees area where soil organic matter is declining alarmingly from an 01905 841587 Lower Walcot Farm, Walcot Lane, already low base, organic approaches have a vital role to play. Drakes Broughton, Pershore, Worcs WR10 2AL SOILASSOCIATION www.walcotnursery.co.uk LICENCE No. G5594

Page 9 - The Organic Grower - No 16 Autumn 2011 How’s the season going so far? A challenging season! much veg? They still have to eat!! Box scheme is healthy and a good waiting list exists. Granted we don’t have the influence of the larger Dr Wendy Seel regional/national box schemes here but this trend is healthy.

Vital Veg, Aberdeenshire (see grower profile OG15) Thinking slightly wider I am concerned about the impact Thankfully the snow, though deep, did not hang around as that further economic crises will have on the market and our late as last year so we could prepare the ground in good time. businesses. It would perhaps be prudent to collectively work out Unfortunately we then lost the advantage by losing a lot of our our responses to such events. Competition from other organic earliest crops due to problems with Fertile Fibre. A blazing April businesses I don’t think will be the issue, there will be much bigger had me wishing we had irrigation for the field veg.... but as they concerns and “expensive” organic produce could be out of the say, be careful what you wish for! We have subsequently had question for many people. I’m no expert and the impacts of severe cold, dark and wet days for much of the summer, which has recession can be wide ranging and complex, but we really should left many of the crops looking a bit starved and rather small. be looking at this very seriously. I don’t see much leadership from Yields for calabrese, romanesco and cauliflower are down by at anyone in the organic movement on this issue currently. least 30% as a result. The courgettes are almost non-existent, and everything else is very slow. The constant rain has made Mostly a good year so far weeding painful, and topping the blighty potatoes difficult. At Ben Raskin, Somerset least the leeks (which got the lions share of the muck) are looking well, the beetroots are good and the cabbages will have heads! Despite the regular rain, our very light soil and insufficient Talking to the handful of other growers around here, slow, watering system mean that one or two crops have had problems, stunted crops seem to be a common theme for 2011. Hopefully noticeably certain brassicas and fennel. Potatoes are great, with growers elsewhere have fared better! very high yields. Oversized tubers might be a problem in some varieties (be careful what you wish for). Salad crops have done well, and root crops looking really good. Leek moth has already Scilly season come in with a vengeance - we are using pheromone traps to monitor levels and meshing the entire crop. Might even try and Jonathan Smith, Scilly Organics harvest a few of the larger ones before they get properly hit. After a desperately dry first half If we can get a decent bit of sun in late August / September we of the year, the rain in the second will be very happy. week of June was a real business- saver. Outdoor lettuce was probably five weeks behind due to lack of Red Kuri squash 27/7/2011 First season so all very scary… moisture, but within just two days everything looked so much better and had grown noticeably within Kate Collyns - Grown Green @ Hartley Farm, Wilts a week. Carrots have been the best crop I’ve ever had, second early I have found that the restaurants and pubs I tried in late and maincrop potatoes have been good, peas and beans good, spring are now keen to take produce, especially beetroot, tomatoes good, cucumbers disappointing, squash disappointing beans and chard… but now weeds are a huge problem after (but still time yet), beetroot good, onions good, garlic a disaster! the weed-perfect mixture of rain and sun in Wilts. The carrots Winter brassicas are looking pretty good so far. and parsnips are desperate for another weed; brassicas are Top fruit seems to be very early and of good quality - interesting struggling on against the redshank but weirdly looking pretty that the perennials seem to have thrived on a cold winter and dry good once revealed; cucumbers and tomatoes going mad (and spring. Looking at the monthly weather outlook it looks unsettled, breaking their wires with the weight); machinery also breaking and very interesting that this unsettled pattern has largely just when it’s most needed; herbs not as in demand as I’d have persisted (down here at least) for the past couple of months. After liked, but chefs are liking dill and chives, and demanding flat such a long spell of high pressure earlier in the year I guess that’s parsley. Earliest courgettes, squash and runner beans have not surprising, but the seasonal changes are getting difficult to stayed almost motionless in the soil, and been overtaken by plan, let alone predict or rely on. their later-sown relatives. Covered in weeds though, despite good covering of trefoil underneath. Transplanted sweetcorn Market wise, tourists - who make up most of our summer business is ok but not as tall as it should be; also undersown, now being seem to be buying plenty of veg, though daily variations never fail overtaken by sow thistles and fat hen. Too much to do. And to surprise me. Just because it’s raining why do people stop buying did I mention the weed problem?

Page 10 - The Organic Grower - No 16 Autumn 2011 Norfolk and rain Final year celery Sam Eglington, Norfolk Phil Sumption, Cotesbach, Leicestershire

It was three days after the drought It seems I chose the wrong year to have another go at growing had been officially declared and four celery! This has been the driest season since I started growing days after the first decent rain had in the walled garden at Cotesbach in 2003. It only seems to been forecast that the weather finally rain when I attempt a day off at the cricket! While other places broke, I can’t help wondering if they have had it the thunderstorms have largely spared this corner had declared the drought sooner of Leicestershire. In my first year I tried some celery – surplus would it have ended sooner. The plants from a NIAB variety trial – and despite constant watering, rains have been very regular since something I am reluctant to do outside the tunnel, they never with a few heavy thunder storms; one of which left the landlord’s made a marketable crop. With lots of compost and organic combine stranded when the field turned to porridge before he matter incorporated since then, and a feeling that the soil water- could get off! All this rain has brought my crops on well the second holding capacity had improved, I thought it time to try again. early potatoes are a good crop the broad beans and alliums filled Well they have grown better than in 2003 despite less water, but out well, and the Brussels sprouts are on course to be the best crop they are still only going to be fit for soup! I’ve grown in years. The worst drought in living memory seems like Some crops have been good, the early potatoes, despite the dry a distant memory the weather girl has gone back to saying risk of spring, received rainfall at just the right time to bulk up and showers not chance of showers, somebody was even heard to say yielded well. Seed crops of broad and runner beans have been “Never been a summer just a bit a hot weather at Easter and that was thriving. Other crops like sweetcorn and squashes have been it” One valuable thing to come out of it has been that arable farmers wilting. Even some of my gallant soldiers have been wilting! who use animal manures have noticed the difference in their crops. Despite some welcome mid-summer rain the level of my well With light land seeing yield losses of 60% organic methods will start continued to drop and I am now pumping less than a third of to look a lot more attractive. ‘normal’ before the well runs dry. This means less water to the tunnels than I would have liked and red spider mite running Postcard From The Seaside riot. Some very flavourful tomatoes though! The market has been Adam York/Lesley Bryson, Gardd Farchnad Glebelands tough, sales through the farmers market have been holding up, but shop sales are continuing to decline, with competition from We started on our new site in earnest this Spring, handy main rd a nearby Waitrose. The supermarkets seem to be thriving in the but aspect to the north and scary low pH. Eventually the lime was recession, spreading like wild-fire, with Lutterworth set to get its on and manure stacked but time was tight due to the Octopus third supermarket, a new Tesco, soon. Two years ago there was wrestle that is planning. West Wales has a misleading reputation only one. Some tough decisions may be needed soon! for gloom (not the people....) and rain whereas coastal areas are nothing of the sort. The tourist marketing bods don’t seem to have noticed. The Spring drought was OK due to modest crop volumes and accessible water. Crops got away fine.

Our game plan of providing a strong regional offer is off the ground but the GROWERS AND SUPPLIERS OF ORGANIC gaps in that supply are already apparent, SEED POTATOES & GARLIC/ONION SETS and difficult to convey to customers who RADAR Onion sets for September/October planting. Radar has a proven just want their Onions/Carrots/Pots at track record and produces high quality onions for green top lifting in May/ June or mature bulbs from July. Can be stored up to December/January reasonable price now. Regional difference VALLELADO Garlic for October to November planting. For best results plant into a deep fertile fi rm bed and keep damp for early establishment with urban Manchester is manifested in before winter to ensure large attractive bulbs by end June/July. Please order by 22nd August to avoid higher delivery costs. strong demand for Runner Beans and POTATOES Plums while in-comer and old school AMOROSA • ATHLETE • COSMOS • DESIREE • MADELEINE • MARFONA • MARIS BARD • MARIS PEER • MILVA customers also contrast. Tescos dominate NICOLA • NOVELLA • PENTLAND JAVELIN • PREMIERE ROMANO • SANTE • TOLUCA • VALOR the local catchment the challenge is to ONIONS & GARLIC SETS RADAR • STURON • JETSET • CENTURION • RED BARON • KAMAL remove a few slices of their trade, and SHALLOT: RED SUN • GARLIC: FLAVOR/VALLELADO keep reminding other independents of STRICTLY SUBJECT TO AVAILABILITY Contact Laurence Hasson for details/price list that goal. Our Welsh progresses from 01823 401500 / 07775 938472 [email protected] zero to some, support from the traditional www.organicpotatoes.co.uk families of the area has been great. Bioselect UK is a wholly owned subsidiary of Agrico UK Ltd, Castleton of Eassie, Forfar, Angus DD8 1SJ

Page 11 - The Organic Grower - No 16 Autumn 2011

OF_SUM11_Biolselect.indd 34 01/07/2011 11:54 Interview with Rob Haward Rob Haward studied agriculture and then worked in East Africa for a short period. He joined the Soil Association in 1998 for seven years, mainly with responsibility for horticulture before joining Riverford Organic. Initially, he worked on one of the first ‘sister’ farms outside Devon and for three years was the general manager there. He was promoted to Riverford’s Operations Director in 2008 and will take over as Managing Director from Jack Slatter on 1st September 2011.

2. How are Riverford franchisees holding up in tougher catchment areas, for example where a Sainsburys store, a good farmshop or rival local grower scheme come together. Which of these do you see as your main competitors in the marketplace? Phil Sumption

We have grown by 2.5% in the last financial year, so against a backdrop of a much tougher market, we are quite pleased. Some areas have struggled more than others. London has continued to be buoyant while the Midlands struggled as soon as the recession began. The main challenge for us has been the economic conditions facing the public and the resulting lack of media interest in organic food. This is more important than specific competitors. Organic However, the supermarkets are more of a threat to us than rival local box schemes or farm shops, but we also consider this Riverford competition to have potential. Less than one in 200 houses in England buy a veg box, so there are still enormous opportunities. Photo: The task for us is to find ways of talking to the other 99.5% about 1. How easy or not has it been to find farm businesses or why buying a veg box is great. Where we manage to do this, families to build the original regional expansion vision we regularly find that there is still a huge appetite to avoid the around? Are further new centres likely or feasible? Adam York supermarkets, especially when consumers wish to buy food with Our experience has been very varied but the key things we look more regional provenance and sound ethics. If Riverford should for in strong partnership relationships are good growing skills, be the first port of call in a consumer’s journey away from the shared principles and values and a sense of humour. Without supermarket, leading them ultimately to a smaller, very local this it is difficult to build a relationship of mutual trust with the scheme then I would regard this as a job well done. growers with whom we are working. In some areas it’s quite easy 3. I am a satisfied customer of Riverford and think to find producers who share our view of the world, in the North quality and service are excellent, but do you feel that of England for example, our relationship with Peter Richardson’s the claim on the box that the produce is from “my local family farming operation is a match made in heaven. On the other farm” is entirely honest? My wife took it to mean that hand, we have looked in Kent for quite a number of years and are our franchisee was a farmer who supplied some of unable to find a farm exactly fitting our bill. But we find that it is the produce - topped up from imports where needed. absolutely essential to make sure that everything is right before we Anonymous questioner plunge in - avoiding a messy divorce later on! Like any relationship We are dropping the word ‘local’ from our marketing material. it is also key to address problems as soon as they arise to stop them Only in the first few years, when Guy went out delivering to becoming bigger than they need to be. This policy has paid off, as local houses from a wheel barrow, was Riverford a truly local we have maintained all our relationships over the years. box scheme. In the last ten years we have looked to develop an Riverford originally set out to have six or seven farms covering alternative model of regional food production and distribution the whole of England and a bit of Wales, supplying customers that challenges the centralised ‘norms’ of the multiple retailers. with boxes in which the majority of the contents have been grown We are proud of the fact that we have built a supply chain that within 75 miles of where they live. We now have four farms so produces food in an environmentally considerate way and is have gone some, but not all of the way towards our initial plans fair to suppliers, staff and ultimately customers through the and are not intending to set up any more farms in the near future. delivery of reasonably priced, good quality food. We also think Each one that we set up really needs a minimum of 3,000 boxes this gives us some resilience in a world where oil will become per week going through to be profitable and since the market has increasingly expensive as a resource - avoiding the haulage slowed down we just can’t be confident that we could reach this associated with centralised supply chains. scale on a new farm in a sensible amount of time.

Page 12 - The Organic Grower - No 16 Autumn 2011 I do think that the word local and its associations need to be The other achievement of which I am proud is how we have treated with caution. There are some businesses/farms doing responded to the sales challenge we have faced. Three years some wonderful and commendable things locally - but to think ago we restructured the business so that responsibility for sales that local is always best from an environmental perspective would fell to the managers of the box packing sheds - a responsibility be a misunderstanding. The issues are very complicated and when that they all embraced and our growth over the last three years people make buying decisions, they only have an appetite for a is testament to their efforts. certain number of issues but at Riverford we think it’s important that The challenge initially is do the basics even better. Better farming we explore this on behalf of our customers. For example, we stopped and growing, packing better boxes, improved marketing and buying hot-house tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers because their better customer experience. Beyond that, our key challenge is carbon emissions were fifteen times worse than Spanish crops how to extend our current 65,000 active customer base, and I have brought in on a truck. Similarly, we have questioned our use of paper attempted to answer this in the next question. and card because from the perspective of energy and greenhouse gas emissions, plastic is generally better, often by a factor of two or 5. How do you plan to ‘extend Riverford’s customer base three. This is likely to lead us into plastic boxes at some point in the from its core of 65,000 active customers to a much wider future. But by exploring these often complex subjects and making audience’ and is the future still organic? Phil Sumption decisions about how we do business off the back of them has helped We will have to build on existing activities and develop some us to develop a strong relationship of trust within our customers - creative new approaches. Face to face engagement with potential something that we must nurture and protect dearly. customers has been the key to our continuing growth and we 4. What do you feel are your main achievements in the last know we will have to do more and more of this in the coming seven years and what are the main challenges facing you years. We have recently drummed up the support of many ‘veg and Riverford in the next few years? Phil Sumption enthusiasts’ around the country to help us but we also need to find more ways of using existing customers who are supportive and The main achievements have been dealing with the contrasting loyal, in an almost ambassadorial way, to gain new customers. growth - from 2005 starting out with a tiny space in a pack house, to a purpose built structure on a 500 acre farm. At River Nene, we At the other end of the spectrum, we need to cast the net wider managed an exciting growth of 0-10,000 box deliveries in less than through our digital activities to try to ‘hook’ in the many millions two years. At that sort of growth rate, most of our time is spent of web users. worrying about how we are going to cope with the next weeks’ So far this year’s signs are encouraging - new customer numbers growth whilst still keeping the customers happy. are up nearly 5% on last year and 10% on the year before - reflecting Since 2007, the job has been much tougher. We had to take a continuing desire in the public to buy boxes. a long hard look at ourselves and make improvements The future for Riverford is still organic. Being organic is the best throughout the business - from growing crops to customer way for us to demonstrate to our customers that we are farming service on the doorstep. At that time the Riverford farms were in an environmentally sustainable way. But organic is not where quite disconnected from each other and there was very little it stops. There are a lot of topics not necessarily covered by sharing of knowledge, experience and skill. However, we organic standards that should be challenged - from ethical trading are now completely transformed and the operational team relationships to energy use in growing and packaging. That’s working across the farms have made forward strides in all without thinking about the most important element of all - are we areas. Without these improvements I am convinced that we supplying customers with great food that ensures that they will would have found the last four years a much tougher battle. stay with us. We are lucky to have customers who have developed trust in us, but to maintain this trust we must keep challenging what we do and making improvements where we can.

