Summer 2021 No.55 The

ORGANICThe journal of the Organic GROWER Growers Alliance

Growing growers on Gower p20

Organic food for all p18

Transfer mulches for protected cropping p32

Urban fringe farming for Green economic recovery p28

Low intensity apples p22

Page 1 - The Organic Grower - No 55 Summer 2021 IN THIS ISSUE The

Board talk...... 3 ORGANIC GROWER

News...... 4 The Organic Grower is edited by Phil Sumption, with help from Carolyn Wacher, Jim Aplin and Kate Collyns. If you have any news, events or ideas for articles please get in touch. OGA AGM 2021 ...... 6 [email protected] Agroforestry in organic horticulture...... 8 Thanks to all our contributors. Adverts: John Crocker [email protected] Digging deeper into no dig...... 9 Copy date for next issue: August 15th 2021 The Organic Grower is the membership magazine of the Organic Growers Alliance CIC (OGA). Views expressed in The Organic The Frost report: Spring diary...... 10 Grower are not necessarily those of the OGA or its committee. Every effort is made to check the factual accuracy of statements made in the Vegan organic farming...... 11 magazine, but no guarantees are expressed or implied. In particular, readers should satisfy themselves about the authenticity of products or inputs advertised. Material may not be reproduced without prior New EU organic action plan...... 12 written permission. Printed by Severnprint on 100% recycled paper using vegetable based Organic seed sector innovations...... 14 inks and powered by renewable energy, with a view to seeking out more environmentally friendly mailing solution on all future copies. Organic Growers Alliance CIC Growing the Goods: ELMS update...... 16 Company No. 11551999 Registered in England and Wales Organic food for all...... 18

Growing growers on Gower...... 20

Low intensity apples...... 22 Editor’s notes Welcome to the Summer issue of The Organic Grower, a little late Amendments for soil health in top fruit...... 24 maybe, but just like the season. The picture opposite captures May in a nutshell. I hope that the crops are now catching up after the Alternative fertilizers in intensive organic apple late and slow start. production...... 25 For those of us who believe that organic food should not be the preserve of the well off, but a basic human and environmental right, the stories Seed sovereignty in Wales...... 26 of how growers are providing access to organic food for the needier Fringe farming for a green economic recovery....28 sections of their communities, are heart-warming and inspiring (pp18- 20). We know the food system is broken and Food Banks shouldn’t 75 years of the Soil Association...... 30 be needed, but growers can be part of building a better world. Tom O’Kane is doing exactly that with Cae Tan CSA working to support a Transfer mulch in organic greenhouses...... 32 thriving community of growers and CSAs on the Gower (p20). Seed Sovereignty in Wales is the subject of Katie Hasting’s article which Nature note – Dandelions...... 35 covers the launch of the Welsh Seed Hub (p26). Events...... 36 It’s not just Wales – organic and agroecological food production in the urban fringe needs to be part of any green economic recovery and Rob Logan reports on a new Sustain project aiming to facilitate access to land for peri- OGA CIC Directors urban farming (p28). Pete Richardson Devon 07821 403739 [email protected] Chair It’s not just veg either - we devote Tony Little Wales [email protected] Wales a few pages to top fruit and a low- Ben Raskin Wiltshire 07990 592621 [email protected] SA liaison intensity system of apple production devised by Julian Eldridge that may Jim Aplin Worcs 07796 317542 [email protected] Secretary be useful to veg growers wanting to Tamara Schiopu Oxon 07795 334474 [email protected] incorprate agroforestry (p22). Mick Marston Newcastle 07764 221425 [email protected] North of England Phil Sumption, Editor Antonia Ineson Scotland 07872 057985 [email protected] Scotland rep (not Director)

Cover: Abbi Mason trainee at Cae Tan and founder of Big Meadow CSA (p20). Photo: Erika May Photography

Page 2 - The Organic Grower - No 55 Summer 2021 The COVID 19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of our role in connecting and supporting the organic growing Board talk community. We are pleased to report our membership is up, and that our programme of online and events and webinars really Tricky springs are increasingly becoming a feature of the UK helped to keep us together, if only in cyberspace. The last year growing year, and 2021 is no exception. A cold April and a cold has seen important developments in post-Brexit agricultural and wet May meant propagation tunnels across the nation have policy and the OGA has had a seat at the table in forums in been bursting at the seams as growers hold back planting out to the all the UK nations. Holly has revolutionised our website and last possible moment. We hope the recent spell of warm (and many communications; and The Organic Grower continues to be highly places dry) conditions has allowed many of you get back on track, valued by the membership and has played a crucial role in sharing at least to some extent. Here’s hoping for a favourable summer! experience as growers adapted and responded to COVID. In OGA news, it is with great sadness that we say goodbye to Greta Looking to the future, we’ve got exciting and important work to Hughson, our Development Manager. In the relatively short time do in many areas, but particularly around certification, organic she was with us, she had an enormous impact, helping to develop regulations and policy development. And this where we need you. some of our key policy positions, liaising with our funders and, We are always looking to expand and strengthen the Board, so if alongside Holly, steering our webinar and knowledge exchange you think would like to join, please don’t hesitate to get in touch. programme through challenging times. She leaves with our sincere thanks and our best wishes for the future. We’ve all missed being able to get together in person over the last year or so. But as restrictions ease, we are delighted that Every organisation needs its stalwarts and ours, as you well know, some physical events can resume, and I draw your attention to is Phil Sumption. In the interim, alongside his role as OG editor, the ‘Events’ section of the magazine. We will of course be closely Phil will be picking up the key aspects of Greta’s role. These include observing all the COVID guidance, but of all the things we’re leading on the Organic Matters Conference 2021, coordinating looking forward to this summer, getting out to see you all again is other events and webinars and acting as our main link in the at the top of our list! Agroecological Research Collaboration. Thank you, Phil! Organic Growers Alliance Board of Directors The AGM is always an opportunity to look back on the events of the last year – and you can read about it in detail on Page 6. Photo: Coleshill Organics Gloves drying in the tunnel at Coleshill Organics after a wet week in May....

Page 3 - The Organic Grower - No 55 Summer 2021 100% peat-free OGA/Organic news Organic food and farming in Scotland - Realising potential Proven peat-free growing media and ingredients The Scottish Organic Stakeholders Group has been discussing the • Sylvamix® Natural Melcourt’s Soil Association-approved sustainable peat-free growing medium is widely used throughout way forward for organic food and farming in Scotland over the last the UK for a wide range of applications from seed sowing to few months. A ‘Proposition for Action’ has been put together and is containerisation being sent to Mairi Gougeon, the new Cabinet Secretary for Rural • Bark-based growing medium ingredients are unrivalled Affairs and Islands in early June. It has been signed by a range of in quality and consistency and Soil Association approved farming and environmental organisations, farmers and growers, and people involved in processing and retailing organic food. It has • Bark-based mulches are effective, consistent and cost competitive built on the work of the Scottish Organic Forum, but involves a much All Melcourt products are based on materials sourced and manufactured wider group of people and organisations. The SNP manifesto for the in the UK - backed up by customer service that is widely acknowledged as being second to none. recent election included targets for increased organic land area and for public procurement of organic food, and that, combined with the Melcourt have been supplying the grower market in the UK for three COP meeting in Glasgow later in the year and the need for action post decades and have been certified by the Soil Association since 1991. COVID, provides a potential turning point for organics in Scotland. The Proposition refers to the recent EU target of at least 25% of

agricultural land to be organic by 2030, with all EU countries Melcourt Industries Ltd • Boldridge Brake • Long Newnton • Tetbury being required to develop plans for how to achieve that (EU Gloucestershire GL8 8RT T: 01666 502711 • F: 01666 504398 • E: [email protected] Farm to Fork Strategy and Communication, An Action Plan for www.melcourt.co.uk the Development of Organic Production). It calls for a similar @melcourtltd plan and target for Scotland to be put together by the Scottish Government by the end of 2021, with stakeholders and all who have signed up to the Proposition being keen to work with the government to take this forward. It seems that there is a growing understanding of the key Organic Apple Trees importance of organic farming and food for addressing climate Over 500 varieties change, biodiversity loss and social justice and a real opportunity for significant developments in the local organic food food chain. I have been representing the OGA in this work, as part of the secretariat. Get in touch if you want more details. Antonia Ineson [email protected] Webinars available to watch Four Season Growing: Webinar exploring all the ins and outs of four season growing. https://vimeo.com/546519261 Make Room for Seed: Drawing on the experience of growers who have followed this path this webinar from the Seed Sovereignty Programme gives you the inside track on growing seeds as part of market gardening operation. https://vimeo.com/558470214 Herons Folly Garden Nick Rodway Fletching Street, Mayfield It is with much sadness that we announce the passing of organic East Sussex, TN20 6TE pioneer Nick Rodway. With an involvement with the organic movement dating back to the mid-60s, Nick was a key figure in www.heronsfollygarden.co.uk the Scottish organic community. Though not one for the public eye he touched many lives and will be much missed. The OGA sends Pam and her family our deeply felt condolences. We will publish a full tribute to Nick in the next edition of the OG.

Page 4 - The Organic Grower - No 55 Summer 2021 Organic/General news

Young Organic Farmer/Grower of According to IFOAM Organics Europe, transparency on the use of genetic modification should continue to apply all along the food the Year Award 2021 production chain. Contrary to the study’s outcomes, weakening Are you, or do you know, a forward-thinking, innovative young the regulation of these technologies would actually contradict organic farmer or grower who is passionate about implementing the objectives of the EU Green Deal and the Farm to Fork and organic principles, has proven the ability to inspire others and Biodiversity strategies, as well as the European Court of Justice deserves recognition for their work? ruling which states that this new generation of genetically modified To encourage the emergence of a new generation of organic organisms must be regulated under the EU’s existing GMO laws”. farmers/growers, the Organic Research Centre (ORC) has created Promises of producers to use the technology to create alternatives a new annual award: ‘The Young Organic Farmer/Grower of the to pesticide-tolerant crops should be treated with caution, as is Year’, which is being launched to celebrate their 40th anniversary. shown by the fact that the first application in the EU for approval The winner of the award will be presented with a prize of £1,500. of a CRISPR/Cas plant is a herbicide-resistant maize. Furthermore, Nominations are sought for an individual who is: mere promises of expected benefits do not justify a weakening of the EU’s standards with regard to environmental protection and • Young – nominees should be between 18-40 years old farmers’ and consumers’ choice. Safety checks for new genetic • Organic – nominations should centre around the adoption engineering techniques are essential, as a proper risk assessment is of organic principles even though the nominee may not be necessary to assess the potential risk to health and the environment producing or working with organically certified produce of a particular genome-edited crop on a case-by-case basis. • Farmer/grower – nominees should be working in and for the organic community; they may be employed by farmers/ Growing Communities: Farmer- growers or organisations within the sector even if they do not focused routes to market class themselves as farmers. NEF Consulting with the Soil Association recently conducted an The deadline for entries is 15th August 2021. evaluation of the impact of Growing Communities’ two primary www.organicresearchcentre.com/news-events/award-2021/ consumer offers: its weekly veg scheme and its farmers’ market for the financial year 2019-2020. This evaluation suggests that for every Weakening of GM regulations in £1 spent by customers on veg box schemes or farmers’ markets, a Europe further £3.70 is generated in social, economic and environmental value. Over the twelve months, Growing Communities’ core The European organic food and farming movement has criticised operations cost £1,688,600. 54% of this was borne by veg scheme the EU Commission’s plan to work on a new legal framework customers and 40% by farmers market customers. The average for plants derived from ‘New Genomic Techniques’. The EU veg scheme customer spent £641 per annum, while the average Commission has revealed they are ready to explore options for a farmers market customer spent £837 per annum. new legal framework if Member States give their green light. Growing Communities’ core operations generated an estimated The organic sector calls on agriculture and environment ministers £6,294,000 in social, economic, and environmental value: as well as the EU Commission to safeguard the capability of producers and farmers to produce without GMOs and allow • Around 60%, went to veg scheme customers and their consumers to choose what they eat. The existing regulation is fit to households, who received £3,836,000. achieve these goals and already allows research on and marketing • Farmers market customers and their households received of GMOs if the applicable rules are respected. £1,638,000. Jan Plagge, IFOAM Organics Europe President said: “A weakening • The environment was the next largest recipient, with over of the rules on the use of genetic engineering in agriculture and food £508,000 in value annually. is worrying news and could leave organic food systems unprotected • Farmers, employees, and food processors received £312,000. – including their ability to trace GMOs throughout the food chain The average customer received £2,461 in benefits for their to avoid contaminations that lead to economic losses and to live up households, while generating £228 of value for the environment, to organic quality standards and consumer expectations. Organic £76 for farmers, £52 for employees of Growing Communities, and producers urge the Commission and Member States to maintain the £13 for food processors. existing regulatory framework and seriously consider the impact of the proposed regulatory scenario on organic food & farming, The full report is available at: consumer choice and access to agrobiodiversity.” www.nefconsulting.com/growing-communities-evaluation/

Page 5 - The Organic Grower - No 55 Summer 2021 The OGA AGM 2021 On Saturday 10th April, 10.30am-12.30pm, we gathered for an online meeting of OGA’s volunteer directors and members, to hold our annual general meeting (AGM). OGA Chair Pete Richardson welcomed everyone joining the online meeting and thanked the directors and staff for their hard work over recent months. Directors’ reports • Mentoring. The second year of a two-year pilot is underway. The pilot is a partnership led by the Landworkers’ Alliance Ben Raskin gave a presentation on behalf of the board, detailing and supported by OGA. There was good feedback from OGA’s activity since the last meeting in the summer. This participants in the first year. The 2021 programme has 20 summarised the report circulated to attendees in advance of the mentees and 12 mentors. Thank you to Jason Horner and Pete meeting – if you would like a copy, just drop us a line. Dollimore for leading on this for OGA. • Membership has increased, now at 325, up 60 from last year. • Finance. The pandemic stopped us spending money on things Given memberships often include more than one individual, we had planned, but we are now actively taking on more total representation is estimated to be over 500 growers. We’re activities to pursue OGA’s objectives, potentially increasing working on further improvements to sign-ups and renewals. capacity among staff. We’re keen to hear more from our existing members, as well • OGA’s plans. We will maintain and develop our core work as expanding and diversifying membership. e.g. membership engagement and publishing the Organic • OGA in Wales. The focus has been on post-Brexit agricultural Grower. We will also continue with online events including policy and responding to key consultations. OGA co-hosted webinars and smaller discussion groups. The Agroecological one day of the Wales Real Food and Farming Conference. Research Collaboration (ARC) continues 2021-2022. We work with the Landworkers’ Alliance Cymru on Welsh • In-person events will start again where possible, and policy developments. Tony Little is key to our work in Wales. hopefully we will be able to gather for a conference in October • OGA in Scotland. We are involved in the development of in Manchester. We plan to do more in terms of representing Scottish Organic Stakeholders Group. There is interest in organic horticulture in relevant forums and we want to organic in the context of climate change and biodiversity develop online learning resources e.g. videos. We also plan and increasing demand for organic, but falling production in to facilitate conversation around participatory and group Scotland. Antonia Ineson is key to our work in Scotland. certification, starting with today’s guest speakers. • OGI in Ireland. Organic Growers of Ireland (OGI) is a Jan Deane highlighted that some members are retired from separate organisation, but we work closely together. OGI active growing and want to stay involved, but may be skewing is incorporating as an association, with its own website, things like membership surveys. Jan suggested exploring ways of newsletter and an internship programme. targeting different groups of members. • Website and communications. Holly Jarvis joined as There was also a short discussion started by the audience in Membership Secretary in October 2020 and has greatly support of raising membership fees. This is not something the improved our communications. We use the OGA website, board is considering at the moment. A poll in the chat found a forum, newsletter, and social media to share news, events 50/50 split in support for increased membership fees. and jobs. Our social media following has increased (Facebook Antonia Ineson raised the need for Scotland to be well represented 3100, Twitter 4800 and Instagram 900). The members’ area of by OGA, as there will continue to be differences between the the website includes all past copies of the Organic Grower. countries, particularly in terms of policy. • The Organic Grower continues to be a key part of what we do and Phil Sumption does a fantastic job as editor. We are Director nominations really keen to hear from people who would like to contribute – Pete introduced the existing directors (Pete Richardson, Jim Aplin, even if you’re not confident at writing, we’re keen to hear your Tony Little, Ben Raskin, Mick Marston and Tamara Schiopu). ideas, and support you to share your skills and experience. Jim explained that this meeting is one way of nominating directors, • Events. Online events have been popular in the last year and but it can be done at any time throughout the year, and that it is will continue. We have a partnership with the CSA Network important to have new directors on a regular basis, particularly to UK, the Landworkers’ Alliance and the Seed Sovereignty increase the diversity of the board and to stop things getting stale. programme at the Gaia Foundation and that has helped us to Directors meet once a month for 90-minute meetings alternating reach out to new audiences. We’re keen to hear from people between a weekend day and a weekday evening. about what they would like to see covered in future events or There were no new nominations or volunteers for directors from topics they would like to speak on. the audience.

