I've just been having a peek at the job market, as I do periodically to ensure I'm equipping myself correctly for when I finish my PhD. As happens every now and again, I found a job that would be perfect for me (sigh). The exciting thing here is the project it is being run from. In this case, the Duchy Originals Future Farming Programme. In short, a project to bring 'sustainable' farming practices into line, engaging farmers, researchers and consumers.
It really heartens me that organisations like the Soil Association are looking to this now, as it's going to become more and more important as time goes on.
Full details can be found here.
Living the Good Life
Showing posts with label organics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label organics. Show all posts
Tuesday, 1 May 2012
Bees in the Agri Brigade
As a rather cynical postgraduate student I am of course a fan of Private Eye.
I was interested to see in this week's copy the mention of bees (which are very close to my heart) in the Agri Brigade section, and heartened/ saddened to read PE's take on the neonicotinoid debate.
This article mentions the effects neonicotinoid (i.e. nicotine-related) insecticides are having on bee populations. Several scientific studies are cited which have shown that these chemicals have hugely detrimental effects on bees, e.g. bumble bee nests exposed to neonicotinoids produced 85% fewer queens (and queens are required to begin new colonies).
To my great dismay in 2001 the British Bee Keepers Association (BBKA) gave permission to Bayer (an agrochemical giant) to use their logo in conjunction with several 'bee-friendly' insecticides, in exchange for around £17,500 each year. Obviously bees are insects, so this label is an oxymoron. (Excellent coverage here).
As someone who is very pro- organic methods, it is easy for people to pigeon-hole me as some sort of hippy, and say that organic methods could never provide the food requirements of the UK. But one aspect that seems to be frequently ignored in this judgement is that a lot of conventional* agriculture is tied up in big companies who obviously have vested commercial interests. Their main interest is not necessarily in helping farmers or feeding the UK.
It is reassuring to see that a magazine such as PE who have no vested commercial interest in this debate, as well as a reputation for 'telling it like it is' are being so scathing of the refusal for action by the NFU or CPA**. I feel this way not purely because I'm a hippy, but because commercial greed is affecting the future of UK wildlife and farming. This is a massively complex issue, which deserves to be considered from more than the simplistic conventional vs. organic standpoint.
* i.e. produced using 'conventional' methods, such as using mineral fertiliser and spraying with insecticide, herbicides (for weed control), fungicides and nematicides.
** National Farmers Union; Crop Protection Association (previously, as mentioned, the British Agrochemicals Association).
I was interested to see in this week's copy the mention of bees (which are very close to my heart) in the Agri Brigade section, and heartened/ saddened to read PE's take on the neonicotinoid debate.
This article mentions the effects neonicotinoid (i.e. nicotine-related) insecticides are having on bee populations. Several scientific studies are cited which have shown that these chemicals have hugely detrimental effects on bees, e.g. bumble bee nests exposed to neonicotinoids produced 85% fewer queens (and queens are required to begin new colonies).
To my great dismay in 2001 the British Bee Keepers Association (BBKA) gave permission to Bayer (an agrochemical giant) to use their logo in conjunction with several 'bee-friendly' insecticides, in exchange for around £17,500 each year. Obviously bees are insects, so this label is an oxymoron. (Excellent coverage here).
As someone who is very pro- organic methods, it is easy for people to pigeon-hole me as some sort of hippy, and say that organic methods could never provide the food requirements of the UK. But one aspect that seems to be frequently ignored in this judgement is that a lot of conventional* agriculture is tied up in big companies who obviously have vested commercial interests. Their main interest is not necessarily in helping farmers or feeding the UK.
It is reassuring to see that a magazine such as PE who have no vested commercial interest in this debate, as well as a reputation for 'telling it like it is' are being so scathing of the refusal for action by the NFU or CPA**. I feel this way not purely because I'm a hippy, but because commercial greed is affecting the future of UK wildlife and farming. This is a massively complex issue, which deserves to be considered from more than the simplistic conventional vs. organic standpoint.
* i.e. produced using 'conventional' methods, such as using mineral fertiliser and spraying with insecticide, herbicides (for weed control), fungicides and nematicides.