6. A major food issue is wastage, from consumers but also in the production chain. Organic produce might have a degree of pest damage, but still be perfectly useable. How will you approach the challenge of balancing customers’ expectation of ‘quality’, with the responsibility to minimize the out-grading of produce, only cosmetically blemished or damaged. Hugh Collins Organic One of the things we have done over the last three years is to consider how produce in the boxes is used in the kitchen. Cooks Riverford will ultimately get fed up with fruit and vegetables from the box if the soil from them is blocking their sink on a weekly basis or Photo:

Page 13 - The Organic Grower - No 16 Autumn 2011 they have to constantly peel away What are your favourite vegetables, winter and summer, bruises or blemishes. Whilst and why? Jonathan Smith Organic

a new box customer may find My favourite summer vegetable has, in the last seven years, become this charming for a while, if it is broad beans. I had an absolute aversion to them since my mother repeated week after week they will Riverford forced me to eat them when I was about six - now I am completely certainly end up looking elsewhere. converted - one of the most fantastic vegetables we can get! It’s Photo: In response to this, in the last two to not without its growing problems, but they come at the end of the three years we have toughened up our standards on what goes hungry gap in late May/early June, and mark the start of a new into the boxes. This has made life more difficult for our own farms vegetable season, when crops become more interesting and exciting. and growers but it has been a necessary step to take. The tightening of our standards stops at the outright ridiculous specifications My favourite winter vegetable must be purple sprouting broccoli, operated by many supermarkets striving for cosmetic perfection. which breaks the monotony of winter roots. At Riverford, we Strange shapes and sizes - if accompanied by great flavours is, in start with the Devon crop in January, moving around the farms our book, fantastic. For example, we are now growing peppers with crops from more northern farms through to April. It’s a outdoors in France of all sorts of different shapes and sizes, but we wonderful green vegetable and a box life saver for three months of are confident they will taste outstanding. the year! Of course, alternative broccoli from Italy is available but there’s nothing to beat the UK crop. The weather for the last two But on the issue of waste, there is a delicate balance to be years has made it an absolute nightmare to grow, but for the most maintained. Inevitably, being tougher means that we still suffer part, if you’re good at growing it, it’s a reliable crop and fantastic from waste in the field and in the pack house - but we feel that this for customers. is a necessary price to pay if we don’t want customers to return to the comfort and security of the supermarket. The questions were asked by Carolyn Wacher

The Sárvári Research Trust Open Day

The ninth Sárvári Research Trust (SRT) Open Day was held on Friday It remains to be seen how compost affects late-blight resistance of 5th August at Henfaes, near Bangor in North Wales and was attended foliage and yield of blight-free tubers. by around 50 people. The weather was sunny and cool, typifying the conditions of this season meaning that the progression of blight has not been as rapid as in many years. Update on SRT activities David Shaw, Director of the SRT, explained how the Trust was set up with the aim of selecting potatoes and tomatoes resistant to late- blight disease. He mentioned that around half of the ‘blight’ samples they get sent are not actually late blight at all. Sárpo Mira often gets black spots on lower leaves which can be confused with blight. SRT is currently unsure what causes these spots, but they may be due to nutrient deficiency. A good diagnostic test is to take an infected leaf, place it on damp toilet paper in a sandwich box sealed with a lid and keep it at room temperature overnight. The next day turn the leaf over. If it is late blight the leaf will display typical frosting from sporulation around the edge of the lesion. Other fungal infections will not react in the same way.

The SRT have been undertaking a joint study with Bangor University and Tyddyn Môn, looking at whether the use of PAS100 composted green and food waste may be a useful amendment to field soils, possibly even reducing blight. They are also looking at yield and Sumption skin finish resulting from different rates of compost applications. Phil Blight was still at a low level at the time of visit, but it was clear

that the Sárpo variety Blue Danube responded to the application Photo: At lunch we were treated to Sarpo potatoes cooked and prepared in different ways of different amounts of compost by increasing haulm growth. - here a Kifli potato salad.

Page 14 - The Organic Grower - No 16 Autumn 2011 On the organic seed front they have good supplies of Sárpo Variety Historical SRT Official Mira and Axona, plus small amounts of Kifli. They will have no (1-9 scale of increasing resistance) organic seed of Sárpo Una, Sárpo Shona or Sárpo Gwyn but say Sarpo Mira 7 8.6 8 derogations should be obtainable. Sárpo Gwyn, a white early Axona 6 7.5 7 maincrop with good blight resistance, was nationally listed last Sarpo Gwyn 6 6.8 7 year and is currently being bulked up. Sarpo Shona 6 5.9 6 Sarpo Una 5 4.6 5 Late blight disease in Ireland Kifli 5 4.4 5 Moses Nyongesa, orginally from Kenya, is a PhD student Cara 7 4.4 5 registered at Bangor University and working with SRT at Henfaes Valor 5 4.1 5 and also with Teagasc in Carlow, Ireland. A survey of the blight Lady Balfour 8 4 4 populations of Ireland revealed a situation similar to that found Orla 8 4 4 in the UK , that of an admixed population of A1 and A2 blight Sante 7 3.7 4 strains, with A2 strains displacing the older A1 strains. Sexual Blue Danube 5 3.6 4 hybridisation between the two is not thought to pose a risk. Moses is investigating what happens when the most common strains Blight resistant ratings of Sarpo and other potato varieties, showing historical of blight, Blue 13 and Pink 6, are grown together in a polytunnel ratings, ratings from Sarvari Research Trust trials and the new official ratings. at Henfaes and allowed to mate to form oospores. The ability of SRT belongs to a group of growers and entrepreneurs that have oospores of the fungus to survive in the tunnel between crops has been developing a Welsh brand of potato crisps - Jones ô Gymru been confirmed and the characteristics of hybrid blight generated (Jones from Wales). Together with the Food Technology Centre in the tunnel are now being defined. of Coleg Menai on Anglesey they have looked at the suitability of the various Sárpo varieties for crisping. Axona crisps nicely, but Late blight resistance in tomato Blue Danube was the clear winner and when cooked in its skin, Jamie Stroud introduced his PhD project aimed at the breeding it makes a smart crisp with a dark rim - “suitable for funerals”, of new tomato varieties with late-blight resistance for outdoor David quipped. The crisps were launched at the Royal Welsh cropping. The project is a collaborative one between SRT, Bangor Agricultural Show in July this year. Although the first fries were University and ProVeg Ltd of Cambridge. Jamie has started by not made with Sárpo potatoes, it is anticipated that Welsh growers screening 75 plus lines of tomatoes for blight resistance. The aim will be providing Sárpos for crisping in the coming months. of the study is to investigate which strains of blight are infecting The Sárpo programme tomatoes, identify resistance genes and ultimately to combine multiple genes within one plant for robust resistance. Simon White, SRT trials and seed manager, gave an overview of the trials and selection programme over the last four years. The Sárpo Visit to the trial plots varieties have continued to display the highest levels of resistance Unlike on previous visits to SRT, this year we only viewed the to the new aggressive strains of blight (Blue 13 and Pink 6). In smaller-scale plot trials at Henfaes. SRT are moving away from the predominantly warm wet summers of 2007-2009 the Sárpo on-farm field trials, partly due to lack of funding and the high varieties were thoroughly tested. Their performance compared costs of running such trials and partly due to the phase of the favourably with once resistant varieties, the blight resistant project. Clone selection is nearly complete and SRT will now ratings of most of which have been down graded recently (see focus more on the agronomics of those varieties that they have OG14). SRT have carried out dormancy/maturity trials with the put through to the National List. Potato Council at Sutton Bridge, but this data is yet to be assessed. Many of the Sárpo varieties have long dormancy meaning that The Henfaes trial consisted of six cultivars, Sárpo and other they can be stored for longer in ambient temperature, saving both varieties, infected with strain Blue 13. There were three money and energy on cold storage. However, this can mean that treatments and four replicates, some plots grown to senescence, they may require pre-chitting to get them going in the spring. some treated with fungicide and some defoliated when blight levels reach 75% infection. The Sárpos were standing up well, Seed production in Wales while Orla, a conventional first early variety, that has lost its Progress has been made in multiplying Sárpo certified seed by resistance, was already defoliated. Welsh farmers with all listed Sárpos now grown in Wales. It is There were also trials investigating different levels of nitrogen their second year of producing the very pure pre-basic seed grade applications to find out whether SRT can back up their claims and they have been given the Safe Haven status for traceability that Sárpo varieties can yield better than other varieties under against diseases such as brown rot, ring rot and Dickeya solani. conditions of low nitrogen. Sárpo varieties have great potential for seed exports and last Phil Sumption year, consignments have been despatched to Pakistan and Nepal.

Page 15 - The Organic Grower - No 16 Autumn 2011 Don’t get bogged down Peat-free growing media for organic transplant production

The extraction of peat for use in horticulture has largely development. The leaves of the lettuce plants were pale green. contributed to the destruction of lowland peat habitats and The slow growth rate and the pale leaves of the lettuce plants is still seen as a major threat to the conservation of remaining indicate nitrogen deficiency. Indeed, this medium had very low peatlands1. Bogs are irreplaceable habitats and contain huge conductivity, suggesting that plant nutrient concentrations were carbon stores - when bogs are drained, carbon is released to the likely to be too low. The carbon:nitrogen ratio was extremely high atmosphere as CO2 where it contributes to global warming. The (49:1) and might have contributed to nitrogen deficiencies caused use of peat in organic horticulture is therefore not in line with by nitrogen immobilisation. Several of the lettuce plants grown in the IFOAM principle of ecology. both Fertile Fibre Seed and Multipurpose media showed signs of Botrytis cineria. Fertile Fibre media is coir-based and does not contain In 2010, there was no peat-free certified organic growing media constituents with disease suppressive properties, for example green available in Ireland. Inspired by the increasing importance of compost or composted bark. This might have contributed to the finding peat replacements, The Organic Centre in Rossinver, Co. higher susceptibility of lettuce plants to fungal diseases. Leitrim carried out a comprehensive investigation and report into peat-free growing media for organic transplant production2. Part Lettuce and cabbage grown in two different composts, ‘Seed of the study was the evaluation of 13 different peat-free growing and Cutting’ and ‘Modular’ both from West Riding Organics, media including commercially available certified organic media showed good results in relation to uniformity, growth and from Fertile Fibre, West Riding Organics and Klasmann, all vitality (see Picture 4). The problem here was the presence imported from the UK or Germany together with home made of weeds, mainly chickweed and annual grass. West Riding mixes based on coir, green compost and composted bark. Peat- Organics does offer sterilised media to combat the weed based media from Klasmann was used as a reference medium. problem associated with their composts, but it must be said The substrates were tested on two crops: winter lettuce and spring that the sterilised media was not tested in the trial. cabbage. The quality of the media was assessed by evaluating The best results of the trial were those achieved by plants grown germination rate, uniformity, shoot and root development of in Klasmann’s peat-free media of which the main constituents the transplants and by laboratory analysis, of the chemical and were green compost and coir. Plants grown in homemade physical properties of the media. Quality tests were carried out media based on green compost and coir also scored highly in with seed and potting substrates. quality and growth. The trials revealed significant differences in growth and quality In general, the trials showed that vegetable transplants can be of plants growing in various media. Plants grown in coir-based raised in peat-free media without compromising plant growth media from Fertile Fibre were the weakest (see Picture 3). Lettuce and quality. For instance, plants grew just as well in in Klasmann and cabbages grown in this medium showed poor growth rate peat-free as in Klasmann peat-based media (see Picture 1 and 2). and scored badly in terms of germination, height, weight and root

Bulk Density pH Conductivity C:N ratio Value Units Value Units Klasmann tray 467 g/l 5.6 616 µS/cm 26:1 substrate, peat-based Klasmann tray 447 g/l 5.8 525 µS/cm 25:1 substrate, peat-free Fertile Fibre Seed 335 g/l 5.8 480 µS/cm 49:1 Fertile Fibre veg grow 374 kg/m3 4.7 565 µS/cm 34:1 multipurpose Fertile Fibre 398 kg/m3 5.3 677 µS/cm 33:1 multipurpose West Riding Seed and 474 g/l 5.5 546 µS/cm 40:1 Cutting West Riding Modular 439 kg/m3 5.1 531 µS/cm 35:1 Target levels < 400 g/l 6-6.5 < 1000 µS/cm 15:1 Results of laboratory testing of seed and multipurpose media for bulk density, pH, Quality Assessment of vegetable transplants growing in various peat-free growing media conductivity and carbon:nitrogen ratio.

Page 16 - The Organic Grower - No 16 Autumn 2011 The chemical and physical analysis of peat-based and peat-free substrates from Klasmann also showed similar results (see table).

Based on the results of the trials, the Organic Centre decided to use peat-free from March 2011 and to import Klasmann peat-free Bio Tray and Potting substrate for this purpose. We found the switch to peat-free production relatively unproblematic. We have to water transplants Picture 1: Lettuce grown in Klasmann KKS Bio Picture 2: Lettuce grown Klasmann KKS Bio more frequently, as coir-based media tend to Tray Substrate Rec.063 (peat-based) Tray Substrate Rec.062 (peat-free) dry out more quickly than peat-based media. In contrast to other growers, we did not experience nutrient shortages with the new media. Vegetables for our own garden are raised in Quick Pot propagation tray 77 or 150. The plants are transplanted into the beds as soon as a root ball has developed.

