Author: britishseabuckthorn

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Change for the better

britishseabuckthorn

Weather forecasting must be a thankless task. This week frosts matured into snow. Snow that presenting a wintery countryside scene for a day before returning to cold but not freezing conditions. Mixed in with this came flood warnings. The potential of a serious surge tide coming down the North Sea and overtopping sea walls as happened in 2013.

Memories of the great 1953 floods are still alive in older generations in the area. These recent surge tides are testing  our sea walls even though they are much higher at 5m than they were the 1950s. It was with mixed emotions as I walked our wall on Wednesday this week, wondering how we would react to the sea overtopping these walls and flooding the farm. The predicted tide level was the highest in the month at 4.25m. Predicted levels are calculated forecasts. Tides, like weather are subject to many variables of the regional/local climatic conditions. Surge tides are created from this soup mixture of conditions and form a body of water that increases the tide height over the predicted level. The flood warning that we had for mid week this month was based on a real surge but the one thing that turns a incident into a disaster is timing. Thankfully the surge came down the coast adding nearly a metre to the height of the tide – but it reached us at the time of normal low tide. A huge sigh of relief and another escape from the wrath of nature.

This tidal event came in the same week as a GeoEssex event at the new visitor centre on the Naze at Walton on the Naze. This brought together amateur geologists who have a deep knowledge of our local area. This had a real relevance for our farm as the cliffs on the Naze present a natural barrier that holds the North Sea out of our low lying land. These cliffs are full of fossils and their complex geology has gained them the designation of a Geological Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). The downside of this is the issue that geologists want to see the cliffs continually erode so that the geological strata laid down millions of years ago are exposed to reveal fossil content providing research material that indicates our past deep history.

To many local residents, the concept of allowing the cliffs to fall into the sea is upsetting. Our local landscape is special. This erosion has been happening for thousands of years, but now it seems that our generation will see the last of the Naze disappear altogether if nothing is done to slow the process.

The GeoEssex event was therefore one that could have been a standoff between those who want to see “our” cliffs disappear, and those who was to retain their local landscape heritage.

As it turned out, it was a fascinating day. Fossil collecting on the Naze had started as long ago as the 12th century. The Naze is renown for fossil shark’s teeth, but the early collectors were finding the remains of hippopotamus; rhino; tiger and elephant. Animals of a semi tropical fauna completely alien to our recognition of our  environment today. There have been internationally important collections of bird fossils sourced from the clays beneath the cliffs – revealed only because of the erosive tides. The whole concept that this area was originally part of the floodplain of the ancient rivers Thames and Medway when the North Sea was still land is hard to grasp. But presentation after presentation revealed more detail on the size, scale, timeframe of the development of these ancient landscapes into how we see our land today. As a result I can now see our desire to preserve our landscape differently.

Nature is a powerful agent – as we saw this last week with the threat of the surge tide. It is dynamic. Over millenia our land has seen sea levels rise and fall hundreds of feet in depth, completely changing the landmass we know today. This is not something we can change. We can try to retain the bits we cherish with rock sea defences but in reality, over the next few thousand years natural forces will determine the size and shape of our country.

But having said that – reality is now.  The heartening thing that came out of the GeoEssex event – as with the Oxford Real Farming conference the previous week, was the way that people of different opinions come together to discuss, debate and find ways of working together for a common good.

The new year has already started in a similar theme in the sea buckthorn community. Sea buckthorn is largely know for its berries, but growers have long known that the leaf contain rich and valued nutrients. Across Russia, China and the Himalayan region the leaf has traditionally been used for tea. In September 2016 I was asked by german colleagues to dry the leaves from my Siberian, Latvian and German varieties of sea buckthorn plants so they could be analysed. This project was to assess their polyphenol content compared to leaves from other growers. The results are now developing and indicating that the high levels of nutrients are similar from different locations. The challenge now is to see how we can use the leaves. Although leaves have been used for centuries evidence needs to be provided to satisfy both UK and EU Regulation that leaf is safe and offers the health benefits suggested from traditional use . As with the group co-operation that has formed from the GeoEssex meeting on the Naze – so sea buckthorn growers, processors and researchers from here; northern Europe, Scandinavia, Russia, China and US are coming together with knowledge from experience and research in true co-operation. It is what humans do best.