** National Farmers Union; Crop Protection Association (previously, as mentioned, the British Agrochemicals Association).
Sunday, 8 April 2012
A year without supermarkets
For lent 2011 I gave up supermarkets.
I hadn't intended to at first, but two weeks in I realised that tea, meat, cheese, beer and chocolate had all been consumed (all previous lenten targets), but I hadn't been to a supermarket.
"Why not?" I thought.
So 5 weeks later, eating my Easter egg, I realised I had fed myself only from our local food co-operative and The Co-operative (the similarity in names still causes confusion). A couple of things dawned on me:
1. I was not spending any more money - if anything I was spending less, as I was not impulse-spending on stuff I didn't need
2. I was eating more healthily. Instead of stocking up on filled pasta and frozen pizzas (staple for the single 'professional') I was making curries, tagines and tartes. I was eating more veg.
3. I must have halved my carbon footprint. Processed foods like those I bought previously contained ingredients which came from I-don't-know-where, worrying in itself. I now knew where all my food came from - and my veg came from just up the road.
4. I did not miss supermarkets. Go to our local food cooperative and you can sit on a sofa and have a cuppa whilst leafing through a magazine, with music playing in the background, then do your shopping at a leisurely pace. Go to our local supermarket and there are JML adverts playing loudly on screens, harsh lighting, and mums screaming at their kids, then "guess the price of the trolleyload" at the end. No contest.
I mostly kept this up, but when Jon and I got married we vowed to ditch supermarkets for good.
So far the only products we have not been able to obtain have been custard powder (recently remedied, MUCH to my relief) and vegan margarine - a problem only as we have some vegan friends who I would like to be able to provide for.
We now only use The Co-operative to buy cheese, butter and satsumas - not perfect, but much better. We have our milk (organic, of course) delivered by the milkman - the height of luxury, and in my eyes an important service to support for housebound people like my grandad. Not to mention no mountain of plastic milk bottles to recycle - and a job for our milkman.
We feed two people a pretty much entirely organic diet for £30 a week - plus an occasional trip to the farm shop for some meat. If something's out of season, we don't get to eat it. If we can't afford something within our £30 budget, we go without - with some tasty alternatives created in the kitchen.
I will openly admit that I am not a fan of supermarkets, and the ease with which Jon and I cope without them makes me realise how superficial our reliance on them is. If I need to use them in future I will, but I'd much rather get our groceries from somewhere where the owner knows our names, and the money supports local business.
Thursday, 23 February 2012
Shameless food snap
In midwinter I crave colourful, healthy food. So imagine my pleasure at the veritable FEAST they gave us at the IOTA (institute for organic training and advice) meeting today held at Abbey Home Farm. I am thoroughly inspired to make some similar food myself - winter doesn't mean you can't have exciting salads!
Phwoar!
Phwoar!
Monday, 13 February 2012
Egg shells...
We always put our egg shells in the compost bin. Sometimes I remember to crush them, sometimes not.Of course they don't break down in the composting process, so I always end up with lovely looking compost with large bits of egg shell in it.
No harm in that really, but it is a bit messy, and I was wondering if it makes the best use of them. So I have another (yes, another) cunning plan, to segregate them from the compost, crush them up, and then use them as slug deterrent for my plants. They should keep the blighters away a bit when the plants are wee, and provide phosphorus for the growing roots, then the earthworms will take them down later on. In theory.
No harm in that really, but it is a bit messy, and I was wondering if it makes the best use of them. So I have another (yes, another) cunning plan, to segregate them from the compost, crush them up, and then use them as slug deterrent for my plants. They should keep the blighters away a bit when the plants are wee, and provide phosphorus for the growing roots, then the earthworms will take them down later on. In theory.
Friday, 27 January 2012
Onions!
So this week will see week 4 of onion production (see spreadsheet).
This year we are growing 4 types of onions:
* Ramrod (spring onion/ scallion)
* Sturon (cooking onion)
* Paris silverskin (pickling onion)
* Generic white variety I gathered seed from last year (cooking onion)
Onion seed I collected from the one onion that bolted last year, shaped into an onion as this is the sort of thing I find amusing. It was dried in a paper bag in our airing cupboard and extremely inexpertly (and inefficiently) threshed whilst watching Harry Potter over Christmas, then stored in a wee paper bag in our seed box.