We also produce a wide range of organically certified vegetable transplants for amateur gardeners raised in Klasmann peat-free media Picture 3: Lettuce grown in Fertile Fibre Picture 4: Lettuce grown in West Riding Seed (see pictures below). We found that the nutrient Multipurpose concentration of the tray substrate is sufficient for raising lettuces and annual herbs. Nutrient demanding plants like brassicas are firstly sown in tray substrate and then transplanted into a mix of tray and potting substrate.

For the transplant business we use trays with a large cell size. Both the quality and shelf life of plants improve with an increased cell size because plants grown in these cells have access to much higher volumes of media, nutrients and water than plants grown in small cell sizes. This year Picture 5: Lettuce grown in Homemix D Picture 6: Lettuce grown in Homemix E we had no problems with Sciarid flies, and the Pictures taken 4 weeks after sowing absence of this troublesome glasshouse pest may be due to the use of the new media. Klasmann 1 The Irish Peatland Consevation Council provides information about peat-free gardening at their web site at www.ipcc.ie adds predatory mites to the peat-free media to 2 e-mail : [email protected] for further information support the biological suppression of Sciarid flies. The Organic Centre, located in Rossinver, Co. Leitrim, is a training and information centre for organic For future production, The Organic Centre aims horticulture and sustainable living, offering a wide variety of courses, organic seeds and sundries, and where a wide range of vegetables and fruits is produced. Vegetable transplants and potted to use peat-free media based on Irish-sourced herbs for amateur gardeners are also grown and sold at farmers’ market and to various local shops.. materials for raising vegetable plants. Further [email protected] Tel:+353 7198 54 338 trials to develop suitable media based on locally sourced, waste-derived materials such as green compost, bracken and composted bark are planned in the near future. Julia Lehmann, Head Gardener, . The Organic Centre, . Lehmann Rossinver,. Co.Leitrim,. Julia Ireland Photos:

Page 17 - The Organic Grower - No 16 Autumn 2011 Sciarid flies Many growers have been experiencing problems with growing media this year, and one of the most common problems reported has been with sciarid flies. Some other problems, particularly with cucurbit germination, may also be sciarid fly related.

Sciarid flies, or fungus gnats, • Good nursery hygiene is important – don’t leave growing can be a problem in the damp media bags open or piles of substrate on propagating benches, conditions of propagating and dispose of diseased or unwanted plants promptly. houses as they feed on wild • Avoid over-watering to minimise breeding areas. Sciarid and cultivated fungi and larvae thrive in moist conditions so reduce watering to a decaying plant material. Often minimum when infestations are high. This is especially sciarid fly larvae are secondary important in winter when lower temperatures and light to disease problems, but they levels reduce plant growth. can also cause plant damage. Adult sciarid fly - Bradysia The species that cause most • Cover module trays until germination with corrugated plastic problems are Bradsysia spp... Damage occurs when the fly larvae, sheeting, which also conserves moisture and prevents the which live in the seed or potting compost, feed on roots and stems. trays being over-watered. Susceptible crops can be covered Seedlings, cuttings and younger plants are most susceptible, and with fleece until established. This will reduce fly egg-laying these may collapse and die. Mature plants may not be so badly on growing media surface. affected; but if severely infested they will grow poorly, wilt and • Covering the surface of pot plants with horticultural sand or even die. An additional problem is that fungal diseases can gain grit with a layer about a centimetre thick will prevent adults entry to plants through wounds caused by the fly larvae. Adult from laying eggs – but this is not practical for most vegetable sciarid flies can also carry spores of pathogenic fungi from plant to transplants! plant, spreading diseases such as Pythium and Phytophthora. Some • There are four biological control agents available for sciarid composts and amendments can encourage sciarids and they have fly:Hypoaspis and Macrocheles mites; Atheta coriaria beetles; and become more of a problem with widespread use of seed and Steinernema feltiae, a nematode. Hypoaspis mites are supplied potting mixtures based on coir and other types of organic matter.

Bugwood.org in a mixture of moist peat and vermiculite that are sprinkled

over the surface after potting. The mites search actively for their prey and can survive for at least six weeks without food, University, and so can be a useful preventive treatment. The nematodes State are watered onto the pots or trays as a preventative or control. They invade and breed inside the larvae, releasing Michigan bacteria, which kill them. When the larvae decompose, a new generation of nematodes is released. Both the biological Cappaert, controls will also attack other soil-dwelling creatures – David

including beneficial ones. Sciarid larvae feeding on root - Bradysia

Photos: • You could consider using the predatory beetle What can you do? Atheta coriaria. Atheta can • Ensure that you are not importing growing media onto the be expensive for direct holding that is contaminated with sciarid flies. Routinely check release as high rates growing media bags, immediately on opening, for signs of adult are needed; but work flies and larvae. Report any problems to your supplier (and by ADAS/HDC has also tell the OGA) and ask for compensation or replacement. developed a DIY system for rearing Atheta on • Use yellow sticky traps to monitor adults. These need to be nurseries for low-cost changed regularly, every couple of weeks or so. Traps are control (see opposite). unlikely to contribute to control unless used in high densities; and they need to be used with caution because they also trap predators and parasites. Check plants, growing media, propagating benches and around for both adults and larvae. Adult Atheta beetle

Page 18 - The Organic Grower - No 16 Autumn 2011 Grow your own biological control The native ground-dwelling predatory beetle Atheta coriaria feeds on various insect eggs, larvae and pupae, particularly those of flies and beetles. It will eat the ground-dwelling life stages of sciarid fly, shore fly, western flower thrips, cabbage root fly and carrot fly. ADAS’s HDC-funded work showed that the rates of release of Atheta, recommended by commercial suppliers (up to 10 per m2) were often too low to be beneficial, and much higher rates were needed (up to 500 per m2) to give effective control of high densities of sciarid flies. This would be prohibitively expensive to buy, so a system for rearing and maintaining populations of Atheta on Atheta rearing box with screened ventilation holes in lid nurseries was developed.

Materials • Fresh pack of Atheta from a commercial supplier • Three litre plastic box with snap-on lid • Insect-proof mesh or net curtain • PVA glue or sticky tape • Growing media such as 1:1 coir : vermiculite

• Turkey grower pellets Turkey pellets before grinding Grinding pellets in food processor Method • Make sure the containers are clean (new plastic containers can be toxic to insects).

• Make two ventilation holes (2.5 cm diameter) in the lids, cover with insect-proof mesh and secure with glue or tape.

• Add 1.5 l of growing media, dampened to achieve 75% moisture content (add approx. 150 ml of water). Sumption • Add approximately 60 adults to each box. Phil

• Add 5 g of ground up turkey pellets to each box in week one,

and 15 g per week thereafter. Sprinkle on to the top of the Photos: growing media and rotate the box to mix it in. Rearing-release box in greenhouse pest, numbers of Atheta in each box, temperature and level of • Keep the substrate damp but not too wet, using a plant mister. control required. In a trial, a rate of one box (860 Atheta) per 5 • Keep boxes at a constant 250C, or at least within 15-320C m2 was used in a crop of potted parsley, heavily infested with • After four weeks (longer at lower temperatures), the adults sciarid flies. After four weeks sciarid levels were 59% lower should have completed a generation and multiplied by a than the control using Steinernema feltiae and Hypoaspis miles. factor of 40. They can then be released into the glasshouse • Note that Atheta is not compatible with Hypoaspis mites, as the together with the substrate. Boxes or part-boxes can be Hypoaspis will eat the Atheta larvae and the Atheta adults will retained to set up fresh rearing boxes. eat Hypoaspis eggs and young nymphs!

• Boxes can be kept for up to six more weeks, but then will More information: become over-crowded. Store at a lower temperature (15-200C) HDC Factsheet 06/10 Grower system for rearing the predatory beetle Atheta • Rearing-release units: boxes can be taken into the glasshouse coriaria. With thanks to Jude Bennison (ADAS) and Grace Choto (HDC) for and the insect screening removed from the boxes. Boxes should permission to use the factsheet in this article. HDC is a division of the Agriculture be shaded with foil with holes in the foil to allow the beetles and Horticulture Development Board. to disperse. The substrate should be kept damp so that Atheta remaining in the boxes keep breeding and dispersing. The beetles Garden Organic Factsheet PC22 – Sciarid Fly shouldn’t be fed in the week before their release. Feed them 5g of Bulrush Grower Notes: Sciarid flies or fungus gnats. . turkey feed one week after introducing them and then weekly. www.bulrush.co.uk/downloads/grower-notes/22...sciarid/download.html • No firm recommendations can be given for numbers of rearing-release units required, as this depends on density of Phil Sumption

Page 19 - The Organic Grower - No 16 Autumn 2011 Nature notes – Soil associations

Caught in congestion on one of England’s great arterial motorways what the word ‘organic’ means. Do we have a problem here? I was I was interested to spot, through the car’s side window, a neat surprised to read, in Helen Browning’s responses printed in the last illustration of the process of soil formation. Against the concrete OG, that there is a ‘real debate’ over the ‘O’ word and that there is crash barrier of the central reservation a lone sow-thistle had some problem between it and ‘policy makers and consumers’. It had found itself enough detritus and root space to push up a flowering never previously occurred to me that the word ‘organic’ might not stem. Around its base dust and fragments of straw, shed by lorries be spoken in full for fear of – well, for fear of what? Oh, I see - for trundling from the arable east to the pastoral west, were beginning to fear of its lack of ‘sex appeal’. This apparently makes it hard to turn form a small windswept mound of mineral and organic matter. Left into the wind and be proud of organic. Well, if you put it like that alone until next summer this might support the beginnings of a plant I’m not sure I’m proud of ‘organic’ , which, after all, is just a word. community, trapping more dust and adding more organic matter But organic farming, organic growing, organic system – what is through the alchemy of photosynthesis (straws on the wind are not there not to be proud of? Surprised? I thought I’d stumbled on some to be relied on). Meanwhile plant roots and their accompanying chink in my reality! Given its history and its purpose, sex appeal is microflora and fungi will chisel away at impervious mineral about the last thing you would associate with the Soil Association. surfaces, creating by minuscule increments the medium in which Elsewhere in her responses Helen speaks of stories. The ones she’s they themselves can flourish. On and in this, entirely supported by after have to do with people. I can confirm that Roddy Hall is a man the plant, is founded an animal kingdom of wonderful complexity. of many entertaining stories, but I question whether the promotion Slowly, slowly the years and centuries pass and that one sow-thistle, of a personality cult, even one that includes a down-home producer, which found living space in a crack between two planes of concrete, is the best way to serve the organic cause. has been succeeded by a whole ecosystem. Organic farming is not about personalities or products. Personalities Of course it would take an ice age, an inundation or tectonic have a place of course and without products it is nothing, but if hyperactivity to really shift that motorway, but give it a while less you elevate these to be its prime and only visible purpose then you than that and there will be birch trees there. This is not, I imagine, have just one consumable commodity among many and you will be what is in the mind of the body responsible for erecting boards judged accordingly against the fevers and prejudices of the market. proclaiming – despite the lack of any visible evidence for its existence Rather, organic farming is an exposition of life and the nature of – “The National Forest” beside creation. It starts from an understanding of the soil and its processes, the highway that leads to the that other realm – hidden and obscure – that supports our realm East Midlands. And anyway, the of light and knowable activity. Admittedly the soil is not a subject Highways Agency will soon put that attracts much interest among the general public (though with a stop to any such pedological the wonders of microscopic photography who knows?) but that is progression, for the time being. no reason to abjure it for the idols of commerce. Going along with eternal processes, building on them where possible and avoiding It’s been said that the English their disruption at all times - I can see no shame in this. The countryside is what exists countryside, where our food is produced, may be remote in foreign between England’s main roads. This is true in the sense that the fields, but nature, life itself, is squeezed into the motorway next to majority of the population for most of the time experiences the us. Somewhere around here are enough. countryside from the viewpoint of a travelling vehicle. From a motorway this is not to experience it at all. The country lies beyond Tim Deane a barrier, framed as often as not by overpasses, gantries and power lines. It is contained, sanitised by exclusion, more or less lifeless, unknown and unknowable. Here and there our trunk roads do still touch the fields and woods they pass through. Now in high summer there are places where the trimmer hasn’t yet been and the bracken hangs down from the bank and brushes the passing traffic. And there are trees, lifting strong limbs above the carriageway so that the light comes down glancing and dappled by leaves. Here is illumination which is neither digital nor analogue but the thing itself - light through the leaf, which is the beginning of our existence.

Where plant and light meet organic matter is formed. Carbon fixation. Organic matter. Everything that is or was alive is founded on carbon. “Derived from living matter; containing carbon” – that’s

Page 20 - The Organic Grower - No 16 Autumn 2011 Johnny’s six-row seed drill: for protected rocket, radish and summer purslane

Radish Rudi - 22/3/2011

We purchased our Johnny’s seeder three years ago after seeing it used by another grower for baby leaf brassicas. After six years of direct sowing 50 m2 of rocket by hand every two weeks, the idea of speeding up the process was very attractive. The in-line seeders such as Earthway were not really consistent enough and the rows tended to be at an unnecessarily wide spacing, since you need to walk either side. With Johnny’s we use every other hopper, and Axle with dimples Gear system have narrowed a Dutch hoe to fit the resulting 8 cm gap between. 3) Correct operation. This involves simply pushing it along, ensuring both front and rear rollers contact the ground, with enough pressure on the rear roller to drive the sowing mechanism. Do not attempt to go fast because debris can be flicked into the hoppers. In order to avoid walking on the bed, the handle can be offset to allow a gangway to the side. Alternatively, sow across the bed up to 1.5 m width, making each set of rows adjacent and pulling the drill back by tilting it onto the front roller and wheeling it back to your side before starting the next set.

Tried and tested settings for three popular crops

Seed dimple Drive ratio Brushes Seed in alternate hoppers and narrowed hoe to suit Radish 2nd smallest High Allow 1 seed Rocket 2nd smallest Low Down The keys to success are fairly predictable, but a few subtle tweaks Purslane Smallest Low 1:1 Down can make all the difference.

1) Good bed preparation: this seed drill will not tolerate any debris or lumps in the soil, so the bed should have a fine surface tilth. Lighter soils will also benefit from some consolidation using a roller or boards, which ensures the rollers on the drill do not sink too far; while having the added benefit of conserving moisture for the germinating seeds.

