The first concept of growing sea buckthorn at Devereux farm was in 2006. As a coastal farm with experience of tidal flooding in the past there was talk of the risks posed by climate change driven sea level rise. We wanted to find a new crop that would need less land with value added product potential. 18 years later, the threat of sea level rise is not an issue, but the rate of coastal erosion on the shore of our farm at Walton has doubled in the last decade, from 1.5m/year to 3.5m/yr. This is a gradual but irreversible process of losing land to the sea. It is a result of increased extreme weather events and storms in winter. It means that the term living with the sea is becoming ever more real.
Every farm around the country has become more conscious of the importance of soil quality and how much it can improve crop yields, while also delivering wider biodiversity. Agrochemicals have delivered improved crop yields since the 1940s, but it has been at the expense of soil health and damage to the vast diversity of life that contributes to delivering the minerals so important to growing healthy crops. Farming works in long cycles and this year we decided that the time had come for radical change that would help lower the impact of flood risk to the farm as well as starting to allow our soils to recover.
In the farm office there has been a book that was bought years ago, but now has great resonance for our future. Originally published in 1898, this copy came from the 1940s and was probably belonged to my grandfather. Written by Robert Elliot, it is called the Clifton Park System of farming and explains how using multiple grass varieties alongside deep rooting herbs it is possible to make the soil work hard to produce crops with minimal artificial inputs. The concept is simple, but it makes complete sense and so it has become the concept which drove the idea to stop arable crop farming at Walton and put all the fields down to grass as herbal leys and allow the soils to recover. In looking for improving soil health, it also made perfect sense to remove the use of any agrochemicals. Establishing any crop, whether arable or grass always looks to the control of weeds. In accepting that agrochemicals will impact on rebuilding the life in the soils, it was also clear that going organic would provide the discipline that would remove those chemicals from the system. So our farm at Walton has gone organic.
What has this to do with sea buckthorn? The issue is that the new organic farm project is taking up a lot of time and the sea buckthorn project is not a large enterprise that can justify employing help. It has proved to be a difficult crop to grow, its future is in the balance – but as this year we have a crop – we are carrying on. Giving up would be a difficult decision having invested years in trying.
Growing sea buckthorn has been a roller coaster of a project. At first the concept of growing Siberian sea buckthorn varieties seemed the best way forward. The Russian varieties had large yields; big berries; good taste and the plants have few thorns. We have several thousand plants in the ground. The problem has been that in moving them from the extreme climate of Siberia to the mild climate on the Essex coast they have adapted to our climate. This has been gradual but has resulted in crop failure. In 2017 the whole field was covered in berries. Since then, every year they have adapted to our climate by adjusting the period of their pollination. It has moved back earlier and earlier in the year. This has now reached the first week of March when the weather is poor, and the impact on a wind pollinated crop is critical. Poor pollination means a poor crop. So the Siberian plants have now been abandoned.
In 2015 we planted Latvian varieties. These use the same male pollinators we used for the Siberian plants, but the crop matures a month later than the Siberian varieties. The four varieties Goldrain, Sunny, Tatjana and Mary all produced well. With large berries, great taste and good yields these took over from the Siberian plants. In 2023 the crop failed. All it could be put down to was a lack of sunshine to ripen the berries. This year, the progressive rain looked as if there would be a repeat of last year’s issue – but no – we have a crop and it is good. This has been limited to the Goldrain and Sunny. Mary and Tatjana have not cropped well for three years. The plants need a serious prune to let light back into the rows. This will impact on next year’s crop but it should mean a good result for 2026.
So we have some new crop berries for 2024, ready for sale now.
Last year the prices came down reflecting the quality of what was on offer. Electricity costs and other costs rose dramatically, so this year they are coming back up to where they were two years ago.
The courier packaging we switched to in 2023 was a cardboard based system allowing a move away from polystyrene. The cardboard system works when the ambient temperature is low. Small berries tend to thaw fast. The cardboard system has struggled to stop the berries from thawing particularly with smaller orders. Pre-covid couriers offered a guaranteed delivery time, which allowed for fast delivery. This is now no longer an option when sending perishable goods. So we have to take the risk when sending our berries.
I am going to go back to polystyrene boxes for the summer as it is a more reliable system, and will use a more sustainable packaging option as soon as the right.
Thank you for your interest in our sea buckthorn.
David
