Our Philosophy

We do not see why "organic" has to be more expensive as you do not have to buy chemicals - maybe you get a lower productivity. For the small producer It does cost a lot annually to pay for "organic" status from the soil association which is why we decided not to go for it, at least not yet, but we will behave as if we were certified.

We believe in what is termed "organic" in other words a system of growing plants wihout the use of chemicals such as pestacides, herbicides (weed killers) and fungicides. It also involves a 4 year crop rotation which reduces the soil nutrient depletion and disease build-up. Green manures and mulch are used when the soil is not needed for anything else.

Healthy soil is the key point!  Feed the soil not the plant.

Look to Nature for inspiration - when autumn comes or a plant dies the remains stay where they were providing mulch and the nutrients taken to build the plant break down to replenish the soil.  So wherever possible leave the remains of each plant after harvest or during cultivation so the very stuff that was taken from the soil goes back in.
That's not always possible as looks untidy, can encourage disease eg clubroot in Brassicas (cabbage, turnip, cauliflower, sprouts, broccoli) and pests eg. Slugs love to live under things.
The Legume family (beans, peas & lentils) or as it is now to be called Fabaceae are particularly good to leave till completely dry as their dying roots release nitrogen fixing compounds allowing the next crop access to it.

Mulch - a thick layer over the ground (preferably not touching the plant) keeps weeds from growing, retains warmth and moisture and slowly  composts to release nutrients to the soil. Materials to use include well rotted compost, straw, bracken, seaweed, wood chips (composted) newspaper, cardboard, green manures (plants grown to cover soil so weeds have less chance) even stones. 

A downside is that it can be somewhere for slugs to live.

Comfrey whole books have been written on the use of comfrey, some say it's the only fertiliser you'll ever need, you can make tea or juice. It is a compost accellerator, a mulch, a slug attractor (leave a leaf near the lettuces and the slugs will go for that instead of the lettuce) personally I'm not sure anything helps with slugs maybe other than reducing their hiding places.

Slugs live under and behind things, my methods so far seem to be breeding them at an alarming rate - all the paper / straw gives them lovely places to hide, I will persevere and concentrate on plants they don't like or keep seedlings safe till they are big enough to handle to slugs. 

Encourage their predators such as birds, frogs and hedgehogs by providing habitats.

New Zealand flat worm is a very real problem in this area a bad infestation can decimate the native worm population again try to reduce their habitat - avoid things especially plastic lying around and keep your worms well fed with lots of decaying matter in the soil (mulch).

The  beds are laid out partly according to the 4 season harvest.  long narrow beds which you can easily step over and reach from both sides. They are all running from west to east thereby getting maximum sun and minimal wind. The patches are surrounded with wooden posts and wind break or scaffolding netting which further reduce the wind and help keep out the rabbits and deer, unfortunately they probably stop hedgehogs and frogs too.
Make the most of what you've got - Instead of buying something new we look for free things to use which might otherwise go to landfill.
For example hoops for cloches made from old plastic pipe and lengths of wire, the first polytunnel made very cheaply using a gazebo frame from Protech