2) Correct setting selection. The front roller is adjusted for depth: 4-8 Dollimore mm is good for most things. A dimpled axle is adjusted by slackening Pete the screws both ends and sliding it along. The various size dimples Even stand of rocket

correspond to seed size; we use the smallest for summer purslane Photos: and the second smallest for rocket and radish. The brushes are then set to grade the seed allowing the correct number through. They Tozer direct are the only UK supplier that I know of. The device are pushed down by small springs, and can be raised by tightening needs occasional brushing/washing off and oiling, and will enjoy a nut. Lastly the drive speed determines the sowing rate and is being kept dry. Some rust spots are just beginning to form on ours adjusted using three ‘belt and pulley’ gears: the middle gear is 1:1 as it has been left under the sprinklers a few times; but generally it dropping seed approx every 5.5 cm. Either side of this are high and seems robust, well built and cleverly designed. low ratio settings, which drop at 3 cm and 8 cm respectively. Pete Dollimore, Hankham Organics

Page 21 - The Organic Grower - No 16 Autumn 2011 Docks - how to keep them in check

I have often wondered at the name, dock seems odd, does be viable for a very long time. At Hardwick, the seed bank had anybody know? I could hazard at a selection of possible theories been building up for many years and it has taken twenty years but probably a complete waste of time and effort. Before I moved to virtually exhaust this through regular cultivations and root to Hardwick, I was aware of docks as a potential weed but had removal but even now the odd dock will grow so I would guess never experienced them “en masse”, they had been an occasional that the seed is viable for decades. The thick tough perennial roots visitor to my growing activities but not a major issue. Hardwick can live for many years if undisturbed. changed all that because I inherited a significant dock problem, one Docks are a pioneer plant, colonising poor sites and exploiting low that had probably been building up since the intensive arable and nutrient reserves, paving the way for more delicate species. As potato production during the war years and the Dig for Victory with all things in nature they have a purpose that we as growers campaign. The walled garden had been derelict for several years may not always fully appreciate. Anyone who has ever tried to and docks had been seeding for a long time. dig out a grandfather dock would have discovered that the tap Family fortunes roots go down a long way but they also branch sideways in many directions which make them particularly hard to extract without Dock is a member of the Polygonaceae family including sorrels, breaking off. Docks have a long growing season and in milder annual bindweeds, knotgrass as well as the dreaded Japanese parts they may well have green leaves showing all year around. knotweeds. But it also includes buckwheat, a green manure and They generally die down in winter re-appearing as soon as things a very useful crop. There are several varieties of docks, as they warm up in the spring, and the leaves can tolerate a fair degree seem to be able to hybridise freely. The main one is the broad of frost with few signs of damage. They are not fussy about soil leaf dock (Rumex obtusfolius) due to its very wide, shade inducing type but are much more difficult to control on heavy clays. So we leaves and rather less common, clustered or curled dock, (Rumex are dealing with a very tough character here that has the ability to crispus). Hardwick has both these species but interestingly in take over your land. separate fields, they have not crossed over yet despite regular movements of machinery and people. They all share the ability to Stop them seeding grow on poor and impoverished land, which tells us much about Therefore, control is essential. The priority and first stage of attack the soil at Hardwick. They tolerate very low levels of P and K and is to limit the plants’ seed dispersal by removing the flowering their very deep tap root exploits minimal underground reserves heads. If your docks are established in green manures or grassland and recovers lost, locked-up or displaced nutrients. They thrive on then mowing at appropriate times works fairly well. Docks will low K soils especially if there is a high level of N, quite common flower three to four times a season so you must keep an eye on them on organic farms where clovers are grown. On good quality as they can flower and set seed in just two weeks in midsummer. land docks tend to be less of a problem, but where they do get Mow or cut as close to the ground as you can. If you have only established they grow very well indeed and can develop into a a few docks, then use a sharp spade, but if you have many and very handsome plant. the area is large then a flail mower is ideal. But, do be aware of The main problem with docks is the seed bank and this can build surviving flower stalks lying where the tractor wheels roll, they up to very high levels if allowed to seed freely. A decent sized will pop up in a few days and scatter their ripening seed, and you elderly dock can produce 10,000 seeds in a season, all of which can may need to go over the area again to ensure complete removal. A front mounted mower would be ideal and regular mowing will weaken the plants especially when done at full flower stage and it certainly stops them getting any worse. If they are maiden plants then the root system will remain small making them easy to control in future arable production. However, you need to be aware that docks can develop the habit of growing close to the ground making them hard to mow unless you cut very short and close. Hard grazing

Organic with sheep can control them but this can

result in over-grazing with poor quality Garden grassland. Photo:

Page 22 - The Organic Grower - No 16 Autumn 2011 Stop them establishing so a bastard fallow will work for them too. The system depends on regular cultivations during the summer continually bringing In arable situations there are more opportunities to control the weed. roots to the surface where they will desiccate in the wind and sun. Docks germinate primarily during early spring and late summer/ For light to medium land you can do this, initially by mowing as early autumn and in my experience September is the most likely short as possible if there is much top growth, and then cultivating month. This gives you the opportunity to utilise stale seedbed without ploughing by using a power harrow for breaking up the techniques prior to sowing any crops, and this is especially important soil to a depth of 100 mm. Follow by regular spring tine passes to a if you are establishing green manures, grassland or cereals. So you depth of 100-125 mm, weekly if conditions allow, and alternate the need to make a decent seedbed to encourage the docks to germinate, direction of travel each time to ensure complete cover. Spring tines then harrow them off and the more times you do this, fewer docks need to be operated fairly fast; at least 5-6 mph to enable roots to will grow and you will eventually reduce the seed-bank. be flicked up. If your area is small then you could do repeated Removing them passes with a power harrow removing the roller crumbler from the rear of the machine, but this will be expensive for large areas. With row crops, you can control docks by regular inter-row Rotovating to a depth of 100-125 mm will be quite effective too cultivations. Steerage hoes are good for disturbing roots, but tines but you may cause more soil damage and risk encouraging are less effective unless the roots are very large and extensive. a cultivation pan on some soils. Docks will not re-grow if they Inevitably there will be survivors usually between crops in the are chopped off below 100-125 mm so going any deeper is not row where inter-row cultivations are less effective. These are best necessary and is wasteful of energy and increases soil damage. dealt with by hand, the best time being when they are coming into With good weather and enough passes it ought to be possible to flower as there is a strong stem to pull on, but if the flowers have achieve total control of most perennial weeds. The actual number already set seed then you need to collect them carefully into sacks of passes will depend on your soil type and moisture content, to avoid spreading seed everywhere. If you can get them before this how skilled you are at setting up the machinery and weather stage then you can leave them where they lie. At Hardwick we pull conditions. It will probably mean at least four to six passes and in docks by hand over the whole site at least twice a year. Potatoes some cases many more. At best, with a low level of roots, it may be are the easiest crop in which to control docks and because of the possible to achieve 100% control in just six weeks, enabling land to deep cultivations and ridges they are very easy to pull out. Rotation be returned to crops by mid-summer. The fallow will also control is an important tool for dock control, and it’s vital to ensure that annual weeds by allowing them to germinate then be killed by you are not creating perfect conditions for the dock to survive and subsequent passes. This system is not so easy with heavy land grow. Allow enough time to enable cultivations to eradicate them, and will mean an initial ploughing to break the land and loosen especially in perennial crops where a lot of hand-work may well be dock roots. The old farmers recall a ploughing system known as needed. Never plant a perennial crop in land that has any perennial “plough to rot”. The idea was to shallow plough to around 100- weeds, a fallow period beforehand is essential. 125 mm leaving the furrow on its side, not inverted. When the land was dry enough, cultivations would begin with spring tines to drag the roots to the surface. You need an old style plough to do this effectively as deep digging plough bodies can be difficult to adjust to such shallow depths.

If your area is small and you have no tractor machinery then you can do a very effective job with a small pedestrian rotovator making regular shallow passes together with root collection. There are also several dock-digging tools available on the market and these work very well on light to medium

Organic land especially if you aim to do the job early in the year before

the roots get into new growth. Garden

Using a lazy dog weeder to remove docks Heavy soil cultivation and machinery operations risk messing

Photo: up your soil structure badly, so you will probably have to put The bastard fallow the land into a green manure when it is clean to repair the damage. It may well take two whole seasons to do the cleaning If you take over pasture infested by dock then there is really only and subsequent soil repair if your land is heavily infested with one effective method to employ - the bastard fallow. There are docks and other perennials. Remember what I said early in the many other possible swear words you could use, but bastard is article, don’t let the docks set seed! the official one! If you have docks then the chances are that you Iain Tolhurst will have a healthy selection of other perennial weeds as well, For more on management of docks organically go to www.organicweeds.org.uk

Page 23 - The Organic Grower - No 16 Autumn 2011 Rural housing: building your own house

Many people dream of living in the countryside: listening to Financially, you should not have to bear the costs of commuting, or birdsong, having long relaxing walks, living a slower pace of indeed be pushed out of your area because you don’t earn enough. life… It’s a very attractive, perhaps idyllic view of life in rural Affordable rural housing is a major issue at local and national Britain, but for farmers and growers it’s a necessity to be close levels. Progress is being made in certain ways, but market forces to their place of work which, unlike nearly all other professions, are the main driver, which even Government policy cannot quickly demands so much of their time. The irony is that those who create turn around. The whole rural planning system needs overhauling the very landscapes that people pay so much to live in, can least and re-aligning with the social needs of a sustainable rural Britain. afford to live there. Long-term solutions to wider issues will be a while coming, so in Growers are perhaps worse off than farmers in terms of the meantime what can you do? If you need to live on or close to availability of housing. Many agricultural holdings have an your business, can’t afford to buy locally and even renting is too existing farm house, unlike horticultural businesses. Small-scale expensive, solutions are somewhat limited. The route that many growers in particular have often started businesses on land that growers have chosen is to finance and build their own house. was part of a farm, that came without any dwelling. While this is Having your own house on your own land is a dream held by an affordable way of starting a business, it presents the problem many. While it’s by no means cheap or easy, building your own in the long run of finding a place to live on, or close to, the place can be affordable and is achievable. But where do you start the of work. The days of farm workers’ cottages and village housing whole process? It can prove to be a long and drawn-out process, that was affordable for agricultural labourers are largely gone. requiring a strong will, long hours, good contacts and complete Many farm workers and even farmers now have to live in nearby commitment. Easy it won’t be: rewarding hopefully it will! towns and commute to work. Here are five personal experiences from people that know the Living on, or in close proximity to, the land you work is so process at first hand because they have all built and financed their important on many levels. Practically, you must be close to attend own house. Their collective knowledge is invaluable and will be of to buildings, livestock, plants and the security of your holding. enormous assistance to anyone contemplating going down this road. Psychologically, you should be able to enjoy the benefits of the This is what the Organic Growers Alliance exists for and does best, beauty of nature, which you are helping to preserve. Mentally, sharing experiences, discussing problems and finding solutions. you should not have to endure the stress of commuting.

Building our family home in the Highlands Maggie Sutherland, Natural Veg Co, Inverness

We built our house after buying a six-acre portion of field on the edge of Inverness. The plan was to develop the vegetable growing business at the same time as developing our family home, and create other options for additional rural business development. In the Highlands of Scotland, planning policies support new single Sutherland house development in conjunction with genuine rural business development. What is required is a convincing business plan, Maggie backed up by an independent third party (in our case the Scottish

Agricultural College) and some kind of proof that the funds are Photo: and construction company! (See Neil’s website for more details available to undertake the proposals. www.neilsutherlandarchitects.com.) On the other hand, getting Our first move was to get the infrastructure in place: access, power, the house fully finished, including incidentals such as decking, water and drainage; together with temporary accommodation in decoration and the occasional door, can be difficult. After six years the form of two linked residential caravans. This was necessary in in the house, we have finally reduced this list. our case due to the need to sell our existing house to raise funds. With our abilities in the design and construction of ecological For those contemplating a winter or two in a caravan, a wood housing, we have achieved a family home which both suits burning stove is essential. our growing family needs (we have three boys) and suits the When building a family home, it helps if your husband is an practicalities of our life. For instance, we incorporated a basement ecological architect and he also owns and runs both a sawmill under part of the house for the storage of fruit and vegetables,

Page 24 - The Organic Grower - No 16 Autumn 2011 and the house is heated by a combination of solar collectors was provided by travelling European ‘Zimmermen’ – at bit like and a simple wood fuel stove located in the heart of the house. WWOOF for carpenters! Functionally, the house is split with common functions towards Financing the project was simplified and proved almost pleasant the middle and the needs of teenagers and hard-working parents by early discussions with the Ecology Building Society. The EBS at opposite extremities – an arrangement which works well. will only support projects which are environmentally, energy The house itself is constructed mainly from Highland-sourced and resource efficient, and as an ethical investor you know your materials. We used a timber post and beam frame with highly mortgage payments are being considerately used – which is a insulated infill panels to the walls and roof. All timber was sourced in relief considering the amounts invested. the Highlands and used non-chemically treated and we have made It was important for us that our home both fitted our needs use of around six different species of timber due to their inherent functionally, practically and was somewhere with character and characteristics for use. The large amounts of hemp insulation were beauty. Just as important was our desire and belief that growing sourced in Germany and shipped to Scotland. The roof is finished healthy food and providing healthy shelter can have a positive with wild flowers and grass so it’s full of bees and butterflies at this environmental impact and be an equally positive experience for time of the year, and snow sticks during the winter. all involved. Building a house is a significant step for anyone; Our house was preformed and erected entirely on site and doing so in such a way that it supports and expresses the values we made use of a range of tradesmen all employed by my and beliefs of its builders and occupiers is a large but worthwhile husbands’ construction company. Some of the labour input challenge – and is probably a life’s work!

From mobile home to house To win your case, there are three main conditions to satisfy: functional need; viability; and lack of existing suitable Martin Soble, Whitethorn Farm, Herefordshire accommodation – read more in Appendix A at http://www. After looking unsuccessfully for almost three years for that communities.gov.uk/documents/planningandbuilding/ ideal bit of land with a suitable house – that we could afford – pdf/147402.pdf. Personal circumstances have no bearing on the in summer 2004 we found a 45-acre plot of grade I land in south decision. In our case, for the temporary approval, the functional Herefordshire. Great after five years in grass and clover set-aside need was demonstrated by a combination of breeding pigs, – but no house or buildings. The first winter we started planting protected cropping and plant raising. Our business plan and 14 acres of orchard, followed by cane and bush fruit and almost significant investment in buildings satisfied the viability and a an acre of strawberries. review of local properties for sale – all over £400,000 – showed none were suitable. By April 2005 we were living in a holiday cottage in the village and during the summer we added pigs and polytunnels to the For the permanent dwelling approval, expect to prove the enterprise. In March 2006 we applied for planning permission for functional need again and to clearly demonstrate viability – a temporary agricultural dwelling, which was approved in August interpreted differently but as a minimum usually one basic for the usual three years, allowing us to site our log cabin mobile agricultural wage of about £15,000 profit per year. Use an expert home. Our application for a permanent agricultural dwelling was to support your application for functional need and viability; we submitted in November 2010 and granted in June 2011 – although benefited from an excellent report by Roger Hitchings of Elm we are still in the mobile home. Farm. We also used a local planning agent whose expertise and ability to challenge the planning department was crucial. Our experience is that gaining agricultural dwelling approval for a new enterprise is not straightforward. Although planning If you have a bare land site without any agricultural buildings, do law (check it out at http://www.communities.gov.uk/ consider the cost of the infrastructure, electricity supply, drainage publications/planningandbuilding/farmersguide) is quite clear and so on. Choose a site that is not overlooked and without that new dwellings to support agriculture should be granted, restrictions to access, in order to minimise objections. Be prepared this contradicts the normal restrictions to develop housing in the for challenge and uncertainty for a few years. Establish enterprises open countryside. Planning officers and local residents might be that will give a quick return – even if these are not your long-term reluctant to concede this perceived “loophole” in the planning law. plan – as well as those to satisfy the functional need. New enterprises will only be given permission for a temporary A basic contradiction exists in proving functional need and dwelling – mobile home or wooden structure – usually for three commitment to the enterprise while not living on site prior to years to prove the viability of the venture. In your favour will be approval. This may contribute to the statistically improved local food production, employment and sustainability; but these chances of gaining approval by moving onto the land first and can be outweighed by neighbours’ objections and sites that are applying later; although be aware that this may create tension overlooked by public highways or with poor access. Support from with neighbours and the planning department. your local councillors would be helpful in the process.

