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

This week's weed of the week in our #WeedyWednesday series is the most cheerful of #spring plants - the bright yellow #dandelion.

#Bees 🐝 love its early source of #pollen, so leave some plants over winter for them.

Dandelion roots, #flowers and leaves are used in #herbal medicine and the Victorians grew dandelions for use in salads and sandwiches!

The leaves contain vitamins A and C, and iron and they can also be used to make a foliar feed, like #comfrey. The dandelion truly is a plant of many uses! ... See more

Weedy Wednesday - Dandelion The next in our Wednesday Weed series is the most cheerful of Spring plants - the bright yellow dandelion. Bees love its early source of pollen, so leave some plants over winter for them. In this weekly series, we take a quick look at common garden weeds. How they grow, w... ... See more

Our food security, our freedoms as domestic growers, and our rights and responsibilities as consumers are all up for debate.

We are already working hard on your behalf, drawing attention of decision-makers to the benefits of organic practice. But it's not easy.

We need your support to ensure we are firmly at the forefront of negotiations, discussions & decisions.

You can help by texting FFGO17 £5 to 70070 to donate to Garden Organic and make a difference today. ... See more

Support our Fighting Fund Donate now Turbulent times ahead… In the last 12 months the political landscape, both here and overseas, has shifted beyond recognition. The ‘norm’ has most definitely been reset… Those who were lucky enough to hear our president Prof. Tim Lang speak at our AGM in May, will... ... See more

It's a little grey outside for today's #mondaymotivation

To brighten up the day we'd like to introduce our first 'plant of the week' from our Head Gardener Emma.

The Phlox paniculata 'White Admiral' can be found in our exotic and growth garden. It will grow well in full sun or part shade and with fertile well drained soil. Fragrant flowers will form mid-late summer. #phloxpaniculata #fragrantflowers #mondaymotivation ... See more

We've really enjoyed seeing your pictures and receiving your garden & allotment updates during National Allotments Week.

Before the week comes to an end, here is part five of our series 'One man and his organic plot'.

In this part Chris is enjoying the fruits of his hard labour down at the allotment with an abundance of tasty crops from french runner beans to courgettes.

Have your harvested a large amount of any particular crop on your allotment? #nationalallotmentsweek #organicgardening ... See more

One Man & his organic plot - Part Five The phrase ‘you reap what you sow’ certainly rings true in August and suddenly I’m drowning in courgettes, this really is the plant that keeps on giving and I am struggling to stay on top. It has opened up a new front on my allotment activities though and it’s… ... See more

Do you have spare time on your hands this Tuesday?

If you do then why not book onto one of the last remaining places for our popular course - Cutting Edge Veg.

Learn how to grow vegetables, herbs and spices associated with a more exotic cuisine and introduce new flavours into your own dishes at home. You'll even learn how to make garam masala! ... See more

In the last 50 years our culinary horizons have broadened to encompass a wide range of cultures including India, Chinese, South East Asia and the Caribbean. However, it seems that our growing skills have lagged behind our cooking habits.

This course will show you how to grow many of the vegetables, herbs and spices associated with a more exotic range of cuisines and introduce you to vegetables that you may not have tried before. Much of this expertise has been learnt by working with immigrant communities around the Midlands, so the plants have a proven track record of growing in this area. A glasshouse is not essential, as many will grow outside without a protected environment.

The following will be covered during the course of the day:
- Understanding the challenges of growing non-traditional crops
- Exotic legumes
- Exotic cucurbits
- Exotic tubers and roots
- Taking lemongrass cuttings
- Unusual herbs and spices
- Making garam masala
- Sowing haloon
- Taking african kale cuttings
- Explore the exotic garden at Ryton
- Saving seed from exotic crops

You will be able to take home a variety of factsheets to help get you started. This course assumes some experience of growing, but does not need advanced knowledge. ... See more

In part four of 'One man and his organic plot' Chris's balcony garden is thriving and is heading toward its peak with a mix of roses, herbs, summer bedding plants and of course plenty of food crops.

All of his crops are growing completely without chemicals or artificial fertilisers. #nationalallotmentsweek #organicgardening ... See more

One Man & his organic plot - Part Four So suddenly the summer arrives, with blistering heat and I find my work day gaining an hour as keeping the plants on my allotment watered becomes a necessity. I will confess after coming all the way back from Gardeners World Live, in Birmingham the idea at 8pm… ... See more

No one yet knows how the UK's withdrawal from the EU will impact organic growers. But one thing we can be sure of is that there's much work to be done.

