Organic networking... And what a character this guy is 😂

There's nothing like a bath full of worms.

New arrival for the boxes! Squash!

No need to peel me. Just roast, steam, stew me, stick me in a curry or blend me into a warming soup. The possibilities are endless -

Enjoy.

The resulting effects of CSA and how it can support a bright and abundant future for the way we produce food.

This story among many others will be included in our new documentary Living the Change: Inspiring Stories for a Sustainable Future! Find out more at https://livingthechangefilm.com

Farm friend Jen has started a really good food blog for us called 'One Hull of a Kitchen'. She'll be using the Frith farm veg box to produce weekly, seasonal recipes to help us all stay inspired. Go check out the link below.

https://onehullofakitchen.wordpress.com/ ... See more

First sight of corn yesterday. It's delicious as it is uncooked, creamiest corn I've ever tasted!

🌽

Interesting new blog post on our website about pesticide residues in food. Written by Gina Allen who has Masters by Research in Science of the Environment.

Click the link below to read:

https://frithfarming.com/blog/ ... See more

Frith farm is a local community agriculture scheme providing fresh seasonal, high quality, chemical free, vegetables and gourmet salad in Hull and Beverley

This machine makes planting a breeze!

Looking at a small African tribe, this study found that the composition of their gut bacteria changed with the seasons, due to a strict seasonal diet. The study found that some bacteria even disappeared altogether and then reappeared the following season. When samples were compared to those from industrialised, western countries it demonstrated (again) their diminishing microbial diversity.

Nice little article supporting the importance of local, seasonal eating! 😉 ... See more

Seasonal changes in gut bacteria make-up of a small African community strengthens the evidence that diet strongly influences our gut microbiota, finds a new study in Science.

Good Morning!
Our Colourful Carrots dug from the new bed are ready for today's box scheme members !

Don't forget that this weekend is the start of our Open Gardens.

You'll be spoilt for choice this #summer with a selection of gardens open on dates in July & August.

You can help to support us this #weekend by visiting Knoll House & Laurel Villa - two beautiful Gardens in #Stroud. ... See more

This week's #weedywednesday plant is #Goosegrass,
also known as Cleavers, or Sticky Willy!

Many of you will be familiar with this particular #weed and its small hooked hairs growing out of the stems and leaves which latch on, giving the name Sticky Grass or Sticky Willy.

Did you know?
The roots of Goosegrass can be used to create a
permanent red dye!

Find out more about this #stickyweed here...

#weedywednesday #goosegrass #cleavers #weeds ... See more

Weedy Wednesday - Goosegrass (Cleavers) This week's plant in our Wednesday Weed series is Goosegrass, also known as Cleavers, or Sticky Willy. 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 them. Organic gr... ... See more

Garden Organic was full of excitement yesterday when we were joined by Shefali Oza for the live BBC Midlands weather.

If you missed it and the Blooms for Bees interview on BBC Midlands news with Anton & Coventry University, then you can catch up here!

Coverage is from 00:50-01:05 & 22:46.
#bumblebees🐝 ... See more

The latest news, sport and weather for the Midlands.

Tune in to BBC Midlands at 6.30pm tonight to find out from our expert Anton & Coventry University how you can play a part in helping our #bumblebees 🐝 Blooms for Bees

Shefali Oza from BBC Midlands will also be hosting the weather live from our beautiful gardens! ... See more

The fantastic work of our Food Growing Schools project...

"This gardening experience has helped both us and our families" - instead of goal posts, this school has potatoes! 🍏🍓🥔🥕

Would you like to attract more #wildlife to your garden?

We have a few places remaining on our practical course this Thursday afternoon - Attracting Wildlife to Your Garden.

Come along and learn more about what you need to do to
make your garden or growing space as wildlife-friendly as possible. #wildlife #bees 🐝 #butterflies 🦋 #ladybirds🐞 #BeesNeeds

To avoid disappointment please book online or call us
on 02476 303517 ... See more

Our #volunteers have been busy this Monday morning harvesting #veg & #flowers from the Allotment Garden &
Keder Greenhouse.

Vibrant tomatoes, sweet redcurrants and colourful sweet peas are just some of the goodies we have in our wheelbarrow!

We'd love to know what you've been harvesting...
#mondaymotivation #organic #fruit #veg #flowers ... See more

We are delighted to have four organic gardens open to the public this year. Frank's Cottage, Knoll House, Laurel Villa and Alderley Edge will be opening throughout July & August in support of Garden Organic.😃
Visit our website for further details. ... See more

For this weeks #fridaytip we are in the #greenhouse!

Leave doors and vents open day and night for good ventilation to discourage disease build up.

Nip off and destroy any diseased leaves on sight. Avoid wetting leaves when watering, to prevent mould and other spores germinating.

If you find our information useful you could help us to continue providing this advice by donating just £2 to Garden Organic today. Please text TIPS17 £2 to 70070 to donate. Thank you 😃 #fridaytip #organicgardening ... See more

Your Organic Garden in July 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 below for advice on soil, vegetables, f... ... 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

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