I hope that in the political world those who will be deciding future relationships between countries across the world will also find a similar spirit of co-operation. We might not be able to change the course of nature, but surely we can ensure that we can live together and make change work for the better.

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Climate change focus for the New Year

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Time flies is a ridiculous saying, but as the new year cranks into reality it is clear this is to be a productive year. Fieldwork may be progressing methodically – strimming the last few rows of weeds; planting out new plants, staking those that need straightening. Routine but all important to give the plants a good start to the year.

We continue to have little rain. When planting in my soil I dig out a metre square of top soil, then use a fork to break up the subsoil down another 250/300cm. The soil at that level is now hard as nails – as dry as I would expect in July. To plant new plants into this soil without cracking the subsoil will deprive the plants of any chance of getting tap roots down into the lower water table. This period of lack of rain is like last spring’s extended period of rainfall. These extremes are difficult to manage but if they are a sign of the future, management tools will become an essential.

Last year the german sea buckthorn crop was effected by low rainfall. German sea buckthorn agronomists have for some time being promoting the idea of irrigating sea buckthorn to encourage better growth and yield. I have resisted the idea as I believe pumping plants full of water will only end up diluting the nutrients in the berries. But long dry weather periods – predicted by climate change scientists, are not going to be good for promoting good growth of sea buckthorn plants. So if I have a crop this year and there is finally an income coming from the sea buckthorn, one of the investments it would allow is the building of a small reservoir to collect rain whenever it comes.

As i drive into work in my diesel Peugeot car I do feel a pang of conscience about climate change. I cannot moan about the outcomes if I contribute emissions myself. Alternatives are out there and I really need to question all aspects of developing this business as to how to limit its use of energy and resources.

Limiting resources is looking for the holy grail of sustainability. The concept was brought home to me very acutely this week when with Ben, I visited the Oxford Real Farming conference. The conference focus of sound science, practical thinking, profitability and looking to the future was very apt as farming peers into a post-Brexit future. The one speaker that inspired me hugely was John Letts. A grower from Buckingham who for the past 15 years has been developing his concept of true heritage cereals. This is not the use of modern varieties of traditional cereals that our grandfather’s use to grow. Modern farming has become a monoculture, growing single varieties of single crops. This concept has provided an environment for diseases and pests to selectively find the weakness in our genetic varieties. In consequence our management techniques are being tested to the limit with weeds and pests becoming resistant to chemicals.

John’s concept has takes mixed sources of old and even ancient varieties of cereals and mixes then all into one crop. This creates a unique and wide genetic diversity which pests and diseases will not be able to grapple with. The yield is not huge at around 1.25 tons per acre, but then the inputs are negligible. the plants scavenge what they can from the soil.Weeds are allowed to proliferate, but these old varieties grow tall and above them. This length of straw has been bred out of modern varieties. At a time when we are looking to incorporate more organic matter into  the soil in order to improve soil health this tall cereal crop provides for this. As a conventional farmer I would expect our fields to deliver 4 tons to an acre. Accepting a yield drop of 60-70% sounds like economic madness. But what John’s crop loses in quantity it is made up for in nutritional quality. This crop is not about feeding the world but as a crop that produces high quality food from minimal resources this is my equation of a truly sustainable crop.

This heritage cereal presentation followed one that focused on whether organic food really offers a health benefit over a conventional crop. The principle comment I took away from this was that high yield – not unsurprisingly, dilutes the nutrient concentration and thereby nutritional quality. What does this mean for Devereux farm?

For farming to continue profitably we need to find ways of reducing fertiliser and pest/disease control costs. Less cultivations equates to less global emissions – vital in my view. At a time when the President elect of America is declaring himself a climate change sceptic I feel it is all important to find ways to reduce our impact on the environment.