Page 25 - The Organic Grower - No 16 Autumn 2011 Getting planning permission to live on your land Mike Fisher, Northdown Orchard, Hampshire

A lot of myths have grown up over the years concerning planning permission for agricultural buildings and dwellings. It is not helped Fisher by the get-rich-quick type schemes, and half truths and falsehoods Mike

that are peddled by the self-published books available on the internet. As a rule, if anyone claims there is a short cut to getting Photo: planning permission, ignore it. It is only likely to get you a ‘bad’ nonetheless provide wider benefits (e.g. in managing attractive planning history. The only document you really need is PPS7 Annex landscapes or wildlife habitats), can be sustained on relatively A, which is available as a free download from www.communities. low financial returns.” These tests are normally assessed by an gov.uk/publications/planningandbuilding/pps7. agricultural consultant appointed by the Local Planning Authority. The planning system works on the dictum ‘no new homes in the In theory, once the agricultural need is established, you will get three countryside’; but then offers some exceptions. The one that interests years' temporary planning permission. If over the three years you us is Annex A: Agricultural, Forestry and Other Occupational get on and do what you said you would, and make a profit in at least Dwellings. It defines the Functional and Financial Tests that one of the three years, you will get permanent planning permission. determine the need for a dwelling. Livestock do not overwhelmingly The difficulties start with land within designated landscapes. represent a Functional Need but, helpfully for us, is fulfilled when The land you are growing on may be in an Area of Outstanding “workers are needed to be on hand day and night … to deal quickly Natural Beauty (AONB), which can give it just about as many with emergencies that could otherwise cause serious loss of crops or restrictions as a National Park. For example, the AONB just a few products, for example, by frost damage or the failure of automatic miles to the north of my holding is described as 'chalk downland', systems.” So, if you are not producing modules with heat and and smallholdings and horticultural units are now considered as automatic ventilation and misting, it's worth starting. inappropriate to the "landscape character”. This is not to say that The Financial Test expects that the farming enterprise is with a well developed and presented enterprise and business plan “economically viable” but flexibility is offered to “some enterprises you won’t get your agricultural dwelling; but it is quite possible which aim to operate broadly on a subsistence basis, but which that the AONB officer will submit a report that opposes, on landscape grounds, even your first polytunnel.

In summary: acquire your land, not in a National Park and preferably not in an AONB; and develop your enterprise plans to support a planning application for farm buildings, tunnels and so on. In theory, if you are on more than 5ha you can use Permitted Development Rights to submit a Determination rather than Full Planning application; but in practice the Local Planning Authorities Don’t explain what you do. tend to sidestep this with start ups by saying no agriculture is (yet) Just tell us what you need. being carried out. Start growing, part-time will do at this stage, and start marketing your produce. Prepare a detailed enterprise and business plan too. I’d suggest projected cash flow and accounts for three years, proposed capital expenditure, marketing plan, detailed cropping plans and so on (it is surprising how much of this will prove useful anyway). Show how the enterprises will support at least one full time worker. Submit diaries of typical ‘From the word go, we Triodos Bank was set up solely to support people days at different times of the year and details of management of were impressed by Triodos who are commited to improving the world we Bank’s understanding of share. And because we only work with inspiring propagating environment, tunnels and any livestock enterprises. the challenges we faced, enterprises, you’ll fi nd we have the expertise and Then submit planning application backed by the plan; and get which was a whole new personal commitment to help you succeed. experience for us’. temporary permission (or win at appeal as your case is so much Peter Kindersley, To fi nd out more about working with us, call free Sheepdrove Organic Farm on 0500 008 720 or visit www.triodos.co.uk better presented than the LPA’s). Carry out your three-year plan as a full-time grower, and make sure you show a profit for at least TlB one year. Finally convert the temporary to permanent permission. Now all you’ve just got do is finance and build a house while still Triodos Bank is a fully licensed bank, authorised by the Dutch Central Bank (dnb) and regulated by the Financial Services Authority (fsa) for growing and developing your business… the conduct of uk business. Registered Offi ce: Triodos Bank, Brunel House, 11 The Promenade, Bristol, bs8 3nn. Good luck!

Page 26 - The Organic Grower - No 16 Autumn 2011 Using your business to gain a house on site to raise transplants (not available at the time on the open market) and venting glasshouses night and day. This to me was the Alan and Debra Schofield, Growing with Nature, Lancashire easy bit in 1995: then came the fun part of trying to get a mortgage.

We had bought a green field site with no buildings. We had put up timber-framed and timber-clad buildings, and we went through every bank and building society around to try to find one to lend to us. In the end it came down to two: the Alliance and Leicester and the Ecology Building Societies.

Both offered what was termed 'drop down mortgages'. This means Schofield

that they came and did a valuation based on the land value with Alan planning permission. They then lent a small amount, in our case

Photo: £15,000, which we used to put in the services and groundworks to the new house. They then came and revalued and released Many people dream of buying a piece of land and then building another £15,000, which allowed us to build the shell of the house; their own house, but very few of us have the capability of actually then again a revaluation and the last £10,000 was released with doing it. Planning permissions for housing in rural areas are which we made the house habitable. We had put £10,000 of our tight and the criteria are getting harder and harder to meet. After own money in to make the full £50,000 costs of the build. purchasing our own acres in 1989 we instantly applied for change of use from agricultural to horticultural land and, although told I have nothing but praise for the Ecology Building Society and their I had no need to, had it logged that I had applied. Turnover per forward thinking at a time when commercial organic production acre from horticulture, as we all know, is far greater than that was in its infancy. They even gave us a reduced rate for the use of from agriculture. We spent six years building a business while the house pictures in their advertising campaigns, and started an on temporary permission for an agricultural worker's caravan, organic saver fund with this advertising. until we could show on paper that we were making more than an I know the world is a changed place but I have watched many agricultural worker's wage beyond the business costs. try and fail over the years. The key points to me were: build a We applied straight off for full planning for an agricultural genuinely profitable business before applying for the permanent dwelling and, although it was one of the first eco-houses to go up planning consent; and use a mortgage broker that understands in Lancashire, kept the design and size simple and compact using your business. We set off with the determination to do this and materials used in our area. We were granted permission within six succeeded. A lot of hard work, long hours and empty wallets; but weeks of our application, which included justification for us being well worth it in the end.

Our experience of building on For permission we had to satisfy the Rural Estates Surveyor for the County Council about the financial and functional worthiness Ashurst farm of our application. ‘Function’ being the need to be here at all Peter Haynes, Ashurst Organics, East Sussex. times, for livestock supervision (breeding stock), frost protection It was made clear from the beginning by the planning department (delicate plants), watering and so on. ‘Financial’ meant three that no permission would be granted in this area other than for an years’ profitable books from the farming/growing enterprise we agricultural dwelling. We had been granted temporary planning had been conducting on the land. permission for a mobile home, which we lived in for four years before The Rural Estates Surveyor, if satisfied with these two tests, will applying for permanent permission. At both applications it was then be looking at the size and value of the house in square metres. very advisable to have the neighbours and planning representatives The thinking being that if the farm is sold, the house shouldn’t on the parish council on our side. Knitting yourselves into the be of such a value that it influences the property out of the reach community is vital if you want to avoid objections, and smooths of a new farming entrant. Worthy stuff, but as you can imagine your path considerably if people are genuinely enthusiastic about pretty irrelevant in the South East. Precedent ultimately will your cause. Local food has more fans than you might think – and of determine the dwelling size. For this, we researched previous course the PR helps with veg sales. agricultural applications granted, relating size of dwelling to size and nature of property (if you start finding lots of five-bedroom houses granted to three-acre equestrian properties, it’s either going to be easy or corrupt). It’s worth bearing in mind that for Haynes an agricultural application, a farm office and utility room can be added over and above the recommended square metres. Collette

The alternative to doing this yourself is to hire a consultant. Photo:

Page 27 - The Organic Grower - No 16 Autumn 2011 However, as in our case, beware the professional who’s livelihood Further information: depends on the precedent being maintained and encourages you Best Laid Plans - article by Dan Newberry in OG5 (p38). Download magazine in to build as big as possible, resulting in long drawn-out disputes members area or article from Organic Futures pages of OGA website. with the planning department. Small is Successful (report from Ecological Land Co-op) - For examples of various When it’s all agreed (and a letter to all committee members on the business models (including Hugh and Patsy Chapman at Longmeadow) www. decision-making panel just prior to the meeting telling ‘our story’ ecologicalland.coop/projects-small-successful most definitely helped), the council insisted on signing a section 106 agreement, tying the dwelling to the land. This is worth some Chapter 7: Publishes The Land, DIY Planning Handbook and Simon Fairlie’s Low thought if you were thinking of selling off some land in the future Impact Development: Planning and People in a Sustainable Countryside. www. for your pension. The advantage of building your own home tlio.org.uk/chapter7

is security. We turned the sale of a relative’s small house into Ecology Building Society www.ecology.co.uk a family home. It’s cheaper to build than to buy. However, the disadvantage is that you never get to go home from work. Feature coordinated by Jonathan Smith Simple, inexpensive storage

Canalside Community Food is a CSA (Community Supported The land here is rented from a larger arable farm and we have the Agriculture) scheme in its fourth year with a membership of just use of part of a large concrete floored barn. This barn was open over 100 households. Based on ten acres just outside Leamington sided last winter but still worked well as a cool area in summer Spa in Warwickshire, one aspect of the project that appeals to both and a warmer area in winter. However, it has now been enclosed members and staff is that we only provide produce grown on site, and should be even more frost-free this time round. whether it is fruitful September or hungry June. Potatoes For this reason, effective storage of veg is very important. What’s more, inexpensive and convenient storage is vital in order to We harvest potatoes around the beginning of September, keep the scheme viable and self-sustaining. This challenge is not separating the ones that are green or have blight, though not to unique, but it’s a challenge for all food producers, whether they’re the point of slowing down the job too much as there’s a lot to get storing their own produce or somebody else’s. through. We leave the crop out in the field for a few days in large crates to dry off. Like many veg growing dilemmas, the logical approach is to begin at the end! Our aim is to provide members with at least seven or The clamp in the barn is a simple one: we stack straw bales 3 thick eight different vegetables every week for the whole year and since on each side, leaving a space in the middle for 2 potato crates it is ideal to have at least some variety from week to week, at any across. A double layer of duvet goes on the top with straw bales one time we need to have about twelve different things available weighing them down. It is a good idea to put your best storing either from the field or from the barn. Beyond the first hard frost varieties at the back, e.g. Romano, to avoid juggling things round of the autumn, we can only have carrots, parsnips, leeks, swedes in the middle of February! and the odd bit of kale outside, together with lots of salad and We’re still working out the best way to discourage mice. greens from the tunnels. At the time these run out at the beginning of spring, the cauliflowers and purple sprouting broccoli get Squash going. Still, to cover ourselves we need to do a good job of storing Squash is of particular importance as a crop for storage; compared about seven different veg, starting the process in July and finally with beetroot, celeriac and potatoes, which are all getting just a emptying the storeroom in May. little tired in April, it is quite exotic. Planting time is as important as harvesting time and method of storage; the last frost of the spring needs to be avoided but transplanting must be early enough for fruit to properly develop a skin. A sunny early autumn helps the skins to cure and ideally we would turn each squash over a week before bringing them in.

In October they go onto temporary shelving, ensuring that the skins are not touching and inside a dense straw bale construction in the barn. We have a heater inside for very cold weather. Although

Ingall o the optimum storage temperature is above 10 C, we are happy Tom

just to keep it above freezing to save energy. We found Crown Prince to (mostly) endure until April in these conditions, though Photo:

Page 28 - The Organic Grower - No 16 Autumn 2011 Uchiki Kuri and other smaller varieties are best used earlier. Understanding storage A little damage to a big squash like a Crown Prince isn’t the end of the world as a 5kg squash is best cut and portioned when in the We are fortunate in that our members enjoy truly seasonal food weekly share for members. and will put up with a few months of lots of roots. In April we start to put notices up in the building from which members collect We have stored butternuts in an occupied house with much their veg each week, telling them that we know the potatoes are greater effect and would like to look into either storing en masse sprouting and the beetroot is a bit dry, but fresher food is just in occupied houses, which are warm anyway, or giving members´ round the corner. All things considered though, we take pride their total squash share for the winter months in October. Both in the fact that in May we can give a share of five or six different these options have logistical complications that need weighing up. roots, plus butternut squash, salad, spinach and spring greens. Garlic / Onions Will Johnson, Canalside Community Food

At the beginning of July we For more on squash storage see Tolly’s article in Organic Grower No.5 Sumption pull the over wintered garlic Phil and a month later, we harvest the onion main crop. Photo:

Properly dried bulbs seem to survive cold snaps of a few degrees below zero in storage so we consider the drying process the most important (after eating...) of these crops’ existence. Early carrots and peas in the tunnels are just about finished when the time comes to dry the onions and garlic. Densely laid out, though not piled on top of one another on the polytunnel floor, for a few weeks ensures that they are dry enough so that the majority will last until the beginning of May.

