News

The world’s most widely used insecticides will be banned from all fields within six months, to protect both wild and honeybees that are vital to crop pollination.

The European Union will ban the world’s most widely used insecticides from all fields due to the serious danger they pose to bees. The ban on neonicotinoids, approved by member nations on Friday, is expected to come into force by the end of 2018 and will mean they can only be used in closed greenhouses.

The fruitID.com project has announced that following the success of their schemes in 2016 and 2017, they are offering DNA analysis of Apple, Pear and Cherry fruit trees for 2018 at £26 plus VAT per sample. The world-renowned research organisation NIAB-EMR at East Malling in Kent, will provide the DNA analysis through their laboratory, East Malling Services Ltd: the National Fruit Collection will review the results; and Peter Laws of fruitID.com will administer the scheme.

To help address some of the common questions around the current review process of the site at Ryton, below are a selection of the questions we have been asked in recent weeks, with our responses.

If you have any queries not covered here, or want to let us know your view, please do continue to send them to questions@gardenorganic.org.uk.

Everything has started to come to life this month and Chris can now begin to see both his allotment and balcony flourish with life and colour. It's all go too for his role as Head of Organic Horticulture with a host of exciting events coming up including Gardeners World Live...