However some crops will also have dual uses, or parts of the plant you may not consider as food can be eaten rather than wasted.  For example any vegetable scrap can be used in a stock pot for soups and stews, including leek tops, onion skins and the tough stalks and ribs of cabbages.  I’ve put together some more uses of common plants, some of which you may have heard of and some you may not – if you have any more then please do leave a comment below.

Courgette flowers

• Both male and female flowers of the courgette can be eaten. You can serve them in a salad or stuff with a cheese (ricotta, mozzarella) and herb filling, then coat in batter and deep fry.

Nasturtiums

• A useful plant for attracting beneficial insects. The flowers and leaves can be eaten in salads, put in vinegar or oil for flavour and colour. The buds can be blanched, pickled then used like capers.  Finally the stems can be used in soups.

Broad beans and Peas

• You can eat young broad beans like mange tout, early in the season, which should encourage the plant to produce more pods.   To prevent both beans and peas from growing upwards usually the tops are pinched out – on both plants this is quite edible and can be lightly fried or used in salads.

Broccoli and Brussel sprout leaves, Turnip tops

• Most plants of the cabbage family have edible leaves.  The young leaves of the turnip can be eaten and are even seen as a delicacy in some parts of the world.
• You can also harvest the leaves of broccoli plants as they are growing, only take a few at a time as taking too many will rob them of the energy to produce good florets.
• Sprout tops make excellent early spring greens, once you’ve harvested the sprouts just let the tops grow for a little longer and use like any other spring green or cabbage.

Beetroot stems

• Beetroot is related to chard and perpetual spinach and all have edible leaves. The younger leaves can be used in salads and the older leaves can be cooked. You can also eat the leaf stems, chop them up finely and add them to a warm salad, soup, stew or casserole.

As luck would have it my partner wanted to move to Devon to do a teacher training course and I looked around for a gardening course I could take.  I found a course that could have been tailor made for me through the Transition Towns Totnes website.  Come that September (2009) we moved to Devon and I embarked on a level 2 Sustainable Horticulture course in Dartington. A year later and I found that I’ve met a fantastic group of friends and my gardening knowledge has expanded no end.   The class was full of mixed abilities from those who’d never grown so much as a carrot to those, like myself, who had been gardening for years.

Now a year on and I’m about to take the level 3 in Sustainable horticulture. There are still places left and you can see the official blurb about it below but what it means to me is-

• A year with very experienced and knowledgeable gardeners, growers and environmentalists
• The chance to undertake a horticultural project that would normally be way out of my price range (one of the students will be studying lab-based micro-propagation)
• Only 10 hours a week so easy to fit around work.
• Gaining skills in landscaping, increasing plant knowledge
• A fun year with fellow students
• More experience in poly-tunnel and greenhouse growing without the need to buy one
• Honing my gardening knowledge even more and gaining a recognised qualification

Places are limited so I would apply sooner rather than later if you are interested.  The fees are waived for anyone on a means tested benefits (like the dole).  Look forward to seeing you there!!

Official Advert for course

Location

Schumacher College, Dartington Estate, Totnes, South Devon

Level Two and Three Courses will enable you to experience working alongside three pioneering horticultural projects on the Dartington Estate: the nationally renowned 21st Century Dartington Hall gardens set in a splendid medieval landscape; School Farm, a community-focussed market garden developing low carbon growing technology and working to organic standards; and the forest garden around the internationally acclaimed Schumacher College, which is successfully demonstrating the potential for ecological land management practices including forest gardening techniques.

What will you do on the course?

• Develop skills, knowledge and understanding towards working in the horticultural industry at a supervisory level
• Provide opportunities for progression into employment or the development of skills, knowledge and understanding through education and training for those working in the horticultural industry
• Provide opportunities to gain nationally recognised Level 3 vocationally related qualifications for potential progression to further learning opportunities at Level 3 or progression to Level 4
• Develop knowledge of the range of opportunities available for those working in the horticultural industry

Level 3 course covers the following modules:

301 Understanding the principles of plant science
351 Understanding the principles of plant science
303 Undertake an investigative project in the Land Based Sector
310 Undertake horticultural production techniques – protected indoors
315 Understand the principles of organic crop production
322 Undertake identification and selection and use of ornamental plants
330 Understand the principles and practices of landscape and garden design

The Sites

School Farm is a community-focussed market garden that is developing low carbon growing technology according to a minimum tillage and low-mechanisation policy and working to bring land back into organic certified status. Growing food and flowers for a local market by engaging the local community as apprentice volunteers and customers is an essential part of the business model and is paving the way for many emerging market gardens across the country.