Page 6 - The Organic Grower - No 55 Summer 2021 Directors serve for a three-year term and Jim, Ben and Tony’s Following the presentations, there were some questions and terms will lapse this year. All were happy to carry on and were discussions, around the benefit of growers coming together to reappointed by the meeting with no objections. review each other’s work and talk about issues affecting them, the potential problems, including difficult group dynamics, the need Certification discussion to understand previous attempts at alternative systems, and the Pete explained that OGA is already quite committed to moving need for the existing certifying bodies to better explain what the ahead with an exploration of alternative certification for small- advantages of certification are for small growers. scale growers and the presentations today are the start of a Pete summarised the general feeling at the meeting that attendees conversation we hope will continue. agreed in principle to take this forward as an exploratory project. Pete introduced Lawrence Woodward, previously director of This was then further confirmed by attendees in the text chat. The Organic Research Centre - Elm Farm and now of Whole Health Agriculture and Beyond GM, and Chris Atkinson, head of Adapting business to COVID-19 standards and best practice at the Soil Association. Ashley Wheeler joined the meeting from Trill Farm Garden in East Lawrence explained that he feels participatory certification Devon, where he runs a 2.5-acre market garden with his partner schemes (PCS) are needed in the UK to protect the integrity of on a 300-acre organic farm. He gave a presentation on how they organic. This is a topic he has also written about in the Organic adapted their business very quickly, in response to COVID-19. Grower (No. 53, Winter 2020). Such schemes would have the Pre-COVID, about 95% of their produce was sold to local potential to reduce costs and paperwork related to certification. restaurants, cafes and shops and salad was the main crop. When But crucially they could offer something to new entrants who are all hospitality closed towards the end of March 2020, Ashley and reluctant to certify through the usual routes. his partner had to make some quick decisions about where to sell There are increasing numbers of growers who say they follow produce, which included starting a box scheme. He highlighted organic principles but are not certified, or who identify as the importance of the grower network at that time – they were ‘agroecological’, ‘regenerative’ or a number of other terms. These able to borrow a cold store, another grower shared with him the growers are part of the organic family, but the different terms can spreadsheet they used to organise their box scheme, and local cause confusion among consumers, growers and policymakers. friends helped with deliveries. Lawrence proposed that OGA takes a lead in addressing these Within three days of putting ads on local Facebook groups, they had issues and that PCS offers a positive, locally focused, grassroots 150 customers signed up. Box scheme numbers have since fallen to solution for engaging growers and consumers. He suggested about 90 as people feel less concerned about food availability. creating a working group to look at the issue of certification and take it forward and asked the AGM to support that. Ellen Rignall, a previous OGA director, works at Trill Farm Garden and she focused on crop planning and managing the He cautioned that development will not be easy and that it would changes needed to adapt for the box scheme. They made use of the be important to bring together existing organic growers, new tunnels with early crops and over the year did more leafy greens, entrants, people who want to follow organic principles in practice carrots, peas and beans, and less salad. They supplied all their but aren’t certified and perhaps people who are more concerned own produce from early May to early November and have been about the social side of agroecology. Participatory certification buying in field-scale crops from Southern Roots and Shillingford. could be a vehicle to bring some coherence to a movement that is Ashley highlighted that there is a real lack of growers growing somewhat fractured. larger scale, field-scale veg. Chris gave a presentation on group certification. This is a second system, which aims to facilitate access to organic certification for A year on, the systems at Trill Farm Garden are more efficient, smallholders. The International Federation of Organic Agriculture with a redesigned packing shed, a cold store financed through Movements (IFOAM) works extensively on the topic of group a COVID-related grant, and a move to new software underway certification and the associated concept of internal control systems which will save money on PayPal fees. (ICS), a quality assurance system. Ashley concluded that it has been a hectic year, but they have got Under this system, the external certification body inspects the through it with the help of a great network and Ellen’s skill at ICS of a group, rather than undertaking individual inspections. changing crop plans. IFOAM developed this in the 1990s and a similar system is used Many thanks to all who attended and particularly to Lawrence, Chris by fair trade organisations. and Ashley for their presentations. Do get in touch if you would like to New EU organic regulations, applicable from January 2022, get more involved with the OGA, as a director or in other ways: hello@ include group certification. The UK has no plans to adopt or organicgrowersalliance.co.uk match the requirements of the new regulation, although that Greta Hughson might change. It will be applicable in Northern Ireland.

Page 7 - The Organic Grower - No 55 Summer 2021 Agroforestry in organic horticulture Agroforestry presents lots of opportunities for the organic grower: to grow new fruit and nut crops to sell; to produce wood and woodchip to use; to provide shelter and reduce flooding; and to provide habitat for other creatures. In February, we hosted a webinar all about adding trees to your organic horticulture business. We brought together Ben Raskin, one of OGA’s directors and the head of horticulture and agroforestry at the Soil Association, John Tucker, director of woodland outreach at the Woodland Trust, and OGA member Andy Dibben, head grower at Abbey Home Farm. You can watch a recording here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJteyHEB5o4

Bringing your objectives and site map together will inform your next steps: what species do you want to plant; at what density and spacing (allowing for access and managing crops); at what orientation; how will you protect the trees from animals; ground cover and mulching; maintenance and harvesting. Looking after trees well is when the real work begins. Establishing agroforestry at Abbey Home Farm Andy’s presentation was full of useful details on his work to establish an agroforestry system at Abbey Home Farm An overview in Gloucestershire. The 660 hectare organic farm includes 6 Ben started the evening with a whistle-stop tour of agroforestry hectares of horticultural cropping, including market garden, field in organic horticulture. As well as having lots of experience in vegetables and protected cropping. Before he became a vegetable vegetable and fruit production, Ben is a big fan of wood chip grower, Andy was a coppice worker, so his first real workplace mulches and the potential for maximising resources, like light, was ancient woodland. water and soil, in agroforestry systems. Andy’s first step in exploring agroforestry for the farm wasto Ben showed us examples of agroforestry in horticultural systems investigate funding via the Woodland Trust, which would cover in the UK, including fruit trees, short rotation coppice, inter- the cost of trees and materials. Putting together the proposal helped tree planting, agroforestry under cover (including peaches and him to focus on planning. A key element for Abbey Home Farm apricots in polytunnels in Wales!) and fruit without veg in mixed was to reduce wind in cropping areas. The farm ethos is to buy in as farming, such as poultry, which do very well under trees. little as possible, and so fruit crops for its farm shop and woodchip for mulching were desirable. Andy also highlighted the wildlife How to get started benefits, crucial to managing the site organically – such as birds of prey managing rabbit populations, smaller birds eating caterpillars John talked us through what to consider when deciding how and slugs, and increasing pollinators and other beneficial insects. to incorporate trees, from single trees through to more complex layouts and systems. Andy talked through his decision-making around choosing the trees, based on aims, soil type and location. He also explained the Two key points he highlighted were: get clear on what your specifics of advice he had sought out, like an apple production objectives are; and understand your site and how the system plan on yield, pests and diseases, and the fruit and hardwood tree will fit into your business. He also highlighted the importance of varieties decided on. seeking advice and giving yourself plenty of time to plan. Andy generously shared detailed plans of the farm’s rotation and Aside from fruit and nut crops, potential objectives include tree strips, including phasing of coppicing. It was a useful and creating a shelter for other crops, particularly in reducing wind inspiring presentation and I’d really recommend you watch the speed, providing shelter for animals, and coppice and timber. recording if you’re thinking about agroforestry. Trees are also an excellent pollen source, useful for pollinators when little else is available. This webinar was part of a series run as a partnership between The CSA Network UK, The Seed Sovereignty Programme run by The Gaia Foundation, The Once you’ve decided on your objectives, understanding your Landworkers’ Alliance, and the Organic Growers Alliance and is part-funded by Farming the Future. site is key. Understand your soils, such as drainage and mineral content. How exposed is your site and what is the prevailing wind Greta Hughson direction? John recommends putting all the information down See also ‘Vegetable Agroforestry in the UK‘ OG52. onto a map of your site.

Page 8 - The Organic Grower - No 55 Summer 2021 Digging deeper into no dig In March, the CSA Network UK hosted a webinar on using ‘no dig’, particularly in a market garden context. The panel was made up of: Lois Philipps, a soil and nutrient specialist, who previously worked for the Organic Research Centre and is now setting up a CSA project at Shalbourne Community Growers in Wiltshire; Jake Eldridge, from Oxton Organics in Worcestershire; Lindsay Whalen from Reddy Lane Market Garden in Wiltshire; and Amy Willoughby, from Plotgate Community Farm in Somerset.

The session finished with a lengthy question and answer session, covering green manures, rotations, organic certification standards, labour, potatoes, slugs and more! This webinar is part of a series run as a partnership between The CSA Network UK, The Seed Sovereignty Programme run by The Gaia Foundation, The Landworkers’ Alliance, and the Organic Growers Alliance and is part-funded by Farming the Future. Greta Hughson https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bn0rZ1DtAgA No dig at market garden scale Lindsay introduced no dig as a concept – not tilling the soil and www.blackberrylane.co.uk leaving soil life intact, saving labour and space, and adding - order online mulches for fertility. BroadForks, Glaser Collinear & Lois spoke about her experience of putting science into practice. Oscillating Hoes, Wheelhoes, Soil The CSA project she is involved in has chosen to go no dig having Blockers, Korean Ho-Mi, EarthWay analysed the soil on the site, and having considered elements like Seeders - and much more dealing with weeds, protecting soil biodiversity, water retention unique garden tools which and drainage. They’ve drawn inspiration from Charles Dowding, really make a difference . . . setting out new beds and wood chip paths. Amy described the set-up at Plotgate Community Farm, which is on Tel. 07792 592068 heavy clay soil making the use of heavy machinery impossible. They for catalogue have developed a range of two-person push tools. Although they did not set out with the intention to be no dig, that has become their approach. Mulch is crucial and they are careful to grade compost and make decisions about what to put where. Amy highlighted that the choice not to mechanise has created a peaceful environment to work in – an important aspect of their community focus. Nutrient loads Jake introduced the concept of ‘soil obesity’ (see also OG53). He explained that he got into growing through ‘doing’ rather than THE PUBLIC ARE HUNGRY studying soil chemistry, and having successfully established a FOR FOOD THEY CAN TRUST no dig system, he began testing the soil chemistry and realised all was not as it should be. He reflected that his journey into soil LET GREEN OWL MANAGE science has been in trying to understand why their crops can be so good, if the soil chemistry is not right. YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA – AND HELP GROW YOUR BUSINESS Jake explained that there are three realms of soil health – the chemical, physical and biological. A chemical soil test blends a soil sample and “Green Owl has helped build a community establishes different nutrient levels. It eliminates the physical and around my veg box business through biological realms. There can be too great an emphasis on the chemical social media. I know it’s all being understanding of plants, when plants are actually living in a diverse done for me, so I can just get ecosystem. His soils, especially in the polytunnels, are very high in on with other things.” Sonia Oliver, Coleshill Organics phosphorous and yet crop health remains good. His research has found that in well-aggregated soils, phosphorous availability was overestimated. Jake feels no dig is good for biological activity and www.greenowlmedia.co.uk this offsets the chemistry, as well as supporting biodiversity.

Page 9 - The Organic Grower - No 55 Summer 2021 The Frost report: Spring diary Monday 7 March spotted orchids nor yellow rattle. Dandelions are going to seed The pandemic continues with another lockdown to endure, but in and charms of goldfinches and some newly arrived linnets are the weak sunshine of a cool early spring, daffodils, primroses and feeding on the clocks – house sparrows too. cowslips are blooming and a new growing season is underway. No sign of barn owls this spring but tawny owls are flying each “Hope springs eternal in the human breast “. evening. They’ve nested in a box fixed high on the back of the Wednesday 24 March hay-barn. Finally cleared the leek crop. Earlier, Anxious Dave worried what Saturday 1 May we’d do with so many but a shortage of organic vegetables meant April seemed to go on and on but May is here, the month German they were soon gone. writer Erich Kästner calls the Mozart month. We celebrate by We’ve had enquiries to supply new outlets but I say we are getting pulling the first outdoor radishes, Scarlet Globe to eat for lunch with older and younger growers are needed. “This is a refrain I’m chive-bread. Then for supper, pasta with a sauce of finely chopped hearing all over West Wales” one replied. leaf fennel and crushed garlic suffused in olive oil. For dessert, panacotta flavoured with wilted woodruff steeped in white wine. Thursday 1 April Barbara thinks it’s better to use woodruff like this to make a May We awoke to find an army of ants in long columns from the back Bowl. You just add the woodruff-infused white wine to glasses of door to the kitchen. The warmer weather must have awoken the champagne. nest, sending them in search of provisions or a new home. No Joke. Sunday 2 May Good Friday 2 April Up betimes for International Dawn Chorus Day. It’s the male birds Sitting in the sunshine eating hot cross buns, we saw the first apparently, defending territory or calling a mate. The blackbirds swallows. In 45 years this is the earliest ever, the previous early started it off at first light and their song remained dominant – but sighting was 5th April. they all joined in, robin, wren, chaffinch, goldfinch, the warblers Easter Monday 5 April and the thrushes. By sunrise, 5.43 a.m. the chorus was already Walked to the cliff tops at Mynachdy yr Graig (Monk’s Cave). tailing off. Glorious. And it happens every clear spring morning. On the cliffs choughs were nesting on ledges, swallows swept Monday 3 May past and we disturbed a woodcock in the hedgerow. Sheep graze The first heavy rains of May come with a westerly wind. Trees lose pastures right up to the vertiginous cliff tops but peer over the fragile young leaves and fleece covers blow off new-planted crops. fence and you see a startling biodiversity of wild flowers among wind-pruned blackthorn surviving in inaccessible niches. Indoors, I read AS Byatt’s Peacock & Vine (2017) about the life Tuesday 6 April and designs of Mariano Fortuny and William Morris. My father exhorted me to read the latter’s News from Nowhere (1890) in my Today, snow and sleet showers driven by a cold northwesterly. teens. The narrator awakes one morning in a future agrarian TS Eliot was right “April is the cruelest month”. March-sown society where people work because it’s pleasurable and produce modules are ready to plant out, land is tilled but even if we cover beautiful things. But it’s not a dream; it’s a vision of the future. the crops it’s too cold for planting. Wednesday 5 May Monday 12 April Potatoes in the field are emerging but in the polytunnel, pot- It’s not growing weather, but after overnight rain we got all the peas grown Bolivian clones already have 0.25m haulm. It’s seed saved and broad beans in and covered them with environmesh to protect from a previous crop but we need to multiply them up before from rabbits and the worst of the wind chill. If the weather improves growing again. we’ll plant onions and potatoes. That’ll cheer Anxious Dave up a bit. Yesterday we had the weather much feared by growers, especially Saturday 24 April fruit growers, heavy, damaging hailstorms. Our later varieties of Dry cold weather means there’s no comforting hum of bees apple should be all right as they’re not yet in full flower. With the around the apple trees. Walking in Ian Pardoe’s Hereford orchards rest it’s a case of wait and see. At least the bees are now hard at some years ago, the apple grower said he didn’t like to see a long work during calmer periods. blossom because it meant a low rate of pollination and a poor fruit Monday 10 May set. No warm sun, no bees, no fruit. What a year. Pandemic, Lockdown, Vaccinations, Census, Monday 26 April Elections, Extremes of Weather - and we’re not even halfway The first swifts are here and we have the highest temperatures through. in the UK, but the hay meadow looks sad after so long without http://www.tyn-yr-helyg.com/ rain. We’ve found some ox-eyed daisies but no sign of early David Frost