In the barn we either stack them in crates or lay them on the floor in nets, a single layer surrounded by straw bales, a single duvet on top in sub zero temperatures. Celeriac / Beetroot In terms of storage we treat these two crops in the same way. In October or November, before the first hard frost, we pull them up, take the tops off and store in the barn in a clamp. The clamp is enclosed with straw bales and the simple method of a single layer of roots followed by a layer of sand and so on seems to work well. Because of this lasagne-type lay out, it is possible to store hundreds of kilos in just a few square metres. • Quality organic seed for professional growers. The celeriac can be trimmed when taken out. Although they start to sprout in March, both crops are good to eat well into April. • Field vegetables and salad crops. Other crops for the future Independent UK seedhouse As well as these six crops we are planning to add two more to the • For details of our range of seeds visit our storeroom this winter. We lost hundreds of cabbages, bar a few website www.elsoms.com and see our exceptional January Kings and Savoys, in the severe temperatures which fell to -15 oC in December last year. This year we intend organic catalogue. Please contact us if you to harvest about a thousand reds and whites by November to require a hard copy. store in bins in the barn until February or March. Also, after experimenting with French beans in small quantities over the last few years we have about 7,000 Borlotti plants from which we hope Spalding, Lincolnshire. PE11 1QG to get enough of a dried crop, somewhere in the region of about 100 kg, to fill a few gaps in the winter and spring. When cooked, Telephone 01775 715000 Fax 01775 715001 the beans double in weight and so a 200 g share for 120 shares www.elsoms.com e-mail [email protected] means 100 kg would be four weeks´ worth. We are working on recipes to inspire, with some success.

Page 29 - The Organic Grower - No 16 Autumn 2011 Wild and Free: Bees on your holding

If you grow top fruit, Addressing the needs of other native bees first will help ensure beans, almonds, that you do not cause an imbalance by flooding the area with coppiced hazel or honeybees while the local bumble population is less than optimal. willow, flowering crops Exactly how this can be assessed is yet to be fully established, but of any kind, or just have if bumblebees are currently rare visitors, it may be too soon to plenty of wild flowers, add a beehive. you will already have One of the most important considerations is the availability of food Chandler

bees as visitors, so throughout the bees’ flying season, and this is where the grower

keeping a hive or two Phil can apply their particular skills to ensuring biodiversity and of honeybees would appropriate variety of species. There is considerable overlap in seem like a great idea. Photo: the flower varieties visited by different types of pollinating insect However, while my and they each have particular preferences. For example, comfrey, own main interest is in honeybees, my first piece of advice to red clover and foxglove tend to be preferred by bumblebees, those thinking of taking up beekeeping is first to spend some while honeybees are more likely to be found on heathers, white time addressing the needs of other wild pollinators, especially clover and apple blossoms. Of the ‘imported’ species, buddleia is bumblebees and solitary bees. famously attractive to butterflies, moths and many bee species, It may seem romantic to have thousands of honeybees buzzing and himalayan balsam provides a welcome late-season boost, round your flowers, but the reality is that they are not entirely especially to bees and hoverflies. without problems. You may need to think carefully before placing Of course, many – if not most – putative beekeepers are tempted by a box of fifty thousand insects equipped with stings close to where the prospect of having their own honey ‘on tap’. Honey yields are there may be pets, children and elderly people. You may want dependent on three main factors: the number of colonies kept, the to think about how you use the space and how your activities extent and variety of available food and – more than anything - the may interfere with their flight-path, which at times may make weather. Of these, only the first is fully under your control, as bees Heathrow look like a quiet backwater. may forage over a three mile radius from their hive. If most of that I say these things not to put you off, but to encourage you to territory is flower-rich meadows and hedgerows, organic farmland think carefully about what your real reasons for wanting to or verdant, uncultivated wild countryside, you are probably well ‘keep’ bees may be. placed to keep at least half a dozen hives if you so choose.

It is likely that the crops on your holding are already effectively Increasingly, beekeepers in towns and cities are finding their pollinated by wild bees and other insects but adding honeybees bees are healthier and more productive than those kept near to the mix can have a positive effect on yields when growing arable farmland, and the explanation for this seems increasingly crops on a large scale. However, if you are in an area where clear: our agricultural system is a massive consumer of neighbouring farmers routinely spray with insecticides which pesticides, fungicides and herbicides, which are known to be result in wild insect numbers being drastically reduced, or places dangerous to pollinators. Much attention has lately been focused where wild bee populations have suffered for other reasons, on the insidious destructive power of systemic neonicotinoids, such as heavy pollution or habitat loss, you are probably in the including Imidacloprid, Clothianidin and Thiamethoxam, which wrong place to keep honeybees. are known to be highly toxic to bees in laboratory conditions, yet have been licensed for use in the field. They are typically applied Compared to most livestock, honeybees need little attention, as seed coatings, finding their way into the cellular structure of and so can be added to a farm or smallholding without fear of the plants as they grow and rendering the entire plant – from its creating a serious drain on your time. However, as with any roots to its pollen and nectar – toxic to anything that comes too other creature that comes within our care, someone must give close. Concern has widely been expressed about their potential them the right kind of attention at the right times, if only to for toxicity to humans, too. ensure that they are comfortable, replete with stores and disease- free. Honeybees are – and will always remain – wild creatures, If you decide that you do want to bring honeybees into your unimpressed by our attempts to domesticate them, so ‘keeping’ life, an early choice you have to make is between ‘conventional’ them is really a matter of providing suitable accommodation and beekeeping, using variations of the Langstroth-style frames-and- allowing them freedom to roam. Beyond that – especially if you foundation hive, and so-called ‘natural’ beekeeping, which is have honey in mind - you have to consider the degree and style mostly based on variants of the top bar hive. The route you follow of ‘management’ you will endeavour to apply. will depend on your philosophy, your priorities and your pocket.

Page 30 - The Organic Grower - No 16 Autumn 2011 The conventional approach requires a substantial initial investment 2. Create natural habitat. in equipment, an ongoing dependence on bought-in supplies Ensure that some spaces go wild to create a safe haven for bees and the possibility of higher honey yields; while the natural path and other insects and small mammals. Stacks of twigs and leaves can be followed at a minimal cost, with generally lower but more and heaps of rocks are useful to many species. sustainable yields and a minimal carbon footprint. Before choosing between them, you should first seek out opportunities to have some 3. Plant bee-friendly flowers. direct, hands-on encounters with live honeybees en masse. Sow wild flower seeds on waste ground that is not being It should also be noted that not everyone is temperamentally cultivated. Some ‘guerilla gardeners’ even plant them in public suited to working with bees, and it is as well to establish this one parks and waste ground. way or the other before you find yourself with tens of thousands Aside from the practical reasons why you may be considering of them in your back yard. keeping honeybees, they are an engaging species from which we Here are some things we can all do to help all bees and other have much to learn. Beekeeping is a fascinating and absorbing pollinators, short of taking up beekeeping: activity that has the potential to enrich your relationship with the landscape and its untamed inhabitants. And simply by having 1. Make a wild bee house. more bees of all kinds around can add greatly to your enjoyment. Providing a simple box as a place for feral bees to set up home is Phil Chandler, author of The Barefoot Beekeeper one step short of taking up beekeeping, but may appeal to those who want to have bees around but don’t want to get involved www.biobees.com with looking after them. My beekeeping story

I had spent the previous winter in New Zealand working with a You can sell honey at the farm gate with an honesty box, in the semi-commercial bee farmer, and returned to England ready for farm shop, or through the veg box scheme. The demand for local action, but as an itinerant organic farm worker it soon became quality product in the UK is huge and small food shops in the obvious that it would be impossible for me to be an owner or local town always want to buy my honey, which retails on a 1lb grower on my own smallholding. A combination of land prices jar at between £4.50 and £6.50, but even with my 30 hives I can’t and planning restriction is keeping many like myself from earning begin to meet the demand. Customers of organic food want honey a living from smallholding. that is only coarse filtered and, most important, unheated, and having traces of propoli, wax and pollen in honey only enhances However, whilst keeping a few hives of bees at Ashurst Organics the nutritional and medicinal properties. where I lived and worked, I realised I could start farming with my livestock, without buying or even renting land. I bought a 4M There is a lot to know about beekeeping if you want to do it well box trailer for £500 as a honey extraction and bottling shed and and responsibly. Bee Associations exist in many areas and are negotiated payment for electric with jars of honey. It’s important often involved with teaching courses, and there are many books for me to keep everything mobile so that investment in plant to learn from. A combination of farmer practicality and basic and equipment is never wasted. I can go anywhere and move beekeeping knowledge is enough to start. everything to a new site if necessary. It’s much more work for Tony Newman much less money, but running my own project really satisfies my need to be creative and so far it has worked well Location and market I wouldn’t recommend owner or growers to manage their own bee colonies. There is always so much going on and hives need to be made a priority in order to thrive. It’s the perfect sideline for a permanent farm worker and this is how it always was in the past.

A few hives only need a couple of hours a week, but timing is very Haynes important. When something needs doing, it must be done then or you lose productivity or even whole colonies of bees. As a farm Collette worker it’s very inspiring to have your own operation, even if it’s only three or four hives. Photo: Tony’s hives at Ashurst Organics

Page 31 - The Organic Grower - No 16 Autumn 2011 Growing for Caterers

Remember how it was and how it still can be? When you’ve been A similar event is being planned at Maes y Neuadd hotel near driving miles through the highways and byways of rural Britain Harlech in North Wales. Another strand of the project is for a meeting or workshop and stop for a meal? On the board to encourage a very wide range of chefs and cooks in cafés, outside it temptingly said ‘home-cooked food’... but seasonal restaurants, gastro-pubs and canteens to use fresh produce by vegetables? Too often canned peas and carrots, tinned tomatoes producing a practical guide to the use of Welsh horticultural and over-blown mushrooms. And just suppose you’d chosen produce. A number of chefs have contributed recipes for this salad instead...! Fortunately, the times are changing. In most booklet which we hope will help raise the profile of Welsh places chefs are seeking out quality ingredients and the popularity horticultural produce and encourage more use of seasonal fruit, of regional and organic food offers growers new opportunities to vegetables and herbs. supply caterers, but it’s a specialised market. But what of the practicalities for growers? Chefs can be demanding customers but they don’t always have a free hand. The chef- proprietor is probably the best type of customer because they order the produce and pay the bills. Where the chef is separate from the owner or where the outlet is part of a chain the situation can be trickier and cash-flow may be an issue. Chefs like to order fresh produce as they need it but owners and catering chains may work on 30-day credit terms – and sometimes longer. Most expect Griffin free delivery and in rural areas with scattered customers and Fach rising fuel costs this can be an important charge on your business. Felin Planning the crops to grow for caterers may be different than for

Photos: a retail outlet, farmers market or box scheme. On a number of Vegetables in raised beds at the Felin Fach Griffin occasions chefs have said to me, “just bring in what you’ve got, anytime” – which is not very helpful without some indication of Organic Centre Wales and the Horticulture Wales programme quantities; and turning up with random produce, no matter how are both encouraging cooks and chefs throughout the catering and lovely and fresh, when the kitchen is busy or short-staffed can be hospitality industry to use more Welsh horticultural produce. A twin an unwelcome intrusion. And it’s hard to second guess what they approach is needed though; growers need to plan the right crops might really want. Recently I was surprised when a chef I’ve been for this market and to be aware of the idiosyncrasies among the supplying for a number of years said, “what I can’t get is a regular customers they may wish to supply. Organic Centre Wales (OCW) supply of rocket and broad-leaf parsley”. He hadn’t asked for has recently published a booklet, “Why sustainable agri-tourism is a either before and of course my unsold row of rocket was by now market opportunity for the organic sector - A guide for farmers and going to seed – still, there was time to sow again. Another request other businesses” which makes a strong case for the hospitality sector similarly came out of the blue. “Dave” he said, “I’ve been meaning to use organic produce. This adds to the existing OCW publications to ask you, can we have some very young broad beans, I want to that Carolyn Wacher, Tony Little and colleagues have been producing cook them in their pods”. He had put Habas a la rondeña on the such as the directories of organic food outlets and the ‘getting the best menu, a slow cooked Spanish stew that works best with tender from organic fruit and vegetables’ series of factsheets. young beans cooked in their pods (apparently!) but hadn’t secured The Horticulture Wales programme is being delivered by a a supply. As we know, broad beans don’t stay young and tender partnership from CALU, University of Bangor: OCW; ADAS for long and it’s not a crop I would grow in succession just on spec. Wales; and the project lead partner, Glyndwr University (which incorporates the former Welsh College of Horticulture). As part of this programme we are arranging events to promote the use of Welsh organic and local produce to tourism and hospitality providers with the aim of strengthening the links between local producers and the food service sector. These events will bring growers and chefs together. The first, to be held at the The Felin Fach Griffin, near Brecon on 9th September 2011 features a walk round the gardens with Felin Fach Griffin head gardener, Joe Hand, Senior ADAS Horticultural Consultant Chris Creed, and Head Chef, Ross Bruce. And there will be a discussion on the kind of crop production suitable for high-end catering establishments. Garden volunteers at the Felin Fach Griffin help with staking the peas.

