Seedlings 🌱 #frithfarm #seedlings #permaculture #horticulture #csa #salad #birdseyeview

What a chore but what satisfaction! An afternoon well spent getting the rest of the beds lined out, now just to get some veggies in. #frithfarm #farmingthefuture #csa #permaculture #horticulture #cultivation ... See more

Strawberries are in flower 🍓. #frithfarm #farmingthefuture #strawberries #strawberry #inbloom #inflower #horticulture #permaculture #csa

Blooming nettle! #nettle #inbloom

A day well spent at Humber street vegan market today. The place was packed with like-minded people and it was great to hear such a positive response from people about local farming. Hopefully, you managed to catch us and some of our produce, if not watch this space for more markets in the future. ... See more

Plenty of wonky carrots here at the farm.

Billions of pounds of perfectly good produce are being wasted simply for being the wrong shape, color, and size. But Imperfect has a great solution!
www.imperfectproduce.com
Like Rob Greenfield for more videos like this! ... See more

Out of your pantry and into your garden - Millie Ross shows you how to grow black beans and chillies in your backyard.

Birdseye view of the farm

We spent the day up in the northeast, experiencing other CSA's and organic farming practices. We had a walk around Nafferton farm, showing us their research on organic methods vs conventional methods. We finished the day with a presentation documenting the evidence that organic foods were higher in antioxidants and omega fatty acids, while been much lower in carcinogens like cadmium. It was the positive affirmation we needed, a real buzz around small-scale organic farming is building. ... See more

We've made a film describing the work we do with our producer and distributor members. We launched the film on Saturday at the Land and Food Forum and are thrilled to be able to share it with you now..... Give it a watch, then share it across your social networks! Thanks to the lovely Black Bark films for their amazing work. ... See more

#August has been a delightful month for our gardens. Everything has been in #bloom and we've enjoyed #harvesting many of our #crops. Here is our roundup for the month...

Our #plant of the week is #Cobaea scandens - Cup and Saucer Vine. The Cobaea scandens is a half hardy annual climber #flowering from mid summer.

If you would like to make the #Cobaea scandens a new addition to your garden, it will require a sunny sheltered spot in fertile soil. #plantoftheweek #Cobaeascandens ... See more

#Dock is this week's #WeedyWednesday plant.

Dock grows large and is hard to eradicate, however like some of our other weeds it has some interesting benefits...

Dock leaves can be eaten in #salad or #soup when very young - before they get too bitter. They contain high levels of oxalic acid (like #spinach, #sorrel and #parsley).

This is extracted and used in baking powder; as a bleach for wood, removing black stains caused by water penetration; and - interestingly - as a polish and sealant for marble!

Despite the general advice, rubbing a nettle sting with a dock leaf does not alleviate the #histamine #sting.

#weedoftheweek #WeedyWednesday ... See more

Weedy Wednesday - Dock This week's weed is the farmer's scourge. Dock grows large and is hard to eradicate. And no, the leaves don't soothe nettle stings ..... In this weekly series, we take a quick look at common garden weeds. How they grow, what benefits they bring to the garden, and how to manage... ... See more

Learn everything you need to know about #seed saving with our half day introductory course.

Suitable for the absolute beginner, this course is led by our #Heritage Seed Library experts, you'll gain a detailed understanding of the benefits of saving seed and how to select plants for particular characteristics, as well as step by step instructions on saving seeds.

We have just a few places remaining so early booking is recommended to avoid disappointment. #seedsaving #heritageseeds #learn #courses ... See more

This half-day course introduces the basic principles of vegetable seed saving, including growing annual plants to seed, harvesting, drying, cleaning and storage.

You’ll gain a detailed understanding of the benefits of saving seed and how to select plants for particular characteristics, as well as step by step instructions on saving seeds. We focus on the more straightforward annual crops to allow you to immediately apply these skills to your next harvest - we’ll cover tomatoes, peas, french beans, lettuce, peppers and aubergines.

We will take a look at some of these crops growing on our site and guide you as you try seed cleaning for yourself. You can enjoy a tour of the HSL’s growing area and will have the opportunity to ask our experts any questions.

They have over 25 years of experience in seed saving between them so you’ll definitely be in good hands!