Page 10 - The Organic Grower - No 55 Summer 2021 Vegan organic farming

At the Centre for Agroecology Water and Resilience (CAWR) at Coventry University, there has been on-going research work exploring alternatives to contentious inputs in organic systems (read more about this project at https://organic- plus.net/). Organic Plus has been focused on alternatives to animal manure of conventional origins. The research team at Coventry University is working on vegan horticulture approaches alongside PhD student Anya Gonçalves Geiger. Why Vegan Organic? Vegan organic farming goes beyond standard certified organic practices. Although organic agriculture is a whole systems approach, and regulates animal welfare issues, animal husbandry conflicts with vegan ethics, which seek to eliminate any animal exploitation by humans. Organic agriculture is often reliant on animal manure or other animal by-products, like blood, hoof, horn, fish, or feather converted into meal. Therefore, crops grown with animal derived fertilisers are not aligned with vegan ethics. Furthermore, the number of consumers seeking to reduce or avoid animal-based products is increasing and concern for animal welfare and environment is growing. Vegan organic approaches are used to provide vegan consumers with organic food that has been grown without the exploitation of other animal species. Photo: Phil Sumption In addition, the issues of manure and use of animal by-products Healthy certified vegan organic crops at Tolhurst Organics go beyond consumer ethical concerns. In organic farms the use of The standards however contain guidelines to various other aspects of antibiotics is more limited, but sourcing manure from non-organic farming practices, such as pest control and packaging. farms is allowed in organic practices, with exception of factory farmed animals. Antibiotics and other pharmaceuticals found in urine/faeces Vegan Organic Network in the UK from conventionally farmed animals can be transmitted to soil when manure is applied. In this way, antibiotics and other pharmaceutical The Vegan Organic Network in the UK produced the first compounds may contaminate the wider environment and enter the certification for vegan organic standards. Following these food chain, potentially posing a risk to human health. standards means that the farming system is stockfree and follows organic guidelines. Therefore, practices such as promoting soil Vegan organic standards have been developed to support and guide fertility and biology are encouraged, whereas the use of soluble or growers to produce true vegan crops without any kind of animal synthetic fertilisers, weed killers or the use of genetically modified inputs, thus avoiding animal husbandry altogether. In the UK and organisms (GMOs) is not allowed. Vegan organic growers should Europe, there are currently two vegan organic certifying bodies; the not keep animals for commercial reasons nor use any of their Biocyclic Network Services and the Vegan Organic Network. In the UK, inputs or by-products, such as manure, worm compost, and specifically vegan, organic growers are certified by the Vegan Organic sewage sludge among others. Soil fertility plays a very important Network, following the Stockfree-Organic Standards. The table below role and should be maintained by adding only plant-based inputs, shows some of the practices allowed and prohibited in vegan organic like compost. There are also specific recommendations in place to farming. This is a brief overview of the standards focusing on fertility. ensure that the compost does not end up containing viable weed seeds or pathogens. Some supplementary tonics, for example, comfrey tea can also be used and industrial plant wastes are allowed and can be a great source of nutrients. It is advised to make use of green manures and a well-designed crop rotation. Biocyclic Vegan Standard Biocyclic stands for an holistic approach to obtaining healthy life cycles, with healthy soils producing healthy plants, which in turn will result in healthy humans. The Standards recommend using mature compost, with soil-like state known as ‘humus soil’. Humus soil can be very beneficial, since it can improve soil structure, act as a carbon buffer and is a rich source of nutrients.

Overview of allowed and prohibited actions according to vegan organic farming practices Page 11 - The Organic Grower - No 55 Summer 2021 The Biocyclic idea goes beyond organic agriculture and aims to If you would like to share information or opinions about vegan maintain closed loops, working with nature and caring about the organic farming please contact: [email protected]. whole food chain, starting with a healthy soil. As in the case of Anya Gonçalves Geiger, Dr. Dennis Touliatos, Dr. Francis Stockfree Organic, the organic regulations apply for the Biocyclic Rayns, Judith Conroy, Dr. Ulrich Schmutz Vegan Standards. The soil is very important in the concept of Biocyclic and therefore it should be protected and nourished, as Sources of further information: well as adding sufficient organic matter. Only plant-based material Biocyclic Vegan Network (2017) The Biocyclic Vegan Standard, http://www. biocyclic-vegan.org/partners/ the-biocyclic-vegan-standard/. should be used to provide soil fertility, since animal husbandry Eggen, T., Asp, T. N., Grave, K. and Hormazabal, V. (2011) Uptake and for commercial reasons or the use of manure is prohibited. The translocation of Metformin, Ciprofloxacin and Narasin in forage and crop plants, grower should also have an appropriate crop rotation system, Chemosphere 85(1), 26–33. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0045653511006849 utilising polyculture with the incorporation of green manures. Martínez-Carballo, E., González-Barreiro, C., Scharf, S. and Gans, O. (2007), On-farm produced inputs such as compost teas and plant extracts Environmental monitoring study of selected veterinary antibiotics in animal are allowed for corrective purposes and to enhance plant health. manure and soils in Austria, Environmental Pollution 148(2), 570–579. URL: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0269749106006816 Even given the guidance provided by vegan organic standards, Soil Association (2021), Soil Association standards farming and growing, https:// research concerning vegan organic farming is limited and there www.soilassociation.org/our-standards/ may be opportunities to further improve this farming practice. The Vegan-Organic Network (2007), The Stockfree-organic standards Vegan fertilisers need not be limited to vegan organic farmers, they https://veganorganic.net/von-standards/. can also be an option for organic farmers with small numbers of The Vegan-Organic Network (n.d.), Why grow Veganic? https://veganorganic.net/why-grow-veganic-2/. animals on the farm or farmers who wish to avoid animal inputs for specific crops. There are also a number of self-proclaimed Vegan Society (n.d.), Go Vegan. https://www.vegansociety.com/go-vegan vegan organic farmers, who are not certified, but still follow vegan Willer, H., Schlatter, B., Trávníček, J., Kemper, L. and Lernoud, J. E. . (2020), The World of Organic Agriculture Statistics and Emerging Trends 2020, 21st edn, organic practices. As mentioned at the beginning of this article, Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL) and IFOAM. PhD researcher Anya is investigating vegan organic farming, more https://www.fibl.org/en/shop-en/5011-organic-world-2020.html specifically, fertilisers that can be produced using on-farm inputs as well as waste products. The benefits and shortcomings of vegan organic farming from the perspective of growers are also important and will be addressed by online surveys and case studies. New EU organic action plan to help deliver 25% organic farmland by 2030 The EU has big ambitions for organic farming. As part of its Green Deal to tackle climate change, published in 2019, it published in 2020 two strategies affecting food and farming – the Farm to Fork Strategy and the Biodiversity Strategy. These have big headline targets to be achieved by 2030:

• 25% of EU farmland to be managed organically • 20% reduction in fertiliser use • 50% reduction in pesticide and antibiotic use • Nature restoration on 10% of EU land

While big on ambitions, the EU strategies said little about how these on their laurels? Or is it more realistic to expect countries with targets would be achieved, and on how they might interact with smaller organic areas to do more – e.g. to expand from 2.5% to each other. Increasing the organic land area will already contribute 10% - while countries at the top end maybe aim for 40-50% organic significantly to the pesticide and fertiliser reduction targets. Should land? Understandably, the lack of detail has led to many criticisms there also be minimum area targets for wildlife on organic farms? of the EU target as being unachievable, but now some real efforts are being made to fill in the gaps. Organic farming in 2018 accounted for 8.5% of EU land, so the target represents a trebling in 12 years, when realistically perhaps In March 2021, the EU Commission published its third action a doubling might have been expected. And some countries, plan for organic farming1, including a new emphasis on organic including Ireland and the Netherlands, have less than 5% organic aquaculture. It sets out how it hopes to deliver on the ambitious land, while others, including Sweden and Estonia, are already 25% target. In particular, recognising the disparities between over 20%. Austria reached 25% in 2019. countries, the Commission expects ALL Member States to develop their own national strategies for organic farming as So does the 25% EU target mean that every country should aim for soon as possible. This should include a comprehensive analysis 25% by 2030, with countries like Austria sitting back and resting

Page 12 - The Organic Grower - No 55 Summer 2021 of the sector with related actions, incentives, clear deadlines and * supporting producer and food chain organisations, national objectives, reflecting their different starting points. The including group certification revised manual for organic action plan development published by * reinforcing local, small-scale and short chain channels IFOAM2 could provide a useful basis for this. * improving feed availability for animals and developing The Commission also expects that full use will be made of the new aquaculture CAP and the resources available for Member States to support 3. Strengthening environmental sustainability, by: conversion to and maintenance of organic farming through * enhancing organic farming’s contribution to GHG the new Pillar 1 Eco-schemes3 and the traditional Pillar 2 agri- mitigation and carbon farming environment schemes, as well as rural development measures * enhancing genetic biodiversity and yields, including for advice, training, innovation partnerships, research and through supporting advice, demonstration farms and promotion. As such there is no specific budget for the action plan knowledge systems itself. The EU already spends over 2 billion € annually supporting organic farming, or just over 3% of the 58 billion € CAP budget, * developing alternatives to contentious inputs such as with only 65% of the certified land area actually supported. This copper could rise to between 15 and 18% of the CAP budget if all the area * enhancing animal welfare and improving resource use were supported at current or slightly improved rates. efficiency

This represents an interesting challenge, not only financially, in There is much more detail in the document than set out here, that, unlike in the four previous 7-year CAP programmes since and some interesting specific initiatives are proposed. But the 1994, there is no specific support for organic farming defined. Now question needs to be asked whether this is transformative enough Member States are expected to focus more on results, developing to achieve the target. Is it enough to take further steps along their own CAP Strategic Plans and defining the measures they the current trajectory, or is something quite different needed? think will best deliver the results. There is no obligation to provide Achieving the 25% target could mean more than a million new any support for organic farming, even though the Commission professionals (farmers, food businesses and the people who work has strongly advised that there should be, and they will be asking with them) engaging with organic principles and knowledge. Will why if there is none. more demonstration farms be enough or is a fundamental change in the mainstream advisory, training and educational structures The second issue is timing. Member States are currently working (universities, colleges, advisory organisations) required? on their CAP Strategic Plans, even though there is no agreement on the EU level regulatory framework for the new CAP. So there Equally, while it is recognised that the organic market will play an is a tendency to play safe and stick with what has worked in the important role in supporting the change process, there are concerns past. Even though national organic action plans would ideally be that a large scale adoption of organic farming could undermine integrated in the CAP strategic plans, it is unlikely that they will existing markets and drive further corporatisation of organics. Do be initiated and completed in time. National organic strategies are we need different models, including new systems of rewarding the therefore likely to be constrained by whatever less visionary CAP public goods delivered by organic farmers, with possibly a significant strategic plans are put in place during 2021. proportion of products not going through organic markets?

There are more specific proposals in the new EU action plan that Some of these questions are being addressed by new research studies have the potential to provide useful back up support for Member expected to deliver more results in the next 3-5 years. Overall, the State initiatives. 23 actions are grouped under three headings: EU’s plans for the development of organic food and farming in the next decade are much more ambitious than previously, but it 1. Boosting consumer demand, by: remains to be seen how much will really be achieved. It is likely * increasing promotion and communication of public that a much more transformational policy framework will need to benefits of organic farming be delivered by the second half of this decade if there is to be any * promoting organic canteens, increasing the use of green chance of the 25% target being achieved by, or even soon after 2030. public procurement and reinforcing organic school Nic Lampkin schemes Independent Consultant/ Researcher and Project Co-ordinator (Organic farming * preventing food fraud, strengthening consumer trust and policy, Remuneration of Environmental Benefits of Organic Farming), Thünen Institute of Farm Economics, Braunschweig, Germany improving traceability 1. https://ec.europa.eu/info/food-farming-fisheries/farming/organic-farming/ * improving collaboration with the organic sector organic-action-plan_en 2. Stimulating production and processing, by: 2. https://www.organicseurope.bio/content/uploads/2020/06/sme_organic_ action_plans_manual_second_edition_2018.pdf?dd * encouraging conversion, investment and exchange of best practice 3. https://www.organicseurope.bio/content/uploads/2020/06/ifoam-eco- schemes-web_compressed-1.pdf?dd * improving market data collection and dissemination

Page 13 - The Organic Grower - No 55 Summer 2021 Breeding and seed sector innovations for organic food systems This was title of the 5th conference of the EUCARPIA Organic and Low Input Section, which was established in 2007 to address issues relevant to plant breeding for organic and low-input agriculture. The online event also hosted the final scientific conference of the Horizon 2020-funded project LIVESEED “Boosting Organic Seed and Plant Breeding Across Europe” that runs from 2017 to 2021, together with relevant sister-projects BRESOV and ECOBREED, and two projects of the Latvian National Fundamental and Applied Research Program.

Breeding for culinary and Organic seed health nutritional quality The use of healthy seeds or vegetative propagation material is Julie Dawson described an ongoing partnership between the Seed crucial for sustainable crop production. The use of organic seeds is to Kitchen Collaborative at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, an integral part of organic farming. The LIVESEED project reported SeedLinked, a participatory variety trialling and breeding on the state of the art and research results on the production of platform, and the Organic Seed Alliance in the US. The Seed to heathy organic seeds, with support from the European Horizon Kitchen Collaborative connects plant breeders focused on organic 2020. The report stated that “organic seed quality is not always systems to Wisconsin farmers and chefs, to create delicious, well- optimal. One reason can be pathogens infecting the mother adapted vegetable varieties for local organic production. This plants, from which some can travel in or on the seeds to the next collaboration presents a unique opportunity to focus on vegetable generation. Seed production in many cases like vegetables or variety characteristics important to local food systems, such as biennial species takes longer than crop harvest used for food or flavour, fresh-market quality and agronomic performance on feed production, mother plants are exposed longer to pressure smaller-scale diversified farms. from weeds, pests, diseases, and abiotic stress. Organic seed production is therefore more difficult than conventional and “We are developing a professional community of practice for requires more labour, increasing the production costs. Organic regional seed systems and breeding, as well as digital tools for seed health is based on a multitude of factors and cannot simply farmers, independent plant breeders and seed companies to use to be managed through one-size-fits-all solutions such as curative evaluate varieties over a wide range of environmental conditions seed treatments. for adaptation and culinary quality. This includes improvements in real time information sharing, decentralised participatory “Use of seeds produced under organic conditions can also have methodology, analysis of large datasets from heterogeneous benefits, as organic soils may have a richer and more diverse environments and techniques for facilitating multi-stakeholder microbiome and part of this microbiome enters the seed during collaboration that will equip organic plant breeders to develop development. Although much more research is needed, there are successful varieties for the organic community.” indications that certain microorganisms in this seed microbiome play One development that arose was the selection of two white beetroot a role in tolerance of the emerging seedling toward biotic and abiotic varieties – one containing geosmin, the compound that gives stress in the field. Beneficial microorganisms isolated from the seed beetroot its earthy flavour and one without. This is useful for chefs microbiome can be applied in seed coating as biocontrol agents.” as they can utilise the beetroot flavour without the pink colour The seed microbiome overwhelming a dish, or introduce beetroot to those who struggle with the earthiness. The collaboration process has fostered a real Gabriele Berg of the Institute of Environmental Biotechnology, Graz connection between the chefs and the growers and mutual respect. University of Technology, in Austria talked about the importance of the seed microbiome. The plant microbiome is crucial for growth and health. She remarked that seeds were often considered as reservoir for pathogens or as free of microorganisms, but recent studies have revealed an unexpected microbial diversity and abundance within seeds. Soil type, climate, geography and plant genotype were identified as main drivers of the seed microbiota. The microbiomes have secretly co-evolved with their host plants over millennia. Breeding has changed plants with selection for yield and resistance, but this is reflected in the seed microbiota as well, resulting in diversity loss, which has consequences for health issues. To restore microbial diversity, bacterial seed treatments Photo:Juan Astroza, MS Horticulture, UW Madison BeetsFarmToFlavor – Tasting beets at the Seed to Kitchen Collaborative’s Farm to Flavor event from a participatory beet breeding project led by Dr. Irwin Goldman and Dr. Solveig Hanson. Page 14 - The Organic Grower - No 55 Summer 2021 can be harnessed for sustainable agricultural approaches by Ascomycota and the Basidiomycota (almost 90% of the fungi). When improving stress tolerance and resilience of modern crops. analysing key drivers of the two microbial communities, they found significant effects of age, grape variety and pH on both Plant breeding was recently discovered to directly and indirectly microbial communities in different ways. Indeed, they noticed shape and select seed associated communities. Following a shifts of microbial communities as well as microbial enrichment breeding line of Styrian oil pumpkin (Cucurbita pepo L.subsp. with pH and grape variety on the entire bacterial and fungal pepo var. styriaca Greb.) seeds were found to generally carry communities respectively. The key drivers of both microbial a lower microbial diversity compared to rhizosphere or bulk communities changed when further analysing the communities soil samples. The distinct seed community was characterised at the phylum level. The study concluded “Because we showed by a high Enterobacteriaceae (40- 83%) abundance. They found that changes in microbial communities exist at the level of a that bacterial taxa were mainly transferred from sown seeds to single vineyard, it is rational to propose that understanding the progeny seeds, while fungal taxa found on the progeny seeds for complex interactions between bacteria, fungi and the vine plants the most part originated from soil. Moreover, plant beneficial taxa could help vine-growers adjust their practices. Sustainable (e.g. Bacillaceae, Burkholderiaceae, Pseudomonadaceae) were observed practices, which are deemed to improve microbial diversity, to be transmitted on to the progeny seeds. The study highlights could intensify the specificity of a vine (microbial terroir) and the complex assembly of seed microbial communities across enhance final product quality. different cultivars and the importance of the consideration of plant associated microbiomes during breeding was demonstrated. Plant salutology https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpls.2021.642027/abstract Stephanie Klaedtke of ITAB, France argued that we should be using Friederike Trognitz also emphasised that if organic breeding is the term ‘Plant salutology’ instead of plant pathology. Salutology conducted under real practice with more stressful conditions, it comes from two latin words ‘salud’ and ‘logic’, meaning ‘health’ and will result in a shift to a more beneficial microbiome. ‘study’, which translate to ‘the science or the study of the origins of health’. It focuses primarily on optimising and maintaining health Microbial terroir rather than treating disease. Plant pathology is the scientific study Marine Biget (University of Rennes 1) presented collaborative of diseases in plants caused by pathogens. Seed and plant health is research with a famous Bordeaux vineyard (Château Palmer, a continuum – seed health is intertwined with seed vigour and the Margaux). The study arose in 2017 from questions about the role of microbial communities on the seed. role that microorganisms from the field convey to the cellar in the context of biodynamic wines. The terroir of vineyards is Seed vigour traditionally defined from bedrock and related soil characteristics, Steven Groot presented work conducted by Wageningen topography and climate in a given region. However, recent studies University in conjunction with Vitalis, Bingenheimer Saatgut have introduced the importance of adding the micro-organisms and Sativa seed companies, as part of LIVESEED, which looked community pattern of a vineyard to better characterise the spirit at seed vigour, using carrots and their response to the damping of a wine and thus defined the microbial terroir. off pathogen Alternaria radicina as a model. In the field, germinating seeds may experience stresses from moisture, drought, temperature or pathogens. The ability of a seed lot to cope with this biotic and abiotic stress in the field is called seed vigour. Seed vigour is mainly tested in laboratory experiments by analysing the tolerance of a seed lot to abiotic stresses. This study tested if variation in seed vigour has also an effect on the tolerance to pathogens. To eliminate effects of genetics or seed production, they used an organic seed lot that was experimentally aged to obtain seed samples with different levels of vigour. Both in the lab and in the field the reduced vigour seeds had a slower emergence and an increased sensitivity to Alternaria. However, seed vigour is a multi-factorial character and the microbiome may also influence seedling emergence. Credit: Philippe Vandenkoornhuyse Micro-organisms colonizing the vine roots endosphere The experiments show the importance of optimising seed vigour during seed production and maintaining that vigour Preliminary results for one year showed that the root microbiota during further handling and storage. This holds for both of the vine plants were dominated by four major phyla: the commercial seed producers and farm-saved seeds. Optimal Proteobacteria and the Bacteroidetes accounting for almost seed storage is essential as poor storage conditions will result 90% (relative abundance) of the bacteria community and the in reduced seed vigour.