 

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Reflections on 2016 and hopes and plans of 2017

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As the end of the year approaches it is a time for reflection and planning for the year ahead. Although we live in a technological age, farming will always be reliant upon the environment. As with this year again, December 2016 was mild, but the spring was wet. It flushed my soils of nutrients. Sea buckthorn is renoun for its ability to be nitrogen fixing. The symbiotic process that affiliates the plant with root nodules filled with Frankia bacteria that convert atmospheric nitrogen into ammonia that is essential for the plant to function. This process should provide the plant with most or even all the nitrogen it needs without need for artificial fertiliser supplement. Unfortunately in spring 2016 my male plants emerged from the winter with yellow not green leaves. At the time I thought I was going to lose them.

Springtime is blossom time in fruit orchards. It is a time of nervousness for fruit farmers as a late frost can damage the flower, which reduces the ability of bees and insects to pollinate the trees. Sea buckthorn’s native wild environment is often subject to extreme climates – the Siberian tundra, high in the Himalayas, or on the cold deserts of China. As winter subsides to spring these bitter and cold areas are devoid of pollinating insects. Hence sea buckthorn has developed to pollinate without the need for insects. The pollen is shaken from male plants and carried on the wind into surrounding females.

But at Devereux farm in April 2016 my male plants were sick. The result was poor pollination and although females adjacent to males produced some berries, the bulk of the crop was tiny. Hence from that April, every month through to October the plants were given a foliar feed of compost tea. They came through the season looking strong. Discussions with Simon Parfey, of the International Soil hub who supply my compost tea, have created a plan to start the foliar feed in late February in 2017. Hopefully the males will fly into the spring and perform with excellence setting the scene for a good crop of berries in 2017.

I wish I did not need to add the word “hopefully” to the plan for next year’s crop but it is an unfortunate truth that until three consecutive crops have been produced by the same management process, there can be no guarantee of success.

Guaranteeing success requires stability. For farming we need environmental and economic stability and in the current world politics has the ability to influence both. Climate change is a big issue for Devereux farm. Unpredictable seasons is a problem, but with 5 kilometres of sea walls protecting the farmland it is the increased winter storminess and incidence of surge tides and the potential of sea level rise that is most worrying. I take some comfort however that this week, the author of “the Inconvenient Truth”, Al Gore had an opportunity to discuss the matter with president elect Trump and his daughter. For all that has been said, the fact that Mr Gore reported his discussions are going to be continuing with President Trump I have to take as heartening. There should be no choice in the matter, but politics is an odd world.

I also take some comfort in the issue that the EU Health and Food Safety Commissioner has promised at the end of 2016 to launch a consultation process to resolve the long standing issue over health claims from plant sourced products. The reason why I grow sea buckthorn is my recognition that its berries, its leaves and even its bark have been subject to many research projects indicating that the plant has special properties. Research is not everything but when there is so much research that focuses on bioactive nutrients on the one hand and health benefits on the other there is more to sea buckthorn than it being just a fruit. Whether it has been used by Romans, Greeks, Alexander the Great, Genghiz Khan, is an indication similar to many plant histories that until the 20th century, most medicine was based on plant sources.  It is this traditional use that has created an issue for the European Food Safety Agency (EFSA). A number of EU States have permitted plant sourced supplements to be used as their use is based on tradition and an acceptance of being safe to the consumer.

The EFSA system provides a regulatory system demanding that health claims must be based on research from human clinical trials. This follows the pharmaceutical trials process that identifies a single active ingredient and the benefit it provides. Plants source products are not based on single nutrients. In the case of sea buckthorn there are 190 different nutrients. This mix means that there is potential that health benefits rely upon a synergy of nutrients working together. Hippocrates – the father of medicine, stated it as “Let food be thy medicine” which translates into the age old advice – the best diet is a well balanced diet of natural products.

There is a further complication for the botanical sourced traditional medicine regulatory issue. All plants grow in a natural environment that every year is subject to many variables induced by weather, soil quality and management. This will not alter the nutrient type but it can impact on the concentrations of each one, meaning that there is not chemical consistency as in the pharmaceutical situation. This variation means that exact scientific research is difficult to replicate so some would say it cannot be validated.