Said seed was planted out 3 weeks ago, 6-7 seeds per module and covered with vermiculite. This is the chaps as of yesterday in our expensive carrier bag propagator on the south-facing windowsill in our flat.
A similar state of affairs for the Ramrod onions.
I am getting very confused with the different onion names as they are all (both) very masculine. Consequently I got the Ramrod and Sturon planting dates muddled and we may end up with more than we strictly need. I then figured this was not a problem for 2 reasons:
1. People love free plants, and we have lots of friends who grow their own veg. Too many onion plants = not a problem.
2. Excess food is probably not a problem for us anyway! Gluts = times for creativity (= not a problem)
I did some researching into how to use excess spring onions, and found this recipe which will be tried if such an event occurs. Kimchi has always fascinated me, and new and interesting food is always appreciated chez Roberts!
This year we are growing 4 types of onions:
* Ramrod (spring onion/ scallion)
* Sturon (cooking onion)
* Paris silverskin (pickling onion)
* Generic white variety I gathered seed from last year (cooking onion)
I am getting very confused with the different onion names as they are all (both) very masculine. Consequently I got the Ramrod and Sturon planting dates muddled and we may end up with more than we strictly need. I then figured this was not a problem for 2 reasons:
1. People love free plants, and we have lots of friends who grow their own veg. Too many onion plants = not a problem.
2. Excess food is probably not a problem for us anyway! Gluts = times for creativity (= not a problem)
I did some researching into how to use excess spring onions, and found this recipe which will be tried if such an event occurs. Kimchi has always fascinated me, and new and interesting food is always appreciated chez Roberts!
Saturday, 21 January 2012
Organic producer conference round up
So this week I had the immensely good fortune to attend the Organic Producer's Conference, organised by the chaps at the Organic Research Centre at Elm Farm, and held (this year) at Aston University (and in my case paid for by my university). I spent two happy days drinking tea, eating my body weight in complimentary mini pains-au-chocolat, attending sessions on legumes and arable farming systems and chatting to organic farmers - possibly the nicest, most down to earth bunch of people around.
My overarching feeling from the conference was a positive one. Granted, agriculture is facing a tough time economically, and the government is not really providing the support to farmers that they need - the common agricultural policy (CAP) is outdated and based on quantity over and above actual demand for food (and environmental impact), the average age of farmers in this country is 64, and land is so expensive many young farmers are having trouble getting started.
But! It seems to me that small-scale projects are doing really well. Their output is far higher than conventionally farmed land, not only in produce/acre but also economically and in terms of jobs - the average (600 acre) conventional farm will employ the same number of people (2.4) as a small-scale community supported agriculture (CSA) scheme (surely a good reason to pursue this path more).
I am just blown away by the innovation and research that goes on in organic farming. While most of the government's agricultural research money goes into either GM crops or seed breeding, and in my experience conventional conferences are all about new varieties and machinery, the organic sector is all about innovation - how to get better systems working with minimal changes to the inputs. How to succeed economically whilst still giving a sh!t about the impact you're having on your land.
Granted it made me wonder why I'm spending my time in a lab when I would in many ways prefer to be starting my own business, but it also made me realise the importance of scientific research in progress. You can't make good decisions without cold, hard facts.
My overarching feeling from the conference was a positive one. Granted, agriculture is facing a tough time economically, and the government is not really providing the support to farmers that they need - the common agricultural policy (CAP) is outdated and based on quantity over and above actual demand for food (and environmental impact), the average age of farmers in this country is 64, and land is so expensive many young farmers are having trouble getting started.
But! It seems to me that small-scale projects are doing really well. Their output is far higher than conventionally farmed land, not only in produce/acre but also economically and in terms of jobs - the average (600 acre) conventional farm will employ the same number of people (2.4) as a small-scale community supported agriculture (CSA) scheme (surely a good reason to pursue this path more).