You’ll be able to take home a variety of factsheets to help get you started. This course is suitable for the beginner seed saver who has knowledge of growing vegetables. ... See more

This week's #fridaytip is to highlight powdery mildew season, when days are warm and dry followed by cold nights.

#Flowers and #shrubs, especially those growing under roof eaves, or close to a fence/wall will often succumb. To tackle this issue keep the soil watered well, even on rainy days.

#fridaytip #seasons #organicflowers ... See more

Your organic garden in August August is the time of bumper harvests in all parts of the garden. Lettuces, beans, potatoes and peas all waiting to be harvested and enjoyed. Flower colours tend toward hot yellows, oranges and purples. We are almost in autumn, so take a little time to savour the deligh... ... See more

Take a look for some inspiration...

We asked readers via GuardianWitness to share pictures of their allotments, to celebrate National allotments week. Here are some of our favourites

Good news! The free sock offer at our online clothing store on orders over £15 has been extended to midnight on Monday 28th August. Just enter SOCKY at the checkout to receive a free pair of bamboo socks.

All our clothes are made from ethically-sourced, 100% #organic cotton and proceeds help to support our charitable work.

Is it too early to say they'd made a great #Christmas present...?! ... See more

Our popular Cutting Edge Veg course took place yesterday. Participants were treated to a day of finding out how to grow vegetables herbs and spices associated with a more exotic range of cuisines.

They also learnt about crops from many cultures such as African #kale from Zimbabwe, #calalloo from Jamaica and spicy #mustard from Vietnam.

Everyone went home with their arms laden with unusual herb cuttings, tubers and roots to plant into pots.

If you're interested in enrolling on one of our half-day or full-day courses then take a look at what we have on offer... www.gardenorganic.org.uk/our-courses

#exoticveg #organicgrowing #organic #cuisine #vegetables ... See more

A little visitor to our garden today - the Green #Lacewing.
Snapped📷 by our Member Advisor, Sally.

And an excellent Boston squash by Jayne Moore in north wales: 55" circumference and 22" high! (apples underneath for scale)

Oliver Harbury did well with the Chocolate Cherry seed!

A few people have asked us about how to dry their Gigantes and Czar beans ready for winter - if you're wondering, here's some quick instructions. French beans (end of season leftovers or crops grown specifically for dry use) are treated just the same way.

HARVESTING YOUR SOUP BEANS

Harvest the pods once they start to turn papery/dry (or if the weather is as soggy there as it is here, when they’re definitely leathery and are turning brown). Bring them indoors and dry somewhere cool with a good airflow until the pods are reasonably dry. (At this stage a polytunnel or greenhouse with good ventilation is fine, but beware of mice.)

Then shell the beans out and dry them further again somewhere cool with good airflow.

At this point (especially if they're for cooking) you can then just store them in a paper bag in a kitchen cupboard and unless your house is very damp, they'll be absolutely fine.

If you're keeping aside seeds to sow, they need to be dry to the point where if you bite on them (with care for your teeth!) they break rather than dent. Follow the instructions on the page below to get them properly dry for storage. ... See more

How to dry your vegetable seed at home, so that it keeps well. Free DIY seed-drying instructions from RealSeeds.

Triffids!! The Amaranth and Quinoa are almost ready to harvest 🙂

A few people have been in touch asking about things to sow now. It's a great time to put in winter salads, oriental greens and lots of other things. Have a look at our summer/autumn sowing page for more suggestions 🙂
http://realseeds.co.uk/summersowing2.html ... See more

The most colourful bit of our seed crops - Here's Tam weeding the marigolds in front of the Amaranth bed 🙂

Seed harvest at the barn: Kate and Josie with "Early Prolific Straightneck" squash - after axing the fruit open, the seeds are scooped out by hand, then washed to get rid of the pulp and put in a cabinet with a fan blowing air over them to dry out. After being germination-tested by Catherine, they'll be packed up by Tam or Ian ready for the new catalogue in November. ... See more

Trial cabbage "Nadzeya" from Belarus is getting huge! If it hearts up this big it should be quite impressive . . .

Its a busy but satisfying time at Real Seeds right now - everything is ripening at once. Here's Ian collecting a fantastic harvest of Wautoma Cucumber from one of the polytunnels. All the new seed should be processed, tested and packed in time for the new season starting in November. ... See more

Wow!

3st 1lb from your boston seed