Page 32 - The Organic Grower - No 16 Autumn 2011 Chefs also tend to go for crops that need minimum preparation and organically. I was at a conference workshop one November so mange-tout tend to be preferred over pod-peas; and dwarf where a celebrity chef was stressing the need for fresh produce. French beans over runners, for example. Sadly there is an On her worktop there was a pile of asparagus – “in November?” increasing tendency even in high-end establishments to go for the I queried, but she didn’t seem to understand my objection. So it’s convenience of pre-washed potatoes and trays of micro-salads good to develop that relationship with chefs and to substitute and herbs which can live in the kitchen for a few days and cut what you have for what they think they need. When this works when needed. As ever, the best tack is to offer distinctive varieties the restaurant can make a feature of the supplier on their menu and the widest selection of fresh produce. using phrases like, “…with Rainbow Farm leeks” or “Bridge Farm salad leaves”. Then you know you’ve arrived. Most caterers prize quality and freshness but don’t always understand what’s in season and what can be grown locally David Frost

Grower Profile: Glebelands City Growers

Glebelands City Growers is a workers’ co-operative of four people: Charlotte, Adam, Sally and Ed. We grow on 2.5 acres of sandy loam (more sand than loam unfortunately). Our market garden is located on the banks of the river Mersey in the suburbs of Manchester. We mainly specialise in producing leafy crops, Mason

especially salad and herbs which make up around 50% of our turnover. We generally aim to grow stuff that benefits from a short Charlotte

supply chain to take advantage of our proximity to the market. We have four unheated undercover spaces in which we grow French Photo: beans, cucumbers and basil in the summer; however their primary Left to right: Adam Rayne, Charlotte Mason, Ed Sweetman and Sally Westaway benefit is overwinter salad production and extending the season The four of us took on Glebelands from Adam York and Lesley at both ends for spring onions, herbs, beetroot, lettuce and so on. Bryson (now moved to pastures greener in South Wales) three Despite our location next to the river and the fact that we are in years ago. Prior to that we all had fairly limited experience; we all the North West of England, finding the most suitable irrigation came into growing through Wwoofing, with Adam and Charlotte method has proven to be one of our biggest headaches. Each year working alongside Lesley for a season or two before taking over. brings a new Eureka moment, and this year we think our new After an intensive period of instruction in the winter of 2008/09, Reguflow perforated irrigation hose may prove the magic bullet. we were ready to jump in at the deep end. We were lucky in that taking on an existing business meant we had a guaranteed market Holding nutrients in our hungry soil is also a major headache and and everything was already set up. On the other hand we had currently means carting loads of horse muck, home-made compost expectations to meet from our customers as well as Adam and and green waste compost about in a link box on the back of our Lesley who were quite a tough act to follow. Massive kudos has to Massey 35. We do try to incorporate green manures into our rotation go to Unicorn who bought our tractor for us and were very helpful and are very excited to see the results of including a one-and-a-half- and understanding when things didn’t go quite according to plan. year ley period, as well as the usual over-winter ground cover. Also Adam and Lesley were inspirational in their training, support Our main market is Unicorn Grocery, about three miles away: and remarkable self-restraint after we took on their business. a hugely supportive and inspirational worker co-op. We also supply a wholesaler and a local box scheme. So far we haven’t Improving our sustainability both financially and environmentally needed to worry about marketing our produce as we have pretty is our top priority in the coming years. We are looking to limit much been able to sell everything we grow. However, this year external inputs (especially animal) through incorporating a ley we are very excited to be involved in setting up a growers’ and period in our rotation and producing our own potting mix à la buyers’ co-operative called Manchester Veg People, which has a Tolly (out of wood chip). We are also moving towards using more contract to supply the University of Manchester. We are looking green waste compost and less horse muck. Through the co-op we to involve local restaurants and other businesses in the planning, also hope to specialise further in high-value intensive production, production and supply of local veg, to deliver a fairer food system concentrating on salad and herbs for the catering trade. for everyone involved. This should enable us to further specialise Sally and Ed have also just created a new addition to the and improve our efficiency while also increasing our turnover in Glebelands team called Toby, so we are looking forward to order to deliver a living wage for all four of us. incorporating him into the rotation! Ed Sweetman

Page 33 - The Organic Grower - No 16 Autumn 2011 Growing raspberries

Raspberries are Britain’s second most popular soft fruit with a wide range of varieties, giving crops from the middle of June to the first frosts. They require fertile, slightly acidic soils that neither dry out nor lie wet, and because they are a perennial fruit crop, they flourish in weed free soils with protection from strong winds. For growers not blessed with such a perfect site, raised beds can improve poor drainage and drip irrigation can increase the moisture in dry soils. Protection from wind can be provided by netting or by a carefully sited bed of Jerusalem artichokes. An understanding of soil pH will give clues as to which mineral deficiencies to anticipate (see below). Planting of support by utilising less wire, wood and labour, there isn’t as much space left for the fruiting canes and it might be advisable to As raspberries will be in the ground for ten to twelve years this allow more room by increasing the spacing between plants. justifies careful preparation, so check the soil profile for signs Primocane, the autumn variety, is always trained to single wire of plough or rotovator pans and make sure these are removed supports, or possibly no support at all because there are no extra especially in the beds. Planting after a fertility building ley or a stems. For those varieties with strong stems, one wire at 3’ might July planted green manure such as mustard, buckwheat, phacelia, be enough but two wires at 2’ and 4’ is safer. Primocanes are cut lupins, or a mixture of them (they should all be killed by frost down to the ground once harvest has finished, after the first frosts. when planted in July, at least they are in Norfolk) is a good option. Avoid putting too much wet FYM or compost into a trench A couple of tips might be useful when tying in the canes: tie each beneath the canes as this can impede drainage. stem to the wire, firstly by trapping the string under your thumb, wrapping it around your hand several times and cutting through Wire supports are required for summer fruiting varieties, ideally one end, giving you lots of short pieces of string. Tie the string to installed before planting. Spacing of rows is generally 5-10’ (1.5 to the wire, make another knot in it and then tie in the cane just like 3 m) apart dependent on the width of equipment used between you would with roses. The second tip suggests cutting a longer the rows, and if possible, aligned north / south. Canes are planted piece of string and wrapping around your elbow, tying the string 20-24” (50-60 cm) apart in the row between November and March to the wire and then weaving the stems to the wire with half hitch when the soil conditions are good. They should not be planted too knots, tying it off at the other end. Tie a slip knot in one length, put deeply but should be well firmed in. If required, it’s a good idea to the other lengths through the loop and pull tight, tie the loose ends mix some crumbly compost both into the soil and then as a mulch to your belt leaving hands free to use the string. Using natural after planting, taking care not to add too much nutrient and to rather than nylon twine means that any surplus ends can be left to keep the mulch away from the canes themselves. Weed control is rot or added to the compost heap, rather than collecting up bits of crucial and a major contributor to success or failure. Weed control nylon which will cost time and labour. fabrics are not ideal because new canes will need to emerge through them in future years, but corn starch based plastics are Choice of varieties designed to biodegrade and have potential. The alternative is to cut away more plastic each year until it is removed completely. It’s important not only to consider the season when fruit is When hand weeding the canes, it’s important not to damage the required and whether a long picking period is preferred, but also new roots as these are very close to the surface. soils and site. If the site is not ideal, avoid Glen Moy, Tulameen and Glen Magna. Consider your markets and how much fruit is Training required at any one time, take into account the length of time the fruit has to stay in punnets, travelling time, etc. Raspberries come in two forms, floricane and primocane, TOP QUALITY SOFT FRUIT PLANTS commonly referred to as summer and autumn varieties, each one having different requirements for training and pruning. All bare- root plants grown in healthy isolation STRAWBERRY PLANTS - Certified Organic – PHPS Elite Certificate Floricane, the summer variety, fruits on one year old canes. This Christine, Honeoye, Pegasus, Hapil, Cambridge Favourite, means that the training method has to facilitate both fruiting and Alice, Symphony, Florence, Judibell, Sophie. growing canes at the same time. The most common method of NEW!! Fenella, Elegance. RASPBERRY CANES - Certified Organic– PHPS ‘A’ Certificate training is double wires at about 2 and 4’ (0.6 and 1.2 m) . The idea Malling Jewel, Tulameen, Octavia, Autumn Bliss. is to keep the fruiting canes to the outside where fruit is easily (also other varieties grown with no or low chemical) picked and allow the new canes to grow up in the middle where BLACK/ RED/WHITE CURRANT , GOOSEBERRY & JOSTABERRY they will be out of the way. After harvest the old canes are cut BUSHES (12 varieties)– Certified Organic. All 1 year bushes, grown from PHPS Certified Stocks. Available Nov onwards out at the base and the new canes tied in ready for next year. The alternative is to use single wires at 2’ and 4’ and train the old canes WELSH FRUIT STOCKS BRYNGWYN, KINGTON, HR5 3QZ to the right and new canes to the left then the other way round Tel/fax - 01497 851209 Email - sian@ for the following year. Although this method reduces the cost welshfruitstocks.co.ukwww.welshfruitstocks.co.uk

Page 34 - The Organic Grower - No 16 Autumn 2011 Floricanes with dark, wonderfully flavoured fruit, usually cropping evenly from August until the first hard frosts. Short spiny canes only *Malling Minerva: early season, spine free, compact with an need support in windy sites. It has excellent disease resistance easy to manage cane and habit. It has excellent disease resistance particularly to raspberry root rot. especially against Raspberry Bushy Dwarf Virus (RBDV), although can be susceptible to root rot. Fruit have an excellent *Autumn Treasure: fruiting starts slightly later in the year than sweet flavour with firm berries, a good shelf life and easy to pick, the variety Autumn Bliss but still continues until the autumn fruiting about seven days earlier than Glen Ample. frosts. The berries have good flavour, are bright in colour and have a long conical shape, with good shelf life. It has spineless Glen Moy: earliest raspberry available, fruiting commencing in upright canes that can be grown in a bed system with minimal mid June, with high-class fruit, firm berries with good flavour. supports. Disease resistance is excellent against root rot. The canes are spine free and are resistant to aphid borne diseases but susceptible to root rot. This variety needs careful New varieties establishment but flourish in free draining soil. They start to *Glen Fynne: this Scottish variety produces very high yields of crop in mid June, ten days earlier than Glen Ample. firm, bright berries with a sweet and aromatic flavour. Moderately Malling Jewel: this well-established variety, fruiting in early/ vigorous, tall with spine free canes. It has good disease resistance, mid season is known for its old fashioned, juicy fruit with a lovely but is susceptible to root rot. The plants fruit 3 days earlier than flavour. The canes are tolerant of most conditions so it is useful Glen Ample but have a longer picking period. where neither soil nor site are ideal and shelf life is not important. Root rot resistance: There should be some new varieties coming Widely grown by home gardeners. through from the plant breeders within the next few years. *Glen Ample: mid season and the most widely grown variety, Novelty varieties producing very high yields of large, fleshy fruit of excellent Allgold: yellow primocane, similar to Autumn Bliss flavour on spine-free canes. A heavy cropper with prolific cane production, it requires excellent site conditions site and a good *Valentina: yellow early season floricane feeding regime ensuring that it lasts well. It can also be grown as * Denotes those varieties protected by Plant Breeders’ Rights. a long cane. These should not be propagated without a licence from the Plant Tulameen: a late season variety with the highest fruit quality and Breeders and a royalty is charged on the canes at purchase a long picking season. Tall canes produce very large aromatic, juicy fruit with a good tolerance to botrytis, but susceptible to Viruses root rot. They need a good soil and care in order to establish well. Raspberries are susceptible to pollen, aphid and soil nematode Originally bred in Canada it has good winter hardiness and crops vectored viruses that can limit the life of a plantation. When through July into August, cropping about 6 days later than Glen dealing with virus problems in an established plantation it is Ample. Can also be grown as a long cane. worth contacting a plant clinic to help determine the best course *Glen Doll: a new late season variety, one of a selection from of action. However when creating a new plantation, the purchase Scottish Crops Research Institute, which is spine free with high of PHPS certified, virus free canes and minimising aphids by yields of large, sweet fruit, excellent for freezing. It has a long cultural methods and permitted controls will help achieve the full cropping period starting about a week later than Glen Ample life of the plantation. through till early August. The cane has excellent disease resistance. Samuel Eglington, with much help from Sian Fromant of * Glen Magna: as the name suggests, Magna is big with tall, thick Welsh Fruit Stocks and Stella Cubison of Garden Organic. canes, large, dark red fruit with excellent flavour. Good disease Deficiency Symptoms Cure resistance against aphid borne diseases and RBDV and some Magnesium (Mg) Yellowing between leaf veins Apply a dressing of tolerance to root rot. However, it needs a good home to establish (veins remain green). Older magnesium limestone (helps leaves more affected, often improve Mg levels and raise and do well and is not prolific in its cane production. leading to necrosis (leaf tissue soil pH). Magnesium sulphate death). Common in light, acid, (Epsom salts) and Dolomite * Octavia: this is a very late season East Malling variety, extending sandy soil or where excess limestone can also be used. levels of potassium restrict its the fruiting season well into August and great for the school uptake or on calcareous soils. holidays! The fruit is very high quality with a great flavour. The Iron (Fe) Symptoms appear in young Use a foliar feed containing leaves first. Leaves yellow chelated iron e.g. Sequestrene. canes are not spine-free, but have very good disease resistance from the tips of the leaf A dressing of well-rotted with good winter hardiness. Fifty per cent of the crop is ready downwards. Common in farmyard manure will help alkaline soils. lower soil pH. 11-12 days later than Glen Ample. Can be grown as long cane. Manganese (Mn) Inter-veinal yellowing of Apply manganese sulphate leaves at some distance from in late spring/early summer. Primocanes the leaf tips (unlike iron A dressing of well-rotted deficiency). Leaf tips remain farmyard manure will help Autumn Bliss: this autumn fruiting variety is easy to manage, green. Common in alkaline lower soil pH. soils.

Page 35 - The Organic Grower - No 16 Autumn 2011 Apprenticeship corner Share Farming Event, Feldon Forest Farm, June 25th 2011 This Soil Association event on share farming was organised primarily for apprentices, but open to all. It was held at Feldon Forest Farm, Frankton, which is halfway between Leamington Spa and Rugby in the heart of Warwickshire. George and Gillian Browning set up Feldon Forest Farm from scratch in 1994 with

many ideas and much enthusiasm. Now they have a good range Schmutz of farm buildings, an eco-friendly farmhouse and a diverse Ulrich farming system including livestock and horticultural enterprises,

agroforestry and a fishpond. Having first visited the farm almost Photos: ten years ago (then without a farmhouse and only a few buildings), with the chance to build equity in their business. Initial contact I (Ulrich) was impressed with how the farm is now taking shape and proposals can come from either side; the likelihood is that the as a holistic unit. Despite many years of ultimately successful landowner would take the lion’s share of any profit in the early battling with the planners, they have retained their enthusiasm. stages, with the tenant building up their share over time as their There is always more to do, George and Gillian will tell you, even proportion of time, resources and money put into the enterprise if it’s only passing on their knowledge and enthusiasm to the next becomes greater. Since most present at the event were those generation of organic farmers and growers. without land, it was interesting to hear that institutions in the UK owning significant amounts include the National Trust, the The day started with a farm walk that included a mixed orchard Church of England and the RSPB. with hens; grass-fed Shetland cattle and Castlemilk Moorit sheep (good for wool as well as the table) grazing species-rich Ben’s personal experience of share farming was also very grassland; a small reservoir complete with fish; agroforestry with interesting: a simple arrangement in which Frank Gundry- poplar trees; vegetables in polytunnels (including contract seed White, a veg grower whom he met through the apprenticeship growing for the Heritage Seed Library at Garden Organic)… and scheme (see OG 11), is able to grow produce on land that Ben grey squirrels, which putting it mildly are disliked by George. is managing for top fruit production. The advantages for Ben The diversity on view was evidence that what is preached is are that he has someone on site to keep an eye on things, plus definitely practised here. he’ll receive a small commission for veg sales; whilst Frank can grow and sell veg without having to pay to rent land – simple and mutually beneficial.