The nationally renowned 21st Century Dartington Hall gardens are set in a splendid medieval landscape. They have been the centre of an experiment in rural regeneration and horticulture since the 1930s and attract thousands of visitors a year. Wildflower meadows and regenerating orchid populations are among the many features of these gardens that make them an excellent place to learn the skills that will be required by heritage gardeners of the future as we build biodiversity back into our managed landscape and develop ways to grow with less dependence on fossil fuels.

The gardens at the internationally acclaimed Schumacher College are successfully demonstrating the potential for ecological land management practices including forest gardening and permaculture in commercial and domestic horticulture. The importance of forest gardening has recently been the focus of national media attention as it has potential to significantly increase the productivity and biodiversity of our food production systems whilst massively reducing our dependence on fossil fuels.

How do you study the course?

Level 3: Students attend two days a week for Level 3 which combine theoretical with practical education. You will spend at least two half-days a week in supervised practice, working alongside experienced horticulturalists who are leaders in their field. Residential options are available for two to three nights of the week in the Dartington and Totnes area.

What will you do afterwards?

How to grow food in an oil-scarce world is possibly one of the most useful set of skills any young person could be learning and a significant rise in demand is anticipated in the job market. Similarly, there is an increasing demand for ways to manage heritage gardens that are less dependent on fossil fuels and promote biodiversity. Successful students of ‘The Dartington Diploma in Sustainable Horticulture’, Level 2 or 3, will have employable skills and recognised qualifications fit for horticulture in the 21st Century.

Other information

Dartington is one mile from Totnes, a vibrant, small market town, well known for its sustainability initiatives, such as the Transition Town movement, and lively social and cultural scene.

For more information from the Duchy College website, including regarding fees, click here.

To find out more please call 01209 721321 or email Karen Busby Karen.busby@duchy.ac.uk

The easiest way to cram a lot of plants into a small space is to grow them in pots on weather-proof shelves.  Cheap(ish) plastic garden shelving can now be bought from major retailers. However, in my experience these are a false economy as they only have a limited life span – the plastic doesn’t seem to hold up to extremes in temperature and in time they become brittle and start to break.  This is no doubt a ploy by the manufacturers to get us to invest in a new set when they start to deteriorate!

For a very similar price you can buy metal shelving units or if you are a regular visitor to a recycling centre/tip/dump, like me, you may come across metal shelving units for as little as £2 ($3 US, $3.40 AUS). The shelves should allow some air circulation and water to drip down from one tray to the next. Mine contain large perforations (a number of holes punched at regular intervals) but slated shelving should also do the trick.  The shelves also need either tying in place and/or weighed down by placing heavy objects on the bottom shelf.  Clay pots full of soil are sometimes adequate or if the bottom shelf is used for storing heavy items such as bags of potting compost.

Using UV stable plastic covering on your shelves is a perfect way to avoid seedling becoming etiolated (long and leggy) as they reach for the sun on a windowsill.  I’ve found (again) the cheaper shelving units with plastic covering to have a short life span as the zips break and they tend to shrink.  Finding scrap clear plastic from damaged poly-tunnels or again at recycling centres can be a cost effective way to cover your shelving.

As I don’t currently have a plastic covering for my shelving, I use them early in the season to harden off my seedlings slowly swapping them for pot grown summer crops in the warmer months (tomatoes, summer salads, herbs) and winter salads (rocket, mini iceberg lettuces, land-cress) later in the year.

If the shelves are south facing all the crops should get enough sunlight but it might be worth placing tall sun-loving plants on the top shelf (tomatoes, aubergines etc) and shade tolerant plants such as lettuce, parsley and salad greens lower down.  You may find that lower plants do struggle a little but you can always move them up and down in much the same way you would a Sunday roast in the oven.

