The Organic Grower Magazine

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The Spring edition of The Organic Grower No.18 has been mailed out (12/13th March) – let us know if you don't receive your copy, or check your membership/subscription status!

In this issue you can look forward to:

• Schofield scribbles – chairmans comment.
  
• News; OGA news, research and general news of relevance to organic growers.
  
• Access to the land – report from the Biodynamic Agricultural College conference. Sarah Vaughan.
  
• GM is starting to appear again: How can we respond? Adam Rayne.
  
• The Great British squash soup-off. Vicki Cooke from Garden Organic covers trials of heritage squash varieties and squash seed saving.
  
• Interview with Phil Morley the Soil Association Fresh Produce Trade relations Manager.
  
• Nature notes-What’s in a field name? Tim Deane
  
• Organic Producer Conference – Full coverage from all the grower sessions at the conference, including Miguel Altieri’s inspirational presentation on agroecoogy in practice.
  
• Eliot.Coleman: Four Seasons Farm - Roger Hitchings reports from this iconic farm.
  
• WWOOF!World wide opportunities on organic farms – James Dennis on 40 years of WWOOF.
  
• In praise of the nettle. The benefits of nettles on the farm. Phil Sumption
  
• Messing with modules – Pete Dollimore
  
• Peat-free soil blocks – Sam Eglington
  
• Woodchip growing media – Tolly’s experiences.
  
• Gross profit analysis - Sam Eglington on planning production to make a profit.
  
• Apprenticeship corner – David Wright on the apprenticeship seminar weekend at Hankham Organics.
  
• Grower.profle:.Alex Armstrong from Argyll.
  
• Weeding before the crop - Tim Deane on controlling seedling weeds.
  
• Planning review thesis. Roger Hitchings reviews thesis on the future of Low Impact Developments
  
• Protected early beetroot – Jenn Booth & Russell Haigh on glasshouse beetroot production.
  
• Allium leaf miner – beware! Phil Sumption on the spread of this pest and how to minimise its impact.
  
• Letters – Ru Litherland on Luddites and Charles Dowding on the Soil Association
  
• Comment from Stuart Pattison – Whither biofuels.
  
• Events for growers.

The Organic Grower No.17 (Winter 2011) has been mailed and should be with you before Christmas.

In this issue you can look forward to:

• News: Market, business, policy, research and more.
• Schofeld scribbles: Chairman's comment.
• Organic horticulture in Wales one year on from the conference at CAT - Tony Little
• Selling Organic  - Mark Waugh reports on the OF&G conference.
• RZ/Tuckers open days - Kate Collyns reports from the variety demos in Devon.
• Soil Association National Horticultural symposium - full coverage of this important event.
• Fancy a slice of the research pie? Wendy Seel puts the case for growers to get involved in research.
• Building your own home.Part.2  - Roger Hitchings gives an advisors perspective to the planning process.
• European organic seed workshop
• OGA seed and substrate survey - results of our survey plus the seed and substrate companies' responses.
• Field scale organic potato production in Devon - Ian Noble from South Devon Organic Producers outlines their approach.
• IOTA study tour to Southern Germany, looking at farm diversification projects. Ulrich Schmutz and Gemma Sutton.
• Growers and the fnancial crisis - Jonathan Smith on the implications for growers of the unfolding crisis.
• Cutting down your greenhouse gas emissions and growing your energy resilience - Adam Twine.
• Growing glasshouse fertility - Pete Dollimore on green manuring for protected cropping.
• Phil Stocker - departing words - More sheep than shallots.
• Apprenticeship corner. Emma Heseltine on the recent apprenticeship seminars.
• Grower profle - Kate Collyns of Grown Green.
• Nature notes:Chicory blues - Tim Deane writes.
• CSA conference -  Ben Raskin
• Biochar - Soil improver & growing media. Craig Sams and Simon Manley of Carbon Gold.
• Inputs - let the buyer beware. Comment piece from Tim Deane.
• Events programme.

Contributors required!

We welcome ideas for articles, news items that might be of interest to other growers, comment pieces and more. At the moment we are particularly keen to source technical articles on how to grow particular crops. They don't have to be definitive, just ways you have found that work for you.  If you think you might be able to write us any of the following then please get in touch! The deadline for the next issue (OG17) is November 15th for December mailing, but we are also looking for features for OG18 (deadline February 15th for March mailingand beyond!)

• Garlic, how to grow and store successfully
• Growing cut herbs - what grows and sells well, harvesting and marketing
• Growing fennel - what are the secrets? Have you developed a successful continuity programme, including early and late tunnel crops. What varieties, etc?
• Beetroot - from early bunching beet to maincrop storage - what works well for you?

Plus any of the following:

• Hows' your season gone? Successes and failures, surprises and discoveries.
• Book reviews  -Have you seen any books you think we should be reviewing?
• Weeds - got a particular weed you want to write about or extoll the virtues of?