To help ensure we are able to represent the views of organic growers please support us by donating to our Fighting Fund. http://www.gardenorganic.org.uk/fighting-fund

Text FFGO17 £5 to 70070 to donate to Garden Organic and make a difference today - thank you. ... See more

Fantastic to read how Garden Organic and our Heritage Seed Library inspired James Wong and his seed saving escapades... (athough from Ryton in Coventry not Tyne and Wear 😃)

Save seed from your own plants. Now’s the time to do it, and these three tips make it even easier…

Do your salad herbs need attention? We have a handy #fridaytip that may just help...

If #chives show orange patches of rust, cut them back, they will resprout. #mint plants which also show signs of rust should be removed, as the disease will persist over winter and re-infect plants next year.

Re-plant with new stock and in a different part of the garden. If growing in containers, scrub out before re-using. #Basil, #parsley and #coriander can still be sown this month - they'll be ready just in time for those autumn soups and hearty suppers!

#herbs #organicgrowing #fridaytip #growyourown ... See more

How to grow vegetables and herbs the organic way To prepare your organic growing area – whether it is a pot, single bed or a large allotment – see Managing your soil and Home composting. It will help you to create the perfect soil - that has nutrients and texture to provide life for your plants. The... ... See more

This is how we get mixed-coloured Aquilegia flowers. The new seed will be dried, tested and packed ready for the new catalogue this autumn. 🙂

If anyone is going to the Royal Welsh spring festival tomorrow come and say hello! I'll be on the Landworkers Alliance stall (SC108 in the Smallholder centre) in the morning, then on the panel for the smallholders' question time at 4pm Saturday afternoon 🙂
http://www.rwas.wales/spring-festival/ ... See more

The bees are out in force. A little hard to photo clearly, but this is a big red-tailed bumble bee making radish seed for us. It's 'Green Luobo' radish and will be ready in September

Hooray! Germination of the beautiful "Gaia" cold-adapted soybean we are trying out this year. 🙂

OK, listen up! Here's a chance to have a *real* effect and help stop GM crops getting into the UK. DEFRA are asking what people want as part of their 'green brexit' plans. There is huge pressure on the government to allow GM crops when we leave the EU. Now is a chance to be listened to; unlike all those petitions, this is a proper consultation and they will take notice; you personally could have a real effect. Please, read the excellent page by GM Freeze https://www.gmfreeze.org/current-actions/keep-gm-out-of-the-future-of-farming/
and use the links they provide to tell DEFRA you don't want GM crops allowed in the UK. ... See more

The Government’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), wants to hear your views about the future of food, farming and the environment. They say they want a Green Brexit. Please let them know that GM has no place in that. ... See more

Bean germination - amazing stopmotion video

حد شاف إنبات البذرة قبل كده 😃😍
#كن_نبات

Last week we hosted a training day for the Gaia Foundation at our barn, teaching experienced growers to become professional seed producers. It was really nice to meet all the lovely people; the vision is that ultimately there will be a network of local seed producers feeding into regional seed hubs and seed companies all over the UK. ... See more

Real Seeds Giant Pumpkin Photo Competition - we are also giving an extra prize of £20 of seed to David Coop for heroic pumpkin carving! (44kg and an all-night carving session!)
That's it for this year; thanks so much to everyone who sent in their photos; you all grew amazing pumpkins and we enjoyed looking at them all. I hope you had fun; we'll do the same again next year, all you have to do is use our bought seed or your own home saved seed from the Pacific Giant pumpkin 🙂 (you did hand-pollinate them, didn't you?) Free, open-source, printable seed saving instructions are at http://www.realseeds.co.uk/seedsavinginfo.html ... See more

We have some winners of the Real Seeds Giant Pumpkin Photo Competition! If you remember we offered a £20 seed voucher to whoever sent in the most awesome photo; after much deliberation one prize will go to Helen Pottinger, for creative pumpkin lifting:
" it weighed in at 7 and a half stone - or 105 pounds. I didn't know how we were going to lift it but eventually came up with the idea of enrobing it in an old sweatshirt, turning it upside down - and then two of us were able to lift it into the wheelbarrow by the arms! We managed to break the wheelbarrow in the process . . ." ... See more