Wild Cherry – Prunus avium

I watch cherry trees with anticipation all through June waiting to be rewarded by their red or dark purple fruits.  I have found you usually can spot a Cherry tree by the litter of stones and droppings around it indicating that an avian visitor may have just beaten you to your prize.  The small fruits can be slightly bitter due to amounts of cyanide, which can also contained in larger amounts in the seed or pip. For this reason you should never really eat the seed or any exceptionally bitter fruits.  I often mix them with other fruits in season, such as wild strawberry or raspberry in a fruit salad or remove the stones and add them to a smoothie.  My favourite however is to drop them into some cheap alcohol with some sugar and leave them to make alcoholic cherries and a cherry liqueur.

·        Habitat – Edge of fields, around housing estates (especially old council estates), gardens, parks

·        Parts Used – Fruit

Mallow Malva – Silvestris

The common mallow, the tree mallow and the hollyhock all have edible leaves which, as they can taste a little like bland rice paper, benefit from being mixed with other salad leaves in season, such as rocket, sorrel, charlock, jack-by-the-hedge. The leaves of all mallows can be used as an egg substitute and therefore make a useful food for vegans. By June wild mallows are in full flower and their cultivated cousins, the Hollyhock sometimes give their first floral display by the tail end of the month.

Habitat – Gardens, in municipal planting schemes, in parks, waste ground

·     Parts Used – Leaves, immature seed pods

Wild Marjoram/Wild Oregano – Origanum vulgare

‘It’s good on pizza and in soups you know

but is it Marjoram or Oregano?’- Stephen Stranger

There is a lot of confusion over the naming of this plant especially between Europeans and Americans, a little like the Elk and the Moose.  Origanum Vulgare in America is often called Oregano rather than Wild Marjoram but it is by and large the same plant. Botanists have claimed that the name Oregano has been linked to so many varying plants that it should only really describe the flavour rather than the plant itself (1)

Whatever you want to call the plant it goes great on pizza or in most vegetable dishes. It is often better used dried rather than fresh. Drying is easy to achieve by hanging the plant upside down from a window handle.

• Habitat – Gardens, hillsides, edge of paths
• Parts Used – Whole plant

(1) Tucker, Arthur O. and Michael J. Maciarello. 1994. Oregano: botany, chemistry, and cultivation. In Spices, herbs and edible fungi. Edited by G. Charalambous. Elsevier Science.

Elderflower Drinks.

Although we already have an elderflower cordial recipe on our elder article it is one for making it in bulk. I decide that as I have just made a smaller batch of elderflower cordial, some elder flower champagne and our forum is buzzing with talk of elderflower wine it would be good to put up a few recipes here. Elderflower cordial – Elderflower Champagne – Elderflower wine

Elderflower Cordial

An easy to make drink that can be frozen in plastic bottles, leaving room for expansion, so it can be enjoyed all year round. It will keep for almost a month if just bottled, although is best to drink within 2 weeks. To ensure no mould, it is better that you freeze elderflower cordial and it can be enjoyed as a christmas drink.

Ingredients

20 elderflower heads
1 sliced lemon
2 tsp of citric acid (ask at your chemist)
1.5 kg (3.5 lbs) of sugar
1.2 ltr (2.5 pints) boiling water

Method

Boil a kettle for the water.

Fill a bowl or small bucket with all the other ingredients.

Pour the water over the other ingredients and stir until the sugar has dissolved. Skin the surface of the water to get rid of the scum that can arise. Cover with a cloth (mine has a pillow case over it).

Stir twice a day for five days.

Strain though a fine sieve though a fine sieve or through muslin cloth and decant into sterile screw topped bottles. Refrigerate.

As with other cordials dilute with 5 parts water to serve . Experiment with it and add it to some of your favourite spirits. It is really nice as a gin mixer.

Elderflower Champagne

Similar to elderflower presse and another delicious summer drink

Ingredients

8 litres (2 gallons) water
1.25 kg (2.5 lbs/5 cups) sugar
8 large elderflower heads
4 Lemons
4 tablespoons mild white wine vinegar

Method

Boil the water and pour of the sugar to dissolve it.

Cool and add the elderflowers, juice of the two lemons, slices of the other two and the vinegar.