Page 15 - The Organic Grower - No 55 Summer 2021 Can the market deliver? Boosting organic seed use Susanne Padel, formerly of Organic Research Centre, now of the Eva Winter of FiBL reported on a case-study within LIVESEED Thünen Institute for Farm Economics, Germany posed the question which looked at the seed value chain of organic carrot production of whether market mechanisms could deliver organic seed and in Germany – two typical seed producers/breeders and 325 carrot varieties. The use of untreated conventional seed under derogation growers. Producers in Germany would be prepared to pay up to is still common for most crops and in all European regions. Using 45% more for organic seed. There are some technical difficulties organic seed has cost implications for farmers but this does not however within seed production, particularly in pest management appear to be a major barrier for many farmers, indicated by a positive (Lygus bugs), that could cause shortfalls if derogations removed. attitude towards organic seed use among farmers surveyed in the Therefore investment in research on pest management would be LIVESEED project. When asked about what actions would increase advisable. Preliminary results showed that solely phasing out the likelihood of organic seed use, producers point to choice of derogations for the use of conventional seed would cause a loss varieties and more efforts in breeding for organic farming rather in farm enterprise gross margin. She suggests it could be wise to than a need for more organic seed multiplication. She concluded mitigate this by introducing a subsidy at seed price level to smooth that ‘no’, the market alone cannot deliver organic seed. Demand the transition. Furthermore, a stepwise phasing out of derogations is larger than supply, indicated by the continued use of untreated seems advisable, so that organic seed production can be gradually non-organic seed in Europe. Growth of the organic land area, as and continually expanded by seed companies. Otherwise, a foreseen in the European Farm to Fork and Biodiversity strategy, shortage of seed production could occur. Modelling had shown is likely to lead to further substantial increases in demand. Given that a subsidy of around €500/ha or a price premium of 10 euros the current poor functioning of the organic seed market as well as per tonne would induce the farmer to adopt organic seed. Organic technical problems in many sectors, it is unlikely that increase in cultivar uptake can be promoted with a price premium of 150 euros demand will result in further investment in breeding and increases per tonne. Pool-funding 0.2% of organic sales revenue by the food in organic seed production. This is confirmed by the fact that despite industry for organic breeding would be a substantial contribution current demand exceeding supply, the organic breeding sector is to organic breeding – around €160,000/year max. However, other characterised by a shortage of funds. Under such circumstances, funding sources would be necessary to reach a comparable breeding tightening of the organic regulation could have many unintended budget to conventional breeding companies. consequences, including a loss of delivery of public goods by Phil Sumption organic agriculture, particularly in relation to high agrobiodiversity. Growing the Goods: A Horticulture Test and Trial for the Environmental Land Management Scheme (ELMS) - Part 2

Growing the Goods is the horticulture ELMS Test and Trial which and February, 33 participants tested the Land Management Plan is being run by the Landworkers Alliance. To recap from Part 1 (LMP) methodology and 15 participants added these actions onto (OG53), last Summer we worked with 20 growers to design two the Land App maps they created last year. ways of auditing the public goods actions (environmental and This phase has taught us the value of testing, codesign and iterative social benefits) delivered by growers, and then tested these methods improvement! The LMP table left too much room for error and needs with 39 different growers in September. One method was a simple simplification. While the Land App maps showed colour coded checklist and the other involved mapping public goods actions ongoing and new actions clearly, for smaller growers it was hard with a GIS programme called The Land App. In the Autumn we to label the multitude of public goods actions overlapping within a compared peer-to-peer and expert-led workshops as ways of small space. sharing information to encourage environmental ambition. Payment options Land Management Plans We also introduced participants to the main payment options In the future, the Land Management Plan (LMP) will form the ELMS being considered by Defra, and other ideas such as a points legal contract between the grower and Defra, showing which public based system and the ‘Ecosystems Services Approach’. Whilst goods actions will be delivered where and when. It is essential developing their Land Management Plans, they were encouraged therefore that LMPs are clear and avoid the risk of mistakes. We to think about which of these systems would work best for developed a table to show ongoing and new actions, with ‘drop rewarding them for public goods delivery, before answering a down’ menus of possible land use changes and management codes questionnaire about their preferences. correlating to the UK Hab codes developed last Summer. In January

Page 16 - The Organic Grower - No 55 Summer 2021 3. Influence of supply chain and public engagement on public goods delivery - Small growers who are highly engaged with their customers, and selling direct or via collaborative, farmer focused supply systems, found it easier to deliver public goods actions, due to customer understanding and support for the land management practices used. In contrast, growers selling to supermarkets or industrial processing are subject to stringent quality control criteria, while having to deliver for a competitively low price and keep production costs low in order to achieve a margin. Risks are mitigated by using crop protection products and growing significantly more than is necessary to ensure continuity of supply. Collaboration on marketing, in order to achieve a stronger position in the market place and better margins which can then be invested in environmental improvements, was seen as a solution to challenges faced by larger growers. Concluding comments This phase of the trial has revealed the complexities of devising a simple, yet fair payment system for rewarding a sector as diverse as horticulture. However, it has also been heartening to realise how much conventional growers, as well as organic ones, are keen to improve their environmental performance. In the final six A sample Land Management Plan map created using The Land App months of the trial we will use the lessons learned so far to hone the LMP table and payment mechanisms, while highlighting to The most popular was a points-based standard, modelled on Defra’s Defra how horticulture needs different treatment to broad scale proposed Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) standards, but with agriculture in the roll-out of ELMS. flexibility to mix and match public goods actions. Growers saw this as a quick, simple and fair way to reward good practice. Intuitively, Rebecca Laughton growers liked the ‘Ecosystems services approach’ and ‘Payment by results’. However, they were less popular due to uncertainty about how the former would be applied, and concerns about factors beyond the growers’ control leading to loss of payments with the latter. ‘Income foregone plus costs’ was unpopular with all but a few, as it was seen as unlikely to remunerate let alone incentivise the costs of environmental measures. Interviews with participants Interviews with ten participants, across a variety of growing systems and scales, yielded some particularly valuable insights:

1. Overcoming environmental challenges - Interviewees were keen to address environmental weaknesses in their systems, from agrochemical use to soil degradation. The main barriers to change were the financial risk when operating with narrow margins, fears that the loss of grade 1 and 2 production area (for predator habitat) would not be compensated for with ELMS payments, and the capital costs of specialist machinery. 2. Demand for public engagement - An increasing demand for public engagement, from volunteering to open days, is limited by staff capacity and the resources to transport school ☎ 01775 840592 classes to farms. Regional public engagement coordinators ✉ [email protected] could ease the administrative demands for groups of farms, Gosberton Bank Nursery, Gosberton, Spalding, Lincs, PE11 4PB Biodynamic and Organic Plant Breeding and Seeds Limited, trading as Seed Co-operative while the transport issue indicates a need for more market Registered under the Co-operative and Community BeneÞt Societies Act 2014 as a gardens being located close to urban areas. Community BeneÞt Society, registration number 7013.

Page 17 - The Organic Grower - No 55 Summer 2021 Organic food for all: Growers supporting community food projects

Many growers have support for their local community built into their business model, but over the last year many more businesses and organisations have also been actively supplying affordable food to those in need.

Wonky wonders: At the end of the week (or two weeks, depending on how much surplus we have) we load up any Shillingford Organics veg that we’ve collected and deliver it to one or two One positive thing to come out of the of several local community groups on a rotational pandemic has been the response of many basis. These include Alphington Larder, St Thomas community groups across the country Larder, Pinhoe Community Support and The springing up in order to support their Ottery Larder. They then make the veg available to neighbours by distributing surplus food and the public either with a free ‘shop’ in a public place, other essential items. It’s very encouraging or by delivering veg bags to those that request it via to see this movement now as many people social media or email. We also occasionally supply continue to have their finances squeezed, local charity Exeter Food Action who redistribute after months of reduced wages or losing food to a variety of organisations around the city jobs altogether. We’re pleased to be able to such as homeless shelters and community cafés. support several such community groups Pinhoe ‘Little house’ Another way the public can access the ‘wonky’ veg is with donations of ‘wonky’ veg: a useful via the local food hub, Good Food Exeter. As well as adjective to succinctly describe any surplus using this platform to sell our first-grade vegetables veg that we can’t sell at full price for a variety alongside many other local food producers, we also of reasons, but which is still perfectly edible offer a weekly ‘Lucky Dip - surplus veg box’. This is a and full of goodness! During the course very affordably priced small- to medium-sized veg box of the week, either whilst working or by that we pack with as wide a variety of veg as possible. revisiting the fields at the end of the day, we It has proven to be very popular and we sell as many as try and collect veg that was damaged during we make available, which has been as much as 13 but is harvest or that is too large, too small, too usually around six or seven per week. misshapen, or past the window of optimum growth such as purple sprouting broccoli Ed Tolkien heads that have started to loosen and extend Multi-faceted approach: in preparation for flowering. Surplus is also created when veg is returned from our Kindling Trust Emma at Ottery Larder farmers markets or we accidentally over- Kindling Trust’s Woodbank Community Food harvest, meaning that we won’t get a chance Hub combines commercial horticulture, training to sell it at the desired level of freshness. and a FarmStart site with community programmes Occasionally when there’s lots of surplus in working to make healthy sustainable food more the fields – recently when we had to reject a accessible. We are trying to square the circle of large amount of carrots due to partial carrot needing to pay growers well while helping lots root fly damage – we’ll organise a team of of people living in food poverty. Our aims are to volunteers to come down on a weekend to create financially viable growing businesses; selling Lucky dip surplus veg box help collect it up. We found several very direct and effectively to make our fresh produce as willing volunteers after advertising for help affordable as possible; and support and empower in a local coronavirus support group on those in food poverty. Our community programme Facebook during the first UK lockdown in consists of a community garden, growing and spring 2020. They were pleased to be able to cooking sessions and a social prescribing programme lend a hand whilst enjoying the farm and its where GPs and health and wellbeing professionals beautiful location in the hot, sunny weather, refer people with physical and mental ill-health to and have returned for ‘gleaning’ sessions our 10-week growing, cooking and eating sessions. Each week attendees do some growing, harvest Photos: Shillingford Organics several times over the past year. Shillingford gleaning team

Page 18 - The Organic Grower - No 55 Summer 2021 produce, cook a meal and eat together, they then take home a veg connect with more farms in the South West, so get in touch with bag of local organic produce with recipe cards. The programme is Nick at [email protected] if you would like to very popular and the evidence we have collected shows it has a get involved. There are other groups gleaning across the UK, that really positive impact on people’s wellbeing. At the moment, this have been supported by Feedback’s Gleaning Network campaign. work is funded by a National Lottery grant, but we are working https://gleaning.feedbackglobal.org/go-gleaning/ hard to get ‘commissioned’ by the NHS to embed it into local Nick Haigh health provision, as this is the only way we can maintain such a project at any large scale. Cambridge: Grow a Row Helen Woodcock In Summer 2020 Cambridge Sustainable Food (CSF) ran a ‘Grow a Row’ campaign, with growers old and new planting and donating Bristol Gleaning Network extra crops to one of the Community Food Hubs across the city, Bristol Gleaning Network (BGN) brings together volunteers, helping share healthy and fresh produce with the community. farms and community projects to reduce food waste and provide Cambridge Sustainable Food has been co-ordinating the emergency access to free or low-cost fruit and veg for people in vulnerable food provision efforts in the city in partnership with Cambridge situations. Since September 2020, we have saved over two Food Poverty Alliance since March 2020, supporting the Community tonnes of surplus, grade-out and mis-shapen veggies that would Food Hubs that have been established by local community groups, otherwise have been wasted and redistributed it to local food providing free food to anyone who needs it. There are now nine projects; from community kitchens and pay-what-you feel cafés Community Food Hubs in the city. With the overwhelming local who provide nourishing meals to various community groups; to response of community members wanting to support each other, food clubs and adventure playgrounds that support families with alongside the new-found enthusiasm for gardening that seemed fresh produce at an affordable price. to be developing, CSF put two and two together and wondered how much extra food could be grown within the city, to help local communities. So ‘Grow a Row’ was born.

It was an inspiring community effort with allotments designating plots to provide donations throughout the season, streets setting up community growing schemes to grow and donate fruit and vegetables to their nearest Community Food Hub, and even one individual cycling with 17 kgs worth of pumpkin in tow! In total, ‘Grow a Row’ saw nearly two tonnes of fresh produce grown and donated by individuals, families, streets and community projects.