In consequence the EU Commissioner is faced with over 1500 botanical sourced health claims that have been kept on hold. The EFSA system does not fit as research results can vary, but tradition says that product is safe and has efficacy. EU States are defying the EFSA system so there has to be a resolution. There are 600,000 jobs involved in the plant based supplement industry across the EU. There are consumers and Trading Standards looking for guidance. So finally the 2016 consultation process  looks to resolve the issue once and for all.

Of course all this pales into insignificance faced with the news from the Berlin Christmas markets. 2010, I remember as my first snowy visit to Berlin and the first Euroworks Sea buckthorn conference. With many international delegates this was a taste of friendship, openness and great hospitality. I have looked forward to every return visit and enjoyed the same open friendship. It is with so much sadness that as with Paris and other atrocities before it there are those in the world who are only focused on forcing their views on others  with such devastating results. This time of year is one of reflection and hope for the future. I truly hope that 2017 will see our politicians reflect on their retoric and come together in true collaboration to meet the challenges we face – particularly as many of them are the result of poor political decision making.

Happy Christmas

 

 

 

 

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November so it must be Food Matters.

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Mid-November; temperatures falling; 33mm of rain in the last ten days. Our sea buckthorn plants are now dormant. The rain we have had is softening the ground but this has been an incredibly dry autumn. As with all farming every year is different. It makes trying to establish a new crop difficult as every potential solution to a problem might be void by a different set of weather conditions..

Devereux farm sea buckthorn was a trial to evaluate whether commercial sea buckthorn would grow and which varieties might be most useful. The first objective of this has achieved German, Latvian, Siberian and even Finnish plants growing. The German have been easiest; the Latvian strongest; the Siberian most in need of management. The Finnish varieties are dwarf and took a dislike to my soil but those left are strong but not a commercial alternative.

One of the trial challenges  was to test what was the best design and layout to plant each variety. As the plants mature it is becoming clear for row widths, anything less than 3.5m will create an issue for machinery passing up and down rows. Our clay soil has been a real problem for varieties like Elizaveta and Sudarushka. Roots passing close to the surface have to endure soil that bake like a brick in summer. Stress from this can result in both disease/ branch die back. Compost tea and compost seems to have eased this issue but applying this can create soil compaction issues close to the plants where I planted row widths of only 3m.

The concept of trialling row width came from a chapter in the Volume 1 Sea buckthorn Botany, harvesting and processing technologies book edited by Prof. Virendra Singh. One chapter authored by Dr Khabarov of the Lisavenko Research Institute of Horticulture for Siberia relates to work in 1994-1997 using the variety Chuiskaya ( which we have at Devereux ). Plant spacings from 0.8m to 1.5m, and row spacings from 3m to 4m rows offered three years of berry yield figures. Average figures of 15.9 tons/ht came from row widths of  3.5m, and plant space 1.5m. For me this is a good commercial option – less than that creates issues of access. The top yield came from a 3m row and 0.8m plant spacing,producing a amazing average 26t/ht, topping out at a staggering 39t/ht. This is clearly really exciting in Siberia but not realistic for Devereux.  I do not anticipate this type of yield as the plants are adapting to a very different climate and soil to native Siberia. It gives at least a potential target to aim for.

The potential of 39t though intrigued me enough to plant 19 rows with 12 plants at a plant spacing of 0.8m. These are very close together but they are growing vertically and do not seem to grow into each other too much. The advantage of this minimal row width is to allow maximum yield off a small area. This will not suit all varieties, Chuiskaya is particluar. Klaudia with long, low branching has problems. Inya, Altaiskaya, Sudarushka even Etna should put up with confined space, but maybe 0.8m is too tight – 1m would be better.

I am quite surprised how much winter field work is involved with sea buckthorn. With just myself as field worker ( and other responsibilities on the farm) I find that the 3000 plants in the main field keeps me fully employed. Each bush being composted; staked, and pruned. My aim this year needs to be to complete these tasks by Christmas. Next year’s major challenge is bird control. Starting in January as much of the site as possible needs to be netted. Not a job that I am looking forward to, but an absolute essential if there is to be a harvest in 2017.