I am just blown away by the innovation and research that goes on in organic farming. While most of the government's agricultural research money goes into either GM crops or seed breeding, and in my experience conventional conferences are all about new varieties and machinery, the organic sector is all about innovation - how to get better systems working with minimal changes to the inputs. How to succeed economically whilst still giving a sh!t about the impact you're having on your land.
Granted it made me wonder why I'm spending my time in a lab when I would in many ways prefer to be starting my own business, but it also made me realise the importance of scientific research in progress. You can't make good decisions without cold, hard facts.
Thursday, 12 January 2012
Unusual things from seed #2
With regards onions, I did save the seed from the one that decided to flower last year, and will try growing it this year. I've realised that the reason you don't see onion seed so much is just that us gardeners are impatient, and if you want really big onions, you need to sow them in august for harvesting the following year. However, Jon and I love our pickled onions, and these can be grown from seed in a year.
This year I'm planning on copying an idea I saw on a (my hero) Geoff Hamilton series called The Ornamental Kitchem Garden: you plant about 6-7 seeds in a module in Jan/Feb indoors, and come about April you plant out the whole module together in one place. In theory the onions will push each other out of the way, and you will get a clump of medium-sized onions which looks like a massive aloe vera in the bed.
I reckon that growing them in this way is good for a container gardeners like us, and would give them a competitive advantage in a flowerbed as they're less likely to get smothered!
Onion varieties we're growing this year: Sturon, Ramrod, Paris silverskin and some miscellaneous red/white onion sets...
This year I'm planning on copying an idea I saw on a (my hero) Geoff Hamilton series called The Ornamental Kitchem Garden: you plant about 6-7 seeds in a module in Jan/Feb indoors, and come about April you plant out the whole module together in one place. In theory the onions will push each other out of the way, and you will get a clump of medium-sized onions which looks like a massive aloe vera in the bed.
I reckon that growing them in this way is good for a container gardeners like us, and would give them a competitive advantage in a flowerbed as they're less likely to get smothered!
Onion varieties we're growing this year: Sturon, Ramrod, Paris silverskin and some miscellaneous red/white onion sets...
Tuesday, 10 January 2012
Unusual things from seed #1
I've always thought that certain things always come from tubers or sets: onions, garlic, potatoes, rhubarb. If you search for potato seed on Google, it will bring up seed potatoes, and I have yet to discover any potato seed available. I have however seen weird tomato-looking things on my tatties that I've always pondered the function of, and I now understand what they are - seeds!
The reason for the lack of commercially available potato seed comes back to GCSE biology, and genets and ramets. Tubers (or runners e.g. in strawberries) are genets (i.e. genetically identical), and the flowers are ramets (from the Latin ramus: branch) (this doesn't make sense to me!), the idea being that survival is ensured by the genets, but might be improved by the ramets. Thus the good ramets will survive, and the rubbish ones will die off - survival of the fittest. So if you use tubers, the crop you grow will be genetically identical to the 'stock' variety, and you're guaranteed a crop, which is what you want when you've paid money for something! Cross-pollination introduces variability, and the downside to this is that if you sow seed from something like a potato or garlic (and especially rhubarb from what I've heard!), you might end up with really disgusting produce. Equally it might be amazing: the basis of plant breeding.
So this year, if any of my garlic or potatoes go to seed, I will not chop off the offending flowering protusion as advised in my gardening books (producing seed is hungry work for the plant, so the produce will suffer) but let them flower and set seed. Then next year I can start my potato/ garlic breeding regime!
The reason for the lack of commercially available potato seed comes back to GCSE biology, and genets and ramets. Tubers (or runners e.g. in strawberries) are genets (i.e. genetically identical), and the flowers are ramets (from the Latin ramus: branch) (this doesn't make sense to me!), the idea being that survival is ensured by the genets, but might be improved by the ramets. Thus the good ramets will survive, and the rubbish ones will die off - survival of the fittest. So if you use tubers, the crop you grow will be genetically identical to the 'stock' variety, and you're guaranteed a crop, which is what you want when you've paid money for something! Cross-pollination introduces variability, and the downside to this is that if you sow seed from something like a potato or garlic (and especially rhubarb from what I've heard!), you might end up with really disgusting produce. Equally it might be amazing: the basis of plant breeding.
