The Spring 2011 No.14 ORGANICThe journal of the Organic GROWER Growers Alliance IN THIS ISSUE Challenging times... Protected cropping consultation ....3 After very indifferent summers in the past three years, in 2010 I was beginning to believe that we had turned a corner and although not Peat consultation ............................4 brilliant, it was certainly better. We were looking at reasonable crops as we went into winter - so what happened? Snow fell in Lancashire News ...............................................6 before Christmas, unheard of in the last 30 years, but it wasn’t just the snow. The following long cold period damaged all our cabbage and Organic Producer Conference .....12 leek crops and slowed down all our other crops. Those who had more snow than us seemed to have fared slightly better, perhaps due to the Passing on experience ..................16 insulation effect. But many growers have told me that most of their post Christmas crops were severely hit, with some losing tunnels and Finding land .................................16 buildings due to the weight of the snow. And if this was not enough to contend with we have, since Christmas, Care farming ................................18 seen escalating Middle East unrest and fuel prices. This was followed by one of the most haunting images I have ever seen, that of a large Making a dibber peg board ...........22 polytunnel complex, and no doubt many workers, swept away in seconds by the tsunami that hit Japan following the earthquake. These Welsh growers’ meeting ...............23 are certainly challenging times. A new team has put this edition of the Organic Grower (OG) together, Organics in the Baltic Sea ...........25 under the watchful eye of Phil Sumption, as Tim Deane has stepped aside after nearly four years of co-producing our journal. A big Soil Association conference ..........26 personal thank you to Tim for all his wonderful writings and effort over that period. We took the decision to survey members about the Organic cut flowers......................28 OG through the website and these results are highlighted overleaf. Many thanks to all those who took part and to Phil for his ongoing Profile: Trill Farm Garden ...........31 efforts in putting the magazine together. When we first took the decision to give the OGA new life, four years ago, Growing chicory ...........................32 it was decided that the existing growers would oversee the organisation for the first three years or so, then step aside to allow a new generation Apprenticeship corner ..................35 of growers to take it forward. To me it was important that the new organisation should be easily run at minimal cost so that we could Growing in northern Germany ...36 concentrate on the issues affecting the growers. Letters ...........................................38 Nature notes: Pheasants ..............40 Book reviews .................................41 Events ...........................................44 Page 1 - The Organic Grower - No 14 Spring 2011 The magazine has been a flagship in this process and the interactive Organic Grower takes stock forum on the website is becoming more and more popular as growers engage with it. It is now nearly four years since the first Organic Grower rolled off the press in the summer of 2007 and was posted off from Tim and What I had not envisaged was the time that it would take to Jan Deane’s kitchen. Since then, there have been a few changes ensure that the membership, the magazine and the website were behind the scenes, with the design being brought in-house and all functioning smoothly, and this has, at times, detracted from the magazine printed off and posted out from Coventry. I don’t some of the work that the Organic Growers Alliance (OGA) think that either Tim or myself quite realised what we were letting should be doing. Whilst this is very important for members, it ourselves in for at the start! is equally important that policy and strategy are pursued to represent growers and occasionally, this has not happened. We The first magazine was 24 pages long but it was issue number two have recently responded to Defra’s Peat Consultation and have which set the tone. Responses from growers to the awful summer played an important part in the Soil Association’s consultation on weather bumped the magazine up to 44 pages and it has stayed like protected cropping but even so, there is still much more to do. that ever since, almost accidentally! The style, initially developed by Paul Benfield who is Scott’s partner, has evolved organically The conference season has just come to an end, with the producers’ (ouch) over the years. The content and balance has been a result conference held at a new venue this year. Whether it was the of a good working relationship and understanding between Tim, venue or the people attending the event, I felt it was a lot more who was responsible for the words and myself, responsible for upbeat than the last one and most people seemed optimistic about the layout and sourcing the news. Commissioning was shared the coming season. Travelling in reasonable weather to and from out equally. As you can imagine, producing the magazine takes a Cirencester was an added bonus, and a full conference report is lot of time and there are times of year when as growers we don’t included in this issue. have very much spare time! Reluctantly, Tim felt that he could no The next conference was the SA event at Manchester Town Hall. longer continue to devote the time needed to edit the magazine This was the first SA conference I had attended in five years, and and after the last issue has stepped down. We will really miss of course the first one without Patrick Holden at the helm. A Tim’s editing skills and craft, particularly his unerring knack of report of the conference is also in this issue, but to my mind it was being able to articulate what the rest of us might be thinking in a big picture conference in a big city with some big players in the his inimitable editorials. Thanks Tim, without you it could not audience, none of which was really my cup of tea. The event was have happened. He is not disappearing entirely, however and will well orchestrated and very pleasant but somehow something was continue to contribute articles and help out as needed. missing. At an open committee meeting at the close of the producer Maybe this just reflects a time of change with both Patrick and conference, we discussed with those OGA members present how Lawrence Woodward having stepped down from their very we should best proceed. The upshot was that Tim has now been prominent positions in the last year. replaced by an editorial committee! Kate Collyns has been helping out since the last AGM and has invaluable editorial experience. This year’s OGA AGM is over the Easter weekend and being held Jonathan Smith has also been involved for a while, coordinating at Hardwick in Berkshire. The timing is the same as in previous pages on Organic Futures and low-carbon farming. Collette years, with the AGM taking place in the afternoon and Jan Deane Haynes has been coordinating the advertising. We also welcome has kindly offered to run the business side of the event. There will Ben Raskin, Sam Eglington and Carolyn Wacher on board. They be an evening social after a walk around the walled garden, by have brought new energy and enthusiasm to the table. Calls via courtesy of Tolly and his team. Overnight camping and limited Skype and the use of Google docs have helped us to work together B&B is available on site and for those who stay over, the next day efficiently and plan ahead. sees the launch of Tolly’s boat after 13 years of hard work. In January this year, it seemed like an appropriate time to find out Please join us at the AGM if you can and have your say on the what you thought about the magazine and we ran a quick survey future of the OGA. We are having a forum session on local groups of The Organic Grower to garner your opinions and to help shape and regional events and would really value your input. Full its future direction. We had 44 responses (20% of members) which details are enclosed as an insert to this copy of the OG. is good for a survey of this kind and we are very grateful to those And so, as Spring blossoms all around us and we start planting for of you who took part. the year to come, I wish all a very fruitful season. The results were very heartening for us and we feel we are on the Alan Schofield right track. The vast majority feel that the magazine is very useful Chair OGA and informative to their businesses. Perhaps not surprisingly it is the technical articles on crop production and weed, pest and disease management articles that are the most popular, but every section is really appreciated by at least a third of you! While 40% Page 2 - The Organic Grower - No 14 Spring 2011 thought the balance was about right, there was a call for more individual issues and we may well adopt these. technical articles and more on the market. The most pleasing thing about the response is that 72% of If it came to the crunch you’d rather have than same number of respondents (29) would be willing to contribute to the magazine, magazines with fewer pages than fewer magazines of the same with a long list of topics and suggestions that we will try and length.