November has become the annual visit to the Food Matters Live conference at the Excel in London. A three day event encompassing a main conference with supplementary seminars in health, nutrition, diet, sustainability and this year a significant focus on obesity. With so much field work at Devereux I cut this year’s visit to one day. It allowed an opportunity to meet up with the person who I hope will become the leading light in advising Devereux on nutritional benefit of the sea buckthorn. Complying with regulation I see as essential. Understanding the biochemistry that can provide health benefit is one issue – understanding how one communicates it to customers is another. Ensuring that the information is both accurate and complies with regulations adds a further demand. All however comes together in building trust with customers that what we say is what you get.

Factual accuracy I believe is essential. I have been baffled by the comments – particularly coming from the outcome of the US election that we are living in a “post-fact”era where factual information falls second to the importance of opinion. Commentators have remarked on what is behind this. Bogus news channels broadcasting incredulous fake news in order to generate advertising revenue. Conspiracy theories of foreign governments generating articles to discredit the electoral system. Then this week I hear a new reflection. The failure of education to create enquiring minds and a lack of desire to read in depth. This combined with a lack of respect in our peers is leading to a state that accepts all information without challenge. Personal opinion even if based on rumour, false information or lie is dominating over fact.  But then we have been through the last few years of both political and press scandals so it is not hard to understand that people are finding it hard to believe in anything.

There are times when it is great to be a farmer and lose oneself within the natural environment.There might be reams of regulations back in the office, but the reality in the field is stress free and uncomplicated.

 

 

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A world full of change

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The past week has seen the first air frosts – an indication that we are slipping out of autumn and into winter. Our Siberian sea buckthorn plants are hunkering down for their winter sleep. The past three years show that dormancy for siberian sea buckthorn on the Essex coast is from the first week of November only through to January. Of the ten varieties here,  Klaudia leads off first. All will have first leaf a three months ahead of their cousins in the continental climate of Siberia.. What does this mean?

For consumers buying a pack of berries on a supermarket shelf these issues are not relevant. But for retail store buyers to have secure supply of consistent quality and quantity crop management has to be perfected. So factors like will lack of dormancy influence harvest yield? Will winter growing period damage emerging leaf from mid-winter deep frost?  In 2013, when so many plants were damaged by branch die back, I could have concluded that early emergence contributed to the issue. Now in 2016, this seems more an issue of stress as young Siberian plants try to adapt to our clay soil and mild temperate climate. This is a process of observation, trial and solution. It is clear now that they need an early foliar feed in February. Soil temperatures will be low but it will give the plants the best start aiming  for prime condition to maximise the outcome of pollination in April without which I won’t have a crop.

Weather, soil health, timing of actions are key in farming. All practical issues that influence our crop yields and economic sustainability. I feel that there is a soft revolution happening in UK farming. This is not as a result of Brexit. Climate change; ever tighter control on fertiliser and spray usage; low profitability and the impact of global commodity prices all are drivers demanding change.

Practical experience at Devereux farm using compost tea on the sea buckthorn has convinced me that converting to organic status is right. Joining the Soil Association has bought benefit sooner than I expected.. The Association in partnership with Duchy Future Farming programme, Waitrose and others are supporting on-farm  crop trials under the title of Innovative Farmer groups. These trial are selected by farmers working in collaboration, undertaking research on multiple farms allowing methods/machinery/processs to be tested and knowledge gained and shared.

Soil health is becoming a primary focus in farming. Over past decade soil has become little more than a crop growing medium where artificial fertilisers and chemicals  are the tools to control plant growth, disease, pest control and crop yield. Now, soil is recognised for its potential to mineralise nutrients for the plant; retain moisture and have a capacity to limit the impact of soil born diseases. At Devereux farm, disease issues with the sea buckthorn have made soil improvement a priority. Changes by using compost and compost tea  has resulted in very low – in fact almost no disease in the sea buckthorn crop. This experience has made me more aware of needing to look at how the rest of the farm is managed.

Last week I joined one of these Innovative farming  group event at Shimpling Park farm in Suffolk. A  day where both conventional and organic farmers pooled collective practical experience to look for ways to create sustainable crop yields. At the end of the day the group committing to become part of a development trial with maybe five or six farms providing fields to test alternative machinery and management options. These practical on-farm initiatives seem a long way from the hi-tech options being prescribed as the way forward for farming. Satellites, robots and drones will become an increasing feature to improving efficiency and reducing costs. Just because proactive soil management may not use hi-tech methods it is still an innovative move forward for farming. It is recognising the value of harnessing the natural environment together with practical working knowledge and available technology to deliver economic and environmental sustainability.