Cover with a cloth and leave for a day.

Strain with a fine sieve or muslin cloth, squeezing the flowers as you do to release more flavour.

Store in screw top bottles.

It will be ready in about 10 days to a fortnight and should be drunk within a month.

Elderflower wine

Ingredients

Grated rind of one lemon
500mls (1 pint) of elderflowers – to obtain this pick or shake of the elderflowers
and place into a measuring jug. Don’t push them down but do shake them down. Be careful not to add any of the bitter green stems.
3.5 litres (8 pints) of boiling water
1.3kg (3 lbs) sugar Juice of one lemon
25g (Half an ounce) yeast

Method

Put lemon rind with the elderflowers and pour over boiling water
Allow to stand for 4 days, stirring occasionally.

Strain through a fine sieve or muslin cloth
Stir in sugar, lemon juice and yeast
Keep at room temperature to ferment, try not to let it go down to 18c (65f)
When you are sure all the bubbling has ceased, stir the wine and allow to settle for 3 days
Strain again carefully
Put in a demijohn (not bottles)
After 3 months maturing, put into bottles

Andy Hamilton

“Now every field is clothed with grass, and every tree with leaves; now the woods put forth their blossoms, and the year assumes its gay attire.” -   Virgil

May certainly feels like the time when England has put its party clothes on with so many tree and plants in blossom. I think that May feels like that excitement before a party, the weather is hotting up, it is almost summer and all the all the expectations of what the next two seasons can bring are laid before us in a truly beautiful floral display.  To explore for yourself and find some food for free why not join us on a forage?

Elderflower Sambucus nigra L

I can’t really write about May wild food and foraging without mentioning elderflower and more to the point elderflower cordial and Champagne There is not much Elderflower around at the start of the May but by the end it’s floral scent can be smelt from hedgerow to parkland and heath to allotment down here in the South of England. The season varies slightly across the country and I have seen elderflower growing as late as July in Edinburgh. More about elderflower…

• Habitat: Waste ground, out of walls, parks.
• Parts used: the flowers (later in the year the berries)

Hawthorn Blossom Crataegus monogyna L

Hawthorn Blossom is known as the symbol of good hope in the language of flowers and the Romans used it as a charm against sorcery placing the leaves on the cradles of new-born infants. It is easy to see why such mythology surrounds hawthorn blossom as it adorns hedgerows up and down the country signifying a real return to warmer weather after the cold winter and early spring months. The blossoms can be picked and look good in a salad, they also make a great tea. Herbalists use hawthorn to treat heart and circulatory problems and traditionally it would be served as a tea.

• Habitat: Parks, edge of old fields, my allotment, the edge of public rights of way.
• Parts used: the young leaves can be used in place of parsley, blossom in tea and later the haw berries can be eaten raw or in jams. *avoiding the pips which contain cyanide!

Herb Robert Geranium robertianum L

If hawthorn blossom heralds the start of summer then herb Robert heralds the start of the weeding season. It seems to pop up all over the place at this time of year. It’s a spreading annual or biennial that grows to about 50cm, its pink/purple flowers often form in pairs and have 5 petals and are about 1cm in diameter. Herb Robert is thought to repel rabbits, support the immune system and has a digestive, sedative, antioxidant actions. It is odd that Herb Robert rarely gets a mention in modern western herbalism and it is certainly worthy of further research.

• Habitat:  As a weed in containers, wasteland, woods, clearings, walls and cracks in pavements.
• Parts used: All but the root.

Alexanders Smyrnium olusatrum L

Grows to about 1.5m tall and has really deep green, three lobed, leaves and yellowy green flowers. Alexanders have a very strong agreeable flavour, I have put them in a glass of water to keep them fresh then drank the water. I had accidentally made a very tasty drink. You can also steam Alexanders and serve with melted butter or add them to a stew. Think celery in a recipe.

There is a warning with Alexanders, it might look pretty different than most other plants to the experienced forager, but to the novice there are many poisonous look alikes that will kill you. Be 110% sure that you know what you are picking.

• Habitat: Hedges, riversides, roadsides and near the sea
• Parts used: The stems and the leaves.

