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

Join us next month to learn how to attract #wildlife such as #frogs, #hedgehogs, #ladybirds, #birds and #bees into your garden or allotment. Beneficial wildlife is such an important pest control tool for organic growers - you'll certainly be rewarded for any effort you put in.

Find out more about the course, or reserve your place via the link below. ... See more

If you're concerned about the use of #pesticides, including #neonics and the #herbicide #glyphosate, and want to add your voice to the fight we would urge you to join our ranks by becoming a member of Garden Organic. The more individuals we represent, the more sway we have with influencers and policy-makers. Now is a really important time for #organic growers, find out how to get involved here: http://www.gardenorganic.org.uk/join-us ... See more

#Watering is important this month. Give your plants a good soak, in the soil not the leaves.
This is best done in the cool of the evening. Use rainwater to top up ponds; tap water can be too high in nutrients, encouraging algal growth.
And don’t forget to water your #compost heap! Moist conditions, not dry, help the rotting down process. #fridaytip ... See more

July is the month when all the hard work pays off. Herbs and flowers are fragrant, and the soil rich with your home made compost. After the rush of May and June growth, you can relax a little and enjoy the fruits of your labour. ... See more

Full details of the latest study on #neonic #pesticide here.

The largest study to-date on neonicotinoid pesticides concludes they harm honeybees and wild bees.

Short film from BBC News explaining the worries around #neonics...

the pesticides we use are harming these guys.

Here are a selection of images from yesterday's #wormery course!

Today's Wonderful Wormeries course is going really well. If you missed out, below are the details of our next few courses:
- Attracting Wildlife to your Garden - 20th July
- Growing Winter Veg - 3rd August (only a small number of places left)
- Cutting Edge Veg - 22nd August
- Introduction to Seed Saving - 7th September

Full details here: www.gardenorganic.org.uk/our-courses ... See more

Today's #mondaymotivation comes courtesy of the 'Georgia' squash flowers unfurling in the Kedar house - proof, should anyone still need it, that gardeners don't have to choose between a 'pretty' garden and a productive garden. ... See more

Would you like to make better use of your household kitchen and garden waste?

We can teach you all of the know-how on #composting, with our half day course coming up on 14th July.

You will cover the following core principles:
✔️ An introduction to basic #composting requirements
✔️ Learning about different types of #organic #compost systems
✔️ Methods of ‘pre-treatment’ and enclosed system
✔️ Investigating when the various methods of composting or
disposal may be suitable and practical to maintain

Places for this course are limited so you'll need to be quick! ... See more

Most compostable kitchen and garden waste can be processed through a traditional compost heap or a worm bin. However it may be preferable to use different techniques to recycle specific types of kitchen and garden ‘waste’ such as autumn leaves, woody prunings and hedge clippings, food waste such as… ... See more

We are really pleased to release our new seed packaging today! We decided a new corporate image was long overdue.

For the last day of #seedweek we'd like to talk about the Open Source Seed Initiative.

Patents & licenses on seed have spread to many parts of the world. Soon, farmers and gardeners may be unable to do anything more than rent seeds from the companies who control them. Already, the purchase of many seeds in the U.S. by a farmer is actually a one-time rental of the seed for a single cropping season. The license prevents farmers from saving, replanting, breeding, and sharing seed that has been rented, not purchased. Even plant breeders are prohibited from using these seeds to improve the crops. These legal restrictions benefit a few companies but threaten the food security of our societies.

Open source seed is seed of a plant variety the genetics of which cannot be restricted by patents or other intellectual property rights. Originally developed for computer software, the open source idea makes something like computer code, or seeds, freely available for use, and makes sure it stays freely available. The material is placed permanently in the public domain. It can still be modified, shared, bought, sold, and reproduced. Some people might may choose to improve the material to make something new. But the original material, and any derivatives must remain free for others to use forever, and cannot be restricted through patents and licenses.

You can read more about open source seed on the OSSI website below, or on our website at Real Seeds here: http://www.realseeds.co.uk/ossi.html ... See more

Free the Seed!

It's #seedweek! Read about the grassroots #seedsovereignty movement of across the UK and Ireland.

"Only 3 corporations sell 75% of the worlds seed; if we all start sowing open source, organic seed, we can grow a democratic food system." David Price, Seed Cooperative, Lincolnshire, UK

https://spark.adobe.com/page/TPzSXT2LOg0bB/?fbclid=IwAR0p2U0IevkBfVcswO-ba0r2PbF-AUZSeWqYAFPwuiXoHNE-I5JgMnhDFgs ... See more

New Seed envelopes in action! All running smoothly now after only a few adjustments: Our Ballard Brown Bag Seed Packing Machine from the 1880s. This is the first trial run of our new Art Nouveau paper envelopes, custom manufactured for us as part of our drive to reduce plastic packaging. ... See more

Exciting parcel from USA! First trial batch of custom-made paper seed envelopes for our 1880's "Ballard Brown Bag Seed Packing Machine"! Don't they look fine? Bottom picture shows the back when closed & opened - the green stripe is the latex stickum to hold the flap shut.
Next step is to test them in both our envelope printer and the packing machine.
(they did unfortunately use a draft copy of the artwork rather than the final version, but that's why you get trial runs done rather than just ordering 100,000 👍 ) ... See more

Great to see everyone at Newport Seedy Saturday today. thanks to everybody who came ; hopefully we'll see you all again next year with loads of home saved seed 🙂

Just getting ready for our own Seedy Saturday here in Newport. Anyone local, see you at the Tabernacle Chapel vestry (opposite Long Street carpark) 10am to 1pm 🙂

We got our latest shipment of seed from Italy yesterday, and Kate noticed the boxes on the pallet were now labelled in English. Read the small print 🙂

Are you part of a community seed bank project? The Community Seed Banks Academy may be able to support you with training, information and exchanges. They currently have a call out for applications.

Hopefully you're all enjoying the beautiful weather. This is just a reminder not to get *too* optimistic about sowing just yet.

Remember, in most of the country soil temperatures outdoors won't get above 7 or 8 degrees C until into March. Realistically beetroot, carrots, parsnips etc will just tend to sit and linger in cold soil - even allowing for the fact that we are very likely to get another cold snap.

We find that delaying sowing until late March or into April gives much better results, with later sown crops coming on quicker and more able to outgrow slugs & other pests.

Similarly, sowing indoors on a windowsill may be very tempting, but remember that your crops will need warmth *and* light once they're up, so make sure you'll have somewhere suitable for them to grow on. We've sown our peppers and aubergines in a heated propagator, they'll go out into an unheated greenhouse insulated with bubblewrap, but we'll bring them indoors overnight if the weather is particularly cold. Tomatoes will go into the propagator this week.

My main exceptions to the 'don't sow too early' rule are onions (need a little heat to germinate but then will stand any amount of UK- level cold) and peas which you can start in modules or trays and then put out as soon as they're an inch or so high. Again they'll happily sit through frosts. I'm going to sow my new favourite Jessy sugar snap peas today 🙂

http://www.realseeds.co.uk/germination.html ... See more

To see what we're up to on the farm and in the office as we grow and try new varieties, follow our Facebook or Instagram pages