Sustainable production is not the only issue though. Ultimately farming is about supplying a largely urban world with a nutritious and varied diet and for this it is important to see the consumer perspective.

On Tuesday, I spent a day at the Food and Drink Innovation Network (FDIN)Seminar annual event on food trends in London.  Consumer behaviour and changes in eating habits are changing. Conventional understanding of classic cuisine is breaking down. Fast food based on volume production and process is giving way to fast casual kitchens using smart phone technology to deliver multi cultural foods to the home. Vegetables are starting to become mainstream – meat becoming more focused on quality. These are new trends being driven by a fast moving urban environment. But like the use of satellites, robots and drones in farming – how many of these will reach the wider population outside the biggest cities?

One of the reasons I went to this event was to listen to a presentation by Jennifer McLagan entitled – Bitter: The least loved but most important flavour. The topic teased through the differences between bitter and sour; cultural acceptance of bitter foods in Italian and Asian populations now sees bitter ingredients becoming a UK mainstream -in salads, bitter chocolate; sprouts and turnips; vast ranges of beers teas and coffees. But pure bitterness is not the issue. It is seen as a balancing enhancer for other flavours. Bitter stimulates the gastric juices, sparks appetite, makes rich food more digestible, exciting the pallet. Bitter caramel is widespread in many salted products. Bitter chocolate appears in gravy to enhance meat dishes. Beer is used to balance the sweetness of shellfish. All this is relevant for sea buckthorn. Its unique citrus, rhubarb sharpness  adds a complexity to so many dishes. Chicken, pork, oily fish, duck, desserts with chocolate, combinations with ginger and chilli, sea buckthorn creates a new depth of flavour and careful balance of taste. Sea buckthorn has as much potential as any as cuisines from different cultural and ethnic backgrounds are creating ever more inspiration in the culinary world.

I have to mention the US election. With German and french elections looming I suspect that there are more challenges to come to entrenched institutions. These changes are creating a feeling of instability in the world, the impact of which is impossible to judge or foretell. Change can be positive if people come together to resolve problems. The challenge for our politicians is to ensure that change is managed; people respected; and there is focus on the real problems of the world. If countries become isolationist then economies and the environment will suffer. Economies can be mended – a climate out of control cannot.

 

 

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Food Matters and hopes for 2017

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The demon of marketing seems to be back under the microscope. With the World Medical Association (WMA), health campaigners and Scottish government focusing on child obesity. The EU food industry voluntary pledge claims that children under 12 see 88% fewer advertisements for products that do not meet the Pledge’s nutrition criteria compared to 2005. The WMA argue that marketing exploits children’s trust. Is there not more to it than that? At most retail stores, large and small, vast amounts of chocolate wait to be bought on impulse. The UK diet has grown to having a sweet tooth. Whenever regulation emerges we complain about the Nanny State. Diet education is confusing. As with many governments there is not a holistic approach to this bringing together theWorld Medical  Departments of health and Departments responsible for education.Ignoring the issue condemns a generation to health issues, but it might take a generation to turn the desire for sweet foods.

This all comes as the “Food Matters Live “conference approaches ( November 22-24th) bringing scores of top speakers to many fascinating seminars. With reference to my opening paragraph, the pre-conference magazine has an article which sets out the importance of the first 1000 days of a child’s life as being pivotal in creating taste preferences.  Parents and carers alike mix bitter flavours with sweet in the belief that it will be better accepted. Broccoli, spinach and cauliflower being mentioned as being sweetened up with apple or pear. Taste is not the only preference being created. A prevelence for carrot and tomato ( both sweet ) also creates a leaning towards orange and red colour. But then as we grow older we also gain the ability to chose but at what stage does food choice become a choice or a compulsion?