April is a funny month, or at least is has been over the last two years. Just when you think that hot weather is finally coming to stay the heavens can open or an unexpected frost comes and bites you from behind. The gardener can never be sure if he should put out his tender plants for fear of a frost and apart from a few radishes there is not much to harvest, for the forager things are totally different. The foragers larder doors are well and truly opened in this month.

Last year during an April wild food course someone remarked, “There is no hungry gap out here”. So what is out there in April? Below are some of my favourite foods to find growing wild in April.

Wild Garlic/Ramsons Allium ursinum

Wild garlic is also known as Ramsons and can be confused with Lilly of the valley and Autumn crocus so do ensure that you know what you are picking. Remember all foragers are 110% certain before they eat a plant, the rest are dead. Having said that the strong garlic smell should be a big give away.

My favourite way to enjoy the leaves is to make them into a pesto. –

Wild Garlic Pesto

Ingredients

A handful of wild garlic leaves

Cup of olive oil

2 tsp pine nuts

2 tablespoons of parmesan

juice of half a lemon

Seasoning

Roughly chop the wild garlic leaves and add grated Parmesan cheese and chopped pine nuts. Stir in the olive oil then wizz about in a blender for a bit, pour in the lemon juice and sprinkle in the seasoning then give a final wizz in the blender.

Nettle Urtica dioica

The most easy to identify wild food around this month is the nettle.  Pick young tender nettles and try and aim for just the top few leaves. This is not only as the lower leaves can taste gritty but it is always good to leave the rest for wildlife. Species such as the comma butterfly rely quite heavily on the nettle for much of their life-cycle.

Nettles can be used fresh or dried as a cleansing tea, to replace spinach or pop them into a blender with some water strain and have as a vibrant bright green spring tonic.

Those are two of my favourites that are out and about this month but you might also want to look out for fennel, Sorrel, dandelion (leaves and root),  alexanders, hawthorn leaves, lime leaves, St georges mushroom and many more.

To find out more about wild foods you can visit the web forum – www.selfsufficientish.com/forum or you could check out our book – The Selfsufficient-ish Bible or even come on one of our wild food walks in Totnes, Bristol Exeter or Bath or Slapton.  There are walks for every budget including short introductory ones and longer more intensive day courses.

]]> http://www.selfsufficientish.com/main/blog.php/2010/04/18/wild-food-in-april-mid-spring-foraging/feed/ 2 http://www.selfsufficientish.com/main/blog.php/2010/03/14/thinking-about-keeping-bees-by-philip-chandler-of-wwwbiobeescom/ http://www.selfsufficientish.com/main/blog.php/2010/03/14/thinking-about-keeping-bees-by-philip-chandler-of-wwwbiobeescom/#comments Sun, 14 Mar 2010 09:00:29 +0000 admin

Whether you approach it from the point of view of conservation, entomology, crop pollination or simply a love of honey, beekeeping is an engaging pursuit and a fascinating window on the natural world.

So what does it take to become a beekeeper?

The essentials are simple enough: some sort of hive, a hat and a veil, an old, white shirt and some gloves – and at least the tacit agreement of the people who share your living space. It doesn’t matter whether you are a town or a country dweller, so long as there is an abundant and varied supply of flowering plants from early spring onwards. In fact, bees often do better in well-gardened, urban areas than in the ‘green desert’ of modern, industrial farm land.

Judging by the questions potential beekeepers ask me, they have three main areas of concern: the cost of equipment and bees; storage space for spare hive parts and other equipment, and the difficulty of lifting heavy boxes – especially when full of honeycomb.

If you go down the road of ‘conventional’ beekeeping, using the standard ‘National’, the ‘WBC’ or one of the other variants of the ‘movable frame’ hive, then these concerns are very real. You can expect to spend £250-£300 on woodwork and basic equipment; you will need a shed or similar space to store spare parts and you – or someone you can bribe – will need to be able comfortably to lift and carry 15-20 kilos at a time. These three factors discourage people for whom money or space are already tight, and those who have a disability or are simply unable to lift and carry substantial weights.

Luckily, there is an alternative.

