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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Click here for Tony’s Future Radio Interview: goo.gl/K4TwQa

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Good morning Growth has been far from rampant in the last week. Courgettes are a good barometer and yields have been around 30% less than last year.Other crops are progressing slowly but Celery and Beans are still about 10 days away. Peppers and Aubergine are showing better colour as they establish roots but Tomatoes look particularly strong. So we are waiting for the weather to improve and the signs are more hopeful. With so little to harvest we have time to clear up and prepare some more space for the…

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Good morning So much for a bright beginning to June. Cloud and rain have certainly slowed things down. In truth the rain is much needed in the field but as ever unbroken sunshine suits us better in the Glasshouse! We certainly haven’t had that. But it is a chance to catch up and clear up now planting is complete. With Courgettes slowing up in this weather, harvesting is minimal but there are areas to be cleared and some later crops begun. There are also Cucumbers to plant, replacements for the…

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Good morning We are still planting. It is relentless through May. The Tomatoes are almost finished, Fennel and Salad Onion in their place and space being cleared as Spring crops finish. We have reached the end of the Spinach and Chard crops and that should make the space to complete the transition to Summer crops. We still have a week or two of Salads and some Red and Green Oak leaf Lettuce just beginning. Some sunshine would encourage the first Courgette flowers, while the slightly warming weather has also seen…

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Good morning The promised heat wave certainly risked the temperature. It has been round 30c in the glasshouse and time to irrigate, which keeps me cool. It makes harder work of establishing new crops and speeds on existing ones. It is a blessing though and will hopefully make up some lost time for the early yielding crops. It looks like being a late season though. The season has brought on the Batavia Lettuce nicely and they will flush for a couple of weeks and hopefully the Oak leaves will soon…

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Good morning. At last some sunshine to speed things up and although the outside air is still cold, the glasshouse soon warms, at least by day. We will see the difference this week both in the standing crops and the seedlings, which will soon be chasing us for attention after a period of slow growth. We will complete the over wintered Spinach and Lettuce harvest this week and will have to wait a few weeks for the Spring plantings to mature. Chard will fill the gap and Leaf salads will…

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Good morning The cold has certainly slowed things up. Sprouting Broccoli is still scarce although it has been possible to gather some Cauliflower between frosts, some of which have been quite severe in Lincolnshire. So we do have some Cauli available although it will be of smaller size, being packed at 15/box, rather than be allowed to grow on and expose the curd to the frost. As soon as the weather turns for the better we hope the Spring Brassicas will be full on. In the Glasshouse it is similar,…

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Good morning As anticipated the cold has held back the Cauliflower for a week but the promised crop should begin along with some PSB next week we hope. The glasshouse continues to make good progress. The timetable gradually takes shape as the plant raising schedule is confirmed. We look set to be busy planting through April and May. Over wintered crops must be cleared to make way, so now we can schedule the harvesting of the Chard, Spinach and salads that currently occupy space and the stream of seedlings ready…

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Good morning. There is a thin layer of snow on the ground, and a chill Easterly wind outside so we have a brief taste of Winter, I hope. Just as the mild weather has prematurely wakened the plant world and insects (I spotted several ladybirds this week), I have been feeling quite enthused for the new season, but a spell of cold will slow the haste to set seeds and the ladybirds will retire for a longer rest. So a brief spell of cold I hope. Our fieldsman will have…

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Good morning As February looms I realise it is time to draw all the thoughts and plans for the coming season together. Ordering becomes increasingly imperative as sowing and planting dates loom ever closer and the sense of urgency increases after a relatively relaxed period. Should the Winter continue in a mild vent then there will be advantages to be gained early on. We have some over wintered salads coming ready to plant and some Chard germinated at ambient temperature over Christmas! More sowings are planned for this week to…

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