After a good farm lunch with lovely strawberries, we split up into smaller groups to brainstorm ideas about how share farming could work in a variety of scenarios, ranging from a walled garden in Cambridgeshire to Feldon Forest Farm itself. One of the recurring themes of the day came up again and again and it was something that George emphasised at the close: that the most important aspect of share farming is a shared vision and ethos between the people involved – something that should be acknowledged from the start and monitored regularly. Inside their earth-sheltered house, Ben Raskin from the Soil I (Will) certainly reflected that bringing together an inspiring Association went through various specific models within the farmer and landowner (of around the age that is regularly quoted broader concept of share farming. The potential for share farming as the average age of a British farmer) and a room of (mostly) can arise from a farmer who owns their land but wants to gradually landless twenty-somethings left us feeling positive about all of our hand over the day to day running to another skilled person. It can futures in farming or growing. also come where new landowners have no history of, or interest in, agriculture, yet want their land to be used and be productive. Will Johnson and Ulrich Schmutz

There are models of share farming and the reality can be anything For more information contact Rachel Harries, Land Trust Development . outside or in between the two above scenarios. Share farming is a Co-ordinator. Tel: 0117 987 4601, [email protected] great opportunity for somebody with skills and ideas to start or www.soilassociation.org/landtrust continue an enterprise whilst sharing the risk with the landowner,

Page 36 - The Organic Grower - No 16 Autumn 2011 Agricultural apprenticeships The Soil Association Organic Apprenticeship Scheme is expanding to offering agricultural apprenticeships.

“Our successful horticulture apprenticeship programme is now in its fourth year,” said Rachel Harries, Soil Association Apprenticeship Scheme development coordinator. “But thanks to recent funding from the Ratcliff Foundation and another donor, from November we can also offer modules in grassland management, arable and animal husbandry.”

The Organic Apprenticeship Scheme was established to meet a growing need for skilled and experienced organic farmers and growers with well-rounded knowledge of principles and standards, matched with practical skills developed over the two year work-based scheme. It is estimated that we need another 52,000 new entrants in agriculture over the next decade to meet our needs.

The Soil Association is now looking for host farms to take on apprentices in agriculture and horticulture. For farms that cannot afford a full time employee, one option is to pair up with a neighbouring farmer or grower and share an apprentice.

We also have new placements now available at Abbey Home Farm, Gloucestershire for an agriculture and a horticulture apprentice and at Pillars of Hercules for a horticulture apprentice.

For more information contact 0117 987 4601 or [email protected]

VEGETABLE & FLOWER SEEDS A MASSIVE range of both, old favourites & new and exciting vegetable & potato varieties, including organic and unusual.

Tuckers Trustworthy Seeds – The Value for Money range Contact us for a FREE GARDEN CATALOGUE & / or GROWERS BROCHURE Available by Mail order or online at: WEBSITE:www.tuckers-seeds.co.uk EMAIL: [email protected] TEL: 01364 652233 FAX: 01364 654211

Page 37 - The Organic Grower - No 16 Autumn 2011 AGROKRUH – growing veg in circles An innovative system for growing vegetables pioneered in Slovakia soil structure continuously since there is no soil compaction by heavy machinery. The local climate suits vegetable production, although global climatic changes do bring extreme weather, such as a hail-storm in 2010. Close to the growing area there is a small irrigation lake with a capacity of 280,000 litres. The farm also keeps hens, though purely for domestic use and not for sale. Technical characteristics Each “unit” is a circle of 36 m diameter with an area of 1,072 m2 (see picture). This design requires minimal energy consumption. In this design there are fifteen circle-growing parcels per farm, giving a total of 1.3 hectares. This area should be manageable by one well skilled grower with seasonal help (i.e. family size). Among these circles there is “free” land - all together AGROKRUH®

about half a hectare, which is used for planting different tea Photo: AGROKRUH, which translates as agro-circles is a system and spice herbs, flowers and flourishing weeds which attract developed to produce vegetables sustainably on family farms. many species of pollinating insects and natural predators. Growth in the organic vegetable market is expected in all V4 countries (Czech Republic, Slovak Republic, Poland and Hungary) and demand exceeds production. The beauty of growing by AGROKRUH is that you don’t use a tractor, or other heavy machinery, which compacts the soil. The system runs on electricity though there have been experiments using human or animal (donkey) power. In the future the electricity could come from photovoltaic’s or other renewable sources.

There is only one working example of AGROKRUH and this was set up thanks to a grant from TOYOTA in 2006-2007 in Slovakia. The land was donated to the farmer, Mr. Šlinský, by an enthusiastic community member. The 2ha farm is situated in Growing practice the south-west of Slovakia, near the Small Danube river, next In 2009 the farm produced more than fifteen different vegetables to the village of Hrubý Šúr. The farm is designed to produce and five spice herbs. The crop rotation of the farm is based on 48 vegetables for about 60 families, and to provide a wage for different vegetables species and strawberries and Phacelia in the one farmer and his family. The system cost about €60,000 to circles with up to 200 different herbal, flower and perennials in construct, with payback on the technology investment calculated the “free” areas. All vegetables are grown from seed on farm, to be six years in Slovak conditions without interest. The soil with sowing starting in early spring in a greenhouse. Fertility is a fertile sandy-clay, however after conventional “tractor comes from a range of green manures, vermicompost and and agro-chemical” use it will need about five to seven years compost tea from different herbs e.g. nettles. Weeds are controlled for full revitalisation. AGROKRUH management improves the mechanically. Plant protection is based on the selection of resistant or tolerant varieties, the principle of positive health, crop rotations, and maximal agro-biodiversity on the field supporting habitats for natural enemies. The technology AGROKRUH is based on an “iron bridge” as a carrier unit for different instruments. The bridge is fixed in the middle of the circle from where it takes electricity and water for irrigation. D.Lešinský®

On the perimeter (outside) there is a wheel which moves the bridge around and the electric motor (input power of 0.75 kW). Photo:

Page 38 - The Organic Grower - No 16 Autumn 2011 The system allows mechanisation of a range of operations, The bridge can be easily moved from one circle to another, so cultivation for instance: spading/tillage, topping, sheeting, you do not need a bridge for each circle. For fifteen circles it is dragging the soil, fertilizing, watering, or even fixing a platform for optimal to have five bridges in order to do a range of tasks. Follow manual weeding and planting. It is designed to run at max. 12kWh this YouTube link to see it in action http://www.youtube.com/ electrical input for full operation of all machinery, though normally watch?v=mYrJ0BJ4Qak runs at about 5 kWh. The implements that are fixed to the bridge Jan Šlinský (translated by Daniel Lešinský) moves in a spiral, giving precision spacing over the whole circle. Comment - Corporate Organics

Corporate Watch published a brief report called Corporate limited grasp of any message beyond Organics over the summer and managed to achieve some shiny packs, and were easily lost as coverage. I didn’t unfortunately learn anything new from reading purses tightened of late. Competitive it: a seemingly rehashing and reviewing of others’ research to operators with committed and well- conclude capitalist chaps were on to organics and we should all briefed customers have not generally lost buy from nice initiatives instead. any sales, although they may not, as per the supermarkets, been able to add any Their highlighting of just how grim the US organic more. Most independents inadvertently position remains sobering, but the Michael Pollen- betrayed the organic image by charging type analysis has far more impact on more people. too much; not because organic production The old argument over big-scale sales to multiple supermarket was intrinsically dearer or had a lower yield, but because operators versus small-scale production and selling through box they distributed inefficiently, they were too small and so on. schemes, over the gate and so on is still an important one and worth The Biodynamic or Steiner movement has some lessons for other re-examining. The path of UK organic sales expansion, as Corporate organic producers here. They share strong values, they don’t always Watch point out, led inevitably to selling to one or more of the big consider short-term sales as priority number one, they have their four – there were few other places to go. The shrewder producers own seed production, and their products usually taste great. Their tried to avoid committing to more 30% of their output this way; fruit and veg is nearly always the best available, such as Sekem or but the problem was where to sell the other 70%. Most of the older Salamita. That is a strong proposition, run by people uninterested organic brands grew and sold out to larger companies, even some in selling out but with big reserves of credibility. The wider organic relative stalwarts such as Community Foods Ltd or Green & Blacks. brand looks a bit coshed, having claimed too much on the back Was this inevitable and did it always lead to values’ dilution or of a wobbly customer base and seemingly unable to defend itself abandonment? I was largely unmoved by the Corporate Watch when corporates and hostile big science came knocking. A slower, line of corporations being to blame for ownership change. I would understated plan might have been a lot stronger. When the public is also point out they can only hijack organic standards if we as a confronted with the fall out from $200/barrel oil, GM is as likely to movement do not sufficiently defend and advance our case. Change be getting a hearing as organic farmers at the moment. of ownership is not a conspiratorial mystery; it’s because the owner, often a pioneer in their time, decides to sell. Not unreasonably they It is unfortunate that we have such megagrocers in the UK: we have want recognition and usually they need/want the cash – selling an no retail bridge to the public, however receptive a significant chunk established business in the UK is the standard payback/pension of them are. It is a gap that underpins much of the producer dilemma moment. The Elliot Coleman line of quality product over the gate outlined above. John Gummer’s supermarket restrictions were soon (interestingly sidestepping certification) seems to have found undone by New Labour; and Dave C and co. were in the same bed. few takers, and I have often thought his selling and presentation Competent independent retail will have to be grasped, otherwise pointers were lost on many readers in the UK. corporations can easily co-opt the organic brand. They don’t need to conspire very hard; they just buy bits of it. All the organic values There are selling platforms that have survived or emerged Corporate Watch highlight mean little unless you are able to sell complete with their integrity and values, barely perhaps a network your wares. It took the Co-operative Movement several attempts or recognisable sector in the UK, although Germany looks much over many years to grasp it, but they then managed a century of better. This mixed bag includes occasional good shops, box egalitarian trading. They even managed to shake off Andrew Regan schemes and a few decent farmers’ markets. The biggest, such as and his corporate raiders in the 90’s… Future strength will not come Riverford, Able & Cole and Unicorn, are still small compared even from wild grant chases, but it might just arise from learning how to to Waitrose’s modest organic sales. Taking a leaf from conventional competitively sell our stuff and our story. marketeers, the short-term sale from a brand is a lot less important than building that brand’s credibility for longer term sales. Adam York Many of the recent organic food purchasers appear to have Download the report at www.corporatewatch.org

Page 39 - The Organic Grower - No 16 Autumn 2011 Monday October 17th 2011 Growing to Sell - Ryton Gardens, Events Coventry. Interested in scaling up from garden or allotment production to sell your produce? www.gardenorganic.org.uk Wednesday September 14th 2011. How to use social media tools to build your business. Aberystwyth 6-8pm. Free workshop Friday October 21st 2011 - Weed Workshop - South West. Soil organised by Better Organic Business Links. Contact: Lucy Association workshop and farm walk hosted by Rob Halliday, Watkins 01970 823158 or email [email protected] Tremeer Farm, St Ives Road, Pensilva, Liskeard, Cornwall, PL14 5RD. SA producer members £10, non-members £15. For more Friday September 16th 2011 - Farming together: The future details and to book contact: 0117 914 2400 or mail producer. of CSA in the UK Bristol. The Soil Association’s conference on [email protected] Community Supported Agriculture. Contact: Amanda Daniel: [email protected] or call 0117 914 2424 Thursday 27th October 2011 - Organic Centre Wales Conference Improving organic business performance across Monday September 19th, 2011 - 6.30pm. Sowing New Seeds. the supply chain. Royal Welsh Showground, Llanelwedd. Garden Organic, Ryton. Mercia Organic Producers event. Growing www.organiccentrewales.org.uk/ exotic crops. Contact: Phil Sumption psumption@gardenorganic. org.uk Tel: 024 7621 7744 Wednesday 9th November 18:30 to Thursday 10th November 18:00 2011. Access to land. East Sussex. Pre biodynamic conference Tuesday September 20th, 2011. On-farm fruit propagator event, gathering for potential new farmers or growers. £15 (food and at Welsh Fruit Stocks. Kington, Powys. Book through Horticulture accommodation extra). Contact: 01435 759501 Wales. Contact Jane Morgan: [email protected] www.horticulturewales.co.uk Thursday 10th to Sunday 13th Nov 2011 The Future of Agriculture A Biodynamic Approach, venue: Emerson Campus, Forest Row, Tuesday September 27th and Wednesday September 28th 2011 East Sussex. Cost £150. FFI contact BDA Office Tel 01453 759501 Rijk Zwaan UK and Edwin Tucker Open Days - Huntstile Farm, email: [email protected] or see www.biodynamic.org.uk/ near Bridgwater, Somerset. Organic demo plots and trade stands. events/conference-2011.html Contact: [email protected] Wednesday 18th and Thursday 19th January 2012 - The Wednesday September 28th 2011 - Bioselect UK Potato Variety Organic Research Centre Organic Producer Conference Demonstration Day - Gaddon Spring Farm Cullompton, Devon. 2012 - at Aston Business School Conference Centre, part of Contact: [email protected] Aston University and right in the centre of Birmingham with Tuesday October 4th to Wednesday October 5th. Soil excellent public transport links. www.organicresearchcentre.com Association Horticultural Symposium Wills Hall, Bristol . A two day technical and practical event dedicated to informing and inspiring organic growers. Producers with an agricultural holding number in the SW eligible for 50% off the ticket price on a first The come first served basis. Contact 0117 914 2400 or mail producer. [email protected] ORGANIC GROWER Friday October 7th to Saturday October 8th 2011 Get together for The Organic Grower is edited by Phil Sumption, with help CSAs in the South East - Tablehurst Farm, Forest Row near East from Kate Collyns, Carolyn Wacher, Sam Eglington, Jonathan Grinstead, West Sussex RH18 5DP . Contact: Charlotte Muspratt Smith, Ben Raskin and Collette Haynes. If you have any news, [email protected] events or ideas for articles please get in touch. [email protected] Saturday October 8th to Sunday October 9th 2011 - Growing Thanks to all our contributors. Nut Crops. Agroforestry Research Trust at Dartington in Devon. Course fees: £150 (non-residential) Email: [email protected] Adverts: Collette Haynes [email protected] www.agroforestry.co.uk/courses.html Subscription to The Organic Grower only: £16 for individuals, £24 for institutions Thursday October 13th 2011 - Selling Organic: Copy date for next issue: November 15th 2011 Building Partnerships - Oxford. OF&G event. The Organic Grower is the membership magazine of the OGA. Views www.sellingorganic.co.uk Tel: 01428 713923 expressed in The Organic Grower are not necessarily those of the Email: [email protected] OGA or its committee. Every effort is made to check the factual accuracy of statements made in the magazine, but no guarantees are Thursday October 13th 2011 - Weed Workshop - North East. expressed or implied. In particular, readers should satisfy themselves about the authenticity of products or inputs advertised. Material may Soil Association seminar and farm walk hosted by Richard and Bev not be reproduced without prior written permission. Ward, Crag Top, Langleydale, Durham DL12 8RY. In conjunction with Nafferton farm. SA producer members £10, non-members £15. Contact: 0117 914 2400 or mail [email protected] www.organicgrowersalliance.co.uk

Page 40 - The Organic Grower - No 16 Autumn 2011