Like many British beekeeping novices, I began with a ‘WBC’ hive – the kind with sloped-sided outer boxes familiar from children’s books. Soon, I acquired a couple more and began to realize that if I was to continue along this road, I would have to build myself a big shed in which to house all the spare woodwork and other paraphenalia that was rapidly accumulating – and I would have to find a way to pay for all the ‘extras’ I would soon be needing.

At this point I asked myself – does it really need to be this way? – and that innocent question led me on an exploratory mission of reading, study and experimentation that showed me conclusively that, no – it does not need to be that way: beekeeping does not need to be complicated, expensive or dependent on machine-made parts and equipment.

My search for an alternative approach led me to the top bar hive – one of the oldest and simplest types of beehive – that requires little skill and few tools to build. A good start on the road to sustainable simplicity, but is it a practical hive for modern beekeeping?

After some years of experimenting and testing various designs, I believe I now have a top bar hive design that is easy to build, practical and productive, while being comfortable and easy to use for both the bees and the beekeeper.

So what are top bar hives?

The principle is simple: a box with sticks across the top, to which bees attach their comb. Mine have central, side entrances, sloping sides and a pair of ‘follower boards’ to enclose the colony. There are many variations on this theme and all have the essential guiding principle of simplicity of construction and of management. There are no frames, no queen excluders, no ekes, no mouse guards, no supers, no foundation and there is no need for extractors, settling tanks, filters, de-capping knives… in fact no need for any other equipment or storage space, other than that provided within the hive itself. And if you have just spent an hour leafing through suppliers’ catalogues, wondering how you can possibly afford to keep bees, that will come as some relief!

Building a top bar hive is no more difficult than putting up shelves and can be done using hand tools and recycled wood. Top bar beekeeping really is ‘beekeeping for everyone’ – including people with disabilities, bad backs, or a reluctance to lift boxes: there is no heavy lifting once your hives are in place, as honey is harvested one comb at a time. From the bees’ point of view, top bar hives offer weatherproof shelter, the opportunity to build comb to their own design – without the constraints of man-made wax foundation – and minimal disturbance, thanks to a ‘leave well alone’ style of management.

So where do you get bees from?

You can buy them or catch them, or if you are lucky, they will adopt you! Catching or luring a swarm is by far the most fun – and much easier than you might think. Bees swarm in response to their instinct to reproduce – mostly in spring and early summer – and the sight of a swarm in flight is certainly impressive. However, contrary to popular belief, this is the time when they ar least likely to sting you: their only concern at that moment is to find a new place to live. So if you offer them the right sort of accommodation at the right time – such as a pleasant-smelling, cosy beehive – they are very likely to move in of their own accord. Many people become beekeepers by enticing a passing swarm using a few drops of citronella or lemon grass oil, or better still, rubbing the inside of the hive with pure beeswax.

Capturing a swarm is not difficult either – hold a basket or cardboard box under their football-sized cluster on a tree branch and give a good shake! It is not always as easy as that, but it is rarely as difficult as getting a cat out of a tree.

If you think you want to keep bees, I suggest you first get to know a local beekeeper who is willing to let you visit and handle their bees. Most beekeepers’ associations have ‘meet the bees’ days during the spring, giving newcomers a chance to see inside a hive and test their responses to being surrounded by bees.

And stings? Yes, you will get stung from time to time, however careful you are. Local swelling, redness and itching is a normal reaction: faintness, breathing difficulties and collapse are true allergic symptoms and are potentially life-threatening. Most people who keep bees become less sensitive to stings over time, but sometimes it goes the other way and occasionally an experienced beekeeper may suddenly become allergic. So if you have any reason to suppose you may be sensitive to bee venom (only about one in 200 people are) be sure to carry Benadryl or an Epipen (adrenaline injection) or ensure that whoever you are with is properly equipped to deal with an emergency.

Bees are in trouble right now – from pesticides, industrial farming, pollution, parasitic mites and viruses – and we need all the ‘natural’ beekeepers we can get to build up their numbers and give them a chance to solve their own problems. So, if you want to keep bees, build yourself a hive before the swarm season, and you could be tasting your own honey by the end of the summer!

