Category: News

15 January 2018. 2017 saw the organic food, drink, beauty and textiles sectors all grow as consumers look for more sustainably and transparently produced products, particularly as innovation from licensees has led to thousands of new and exciting developments in store. Our recent research, to be launched with the Organic Market Report, really shows how organic fits with the current food trends and needs of not just millennials, but across the spectrum. We are proud at how much the market has grown, but we couldn’t have done it without you,…

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UK food sector’s shadow economy costs taxpayers £120bn, new report finds. A new report by the Sustainable Food Trust finds that UK citizens pay twice as much for food as they realise. The Hidden Cost of UK Food finds that, for each £1 spent on food in the shops, consumers incur extra hidden costs of £1. In addition to the £120 billion spent annually on food by consumers, the UK food system generates further costs of £120 billion, nearly 30 times higher than previous composite estimates have indicated. These extra…

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Good morning Taking stock of the glasshouse today it is showing signs of plenty. Tomatoes are well formed and a small amount of Cherries have already been sampled. Aubergines are emerging with deep, rich purple skin. Both will soon be ready soon. Mini Cucumbers have have fared well but Peppers are further behind having needed much “defruiting” to help them recover from the earlier aphid infestation. Early Beans are cropping well but the second planting is less substantial after suffering stress in the initial heatwave and then from the subsequent…

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*Soil Association website, 28th April 2017. In the run-up to the general election, we’re urging all parties to commit to protecting and restoring soil health in their manifestos – as part of a new vision for agriculture that promotes a holistic landscape approach to farming and transitions to a more environmentally sustainable and resilient food and farming system. Healthy soils are essential for food security, climate change and public health. Yet, soils have been neglected and left to deteriorate.  Almost a third of the world’s arable soils have been lost…

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Zaytoun is the UK social enterprise which launched Fairtrade organic olive oil from Palestine to British customers in 2009. Having started as a grassroots initiative to support Palestinian farmers who had lost overseas markets, back in 2004, the company has grown steadily to achieve sales of over £1 million, with an office in central London. How did Zaytoun begin/get started? The initiative for trading olive oil as a means for supporting Palestinian farmers came from the founders’ trips to Palestine in 2003. International borders had just reopened after the intifada,…

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Good morning. There is a little bit more of September about the air now. The exceptionally hot spell seriously boosted Tomato ripening and also extended some extra late development of Aubergines, both very welcome. Tomatoes are picking high in the vines now and are slower ripening as the temperatures fall. They will be few after this week and Aubergines will be the same. Then it will be a concentrated planting time as we replace with Winter and Spring crops. Outside Broccoli is abundant from the Breckland farm and Pointed Cabbage…

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Good morning There is a little bit more of September about the air now. The exceptionally hot spell seriously boosted Tomato ripening and also extended some extra late development of Aubergines, both very welcome. Tomatoes are picking high in the vines now and are slower ripening as the temperatures fall. They will be few after this week and Aubergines will be the same. Then it will be a concentrated planting time as we replace with Winter and Spring crops. Outside Broccoli is abundant from the Breckland farm and Pointed Cabbage…

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Good morning With the rather pleasant Autumn weather looking set to continue we should see our new plantings get away quickly. With Summer crops in rapid decline they will be welcome. We just have remnants of Courgettes, Beans and Cucumber now; Aubergines and Peppers are rapidly depleting although Tomatoes are still abundant and will continue to enjoy the bright weather. Chard is growing rapidly, also enjoying the warmth. It is taking the place of the Summer crops and will be followed by more Autumn leaves as time progresses. Sowing and…

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Good morning As some of the early summer crops have started to clear we have been able to get some Autumn Chard, Salads and Spinach going to take us into the next season. It will be back to leaves. In the meantime the fruiting crops of Tomatoes, Aubergine and Peppers are reaching their peak over the next couple of weeks. As ever Summer seems to have passed in a flash. In the Glasshouse the crops have run pretty well but the field crops are still challenging. Onions are likely to…

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As we approach August we find ourselves concentrating on our own Glasshouse production and that of Breckland Organics. With orders for other field crops typically low, we find it uneconomic to collect from Woodlands Farm in Lincolnshire who often supply cauliflower and calabrese among other things. In the meantime we have a good harvest from the Glasshouse with many crops now in full flow.. Brecklands have had many weather related problems and the Onion crop is one casualty, not reaching a suitable size. However they are able to salvage some…

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