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 !

Join us each week throughout the rest of #summer for #WeedyWednesday

We'll be here with our top tips and methods of wiping out the weeds you don't want.

This weeks #weed is one that just keeps on giving - Bindweed!

We're sure many of you have experienced #Bindweed in your garden or allotment, here's what we suggest to banish the Bindweed! ... See more

Weedy Wednesday - Bindweed The second plant in our Wednesday Weed series is bindweed. Possibly the most persistent weed in the garden. 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 growers re... ... See more

To celebrate Great British Pea Week @ Yes Peas!, we thought we would share two pea varieties from our Heritage Seed Library

British Wonder - a hardy, compact pea (60cm-1m) & exceptionally high yielding. Introduced in the UK by Taber & Cullen in 1890 and in the USA by W Atlee Burpee in 1904. It produces white flowers followed by plump green pods.

Old England - thought to have been bred by Kelways, est.1851 by James Kelway of Langport, Somerset and introduced in the early 20th century. Plants grow to 1.2-1.5m producing broad, plump pods containing 5-7 large, wrinkle-seeded peas.

Both of these delicious #pea varieties will be available to members in this year's Heritage Seed Library catalogue.

If you'd like to become a member of the Heritage Seed Library then you can join here... #greatbritishpeaweek #PeasPlease #peas ... See more

We've recently acquired a new addition to our Allotment Garden, here at Ryton.

Thanks to Waltons Garden Buildings we are now the proud owners of a brand new shed for our Gardening Volunteers.

As you can see our volunteers are very pleased to have somewhere keep their tools, pot plants and of course take a well earned break ☕

If you would like to find out more about becoming a Garden Organic #volunteer please contact dmaltby@gardenorganic.org.uk ... See more

We are joined today by pupils from Welford on Avon Primary School. Today they're learning about #Growing Around the World, including how to grow #Haloon - an #Indian variety of #cress.

They'll also be Bug Bingo plus many other activities for them to get involved in today!

If you would like to arrange an #educational visit for your school then please get in touch at: schools@gardenorganic.org.uk ... See more

Are you looking to grow something a little different?

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.

Our Cutting Edge #Veg 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.

We'll touch on different aspects, from understanding the challenges of growing non-traditional #crops and saving seed from exotic crops to unusual #herbs & #spices. You'll also get the opportunity to explore our Exotic Garden. ... 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

Today's #mondaymotivation is all about the #fruity Ficus carica, known as the common fig. The fruit has started to appear on our fig tree which can be found in the Keder Greenhouse within the Allotment Garden. #fruit #ficuscarica #organicgrowing ... See more

We're ready & waiting for pupils from Christ the King Primary School to arrive. They'll be with us today #learning how to make paper pots & sow seeds!

If you would like Garden Organic to host an #educational visit for your school, then please get in touch with us at: schools@gardenroganic.org.uk

#education #schools #learning ... See more

Godiva Festival is almost in full swing and the sunshine is out again. If you're popping along come and see us in the #charity stall area and have a go at our activity #godiva #festivaltime #sunshine

It's still very warm out there for our prickly friends. A fresh bowl of water is perfect for them😀

Sharing this could save a hedgehog's life 💚

Do you live in the #Coventry & #Warwickshire area and do you #care for someone who could not manage alone due to illness, disability, mental health needs or old age?

Why not take a break and join us for our Thyme To Be session next Tuesday. You'll have the opportunity to meet like minded people and participate in our seasonal activity. ... See more

Do you care for an adult or child in the Coventry area? If so we'd love to you join us for an open day to introduce our new project, Thyme To Be.

Join us for this growing session at Ryton Organic Gardens. You'll meet like-minded people, garden and learn new skills together in a relaxing environment.

This summer session with include practical organic growing activities relevant to the season.

You will have the opportunity to look round our beautiful demonstration organic gardens, and hear about similar work we are currently doing.

Refreshments will be provided and transport and replacement care can be arranged through Carers Trust Heart of England (limited availability). ... See more

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