If there's anything you want to see in the magazine but don't feel able to write it let us know and we'll try and find someone who can!

Phil

The Organic Grower No.16 (Autumn 2011) was mailed out in early September. In this issue we have:

• News  - market, business, researchand more.
• Wakelyns Agroforestry open day report by Tony Little
• Seasonal reports  - How's the season been so far?
• Interview with Rob Haward  - new Riverford MD
• Sárvári Research Trust open day - latest in blight resistant potao and tomato breeding
• Peat-free growing media  - Julia Lehmann reports from trials at The Irish Organic Centre
• Sciarid flies  - how to deal with this problematic pest of propagation houses, including growing your own biological control.
• Nature notes: Soil Associations  - Tim Deane writes.
• Johnny’s six-row seeder - a practical guide to using it by Pete Dollimore
• Docks - keeping them in check  - Iain Tolhurst
• Building your own house  -Five case studies from growers who've built houses on their land.
• Simple inexpensive storage  - Will Johnson of Canalside Community Food on storing crops without electricity.
• Bees on your holding  - Phil Chandler author of The Barefoot Beekeeper writes. Plus Tony Norman's beekeeping story.
• Growing for caterers  - David Frost on a Horticulture Wales initiative.
• Profile: Glebelands City Growers
• Growing raspberries  - Sam Eglington, Sian Fromant and Stella Cubison.
• Apprenticeship corner  - report from Share Farming event at Feldon Forest farm
• Agrokruh -growing in circles  - an innovative system for growing vegetables, pioneered in Slovakia.
• Corporate organics  - comment by Adam York
• Events diary.

We are keen to hear how the season is going for you - whether it is a report on the market, pest and disease issues, weather woes or bumper yields. Send us your seasonal update including photos if possible to psumption@gardenorganic.org.uk by August 26th and we'll do our best to publish it in the next Organic Grower (OG16).

The Organic Grower No.15 has been mailed out (23rd June). If you haven't received your copy in a few days let us know (or check your subscription!).

In this issue we have:

• News - standards, policy, markets, research
• The OGA AGM report and Naida launch
• Helen Browning interview
• How’s the season going? Your seasonal updates
• Nature notes: Water, weeds and consciousness - Tim Deane
• Irrigation  - Pete Dollimore gives some tips for installing and using irrigation systems in glasshouses and tunnels.
• Anaerobic digestion: the potential for horticulture. Large scale and micro AD
• Renewable energy - Patrick Lynn gives an overview of the opportunities and his own experiences of installing a wind turbine
• Broccoli and calabrese continuity - Delfland Nurseries
• Grower Profile: Wendy Seel
• Apprenticeship corner: Re-skilling weekend and Reclaim the Fields
• From Germany to Scilly - Katrin Bader
• Raising finance - The options and growers experiences of how they did it.
• Presentation quality - Would your mum buy it? Tony Little gives some tips on producing and presenting quality veg.
• Seed saving for growers  - Vicki Cooke of Garden Organic's Heritage Seed Library.
• Participatory certification  - Jenny Griggs of Climate Friendly Food
• Farmer participatory research  - David Gibbon
• Book reviews
• Letters
• Events  

We are keen to hear from you as to how the season has been so far. How's the market situation? How have you been managing with the drought (or rain, depending on where you are...)? Any surprises or stories to pass on? Please get them to Phil Sumption  by Sunday 5th June and we will try our best to include them in the summer edition of The Organic Grower (OG15)

The Spring 2011 issue of The Organic Grower has been mailed and you should have received your copy by now.

In this issue we have 44 pages packed with news, advice and comment:

Soil Association protected cropping consultation - report on the second phase
Defra peat consultation - news comment and the OGA response
News - policy, planning, research, business and pest news!
Organic Producer Conference – selected highlights from the OGA sessions and more.
Passing on experience - Jonathan Smith
Finding land - Adam York/Lesley Bryson
Care farming feature – Growing Well and Fir Tree Community Growers
Making a dibber peg board - step by step guide - Pete Dollimore
Welsh growers’ meeting - Tony Little
Organics in the Baltic Sea – Ben Raskin
Soil Association conference - Science and Society, Future Farming and Market places of tomorrow.
Organic cut flowers – Arjen Huese
Profile: Trill Farm Garden
Growing chicory - Charles Dowding
Apprenticeship corner
Growing in northern Germany - Isabeau Meyer-Graft and Phil Sumption
Letters
Nature notes: Pheasants, predators and penguins
Book reviews -Meat – a benign extravagance, Return to resistance and Pest and Disease Management
Events list
 

The Winter 2010 issue of The Organic Grower (No.13) has just been published and if you are a member you should have received your copy by now.

In this issue we have 44 pages packed with news, advice and comment:

Community spirit - editorial.

News relevant to organic growers - market news, organic bounce back? ACOS, research news, Rowie's melons and more.

Workwear - what the organic grower is wearing! OGA members write and sketch!