Cambridge Sustainable Food is Gleaning in the field at The Community Farm running the ‘Grow a Row’ campaign again in 2021. With spring’s arrival and the start of the growing season, individuals, farms, schools and community groups across Cambridge have been exercising their green fingers and have started George St garden collection sowing this year’s seeds. Donations have already started to arrive at the hubs and people are even sharing their spare plants and seedlings, such as the strawberry plant donations that one hub received in early spring, to help spread the Photos: Nick Haigh/Bristol Gleaning network Carfulls of produce from The Community Farm joy of growing in the Cambridge community. BGN have been fortunate to work with progressive organic For an overview of those who got growers such as The Community Farm in Somerset, who see value involved in Cambridge’s Grow a Chesterton allotments donations in feeding people with their surplus rather than letting it turn to Row campaign last year, see https://tinyurl.com/CSF-growarow compost. They have been very proactive in getting us into their fields to glean before they are cleared. We are currently looking to Jasmine Clark

Page 19 - The Organic Grower - No 55 Summer 2021 Trill Farm the project, members will have a wide range of simple cookery schools and be able to prepare quick, simple and nutritious meals We have been providing our local food bank with salad and from the raw ingredients that are in the boxes. The vegetables will vegetables over the last year, and started putting an extra add-on be from us, along with other local producer friends of ours, and to our veg bag customers whereby they can donate £3. We then other produce will all be from other local producers who the Old give £3 worth of veg to the food bank for each donation, and we Dairy Kitchen already work with. The project will not only help add on some extra too. For us, this is a very small way of making people discover new cookery skills and ideas, but build a strong our veg available to people who really cannot afford it, but ideally understand of the basics of cooking with good quality produce to we wouldn’t have foodbanks at all of course. make really great meals relatively quickly.

We have also just formed a CIC with a few others including Chris We see that there are major issues with our food system - one - the chef of the Old Dairy Kitchen, based at Trill and we are part is that so much of the food system is in the power of large of the Community Resilience Fund run through the Landworkers’ multinationals who drive down farm prices, and churn out food Alliance and funded by the National Lottery. The idea for the that is causing huge health problems across the country, and a project will be that along with the Old Dairy Kitchen we will be broken farming community. The other is that we have all lost some providing regular boxes of produce to those who sign up for the six of the real basic cookery skills which are part of our culture, and month programme. We will be offering the boxes on a sliding scale have become reliant on mass-produced food that can be quickly and a good proportion will be free to those on low incomes/low prepared to feed ourselves and families, as we have less and less wealth. The boxes will initially be meals prepared by Chris from time to prepare home-cooked meals. We hope to slowly change the Old Dairy Kitchen, and as the programme progresses through this starting with our local community. the year he will be teaching basic cookery skills (through a variety of ways - online, newsletters, in person etc) allowing those who Ashley Wheeler sign up to build knowledge and confidence, so that by the end of Growing growers on Gower I grew up on the Gower Peninsula which used to be known as the food basket of Swansea. Good land and a mild climate made it a food growing hub for this part of Wales. As a teenager I could see the remnants of this, with a few market gardens, pick your own fruit farms, farm shops and two or three large-scale growers still in operation.

I left Gower at 18 and by chance fell in It was still a long road for me to establish Cae Tan CSA as I didn’t love with growing whilst travelling. In quite know how to go about this. I did a degree in organic farming, my early twenties I stumbled into an including a year in Copenhagen looking at the human context of informal apprenticeship in biodynamic organic farming, then I got involved in a series of land-based food growing with a Camphill Community growing projects across Wales. Some land became available just a in Southern Ireland. I found meaning couple of miles from where I grew up on Gower. I’d been away and direction in my life being on the for about 20 years and in that time horticulture had pretty much land and around people growing vanished on the peninsula. food. I decided to step this new found Gower was very much knowledge up a notch and get training Tom O’Kane Cae Tan CSA founder/grower ready for a CSA. in much larger scale growing. I was Demand was there lucky to find paid work as a grower on a farm in the Alps and then and in the past seven in central France. However, I quickly discovered that this scale of years, Cae Tan has growing didn’t suit me. I spent long hours operating large machinery grown from a two- alone in isolated farms. We produced large volumes of great produce, acre plot supplying 50 which I’m sure was very much appreciated, but I never met a single households to eight person who ate what we grew. acres supplying 130 This was when I first read about Community Supported households with 100 Agriculture (CSA). This sounded like the answer to me. Small households on a waiting scale, direct relationships to the people who eat the food you list. In that seven year grow, opportunities to engage volunteers and schools, but period, we have hosted still economically viable. I recognise that we need to feed our trainees, volunteers, population and it takes many scales and approaches to make this schools, colleges and possible. Personally, I choose the human scale of CSA. universities. We have Photos: Tom O’Kane Lizzy was a trainee and is now a grower with Cae Tan CSA and has also set up Petallica Flower CSA Page 20 - The Organic Grower - No 55 Summer 2021 developed a solid core group of directors and from our activity, Going back to CSA and its development. This is one element of a whole host of new initiatives have flowered. We currently have the mixture that can make up a truly sustainable food system. In three veg CSAs – as well as separate CSAs for a flower grower, a beef the past years Cae Tan has been mentoring other CSAs through producer and a flax grower. We have two One Planet Development various organisations and we recognise that although there small holdings being developed by the Ecological Land Co-op, a is a lot of information out there about CSA, it is hard for those thriving schools programme, plus a project to develop a large scale approaching setting up CSA to know even what questions to ask. CSA in partnership with a local hospital. For this reason we have established an online ‘Grow Your Own All of this has emerged out of open relationships and a supportive CSA’ training programme to guide people through the steps of growing community. We are still feeding only a tiny percentage of establishing a successful CSA. Gower and Swansea, so the potential for more land workers is great. This online course is aimed at groups or individuals who already There are so many hurdles to supporting new projects to thrive have or are in the process of attaining the growing skills needed such as; access to land, growing knowledge, business management to run a CSA. It runs from October to March, so that growers have skills, set up capital, access to markets and a supportive community. finished the main season and can run through this training in Cae Tan is working to support this thriving community of growers time to set up a CSA the following season. Ideally, this course will in a number of ways: be supplemented by the students receiving mentoring support, • Supporting new local CSA set-ups eg. Big Meadow CSA available from a number of organisations across the UK.

• Working with the Landworkers Alliance (LWA), Lantra and Who knows where horticulture is going, but all we can do is enjoy growers across Wales to establish a horticultural training and support those elements of it that we most value. Currently programme for Cae Tan, this is about nurturing both our local growing • Setting up an online CSA training programme to be launched community on Gower and sharing this knowledge further afield. this October To find out more about our work visit www.caetancsa.org This is what Rhian Williams has to say about the Wales training Tom O’Kane, Cae Tan CSA programme.

“I am the LWA’s Cymru Traineeship Network Coordinator and also the main grower at Kirkstall Valley Farm, a new CSA. I trained at Cae Tan in 2019 and continue to receive lots of support from the Cae Tan community on all things CSA. On behalf of the LWA, I’m working directly with horticulture-based farms to create a network of trainees across Wales. I think offering dedicated teaching sessions, especially on more technical or business related ‘Grow Your Own CSA’ topics, is an important way to enhance trainees’ on-farm learning. Connecting trainees to each other and to more of the farms that are Join our online training programme to learn all the skills needed to involved in Welsh horticulture also gives a confidence boost that successfully set up & run your own CSA. may well inspire more trainees to continue in the sector.

“I’m working closely with Hannah Norman, Horticulture Coordinator at Lantra and they play a key role in helping to plan the network, hosting training sessions and network administration helps to tie this work into Welsh horticulture more broadly. In particular, Hannah’s experience with previous traineeship programmes has been invaluable. ”

This new training programme, delivered by growers with the support of Lantra and the LWA could be the beginning of a real step up in horticultural production for Wales. Amber Wheeler’s PhD recognised that Wales could be self-sufficient in growing its basic fruit and veg needs, using just 2% of the land surface of Wales. I realise that the skills and availability of growers are not yet there, From this October to March 2022, the online sessions will run for 2 hours every three weeks covering all the topics needed to be but the demand for local produce is clearly growing and the political considered in setting up and running a CSA. The tutor will be support is slowly following this demand. If Gower is a microcosm to available on a weekly basis to help you work through assignments, taking the practical steps to get your CSA running! some extent of what’s happening elsewhere, then I’m hopeful that our food system is changing for the better from the roots up. www.caetancsa.org/en/grow-your-own-csa

Page 21 - The Organic Grower - No 55 Summer 2021 Low intensity apples – out-dated tradition or agroforestry alternative? Let me state from the outset that the system I’m about to describe has much less to do with efficient top fruit production, as understood by conventional apple growers, and much more to do with a bespoke orchard system which formed in my head some thirty years ago. It now seems that, more by luck than judgement, what resulted from this quirky plan may prove of some use to those with an interest in agroforestry incorporating top fruit. It’s certainly safe to say that it has afforded us an unusual orchard aesthetic, fruit of a high enough quality and quantity to give a return and a degree of versatility when incorporating livestock.

Apples are seldom grown as full standards, possibly because there is a significant delay between planting and any meaningful first harvest. This is partly because the leg, or main trunk, takes between two and three years to reach full standard height, in our case around 1.8m, before being ‘stopped’ to allow branch initiation and growth. At this stage the basic branch pattern could be established. Young laterals were brought down towards the horizontal, initially to strengthen the branch union at the main stem, but also to improve precocity (fruiting wood held between 30 degrees above and 30 degrees below the horizontal comes into fruit earlier than more vertical growth). A clothes peg attached to the trunk immediately above the emerging branch can be enough or small weights on Our holding sits in Worcestershire’s Vale of Evesham on the more mature growth. River Avon flood plain between the towns of Evesham and Pershore. The soil is alluvial sandy clay loam suitable for a range Training and management of horticultural options and has carried SA certification since 1987. Unfortunately, I can’t embellish this article with a chronological However, tucked as we are on valley floor between the Cotswolds gallery of the orchard’s life story. Record keeping was never my and the Malvern Hills, and more significantly between the two strong suit and as the years passed, although I tried to adhere to local uplands of Bredon Hill and the Lenches, makes us a textbook something resembling a plan, apple production remained a rather frost pocket. If reliable top fruit production had been our long-term peripheral enterprise until around seven years on when we set strategy, this site would have been an unwise choice. Damaging up our veg box scheme. We can’t be accused of total neglect in frosts at blossom time, especially at plum blossom time, can be the interim however, as the trees were mulched using straw and expected at least one year in four. The production of veg and cardboard out to the full width of the canopy after blossoming salad is our bread and butter, so inconsistent apple harvests are each spring until this became too large an area to be practicable. disappointing rather than livelihood threatening. As harvests increased, the principal of training to an easy height As much as the thought of my own apples appealed to me, I for picking was maintained. was strongly motivated to go ahead with the enterprise as some In general, pruning cuts were kept to a minimum. Most varieties small remediation for the wholesale grubbing up of traditional grown on M25 do not need the encouragement to make the unsprayed orchards in our area at the time. I’d learned that these explosion of new growth that hard pruning will promote. It’s environments were unique in the biodiversity they supported generally accepted that fruiting wood between three and five including a number of beneficials. Trees grown as full standards years old yields the best quality fruit, so pruning for replacement with open centres, we fantasised, would also offer us shady has always continued as well as removing damage and disease. picnics and sturdy hammock anchors in years to come. Planting and establishment As college trained horticulturalists both my partner Jayne Arnold and myself were able to minimise initial planting costs by doing the nursery work ourselves. We grafted six varieties; Discovery, Katy, Worcester Permain, Spartan, Crispin and Bramley on to vigorous M25 rootstocks using the conventional whip and tongue method. After a year in nursery these ‘maidens’ were planted in their final positions at very wide spacings of 9.2m x 7.4m and staked. Branch growth trained to the horizontal by pruning and tucking under

Page 22 - The Organic Grower - No 55 Summer 2021 Bringing a proportion of new growth down towards the horizontal We have kept pigs from time to time but not in the orchard, as they can also balance the effect of the saw and the secateurs. Young would trash it and Kunekunes, we were told, would graze rather shoots can be twisted around or tucked under existing branches than root. This proved only to apply during dry, hard conditions. It or weighted. However, the downside of this approach can be turns out a pig’s a pig and will turn ground as soon as wet weather progressive branch congestion which must be addressed with a allows. Pigs were once routinely run under apple trees but their harder pruning on occasion. Vertical growth at the top of trees is noses would be ringed to prevent rooting, a pretty cruel practice also removed to aid light penetration as in any open centre system. not permitted under organic standards and rightly so. Pests and diseases Hard graft Our approach towards the control of pests and diseases has tended As things stand most of our apple production is marketed via our to be very much laissez faire. Most organic fruit growers would veg box scheme and although not of vital importance, it certainly would start with varietal resistance, certainly something we tried makes a useful contribution to our margins. The majority are to include. We have had significant losses from scab particularly on picked and delivered fresh, certainly until the end of September. Spartan, though less so in recent years. I wouldn’t like to attribute Over the years we have adjusted our variety mix to better fit this the improvement to any single intervention on our part. The change marketing regime. Some trees have been ‘top worked’ (grafted) could be climatic. Our averages are going haywire along with over to prolong the everyone else’s. Also the last seven or so years of grazing sheep fresh season and may have altered the orchard floor environment, a factor in the greatly reduce prevalence of scab. Spartan are also prone to canker which, along the proportion of with mildew in all vars., we manage as best we can by pruning. cookers. Red Pippin Codling moth and Sawfly turn up from time to time as inany (Fiesta) and Kidd’s unsprayed situation but not in ruinous numbers. Orange have been Livestock added over time and more recently It goes without saying that any Saturn and Cerval. system that mixes trees and grazing Less successful have animals will require a significant been trees grafted tree guard but I should also point with Egremont out that we are not livestock Russet which, farmers. We have developed into although delicious, a regenerative holding, growing vegetables, salads and fruit with gave consistently some accompanying livestock in the form of a small, rotationally disappointing yields Photos: Julian Eldridge grazed flock of Gotland sheep. Like most breeds, Gotland sheep and suffered high Top worked (grafted) tree are browsers as well as grazers and will gladly vary their diet with levels of mildew. apple wood given the opportunity. Since we’ve had the flock, the challenge in the orchard has been to keep productive apple wood Our marketing season opens with Discovery and runs until around beyond the sheep but not the picker. Once the trees are fully mature Christmas with the help of stored Spartan, Kidd’s and Fiesta. We and at full height, protecting the trunk is the real imperative. are also in the fortunate position to be able to get surplus fruit juiced locally at Pershore College. Not every year’s crop affords Jayne only became a shepherd eight years ago. In previous years us this bonus, but once bottled and pasteurised, apple juice has we have kept various combinations, fowls including chickens for a minimum shelf life of two years so regularly adds to our offer. meat and eggs, ducks and geese. Each have their pros and cons in regard to orchard floor management. Agroforestry by default Raising chickens was only ever in season here. The birds were To summarise, fruit production here could be described as bought in day old, free ranged on the orchard floor during spring agroforestry by default more than by design. Its management does and summer to fatten for slaughter in late autumn, mostly for the call for a level of skill not required in most modern intensive systems, freezer. They could cause some problems under mulched trees, but might be found to serve certain producers well especially mixed their scratching sometimes exposing the roots. smallholdings when following a regenerative model. Ducks and geese were kept for eggs and occasionally for the table. It could be argued that the romantic picture of the traditional The geese were particularly useful grazers during winter. The grass orchard, with wicker baskets and picking ladders is unlikely ever noticeably improved which probably applied to general fertility. to make a comeback other than in some halcyon, heritage context. Also, the need to mow was lessened and would certainly have been But perhaps we’ve happened on a useful hybrid. removed altogether with a bigger flock. Although we aren’t keeping birds under the trees at present, they always remain a viable option. Julian Eldridge, Oxton Organics

Page 23 - The Organic Grower - No 55 Summer 2021 Amendments for soil health in top fruit

This Innovative Farmers field lab aimed to investigate how the addition of different soil amendments affects soil and plant health and overall system productivity in top fruit and vegetable production systems. An additional aim of the field lab was to share testing and systems experiences and to get growers working together on a shared research question.

This field lab, initially part of the AHDB GreatSOILS programme (https://ahdb.org.uk/greatsoils) funded by AHDB, trialled a wide range of different soil amendments on six different farms (conventional and organic). The outcomes of the trials have added valuable information to the knowledge base on soil amendments and the experiences of the group and the trial hosts given us useful insights into carrying on-farm trails to test soil amendments.