So this year, if any of my garlic or potatoes go to seed, I will not chop off the offending flowering protusion as advised in my gardening books (producing seed is hungry work for the plant, so the produce will suffer) but let them flower and set seed. Then next year I can start my potato/ garlic breeding regime!
Tuesday, 3 January 2012
Organic Producer's Conference
I have confirmed today that I will be attending, and the programme is available from here.
I will also be taking a poster, to persuade people how important and fascinating rhizobia are. I just need to design it, and stop procrastinating by writing blog posts!
I will also be taking a poster, to persuade people how important and fascinating rhizobia are. I just need to design it, and stop procrastinating by writing blog posts!
Thursday, 22 December 2011
Seeds
It's about this time of year that I dig out the box of seeds and the stack of gardening books and begin dreaming about next year and all the things I could do...
This year I'm trying to be a bit more savvy though. Inspired by a lecture I crashed on organic horticulture I've made us a planting plan in Excel (I'm a believer that there are few things that cannot be improved by the employment of a spreadsheet!). This has our plants down the side, and weeks of the year along the top. Seeds are group by rotation groups (legumes, tatties, cabbagey type things etc.) and coloured blocks signify planting dates.
Boring much? Maybe. But the idea is that we'll get a continuous harvest of veggies this year rather than several gluts interspersed by trips to the shop to top up on things.
We will be topping up on a few seeds after Christmas from our catalogue of choice: The Real Seed Catalogue which do an amazing array of veg, flowers and unusual bits and pieces. The best bit is they don't do F1 hybrids, so all the seed can be saved for the next year.
I'm currently badgering Jon for some walking onions. I'll let you know if I succeed...
This year I'm trying to be a bit more savvy though. Inspired by a lecture I crashed on organic horticulture I've made us a planting plan in Excel (I'm a believer that there are few things that cannot be improved by the employment of a spreadsheet!). This has our plants down the side, and weeks of the year along the top. Seeds are group by rotation groups (legumes, tatties, cabbagey type things etc.) and coloured blocks signify planting dates.
Boring much? Maybe. But the idea is that we'll get a continuous harvest of veggies this year rather than several gluts interspersed by trips to the shop to top up on things.
We will be topping up on a few seeds after Christmas from our catalogue of choice: The Real Seed Catalogue which do an amazing array of veg, flowers and unusual bits and pieces. The best bit is they don't do F1 hybrids, so all the seed can be saved for the next year.
I'm currently badgering Jon for some walking onions. I'll let you know if I succeed...
Garlic
Jon and I eat a lot of garlic. And I mean a LOT.
Last year we spent about £10 on garlic bulbs from the garden centre, and grew them on the allotment. Unfortunately, getting married in June we neglected the veg patch at the most important point and the poor things were swamped by weeds. This is bad as garlic (like onions) has very shallow roots and competes very poorly with weeds. The spring planted garlic barely did anything, the winter planted stuff did ok - presumably as it had a head start while the weeds were down.
We grew enough to supply us up to now, and have decided the rest should go for growing next year. Queue me spending a happy half hour in the gathering gloom last Saturday putting cloves into modules just to make sure it can get going for spring - we'll decide where it's going later i.e. when it's not so cold and wet at the allotment. I first heard of doing this on Carol Klein's TV programme, and think it's a spiffing idea. This way they get a head start on the weeds when we plant them out.
So, together with my birthday Elephant garlic (bought from The Garlic Farm on the Isle of Wight at the Royal Berks Fair) (rock on, I'm that cool) I currently have 104 cloves growing, plus the 2 rows on the allotment, which might just keep us stocked for the year, with enough to plant for the following year. Hurrah!
Last year we spent about £10 on garlic bulbs from the garden centre, and grew them on the allotment. Unfortunately, getting married in June we neglected the veg patch at the most important point and the poor things were swamped by weeds. This is bad as garlic (like onions) has very shallow roots and competes very poorly with weeds. The spring planted garlic barely did anything, the winter planted stuff did ok - presumably as it had a head start while the weeds were down.