Philip Chandler

www.biobees.com

(Please note the following is a press release from Defra, however selfsufficientish 100% agree that every gardener should go peat free)

A new, younger generation of ‘Good Life’ gardeners has emerged through the recession, according to research released today by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) but they may be unwittingly harming the environment by using peat products. Those in their thirties are leading a new trend for grow-your-own vegetables – in fact, two-thirds of people between 30 and 39, are planning to turn their hand to growing their own vegetables this year, in comparison to 53% of those in their 40s, and 56% of those in their 50s.¹

However, many gardeners are not aware that irreversible damage to some of the country’s most valuable habitats and wildlife is being done by buying compost that contains peat.  Barely a third of gardeners are aware of the serious environmental issues surrounding the use of peat and many don’t realise that most multi-purpose composts and growbags contain peat.[1]

Peat is a valuable natural resource formed over many hundreds and thousands of years. The UK’s lowland raised peat bogs (from which peat is extracted for horticultural use) are home to many rare animals and plants, as well as offering unrivalled protection for valuable historic artefacts and archaeological remains.

When peat is harvested for use in growing media like multi-purpose compost and growbags, it not only damages these habitats but also releases greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Just under half a million tonnes of carbon dioxide is emitted into the atmosphere each year as a result of peat extraction from UK sites alone; that’s comparable to the total emissions of over 100,000 homes.2

But there is hope – almost four in five of us (78%) say that if they knew more about the damage caused by peat extraction, they would stop using products containing it1.

To help gardeners learn more about the perils of peat-based compost and encourage them to buy peat-free alternatives, Defra is teaming up with celebrity garden designer Diarmuid Gavin who has produced a helpful video about the benefits of using peat-free compost when planting.

Diarmuid says,

“Consumers’ concern about what they can personally do to help protect the environment is at a record high. However, people often struggle to find easy ways to make a big difference. Using peat-free compost in the home and garden is one of the simplest, yet most effective ways that people can make a positive environmental impact and reduce their carbon footprint.

“For most uses in the garden (e.g. pots, growbags, hanging baskets, digging into or tidying up flowerbeds) peat-free alternatives are just as good as peat-based compost, and they don’t lead to the loss of our valuable peat bogs. We hope that this campaign will prove to gardeners that you can have blooming good results with environmental friendly peat-free products.”

Secretary of State for the Environment Hilary Benn said:

‘Most people are unaware that peat has such a significant environmental impact – not just on the depletion of a natural resource that takes hundreds and thousands of years to form and the release of CO2 emissions into the atmosphere, but also in damaging valuable habitats for animals, plants and insects.’

‘With high quality alternative composts on the market these days, there is no reason for gardeners not to ‘go peat free’ and still enjoy a beautiful garden.’

For more information on Defra’s Peat-Free campaign visit, www.direct.gov.uk/buyingcompost

[1] One Poll Survey, over the period 27028 Jan 2009, 2000 respondents

² The UK’s Greenhouse Gas Inventory records emissions of 420,000 tonnes a year for peat extraction from UK sites. However, 57% of the peat that we use in the UK is imported, mainly from the Republic of Ireland and the Baltics.

Well this year I advise you do some research before sowing your seed and make sure you know where it is coming from.  Over the last few years Monsanto have been buying up seed companies all over America and the rest of the world. One such company is Seminis who use smaller companies to distribute their seeds – I have included a list below.

***I have to make an apology here as I was contacted by one of the companies I’d previously listed as being owned by Monsanto as they had threatened me with legal action!!! – The new list I have included below is a list of distributors for Seminis seeds and NOT companies owned by Monsanto***

In other words the list of companies (below) distribute seeds from many companies including Seminis who are owned by Monsanto  – so in effect they are selling Monsanto seeds.  I’ve taken the following from Seminis’s own website – the choice of whether to buy from them or not is entirely up to you.  As the person who contacted me was adamant he had no dealings with Monsanto I have just taken the follow information from the Seminis/Monsanto website and I do not accept any responsibilty for the information I am mearly posting a link to it.