Soil amendments trialled included: Photo: Ben Raskin • Woodchip - both composted and green (ramial) Getting to grips with soil health at Charles Atkins farm as part of the Amendments for Soil Health Top Fruit Field Lab • Enriched Biochar – enriched with mycorrhizal fungi, Yield results from two trials with different crops (potatoes and trichoderma, actinomyces bacteria from wormcasts and trace apples) saw a trend towards lower yields in woodchip only minerals from seaweed plots. These results are from trials with very different sources of • Locally sourced non-enriched biochar woodchip and data collected over a wider range of crops and a • Arbuscular mycorrhizal root inoculant longer time period would help to confirm these trends. • Digestate from an on-farm AD plant Biochar Each grower chose the amendments or combinations thereof The results from trials that included biochar are inconclusive according to their interest and suitability for the system. Working due to small sample sizes in some trials and a lack of significant with a researcher from ORC individual monitoring programmes difference seen in others, there is some indication of increased were devised for each site to monitor the effects of the amendments extension growth in the enriched biochar treated trees at one site, and produce data collection plans. but the sample size was insufficient. The trial with locally sourced Woodchip non-enriched biochar also showed a positive extension growth results after two years of application. Woodchip was the most popular soil amendment included in the Challenges of this field lab, shared with other on-farm trials, trials followed by biochar. Achieving effective weed control under include fitting trial monitoring and set up into busy farm apple orchards and improving soil health were the top priorities schedules and balancing what is practical and what is desirable in of the group. Trial results in general support the use of woodchip terms of data collection. The geographic spread of the trial hosts as a weed suppressant in place of chemical herbicides leading to in the group and their different approaches made it difficult at improvements in soil health and sustainability via the addition times to maintain group cohesion and general conclusions across of organic matter and associated moisture retention. Across the all the different trials are difficult to draw. Trials were more different trials results point towards better perennial weed control, successful where more researcher time was available to help with higher soil organic matter and greater soil biological activity as a data collection. A useful lesson for future trials is not to be too result of woodchip mulch use as compared to the control of no ambitious when setting the trial up, aim to schedule data collection mulch. However, woodchip application can also lower soil pH. for quieter times in the farming calendar and build in researcher There are some indications from one trial that the use of woodchip time to help with data collection. Communication is also key to mulches may improve the soil organic matter and biological success and this can be difficult during busy times and then the activity of soils. The effectiveness of woodchip mulches for weed danger is that it is not picked up again once things quieten down. control was less conclusive with no significant differences in weed However, one of the biggest successes of this group has been in cover between the woodchip mulch plots and the control seen getting people who work in different ways talking to each other, in one trial, except for when the mulch had been recently thickly looking at soil and sharing knowledge and experience. This field lab applied, and in one trial where the addition of a membrane under has also helped to highlight the range of different soil amendments the woodchip provided the best mulching solution in terms that are available, the site specificity when deciding on the most perennial weed control. This suggests that in order to be effective suitable amendment and the need for dissemination of existing the woodchip mulches need to be applied regularly as a thick information and further research to help inform these decisions. layer or with the addition of a permeable membrane. Sally Westaway and Ben Raskin

Page 24 - The Organic Grower - No 55 Summer 2021 Alternative fertilizers in intensive organic apple production

In organic apple production different multi-nutrient fertilizers from conventional farming (e.g. poultry manure, keratin products) are used, which usually don’t have the same nutrient ratio as needed by the crop. This can lead to an accumulation of non-target nutrients in the soil and thus an unbalanced nutrient status which may result in deficits in potassium (K) supply or excess amounts of phosphorus (P). In addition, fertilizers from conventional sources, in particular from intensive conventional animal husbandry are considered as contentious inputs that should be phased out from organic agriculture. Therefore, new fertilization strategies have to be developed to increase the sustainability of the system.

Within the CORE Organic project DOMINO the University of Peas are a good alternative compared to horn grit. The compost Hohenheim conducted a field trial for three seasons since 2018 in particular varied in its nutrient contents between the years and at the Competence Centre for Fruit Growing Lake Constance was very high in Calcium in 2019. (KOB) in Southern Germany to test several fertilizers in an organic The yield level in 2018 was much lower than in 2019 due to a apple orchard. The trial was done with the variety Santana (early shortage of rainfall and extremely high temperatures. In both maturation) on the rootstock M9 with a spacing of 1 x 3.5 meters. years no significant differences appeared in the yield per tree. The goal was to reduce fertilizers of conventional origin by replacing The nutrient budget (Figure 3) was calculated as the difference them with legume based fertilizers (e.g. clover grass pellets, clover between the nutrient input by fertilization and the output via the grass silage and peas intercropped in the tree row), compost or fruits, depending on the nutrient content of the fertilizers and on regional waste materials from organic agriculture like biogas the yield. The elements N and K have the highest off-take in all digestates. We used these fertilizers and compared them to a zero treatments. The highest deficit is related to K. control and to treatments with horn grit and vinasse (by-product of 90 sugar production) that are widely used in organic farming (Figure 1). 70

50

30

10 Nutrient budget (kg/ha) ‐10 control horn grit vinasse digestates peas cg pellets cg silage compost spring

‐30

Figure 1: Fertilizers used in the trial. First Row from top: Horn grit, vinasse (bi- N P K Mg Ca Na product of sugar production), biogas digestates, compost. Second row from top: ‐50 Clover grass silage, clover grass pellets, spring peas. Figure 3: Nutrient budget resulting out of the difference between nutrient input by fertilizers and output via fruit take off (mean value of 2018 and 2019). The amount of nitrogen (N) applied with the fertilizers was 25 In summary, the findings of the trial years 2018 and 2019 presented kg N per ha. The peas were sown in March and mulched one the peas to be most similar to horn grit with regard to their nutrient week before flowering in April, when all the other fertilizers were content (with the lowest amount of secondary nutrients after applied. We calculated nutrient balances and assessed the impact horn grit) and nutrient budget, yet resulting in a slightly lower on yield and fruit quality, as well as their suitability for intensive yield. All the treatments caused a K deficit, however, fertilization organic apple production. with biogas digestates resulted in the lowest K imbalance. In the Figure 2 illustrates the nutrient input by the fertilizers (mean compost treatment high amounts of Calcium were added. The values of 2018 and 2019) for a target fertilization of 25 kg N ha-1. most balanced nutrient input-output relationship was achieved 200 by fertilization with biogas digestates. N P K Mg Ca Na S To assess the fertilizers further, the data of all three years will be 150 examined, also taking account of additional factors like the soil pH and nutrient status of the soil, N mineralisation rate during 100 the season, the fruit quality and tree growth.

Nutrient input (kg/ha) Birgit Lepp, Sabine Zikeli, Kurt Möller 50 [email protected] http://www.domino-coreorganic.eu/ Funding project No. 1939 DOMINO Dynamic sod mulching and use of recycled 0 amendments to increase biodiversity, resilience and sustainability of intensive horn grit vinasse biogas spring peas clover grass clover grass compost organic apple orchards and vineyards financed by ERA-NET, COREOrganic digestates pellets silage Cofund 2018-2021. Figure 2: Nutrient input of the fertilizers with a target value of 25 kg N ha-1 (mean values for 2018 and 2019). Page 25 - The Organic Grower - No 55 Summer 2021 Seed sovereignty in Wales The journey from producing your first seed crop to selling is not so much a straight road as a labyrinth. While growing seed is in many ways the simple act of following a crop through its full cycle from seed back to seed, there are intricacies that can take years to fine-tune before it can sit in a packet ready for sale.

Wales Seed Hub pollinated seed.” At the same time, the One Planet planning policy which has allowed Chris and Erica permission to start a new farm At the Seed Sovereignty UK and Ireland Programme, we have in Wales, requires that they earn an income from their land and been supporting a fledgling seed-selling coop to embark on the improve habitats and biodiversity on site. “Our farm is highly adventure from training in seed production to selling seed. This diversified, producing honey, apple juice, live poultry, hatching spring has seen the Wales Seed Hub offer up our first two varieties eggs and plants. Seeds are a new product we are offering which for UK sale: the Kew Blue French Bean and the Red Ruffled Kale. are a small but significant contribution to our farm income.” Working as a coop of six small-scale commercial growers, we Chris and Erica took on have navigated group agreements, license registration, quality production of the Kew standards and distribution models. Growing the seed on members’ Blue French Bean. “We farms, we have joined together to collectively package and market were impressed by their this seed. Currently our stocks are very small, but these first sales uniformity, vigour, colour represent an important landmark in our journey to distributing and flavour,” says Chris. larger quantities of Welsh-grown seed in the future. “We wanted to make these more widely available to other growers.” Stewarded for many years by the Heritage Seed Library (HSL), Kew Blue originally came from the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew. “This cream-seeded Kew Blue Climbing French Bean variety has been handed down for at least three generations in our donor’s family,” says the HSL “The purple-pink flowers are complemented by purple- tinged leaves and stems, and followed by flat, purple pods. These Photos: Katie Hastings The Wales Seed Hub growers learnt to produce seed crops in the pods have excellent flavour, perfect for eating fresh or freezing, and early years of the Seed Sovereignty UK and Ireland Programme when dried, the beans have a rich, nutty flavour.” 2018. Taking part in the training was designed to fill the startling Originally unsure of the ethics around selling a seed, which is being gap in UK knowledge of on-farm seed growing. Our ambition stewarded by volunteers and preserved for the common good, was to move these apprentice seed producers into growing we consulted Catrina Fenton of the HSL, who said, “Ultimately contract seed, providing them with added income streams while we want to see these seeds widely available. If they are being also boosting the worryingly low quantities of Open Pollinated marketed and grown in more gardens, then we no longer need (OP) seed grown in the UK. to steward them and can focus our resources on some of the more As the world experienced pandemic seed frenzy in 2020, with endangered seeds in our collection.” demand for UK seed sky-rocketing across seed companies, the There are of course varieties in the HSL collection which would Wales Seed Hub growers took the leap and started preparing seed not be appropriate to sell: it could be that donor families might for direct sale in 2021. Motivated by both the need to increase UK have stipulated they do not want the seeds sold or they could still seed resilience and the financial resilience of their own land-based ‘belong’ to a community who would like to maintain some control businesses, the time had never felt more right. It was hard to think over the seed. Opening up discussions around seed ownership of reasons not to produce seed for sale. and ethics, we realised that seed origins are not always clear-cut. Wales Seed Hub grower Chris Vernon runs a One Planet When searching for new varieties to introduce into the Wales Seed Development smallholding with his partner Erica and two young Hub catalogue, we were confronted with the big question of who children. Chris says, “We’re aware that most seed is imported and actually owns a variety. represents a narrow range of hybridised varieties. We wanted On the face of it, seeds should be in common ownership and seed to bring seed production closer to home and work with open diversity should be preserved for the good of all. But once we start

Page 26 - The Organic Grower - No 55 Summer 2021 selling seeds, the waters get muddier and questions arise. Would it be OK to sell a seed, originally from an indigenous community if we had not ensured that community benefited from the sale? Would it be OK to start replicating a variety, which another seed business had spent many years selecting and bulking out? How should we recognise the years of work that go into developing a new variety, while still trying to sell our seed at affordable prices and pay our growers a fair wage? Wales Seed Hub member Sue Stickland, author of Back Garden Seed Saving, is working on introducing new varieties into our seed catalogue. “There are varieties out there, about which is little known” she says. “Chinese violet cress is a delicious salad crop with beautiful violet spring flowers. Mentioned in Joy Larkcom’s companies in the years to come? It can be difficult to get a clear book Oriental Vegetables, it is listed as being very difficult to obtain. picture of the state of seed, with little concrete data on the varieties We would like to grow this seed on in Wales, ensure it is adapted being grown in UK soils. At the Seed Sovereignty Programme, to our conditions, and then make it available for others to buy”. we have teamed up with the Landworkers’ Alliance to put out a Providing a double whammy of increasing seed diversity and survey to UK commercial growers to assess current seed stocks offering livelihood to producers is exactly why we need more seed and the state of our UK seed resilience. We hope this survey will growers on the scene. give us insight into possible future seed shortages, as well as the size of the wave of new on-farm seed savers. Although UK OP seed producers have been as rare as cuckoos in the last 50 years, we do have a small, dedicated crew of seed Meanwhile, growers like Sue and Chris continue to put seed crops in growers beating the drum of regional adaptation. Whilst Real the ground for our seed catalogue next year. With sales of Wales Seed Seeds have been offering a plethora of reliable Welsh-grown Hub packets low this fledging season, we need to work on introducing varieties for over 20 years, we have seen the likes of the Seed Coop, new varieties, building our stocks and increasing our profile. Vital Seeds, and Beans and Herbs join their ranks in providing “One of our key unique selling points is quality,” says Sue OP seed to the UK home garden market. As we work within the Stickland. “Our seed is fresh, grown agro-ecologically and to Seed Sovereignty Programme to train more seed producers, we high quality standards. We have drawn up guidelines for all also have to be mindful not to flood the market with OP seed and our producers on their isolation distances, population sizes and potentially impact these valued existing seed companies. disease vigilance. We have agreed germination test procedures Kate McEvoy from Real Seeds has, for decades, been hoping to see a and regularly discuss our crops throughout the season to give stronger network of UK seed producers. She says “We started Real some collective accountability within the coop.” While it does take Seeds to increase the diversity of UK adapted varieties available several years for a new seed producer to learn to grow to these to home growers. Seed Sovereignty has always been important to quality standards, we have seen our growers move through this us and we never wanted to be the only ones doing this. We have process into confident seed producers offering saleable crops. seen demand increase year on year and we think there is room As the Seed Sovereignty Programme, it is our hope to support and for more people to be selling UK-grown seed.” Having always incubate more seed-selling initiatives such as the Wales Seed Hub. The been supportive of new seed enterprises, Real Seeds have offered cooperative model offers a prototype for other seed growers wanting invaluable training and advice to our Welsh Seed Hub growers. to produce seed on multiple farms, while sharing the central work of As legalities change around UK seed sale in the wake of Brexit, the packing, distribution and administration. Utilising growing awareness Seed Sovereignty Programme has been hosting a forum of small of our need for seed resilience and a UK seed market bursting at the packet seed sellers to share experiences and information around seams with demand, the time is ripe to start selling seed. topics such as seed imports, plant passports and seed stocks. As market gardeners and farmers, perhaps the question we Sinead Fortune is programme manager for the Seed Sovereignty should be asking ourselves is can we afford not to be growing UK and Ireland Programme, and says “What started as a response seed? Where do we envision our seeds will come from in years to the confusion around Brexit has now become a place for small to come? Who holds the keys to our local crop diversity and how seed companies to collaborate, learn from each other and share can we unlock the door to ensure we all have access to the seeds tips and ideas. It’s been fantastic growing the solidarity among of the future? these companies, who are all, in their own way, working towards Seed is still available to buy from the Wales Seed Hub: a more resilient seed system in the UK.” www.seedhub.wales It’s a pivotal time for the UK Seed Sovereignty movement. While many people found new resolve to grow from UK seed in Katie Hastings lockdown 2020, will they stick with us by supporting local seed Wales Coordinator, UK and Ireland Seed Sovereignty Programme

Page 27 - The Organic Grower - No 55 Summer 2021 Fringe farming for a green economic recovery A green economic recovery must include increasing access to land for agroecological farming at the edge of UK cities, to kick-start a new wave of community enterprises that connect urban and rural economies with multiple benefits.