We grew enough to supply us up to now, and have decided the rest should go for growing next year. Queue me spending a happy half hour in the gathering gloom last Saturday putting cloves into modules just to make sure it can get going for spring - we'll decide where it's going later i.e. when it's not so cold and wet at the allotment. I first heard of doing this on Carol Klein's TV programme, and think it's a spiffing idea. This way they get a head start on the weeds when we plant them out.
So, together with my birthday Elephant garlic (bought from The Garlic Farm on the Isle of Wight at the Royal Berks Fair) (rock on, I'm that cool) I currently have 104 cloves growing, plus the 2 rows on the allotment, which might just keep us stocked for the year, with enough to plant for the following year. Hurrah!
Monday, 19 December 2011
The salad project!
This coming season (2012) Jon and I will not be getting married (as we did this year), so with all the extra time we're planning on growing as much of our veg as we can. Central to this is the provision of sufficient salad to keep us in tucker during the summer. Over the 2011 summer we bought about 2 bags of salad a week, plus associated cucumbers and other salady bits...
Although about as eco-friendly as we could make it, being bought from Reading True Food Co-op and sourced locally (and organically - and chlorine free), the cost added up. I dread to think how much we spent on lettuce. So this year I'm determined to grow sufficient salad to keep us fed, for less money than we were previously spending.
A slight problem with this is that we are in rented accommodation, and I'm reticent to tamper with our garden. I've carved out a small bed in one corner, but I suspect most of our salad will have to come from containers. I should say that we also have an allotment, but this is being given over to main crops (potatoes, beans, onions etc. more later) but I'm NOT trekking all the way up there for salad each day!
SO! My first step is to try and calculate how many plants we're going to need...I've read up on a number of related websites, and I've seen recommendations from 4 lettuces for a family of 4, to 48 per person.
Hmmm.
Although about as eco-friendly as we could make it, being bought from Reading True Food Co-op and sourced locally (and organically - and chlorine free), the cost added up. I dread to think how much we spent on lettuce. So this year I'm determined to grow sufficient salad to keep us fed, for less money than we were previously spending.
A slight problem with this is that we are in rented accommodation, and I'm reticent to tamper with our garden. I've carved out a small bed in one corner, but I suspect most of our salad will have to come from containers. I should say that we also have an allotment, but this is being given over to main crops (potatoes, beans, onions etc. more later) but I'm NOT trekking all the way up there for salad each day!
SO! My first step is to try and calculate how many plants we're going to need...I've read up on a number of related websites, and I've seen recommendations from 4 lettuces for a family of 4, to 48 per person.
Hmmm.
About me
My name is Bee, and I am a PhD student in agriculture, studying the diversity of a nifty bacteria called rhizobia which, through a relationship with legumes fixes nitrogen in the soil (you may remember it from GCSE science). This means I meet a lot of interesting people, and learn a lot of interesting stuff. It also means my work is never done!
I love nature, people, growing my own food (and doing a bit of foraging, too), being creative (mainly knitting, crochet and making a mess with paints) learning, and reading stories. On any given day, the chances are that I would rather be at the allotment with my husband, or pottering in the garden with the cat - unless I'm already there, in which case I'm as happy as anyone could be.
When I'm done I want to work alongside farmers and community groups, helping people to grow food and translating academic-ese into language people (including myself!) can understand. I could also be tempted into any number of jobs that feature the words 'organic', 'Fairtrade', 'policy' or 'development'...
I've started this blog to share some of my experiences, pictures and links. I hope you enjoy it!
I love nature, people, growing my own food (and doing a bit of foraging, too), being creative (mainly knitting, crochet and making a mess with paints) learning, and reading stories. On any given day, the chances are that I would rather be at the allotment with my husband, or pottering in the garden with the cat - unless I'm already there, in which case I'm as happy as anyone could be.
When I'm done I want to work alongside farmers and community groups, helping people to grow food and translating academic-ese into language people (including myself!) can understand. I could also be tempted into any number of jobs that feature the words 'organic', 'Fairtrade', 'policy' or 'development'...
I've started this blog to share some of my experiences, pictures and links. I hope you enjoy it!
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