Reducing plastics use

We are using and developing a ‘no plastic’ system that uses soil blocks to grow all the seedlings in. The soil is put into a press and then squeezed out into cubes that don’t need a pot to keep their shape. For more information on soil blocks and how to make them, click onto this link: https://www.chelseagreen.com/2020/ditch-the-pots-use-soil-blocks/

All our crates that we use are crates that have been donated and would otherwise have gone to waste. They fit 77 blocks in each one and we can fit 36 crates onto one of our 4 benches!

We still use plastics bags to keep our salads fresh and protected. All of our bags are recycled plastic bags. We do not use compostable bags because they’re still quite expensive. When really compostable bags appear that are affordable, we will switch to them.

Chemical free but not certified organic

In general, our practices would adhere to the requirements of a certified organic regime. We do not use any chemical fertiliser or pesticides whatsoever and we practice a long-term organic rotation.

We don’t have organic certification because for us it would be a lengthy and expensive process

We buy in compost and fertilisers and they are all certified organic. We develop part of our compost on site; the photo to the right shows development of our compost pile using piping to introduce air circulation and prevent the need for turning the compost. This method is known as the Johnson-Su Bioreactor method.

We only use certified organic seed. Our favourite providers are https://seedcooperative.org.uk/ or https://www.realseeds.co.uk/

Our Greenhouse

The greenhouse uses a small heated area to germinate the seedlings. It is some highly insulated shelving with a heating element in it and a thermostat. We call it the germination chamber. It covers about a 2.5m x 2.5m space. All the watering is automated, which is far more efficient than hand watering. We use mains water for watering because of the extremely large expense in creating high quality rainwater that can be used in the greenhouse. We hope to make a system in the next 5 years that moves onto using rainwater.

We grow plants on an organic rotation system, which is a standard system to prevent disease build up in the soil and to cycle nutrients efficiently. The composts that we add in the field are made at the farm from the animals at the farm and from all the waste organic matter from the market garden.

Tillage

We, as much as possible, adopt a no-tillage practice, alongside keeping the soil covered as much as possible. To learn more about no-till or low-till systems, please clink on this link: https://www.agricology.co.uk/resources/no-till-growers-realising-promise-soil-health-organic-horticulture-part-1-helping-growers