“Seminis does not sell directly to home gardeners; however, many of our products are available to consumers from U.S. and Canadian mail order and packet seed companies. The vendors below carry our newest products:”

Burpee, W Atlee
300 Park Ave.
Warminster, PA 18974
Ph: (215)674-4900
Fax: (215)674-0838

Dege Garden Center
831 N Century Ave.
St Paul, MN 55119
Ph: (651) 739-8314
Fax: (651) 739-8326

E & R Seed Co.
1356 E. 200 S.
Monroe, IN 46772

Earl May Seed
208 N. Elm St.
Shenandoah, IA 51603
Ph:(712) 246-1020
Fax:(712) 246-1760

Garden Trends
355 Paul Rd.
Rochester, NY 14624
Ph: (716) 295-3600
Fax: (716) 295-3609

Gardens Alive
5100 Schenley Place
Lawrenceberg, IN 47025
Ph: (812) 537-8650
Fax: (812) 537-5108

Germania Seed Co.
5978 N. Northwest Hwy
Chicago, IL 60631
Ph: (773) 631-6631
Fax: (773) 631-4449

Johnnys Selected Seeds
955 Benton Ave.
Winslow, ME 04901
Ph: (207) 861-3900
Fax: (207) 861-8381

J.W. Jung Seed Co.
335 S. High St.
Randolph, WI 53956
Ph:(920) 326-3121
Fax:(920) 326-5769

Lindenberg Seeds
803 Princess Ave.
Brandon, Manitoba
Canada R7A 0P5
Ph: (204) 727-0575
Fax: (204) 727-2832

Mountain Valley Seed
1800 South West Temple #600
Salt Lake City, UT 84115
Ph: (801) 486-0480
Fax: (801) 467-5730

Nichols Garden Nursery
1190 North Pacific Hwy
Albany, OR 97321
Ph: (541) 928-9280
Fax: (541) 967-8406

Park Seed
Hwy 254 N.
Greenwood, SC 29647
Ph:(864) 223-8555
Fax:(864) 941-4206

Rocky Mountain Seed Co.
6541 N. Washington
Denver, CO 80229
Ph: 303-623-6223
Fax: 303-623-6254

T & T Seeds, Ltd.
Box 1710
Winnipeg, Manitoba
Canada R3C 3P6
Ph: (204) 895-9964
Fax: (204-895-9967

Tomato Growers Supply
P.O. Box 720
Fort Myers, FL 33902
Ph:(941) 768-1119
Fax:(941) 768-3476

Willhite Seed Co.
PO Box 23
Poolville, TX 76487
Ph: (817) 599-8656
Fax: (817) 599-5843

End Note -

Alternativly you can just avoid buying seed altogether and save your seed.  Take a look at this video

Or here’s a website which talks about saving seed

Kids in the Garden

Not being a father makes it difficult to give this book a truly objective review. This troubled me somewhat, especially as I now generate the majority of my tiny income from writing and know how useful a review can be.  So, to do it justice I tried to think back across the decades, back to when I was a child.  I used to like the Mr Men, and love Dr. Seuss but I could not remember liking gardening books. I was interested in the outdoors and gardening, but back then books were aimed firmly at adults.  Or at least I never came across a gardening book aimed at me.

I have often wondered about writing a book that is both for adults and children, thinking that it would be very useful. Essentially this is what Kids in the Garden is trying to do. The big question is, does it work? There are jokes throughout, some of which I even found funny – “What’s a ghosts favourite berry? Goo-berries”. Ok, perhaps I don’t have the best sense of humour. Perhaps, instead I should focus on the little tit-bits of facts that pepper the book. These I liked and I learned something new.  I found out that in India chilli peppers are hung over doors to ward off evil spirits and the fastest bean is the runner bean.

To say that this book is just full of dubious jokes and a few facts would be to give it a disservice. I was pleasantly surprised to find it was also full of good, sound advice.  The usual suspects of plants are mentioned but what really stood out was that the advice and information was beyond what you would expect to find in a kids book, therefore managed to step away from the easy trap of being patronizing.

The book is not for the seasoned gardener, although they will learn something (I did). What I think it is, is the sort of book you buy for your sister, friend, or anyone else who has kids, a garden and commits the unforgivable crime of not growing anything. I think it will encourage children to engage with where their food comes from and afford them a healthier diet, which can’t be a bad thing. So, to answer my own question, yes it does work.

Blackdog publishing have also kindly offered all selfsufficientish readers a massive 40% discount on this book -email jess@blackdogonline.com, quoting ‘Self Sufficientish Offer to get yours!