News

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In an extraordinary move, the government has withdrawn the ban on metaldehyde slug pellets.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.

For the sheer joy and beauty, nothing beats a bunch of flowers. But it's important to think about flowers as we do food - buying seasonal and locally-grown blooms, instead of imports with dubious provenance and a large carbon footprint.

Under EU regulations, any genetically modified (GM) ingredients in our food have to be listed on the packaging. But, as we prepare to leave the EU, our right to make an informed choice about what we are buying and eating is under threat.

The Royal Society for the Arts has presented it's final report on Food, Farming and the Countryside. It argues that "The actions we take in the next ten years, to stop ecosystems collapse, to recover and regenerate nature and to restore people’s health and wellbeing are now critical."

An exciting new paper from Sussex University asks the government to consider radical changes in approaches to food growing. In We are all farmers now, Prof Dave Goulson argues that small scale growing – in gardens, allotments and small holdings – is the future for sustainable food growing.

At the end of 2018, the Garden Organic Board of Trustees set an ambitious Five Year Strategic Plan for the charity. As part of this strategy, we will be exploring a number of potential opportunities to widen access to our organic horticultural knowledge.

As from this month, the poisonous slug pellets containing metaldehyde have been withdrawn from sale. From now on, in the UK, you can only buy pellets containing ferric phosphate. Many of these have been designated as being suitable use for use in organic gardening. This is a triumph for organic growers, who have long campaigned for the ban of toxic metaldehyde.