A green economic recovery has to be more than a fashionable movements. It is heartening to see such initiatives being resourced label and must listen to what has arisen in the traumatic and to scale up through the Landworkers’ Alliance ‘Community destabilising last 12 months of the Covid-19 pandemic. One area Resilience’ project7; towards building an agroecology in the UK of serious concern has been increased challenges in access to foods built on social justice principles as well as ecological ones, reflecting 1 and threats of shortages - which reflects and re-entrenches British the roots of the movement in Latin America, and sometimes left to society’s pre-existing structural inequalities. The UK’s just-in-time the wayside in European manifestations. delivery systems and ‘leave it to Tesco et al’ default policy2 have been exposed, with community food organisations rallying to Peri-urban farming cover a creaking and inept food system that has, for a long time Some initial research in London in 2020 found that the conversion coming, required a radical re-think. of 1.4% of land growing cereals and grassland to vegetables This article focuses on one element of an integrated approach around London could produce an additional 1.3 million kg of working towards a green economic recovery; a strategic investment food for communities8. in agroecological food production at the edge of UK cities with Agroecological farming on the fringes of cities makes for a the opening up of land by local councils and other landholders. strategic place to support a green economic recovery by using In providing context to think about what this might mean in the farming methods that retain the ecological benefits of peri- current climate, and introducing the historical case of county farms urban areas while also building collaborative economies that to support access to land for new-entrants, the article concludes with connect the urban and the rural. the introduction of the ‘Fringe Farming’ project1 that is coordinating research, action plans and policy proposals for UK peri-urban Historically cities developed with food growing, especially the farming this year. Fringe Farming partners include: Sustain, Shared most perishable foods, just outside of the city walls - and this still Assets, Landworkers’ Alliance, Bristol Food Producers, Glasgow makes sense today with close proximity to markets and also being Community Food Network, and ShefFood. connected to urban populations who can access education and Demand for agroecological food, demand for land to grow training programmes. As recently as 50 years ago, market gardens agroecological food: let’s connect these! ringed many cities, but increased food imports through increasingly With a rapid increase in demand for veg box schemes in 2020 in dominant supermarkets with centralised systems, have resulted in the UK3, including waiting lists growing to 6,700 people, there many food businesses on the edge of urban areas closing up. is a clear business case for meeting this increased demand for The ecological design principal of edge effects, that describes the community-based food production. Alongside this, there is a productivity, creative exchange, and resource sharing between great need for land to set up agroecological enterprises to meet two or more habitats, if applied to cities, planning and food this demand - which can be met by a new generation of growers systems - highlights the peri-urban as a dynamic and strategic and farmers. For a green economic recovery, there is a clear case space to amplify networked and localised food spaces. With some for the inclusion of sustainable, community-based farming4 that of the most fertile soils for food growing situated at the edges of meets both the demand for agroecological food and the demands cities and at risk of urban sprawl, the time is now to support a new for land to grow food - let’s connect the dots! wave of agroecological farms. This kind of farming is also relevant in terms of a green economic Accessing land is one critical barrier preventing a growth of recovery: agroecological farming not only provides more jobs per agroecological farming for new entrants, and peri-urban farming acre than industrial, chemical farming5 it also increases public more specifically. The well-reported waiting lists for allotments, also goods such as biodiversity and carbon emissions reduction, highlights this critical urban land issue more generally. So, what and often enables education programmes and community might it take to revitalise a peri-urban farming sector as part of a green development initiatives. The multiple benefits of agroecological economic recovery with access to land such a predominant barrier? farming not only support access to healthy, culturally-appropriate foods they also support council targets on climate change, Land access solutions education and community access to green space. Just over 120 years ago, UK local authorities, with national Projects such as Granville Community Kitchen in West London and government backing, implemented a national initiative to support their Good Food Box6 highlight how connections between rural/ a way into farming for cash-strapped young farmers during a long peri-urban farms and inner-city community food infrastructure agricultural depression: the setting up of county farms. On the can be made, while engaging in food justice approaches such as promise of ‘three acres and a cow’ landless tenant farmers were solidarity pricing more commonly seen in North American food offered cheap rents on land that councils bought up and leased out.

Page 28 - The Organic Grower - No 55 Summer 2021 Fast forward to 2021, and these farms are a national public asset and Alongside regional efforts, the Landworkers’ Alliance with Sustain in England alone, cover a huge 200,000 acres, although these have will organise UK-wide peri-urban farmer forums this year, the halved in the last 40 years from 426,695 acres in 19779. With 800 small first one of these attracted 70 people at an online meeting in April holdings and associated livelihoods being lost in England since 201610 focused on ‘access to land’12. The aim of these forums is to provide publicly owned county farms in peri-urban areas certainly can have a space for farmer-to-farmer learning, action-focused dialogue on a critical role to play in providing land access for fringe farming key issues, and to develop ideas for policy recommendations at a economies and agroecological job opportunities. One approach is to national to local level. If you want to shape the theme of the next sub-let county farms close to cities into smaller units for new entrants forums in 2021 please fill out the survey13. to offer an accessible entry point for skills and business development. Actions that councils could take from initial stages of the Fringe The point of the county farms story is not just to outline this public Farming project are: resource as an avenue for peri-urban farming, it also highlights 1. Develop food strategies, policies and action plans that more generally the role that councils can play with national include their support of the production and distribution of government support in invigorating economic opportunities agroecological foods in the area. These policies should be through working with farmers. taken forward into councils’ local plans. While councils may not be in a position in 2021 to purchase 2. Map land and other property assets in a way that is publicly new land for new entrant agroecological growers, local available and promote a list of these assets with the aim of governments have the potential to utilise the resources they do providing equitable opportunities for setting up community- have such as other land or funds, to back peri-urban market based, ecological enterprises. gardens to support an economic approach that integrates food, 3. Identity land on the periphery of urban areas in local plans health, fair livelihoods, biodiversity, and education. which is most suitable for long-term market gardening sites This requires whole-system and innovative thinking in (high value produce, close to consumers). development of governance strategy. For instance, while councils 4. Use food procurement opportunities (i.e. schools) to support taking up tree planting schemes is to be welcomed, how might agroecological farms in generating stable income streams schemes also increase habitat creation and reduce carbon through the provision of climate and nature benefits, via emissions through integrated agroecological farming landscapes? supply of regional, culturally-appropriate foods. How might tree-planting resources support a drive for edible food 5. Invest and support the development of a regional food hub forests that provide job opportunities and also integrate targets on that acts as a distribution point for agroecological foods and climate change, education and access to green space? potential education and training site. In terms of ways in which to implement peri-urban growing as While the recent promise of 250,000 green new jobs makes 11 part of a green economic recovery, the ‘Preston model’ is a strong for an alluring headline, increasing access to public land for example of how to build community wealth through co-operative agroecological farming can be one part of an economic approach enterprise, and the ‘Community Interest Company’ structure is a that integrates health, education and skills, climate change and potential model for developing food systems with the knowledge fair livelihoods towards an equitable green recovery. of people where a business is based. You can follow the Fringe Farming project and sign up to the Fringe Farming Project newsletter at www.sustainweb.org/foodandfarmingpolicy/ Sustain is coordinating a Fringe Farming project to explore fringe-farming-peri-urban-food-growing/. potential avenues with communities, farmers, researchers, and Rob Logan, Peri-urban farming, Sustain councils to identify the limitations and opportunities of increasing 1. https://www.bmj.com/content/370/bmj.m3085 access to land for agroecological farming at the edge of cities 2. https://theconversation.com/food-shortages-brexit-and-covid-19-how- britains-problems-converged-at-christmas-152412 from repurposing golf courses to freeing up brownfield land. The 3. https://foodfoundation.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Food- initiative is initially focused on Bristol, Glasgow, Sheffield and Foundation-COVID-19-Veg-Box-Scheme-report.pdf 4. https://www.sustainweb.org/publications/economic-recovery-briefing/ London and will create collaborative action plans to support a 5. https://www.lowimpact.org/a-matter-of-scale-how-small-farms-provide- new wave of peri-urban market gardens. With the first research, more-jobs-and-more-food-per-acre/ briefing and action plan being focused on the Bristol region, Steph 6. http://granvillecommunitykitchen.org.uk/good-food-box/ 7. https://landworkersalliance.org.uk/pilot-project-community-resilience/ Wetherell, from Bristol Food Producers, said: “Access to land has 8. https://www.sustainweb.org/publications/Fringe-Farming-Breifing- been a significant barrier in upscaling local food production in Aug2020/ 9. https://www.cpre.org.uk/resources/reviving-county-farms/ and around Bristol and this is an exciting opportunity to focus on 10. https://www.sustainweb.org/blogs/feb21-farmers-need-power-money/ this issue. In peri-urban areas there are lots of competing priorities 11. https://www.preston.gov.uk/article/1339/What-is-Preston-Model- 12. https://vimeo.com/545503024 for land, and this project will allow us to explore the land that is 13. https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScrpNu5AMymPTjZafqDhzw available and who owns it, the barriers to accessing it, and take NoQRlyhjoR97SxVX7VZRPK63HAQ/viewform steps towards unlocking this for food production.”

Page 29 - The Organic Grower - No 55 Summer 2021 75 years of the Soil Association

The Soil Association – an educational and research body with charitable status, and a limited company – held its inaugural meeting, chaired by Eve Balfour, in London on 30 May 1946. The meeting elected a Council and appointed Lord Teviot as President. The Association’s objects were subsequently formulated as follows: • To bring together all those working for a fuller understanding of the vital relationships between soil, plant, animal and man. • To initiate, co-ordinate and assist research in this field. • To collect and distribute the knowledge gained so as to create a body of informed public opinion.

Lady Eve Balfour and The Living Soil Nutrition and health The story of the Soil Association’s origins can be summarised Accounts of the Soil Association’s origins sometimes present it as briefly as follows. In 1938 Eve Balfour, farming at Haughley in giving voice to ideas which were being ignored. This was not the Suffolk, read Viscount Lymington’s book Famine in England and felt case; the organic pioneers were more prominent in the spheres of its implications to be of national importance, its themes requiring nutrition and agriculture than has been generally realised. experimental exploration. Lymington, himself influenced by the In her doctoral thesis on Eve Balfour, the environmental journalist ideas of Sir Albert Howard, had hypothesised that plant, animal Erin Gill neatly sums up Balfour’s mission as “developing an and human health would benefit from food produced by a ‘living’ organisation whose members would possess collectively all the skills soil, rich in the humus created by obeying the ‘rule of return’ of necessary to create a society focused on optimising health through biological waste. As a corollary to this, the early pioneers of organic the production and consumption of organic food”. The poor health husbandry suggested that increasing reliance on chemical fertilisers of so many British citizens, and its relation to the mediocre quality of (‘artificials’) might adversely affect health in ways not yet apparent. their diet, was a major concern in the 1930s, most notably expressed To raise funds for what became known in John Boyd Orr’s Food Health and Income, published in 1936. The as the Haughley Experiment, Eve same year saw the publication of Sir Robert McCarrison’s Nutrition Balfour drew together the strands and National Health, based on lectures which he gave at the Royal of the organic case in The Living Soil Society of Arts. Other speakers at the Society in the mid-to-late 1930s (1943). Looking ahead to post-war included Sir Albert Howard, Viscount Lymington, and the grassland reconstruction, the book argued expert Sir George Stapledon, a sympathiser with the organic cause. that agriculture based on organic Well before the publication of The Living Soil, organic pioneers were principles could prove a valuable being given a prominent platform for their views. form of preventive medicine. Its ideas In 1939, the Cheshire GP Lionel Picton and his colleagues published generated a copious correspondence, the Medical Testament, a key document in organic history. Howard and Balfour, along with George Scott and McCarrison spoke at its launching in Crewe. This was not an Williamson of the Pioneer Health event noted only by members of the coalescing organic movement: Centre and the Wiltshire farmer Friend Sykes, created the body the Testament was published as a Special Supplement in the British which became the Soil Association. They organised a founders’ Medical Journal of 15 April, and the editor commended it “to the meeting held on 12 June 1945. After a number of further meetings serious notice of the profession and to those responsible for the of the Founders’ Committee, the Soil Association’s inaugural event public health”. Correspondence about it continued in the BMJ was held as referred to above. right through to September. The name of the Association’s journal, Mother Earth, was suggested 1939 also saw the publication of the Penguin book Britain’s Health, by Scott Williamson, who argued that the phrase was scientifically which was based on the Report on the British Health Services justified, accurately capturing the fact of humanity’s dependence produced by PEP (Political and Economic Planning: a 1930s ‘think- on the soil for its existence and sustenance. After two introductory, tank’). The book’s Foreword was by the physician Lord Horder, explanatory issues, the journal appeared quarterly from spring 1947 who was a keen supporter of the Pioneer Health Centre; George onwards, edited by Jorian Jenks. The introductory issues remain Scott Williamson had for a time chaired PEP’s health committee. impressive statements of the organic philosophy, with essays on As readers are probably aware, the Pioneer Health Centre such subjects as soil deficiency and disease, soil erosion, the dangers attracted much publicity in the late 1930s, and when Innes Pearse of chemical insecticides, and the importance of stoneground and Lucy Crocker published their book The Peckham Experiment in wholemeal bread. Contributors included the noted physicians 1943, it sold 50,000 copies. Dr. G. E. Breen and Sir Cedric Stanton Hicks, and the leading In 1944, Professor James Mackintosh produced The Nation’s agricultural journalist Laurence Easterbrook. Health, which concluded by recommending the Pioneer Health

Page 30 - The Organic Grower - No 55 Summer 2021 Centre as a model for a new approach to collecting health data and But the climate was rapidly changing. The new NHS established re-building family and community life after the war. This book very few health centres, and these were in any case essentially appeared in a series called Target for Tomorrow, whose editorial remedial, quite different in purpose from the Peckham board, consisting of William Beveridge, Sir John Boyd Orr and Experiment, which had to close its doors in 1950. The Agriculture Julian Huxley, could hardly have been more distinguished. Act, while giving farmers greater security, encouraged large- scale mechanised farming with abundant use of chemicals. The A second agricultural revolution emphasis was on efficiency, which meant ‘output per worker’ The Soil Association, then, in its commitment to improving the and therefore a substantial reduction in the labour force, with nation’s health, was in tune with the ethos of the times. However, implications for rural society. it was not in tune with the approach of the National Health Ten years after the ‘Great Humus Controversy’, the organic Service as established by the post-war Labour government; but movement had been marginalised, and leading figures such as that is another story. It was also not in tune with the direction Howard (not a Soil Association member, despite his influence on Eve which wartime agriculture had taken, a direction which would Balfour), Picton, H. J. Massingham and Scott Williamson had died. be further confirmed by the passing of the 1947 Agriculture Act. This did not mean, though, that the organic movement had been Other influences ignored during the war: far from it. If space permitted, there is of course far more that could be said about The Second World War brought about in British farming what could the context of the Soil Association’s origins. There is the influence of reasonably be termed a Second Agricultural Revolution, and the the Steiner movement, which had established the Anthroposophical organic movement was in many respects a reaction against it. Two Agricultural Foundation in 1928. Eve Balfour is reported as having main features of this revolution were a rapid spread of mechanisation said that there were no materialists in the Soil Association, and the and a surge in the use of chemical fertilisers. True, the war brought religious/spiritual dimension to the organic movement was indeed into public awareness the literally vital importance of farming, and central to its philosophy; Balfour wrote explicitly of her desire to the numbers of those employed on the land increased. But the Soil help build, after the war, a Christian society. The Soil Association Association was founded at a time when British agriculture was also appealed to those of a more esoteric bent, being recommended accelerating down a road which diverged radically from that which by the portrait painter and occultist Vera Stanley Alder in her book the organic movement would have liked it to take. Humanity Comes of Age (1950).

The organic case had not lacked publicity during the war, as the Then there is the complex issue of politics. The Association was arguments for and against increased use of artificials opposed each non-party-political, but Jorian Jenks was a committed Mosleyite, other in the agricultural press. The makers of chemical fertilisers, and its first Council included such far-right figures as Lords Teviot Fisons and ICI, evidently felt threatened by the organic movement’s and Sempill. On the other hand, F.C.R. Douglas, the Honorary ideas, publishing advertisements which not only promoted their Solicitor who had helped draft the constitution, was a Labour own products but mocked the supposedly primitive approach MP (later Lord Douglas of Barloch), while Scott Williamson of the organic school. 1943 saw the centenary of Rothamsted favoured his own idiosyncratic brand of ‘Liberal Socialism’, Experimental Station, which Sir Albert Howard regarded as the a communitarian ideal which steered between the dangers of Mecca of the new orthodoxy regarding artificials. The agricultural irresponsible capitalist profit-seeking and State authoritarianism. press devoted considerable attention that year to the ‘Great Humus I hope that this article has succeeded in sketching a rather broader Controversy’, with Farmers Weekly and The Fertiliser Journal granting picture of the Soil Association’s origins than is often presented, space to many leading figures in the organic movement. placing Eve Balfour in her context as one of many people who were Chief spokesman for the fertiliser industry was Donald P. Hopkins, thinking along similar lines. This is not to devalue her achievement who wrote a long and closely-argued review of The Living Soil, in writing The Living Soil and co-founding an organisation which which he regarded as better written than Howard’s An Agricultural is still going strong. Testament (1940) and therefore more dangerous to the industry. His The Farmers Guardian occasionally publishes articles which draw 1945 book Chemicals, Humus and the Soil was largely a riposte to Eve attention to the importance of good soil: a recent one (19 February Balfour’s work, for which he evidently had considerable respect. 2021) pointed out that soil organic matter increases soil stability, The Soil Association had at least some reason for optimism in 1946. drainage and fertility, and encourages biodiversity – as if this Agriculture and rural life had demonstrated their importance was an astonishing new insight. The Soil Association has been in war-time; the Pioneer Health Centre re-opened that year and conveying this message since 1946, and what was once traduced received hundreds of visitors; the relation between diet and health as an outdated approach to cultivation is now increasingly was a live issue; several leading figures in the organic movement recognised as essential for the future of farming. The Association had broadcast on the radio during the war; the wartime committee could be forgiven for saying, “We told you so!” on land utilisation had been chaired by Lord Justice Scott, a fellow- Philip Conford traveller of the organic movement.