Dutch conference reports - Organic Greenhouse Horticulture by Ulrich Schmutz, Connecting Organic by Phil Sumption

GRAB- Groupe de Recherche en Agriculture Biologique - France's only dedicated organic research centre in Avignon. Phil Sumption

Nature's Nitrogen - Dr. Bruce Knight of Legume Technology tells us all about innoculants.

Re-skilling weekend. Kate Collyns reports from the organic apprenticeship get-together in West Wales.

Compost or green manures? Charles Dowding questions the prevailing orthodoxy.

Community Supported Agriculture - 8 page feature includes an in-depth look at Chagfood by Chinnie Kingsbury, profiles of Stroud Community Agriculture, Camel CSA, Community Harvest Whetstone, Exeter Community Agriculture and Canalside Community Food. There is also a write-up of the OGA/SA Growing Well event in Cumbria in November by Julia Sayburn.

Weed profile - creeping thistle. Tim Deane gives a growers perspective on this troublesome weed.

Composting woodchips - experience and advice from Iain Tolhurst.

Growing shallots from seed - Alan Schofield recommends it.

Blight resistant potatoes. Reports from the Sarvari Research Trust on their open day by Laura Creen and Bioselect by Phil Sumption.

Carbon footprinting - what every grower should know! Tony Little and Laurence Smith try to make sense of it all.

Access to land. Jonathan Smith covers this thorny issue.

The price of success - comment from organic historian Philip Conford.

Nature notes. the hornet drum by Tim Deane.

Review of Richard Mabey's latest book - Weeds.

Issue 6 is available for FREE download at the bottom of this page

Each issue is packed full of useful material, written by growers for growers. Reports from the field, variety trials, tractor duffers, marketing, politics and jokes, it's all there to enjoy and inspire.

To give a further flavour below is an editorial piece from Issue 1;

"The OGA came into being with the approval of the fifty or so growers present at the Cirencester conference in December. Now, after six months of detail and deliberation, it is ready to show itself to the world. As well as this magazine there will be farm walks, an AGM and other opportunities for growers to get together, for our enlightenment and our entertainment. Also, somewhere on the information super-highway, is now an active website. Less immediately obvious, but certainly no less important, we have a growers’ organisation to keep watch on all matters affecting the business of organic growing.

The OGA is about representation and about organic horticulture having the means to speak for itself, something it has not been able to do since sometime back in the last century. Growers don’t need persuading of the uniqueness of their craft - we know there is nothing else like it, and that it takes a grower to understand growing, and growers. The OGA is about communication and the exchange of information, through which there is nothing really to be lost and much that can be gained. Beyond that it’s about support. Or, as that word is now debased by overuse, let’s say fellowship. We can preserve our differences, but there is a lot to be said for recognising common ground and for drawing strength from that which we share.

It has been suggested that the OGA is in some way a splinter group, even a divisive force. The organic movement is not and never has been in any way homogenous, so in that sense splintering doesn’t come into it. Better that we should be celebrating its continuing diversity! Within it or abutting on it are many organisations, none of which can be said to speak for growers, but any and all of which the OGA will be glad to speak with. There are somewhere around 600 registered organic fruit and vegetable producers in the U.K. (an educated guess). This is not a big number to get noticed in “the industry” scheme of things - all the more reason to stand up for ourselves. On the other hand organic horticulture has long led organic practice in development and innovation, and is indeed the wellspring of the whole phenomenon of the organic market today. Its importance and influence far outweigh the small proportion of organic land that it occupies, while due to the diversity of its practices it rests on a body of knowledge and experience hard for non-growers to appreciate.

For all these reasons we believe that organic horticulture deserves its own organisation, and that growers can only benefit from its existence. If you haven’t joined yet - join now!

The Organic Grower is first and foremost for the education and entertainment of the members of the Organic Growers Alliance. Substance will be of more importance than style. We recognise that presentation is important, but like growers everywhere we must work within our resources. Its primary aim is to keep you up to date with what’s happening in organic horticulture generally (and in OGA in particular) and to communicate technical information - thus we have reports on, for example, the HDC, variety trialling and the apprenticeship scheme, while Charles Dowding and Phil Sumption give us the lowdown on salad bags and crop covers respectively. We will not forget the human side - in this issue Scott Sneddon tells us about his burgeoning holding on the edge of the Peak District. Nor will we neglect the wider context in which we work - so Iain Tolhurst gives his thoughts on the issues highlighted by the Soil Association’s Cardiff conference and on what they mean for growers. From time to time we will also look at organic production beyond our shores, both for what we might learn and perhaps to help us see our own lives in proportion. First off, Jan Deane gives a snapshot of what being organic means in Bosnia.

There is more within. Have a look! We welcome all interested readers. As a grower magazine we particularly welcome all who are stimulated to share their practical insights and experience with us. Letters, news items, articles or just ideas for articles - we will be glad of them all".