Change happens once again, and the laid back month of August comes to an end, but there’s no rest, it’s time to get busy again! Planning for the winter months is always in my thoughts when I feel the first fresh morning in September and I’ve already ordered catalogues to ponder over the seasons ahead.
Are you running a seed swap next year? If so, we will be happy to include the details in our next Heritage Seed Library seed list published in December.
As members and supporters are aware Garden Organic has for some time been seeking to sell its Ryton Gardens site in Coventry.
If you are worried about the level of pesticides in the food you buy, there is a handy list which will help you choose wisely. Compiled by PAN UK, it shows those crops with the highest mix of pesticide residues (the Dirty Dozen) and those with the lowest (Clean Fifteen.)
The popular Garden Organic podcast discusses the tasks for September. Picking and storing, making a garden pond, dealing with tomato blight, and sowing green manures.
Garden Organic's Education Department has been supporting a partnership led by Coventry Public Health and Think Active, with an aim to make a difference to the residents of Foleshill by enabling them to access their local spaces, encourage more physical activity both within and outside of school, and empower parents to participate in fun activities with their children and encourage overall wellbeing.
I always feel in August that we’ve entered the calendar’s equivalent of the doldrums. Fewer people are about and all the real hard graft on the allotment in the earlier part of the year now subsides.
This month we have a bumper harvest of podcasts – not just one, but two! They are both on the theme of organic food. We know it tastes better, especially if you grow it yourself, but is it better for you?
In an extraordinary move, the government has withdrawn the ban on metaldehyde slug pellets.
Despite studies showing metaldehyde poison posing an "unacceptable" risk to birds, fish and mammals, it seems that some commercial growers were not prepared to accept the ban, and took the government to a judicial review, which resulted in the ban being overturned.
Do you find yourself enjoying your organic allotment, but with gritted teeth as your neighbour sprays weedkiller and uses peat-filled compost? The close proximity of allotment sites can be challenging. But it is also a great opportunity for organic growers to share their expertise.