Page 31 - The Organic Grower - No 55 Summer 2021 Transfer mulch in organic greenhouses

In organic greenhouses, crop rotations are generally intensive and lack diversity, green manures are rare, and production relies heavily on external inputs. Consequently, problems like soil salinity, nutrient imbalances and crop damage from pests and diseases are common. In the Greenresilient project the use of transfer mulch is applied as an ‘innovative’ method and is tested and analysed to determine whether the practice is beneficial for soil health and biodiversity. This article explains the benefits, risks and challenges of transfer mulch, and provides recommendations for practical application. Photos: Patricia Schwitter/FiBL Photos 2 and 3: Nitrogen deficiency symptoms on young tomato plants due to Benefits of transfer mulch reduced soil temperature under the mulch layer and subsequent delayed nutrient mineralisation. The application of an organic mulch layer is an effective alternative to plastic mulches for weed management in organic greenhouse Practical application vegetable production. Transfer mulch can at least partially replace Mulch material choice the positive effects of green manures in greenhouse crop rotations When choosing the appropriate mulch material, there are several and provide many other benefits, such as: factors to be considered: • Maintaining humus levels and soil structure, • Carbon to nitrogen ratio (C:N), influenced by the crop and • Enhancing the biodiversity of soil organisms, crop stage: • Boosting the biological activity of greenhouse soil, * <15: tends to decompose quickly and become compacted • Reducing thermal radiation and evaporation, providing (young and legume-rich material) homogeneous soil humidity, * 15-25: ideal (e.g. grass-clover at silage harvest stage) • Lowering irrigation needs, * >25: risk of slow decomposition and nitrogen • Preventing salinisation problems, immobilization (old cereals, lignified material) • Buffering temperature extremes, and • Structure: influenced by cutting length and crop stage (e.g. • Contributing to plant nutrition in the short and long term. material that is too young and short leads to compaction and Risks & challenges of transfer mulch anaerobic conditions; crop mixtures are often ideal) • Nutrient content: mulch nutrient contents should be taken While the benefits of mulching are plenty, there are also some into account in the fertilisation calculation. risks and challenges involved in applying mulch in greenhouses, such as: * Nitrogen: 20-40% becomes available to the plant in the short term. • Perennial weeds and weed seed import, * Phosphorus and potassium: inputs from the addition of • Possible risk of mice and/or snail infestation, mulch material can be substantial in the short and long term. • Nitrogen blockage (subsequent fertilisation is difficult), • Delayed mineralisation due to reduced soil temperature (see photos 2 and 3) • Leaf burning due to gas emissions (see photo 4) • Hand weeding or re-mulching may be necessary, if decomposition is too fast, • Workload for mulching approximately 5-10 times higher than with plastic mulch. Photo 4: Leaf burn due to gas emissions on young tomato plants.

Page 32 - The Organic Grower - No 55 Summer 2021 Table 1: Overview of different mulch materials and their characteristics

Fresh mulch Required Optimal Nutrient content and Advantages Disadvantages material type amount harvest time availability (kg/m2) Grass-clover 7-9 Early flowering High nutrient import Readily available in Highest amount of mulch (70:30) of clover, due to high amount of most regions material needed booting of mulch material Tends to compact when cut grasses Relatively high too early N-availability Relatively fast decomposition Pulses, e.g. 3-4 Flowering High N-availability Smallest amount of Relatively fast broad bean Lower P-contents mulch material needed decomposition

Cereals, e.g. 4-6 Booting – early Highest P-content Slow decomposition Relatively high P-values winter rye heading stage Low N-availability Early harvest in spring Possible N-lock-up if cut possible too late

Cereal- 3-5 Early flowering Low nutrient import Good structure Rather late harvest Legumes Relatively high Balanced C:N ration (70:30), e.g. N-availability Small amount of mulch vetch-rye material needed

Silage (different Depending Early flowering Depending on raw Flexibility with Increased gas emissions mixtures on crop material application time after application (risk of leaf possible) Reduced weed import burn)

Mulch production early flowering stage of weeds (with high cutting height) to keep mulch material free of weed seeds. The mulch material should Mulch production takes place in the open field, ideally on the be cut at the correct crop growth stage to allow for high biomass same farm to avoid nutrient import. For green manures serving as production and a favourable C:N ratio. Harvesting around the mulch material, it is crucial to adjust sowing dates to align with the flowering stage is ideal for most green manures and further envisaged time of mulch transfer. Weed management measures reduces the risk of importing weed seed to greenhouse soils. are recommended after sowing (e.g. harrowing) and possibly at Optimal cutting length is approximately 10 cm, as shorter mulch material tends to compact and longer increases the effort needed for mulch application. A pick-up loader, equipped with the maximum number of blades, usually allows this cutting length. For simpler handling of the mulch material, wilting the green manure is recommended. Required amount of herbage mulch The amount of mulch applied varies depending on: crop duration, type and cutting length of the mulch material, irrigation system, etc. As a general principle, an initial mulch layer of 10-15 cm thickness is required to ensure weed suppression until the end of the season. For fresh mulch material, in general, about a threefold area of green manure is needed relative to the greenhouse area covered with mulch. Mulch application Soil should be allowed to warm up enough before applying mulch in greenhouses, ideally to 15°C or higher. This can be promoted with closing greenhouse ventilation one to two weeks before mulching (if compatible with previous crop). Generally, applying mulch prior to planting helps to ensure an even mulch layer. However, if the soil temperature is still too low mulch can also be applied after planting. Fresh mulch material, particularly silage mulch, can cause leaf burning of crops due to gas emissions. Therefore, planting should

Page 33 - The Organic Grower - No 55 Summer 2021 ideally be delayed for one to two weeks after mulching and the greenhouse should be well ventilated during this phase. If mulch is applied after planting, the material can be pre-ventilated outside the rganic Plants greenhouse for a few days and the greenhouse should remain fully Vegetables, salads, herbs, open for the week following mulching (in all weather conditions). strawberries and flowers. Usually, a single mulch application is enough to ensure weed For field, polytunnel suppression. If the mulch layer decomposes too quickly or the weed and greenhouse production. suppression is insufficient, a second mulch application during the crop period is possible. Drip irrigation should be installed on top of Wholesale, nursery shop the mulch layer. Sprinkler irrigation provides a more homogeneous and mail order. soil moisture content and mulch decomposition. SMALL PACKS www.organicplants.co.uk At the end of the summer crop, if the mulch layer has decomposed sufficiently, completely incorporate it into the soil. If too much OR BY THE TRAY mulch material remains for a mechanical incorporation, dispose www.delfland.co.uk of some of the material in your compost. Figure 1 schematically represents this mulching technique in greenhouses. Growing with you... Delfland Nurseries Limited Benwick Road, Doddington, March, Cambridgeshire PE15 0TU Tel: 01354 740553 Fax: 01354 741200 Email: [email protected] Source: Samuel Hauenstein Figure 1: Schematic presentation of the mulching technique in greenhouses.

Samuel Hauenstein, Armelle Rochat, Patricia Schwitter (FiBL) This article was adapted from a Factsheet produced by FiBL as part of the Greenresilient project. Access it here: https://orgprints.org/id/eprint/39499/ The main objective of Greenresilient is to demonstrate that an agroecological approach to greenhouse production is feasible and allows the establishment of robust agroecosystems in different European areas.

Project website: www.greenresilient.net References Elsoms offer a superb Hugh Riley , Anne-Kristin Løes , Sissel Hansen & Steinar Dragland (2003) Yield Responses and Nutrient Utilization with the Use of Chopped Grass and Clover variety selection of Material as Surface Mulches in an Organic Vegetable Growing System, Biological Agriculture & Horticulture,21:1, 63-90, DOI: 10.1080/01448765.2003.9755250 organically-produced seed. Heuwinkel, Hauke et al., (2007) Synchronisation der N-Mineralisierung aus Mulch mit der N-Aufnahme von Freilandgemüse durch optimiertes Speak to Stephanie Beavis Management einerLeguminosengründüngung. Technische Universität München about Elsoms organics today. , Wissenschaftszentrum Weihenstephan, Lehrstuhl für Pflanzenernährung. Heckenberger A. (2018), Alternative Anbausysteme: Bedeckung mit pflanzlichem m 07904 331572 Mulch. Gemüse, 9/2018, pp. 44-47. e [email protected] Koller M. (2019), Was ist im Gras drin. Ökomenischer Gärtnerrundbrief, 2/2019, pp 55-57.

The project “Greenresilient – Organic and bio- dynamic vegetable production in low-energy GREENhouses – sustainable, RESILIENT and innovative food production systems” is one of the projects initiated in the framework of Horizon 2020 project CORE Organic Co-fund (https://projects.au.dk/coreorganiccofund/) and it is funded by the Funding Bodies being partners of this project (Grant Agreement no. 727495). The opinions expressed and arguments employed in this factsheet do not necessarily reflect the official views of the CORE Organic Cofund Funding Bodies or the European Commission. They are not responsible for the use which might be made of the information provided in this factsheet.

Page 34 - The Organic Grower - No 55 Summer 2021 Nature note – Dandelions

It’s hard for an amateur who’s not in the business of measuring data to be sure of changes to the living ecology of a place. They tend to be in the nature of subtle variations to a complex pattern over a period of time. It’s often only when such variations have become cumulative that you wake up and register that something is different – trees where there were once just bushes, or a patch of brambles that has swallowed more ground while you’ve been sleeping.

Lately though there has been an explosion in the There are around 1,200 seeds to the gram, but dandelion population, here and on neighbouring Jelitto recommends sowing 2 grams to be sure of ground at least, which would be hard not to notice. a thousand plants. I can’t imagine buying a gram, I suspect that it is due to the arrival of one or more or come to that a packet - the equivalent to the alien strains. Somewhere along the way dandelions contents of which were stuck to my gumboots abandoned sexual reproduction, the embryo instead when I came in from looking at the cattle this being formed in the seed without fertilisation, a process wet and soggy morning. As well as being a good called apomixis. Through mutation this has resulted nectar source for insects the dandelion does have in the development of hundreds of micro-species, its human uses – among them Dandelion and Photo: Tim Deane each one a collective of genetically identical clones. Mutations that Burdock and an inadequate coffee (roots), Taraxagum - a rubber disadvantage the plant do not persist, but when a micro-species alternative (sap), salads (leaves) and BD preparation 506 (flowers). possessed of a competitive advantage arises it can spread with a Should you want to drill it then it is something to have the seed single-mindedness greater than is found in species that rely on cleaned of its feathery pappus. But for most of us it doesn’t need sexual reproduction. The increase is especially evident in those bits any more assistance in getting about the place than we already of the permanent pastures where badgers have been exposing bare unwittingly provide. soil while ripping up the species-rich turf in their search for grubs Like a dock, dandelion roots soon become close to indestructible. –don’t they know that it’s a County Wildlife Site? But this is nothing Unlike a dock, which reproduces only from the top few inches, to the change brought to the leys (if I can still call them that) which all parts of its root are capable of regrowing and even if you spud replaced the vegetables in our more level fields. Here the flower one out to a depth of six inches it will reappear sooner or later. The has taken on what was formerly the prerogative of buttercups, leaves too are tough. Their upper surface grows a little quicker than dominating the sward so that for a few weeks in late April and May the underside enabling them to lie tight to the ground, suppressing green is subsumed by yellow, a herald and signifier of the coming of feebler plants. It also has strongly contractile roots, commonly May, never previously one of its traditional aspects. The buttercups found in bulbous plants, that pull down on the crown to keep it just still have their day, but are accompanied in it by the ghostly globes at the soil surface. In vigorous grassland it is not quite the weed that of the ebbing dandelion tide. you might expect because here the leaves are held up at an angle, On the rough margins too they now wax in ever greater numbers. not much supressing the grasses, and both leaves and flowers are There’s not much concrete here and the shaggy edges of the eaten by stock. It was never much of a nuisance in tractor-worked hardcore that we make do with instead has always provided a home vegetable fields, but now I find myself in both polytunnel and for ruderals – plants that colonise waste places (literally, rubble). garden sometimes digging out plants that have hidden themselves Among these are plantains, attenuated docks, annual meadow away for long enough to get a proper grip on life. grass and so on. Dandelions have always been part of that company It’s odd that we should know a common plant by a French name of course but it’s only lately that through weight of numbers they’ve itself derived from mediaeval Latin – dens leonis, presumably in started to make a bit of a nuisance of themselves. The front apron reference to its leaves. Its old vernacular names refer to everything of our packhouse shed is where I’ve always filled the module trays. but the leaves – for instance ‘golden suns’ and ‘yellow gowan’ for You’d think by my age I could have come up with a means that its flowers, ‘fairy clocks’, ‘farmer’s clock’ and ‘tell-time’ for its didn’t require me to do the job on my knees, but still it suits me seed-heads, ‘monk’s head’ for the bare receptacle that’s left when well enough. Now though I really should get up off the ground, not the seeds are gone, ‘devil’s milk-pail’ for its sap and ‘piss-a-bed’ because of my knees but because of the numbers of dandelion seeds for its diuretic properties. Not that ‘dandelion’ is a bad name. that, on a dry day, come scudding across the floor to fetch up at that Read as English – dandy lion – it’s actually rather a good one for very spot where they can mingle with the Klasmann’s. these little ramping lions of the sun. It’s a nicely affectionate one An average globe holds 180 seeds, each one an eager hang-glider. too for a flower which has such an appeal to the very young in You can buy them if you want to. The internet is thick with sites, its simplicity and brightness. Here’s one place where, as the poet but best to go to Jelitto who will sell you organic taraxacum Kenneth Patchen has it, “the sun spends his fabulous money”. officinale seed at 2 € for a gram, 248 € a kilo (124 € if non-organic). Tim Deane

Page 35 - The Organic Grower - No 55 Summer 2021 Events

Wednesday 23rd June 2021: GMO 2.0 - can local food chains survive the threat of gene editing? 19:00 to 20:30 online. GMOs in food and farming have fallen off the public agenda. Potential deregulation of gene editing means we must get them back on. This webinar is a partnership between the CSA Network UK, the Seed Sovereignty Programme run by the Gaia Foundation, the Landworkers’ Alliance, and the OGA and forms part of a webinar series funded by Farming the Future. Thursday 8th July 2021: North Yorks Organic Farm Walk. Regional get together at Newfields Organic Farm who grow an impressive range of veg, supplying wholesalers and smaller sustainable farming and growing growers. Soil Association Certification event. wholistic training & individual learning https://tinyurl.com/Newfields-farmwalk Wednesday 1st September 2021: Regenerative Soil Health for FOR STUDENTS & PROFESSIONALS Horticultural Growers. FarmED, Oxon with Niels Corfield. certified https://www.farm-ed.co.uk/ professional Wednesday 8th to Thursday 9th September 2021 (9.30am quality assured – 5pm), Optional farm visits on the 10th. ORFC in the work based training Field @ Wakelyns Agroforestry (Suffolk). Digging online training deeper into agroforestry, heritage grains and pulses. https://tinyurl.com/ORFC-Wakelyns seminars Wednesday 8th to Thursday 9th September 2021 Agroforestry Design Masterclass (2 Day Intensive). FarmED, Oxon. www.bdacollege.org.uk https://tinyurl.com/FarmED-agrof-mc Tuesday 21st to Thursday 23rd September 2021. Tech & Bio: The showcase for organic innovation. Bourg-lès-Valence, Drôme, France. https://www.tech-n-bio.com/ Wednesday 13th October 2021. Organic Matters. Hosted by ORGANIC FARMING MSc OGA. Stretford Public Hall, Manchester/online. Save the date! Thursday 14th October 2021. Organic Matters OGA farm walk - PART TIME Manchester area. DISTANCE LEARNING Sunday 17th October 2021: Salad Growing: Autumn & Winter. Trill Farm Garden. Students with a variety of academic and work https://www.trillfarmgarden.co.uk/autumnwintersalad.html experience can gain a fast-track understanding Saturday 23rd and Sunday 24th October 2021: Seed Gathering of the key technical production, marketing and management aspects of organic farming and food. (Virtual event). Join the Seed Sovereignty Network for discussions, workshops and talks celebrating the diversity, Build on your existing expertise and aspirations and gain enhanced career opportunities within the organic farming opportunities and deep cultural connections of our seeds. sector. Apply now for September entry. www.seedsovereignty.info/save-the-date-for-our-first-seed-gathering/

In partnership with

SRUC is a charity registered in Scotland: SC003712

For more information visit: 13th OCTOBER 2021, Manchester/online www.sruc.ac.uk/pgorganicfarming or contact Programme Leader Dr Lou Ralph Email: [email protected] / Tel: 01224 711218

Page 36 - The Organic Grower - No 55 Summer 2021