I am never sure when attending these conference events whether it will help develop my sea buckthorn business but knowledge gained is never wasted. Maybe next year if the summer of 2017 brings a viable crop of berries and I harvest them under the protection of a bird net – then there might be an opportunity to exhibit.

Confidence in a good harvest for 2017 is being set now. For the rest of my farm the fact that we still have not had any real rain for weeks if becoming a problem. Seeds may germinate, but without enough moisture they will die and the crop fail. But I look this year at my sea buckthorn with increased hope. In previous year’s leaf fall would have already happened, but 2016 many plants ( especially the males) retain strong green leaf.

Normally the ground would have softened making vehicle access difficult if trying to reduce compaction near to plant surface roots. This year the ground is still hard so I am strimming all the weeds to within one metre around the plants with a polyhead on a Stihl backpack strimmer. Then, while ground conditions allow all plants are having a heavy dose of compost. The winter rain will wash this into the ground and lighten my clay soil as well as providing some nutrient both for the soil biota and the plants.

Past years have shown my first plants break bud at the end of December, with all plants with some young leaf by the end of January. The autumn application of compost will be followed in mid-late February by the first application of compost tea. This will build up the males particularly for best potential when it comes to pollination.

The bird netting will be going up over this winter as my final strategy to bring on a good harvest for 2017. The final issue will be accepting that the berries will be hand picked. This will create a time and expense issue. Next year I will be undertaking some branch cutting trials on selected Siberian varieties to see whether this is viable. Disease control and plant health will be the focus on these trials, but I have confidence in the options available with different compost tea mixes. These trials will take three years to indicate results, but that is the nature of the crop.

This week has also been a milestone as I have just received by Soil Association certificate to start the process for the sea buckthorn to be certified organic in three years time. This is potentially not just a move for sea buckthorn but is also starting a process of looking at how the rest of the farm is managed. On November 2nd I shall go to a cultivation demonstration for no-till but importantly incorporating the use of cover crops without the use of chemicals. To non-farmers this might sound unintelligible, but it means that we can start to build up organic matter in soils; reduce industry CO2 emissions normally associated with heavy cultivation when the soil is turned over and cut out the use of roundup spray. This is a revolution – but it has to work.

I cannot finish without mentioning Brexit again. For the farming industry, like many others it is putting our lives on hold. The implications are the loss of subsidies and an unknown future for payments for managing land for biodiversity. Farming is, like sea buckthorn, a process with long term decision making. Putting one’s faith in politicians is all that we can hope for, but as my father used to say – it is never as bad as you think, nor as good.

 

 

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Post Brexit autumn organics

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Autumn has peeled away the last vestiges of a long hot summer. Daytime temperatures have dropped almost 10 deg C. Overcast skies are delivering a little rain. It being October field work on the sea buckthorn changes direction away and looks towards preparing for the 2017 crop.

With each delivery of new plants from Siberia I have held a few back. These are potted and kept to be replacements for any plants that die. With soil temperatures still high, day time temperatures at 10-15 deg, and rain is starting to provide natural moisture again,  this seems a good time to plant out some of these plants.

The north end of the main orchard was not planted up with the first plantings in 2011. It is a very dry area with heavy clay. In 2014 I planted it with sea buckthorn varieties Jessel, Inya and Elizaveta. The results have been predicatable. Of the 180  Jessel plants there are 50 that need replacing. It is disappointing but this was always going to be a struggle for young plants. I have replacements but on trying to plant them out I found the ground absolutely solid. How the plants have established I am not sure. As I do not irrigate I pay a penalty in terms of losses of young plants and longer establishment time. Those that have made it have searched out deep water to get them through this very dry summer. Deep roots will stand them in good stead if climate change is going to deliver long hot summers in the future.

With the ground being so hard, planting out has to be shelved. The hard ground does allow for vehicle access without soil compaction so all these young plants are now weeded, pruned of dead wood and given a good dose of compost. The only way of improving thee soil and making it lighter will be introducing organic matter into it and hopefully an autumn and spring top dressing over the next three years will ease the clay into becoming more friable and produce healthy plants.

Soil health is now a key interest in UK agriculture. Nurturing it and feeding the myriad of micro-organisms that make up the soil can have huge benefits. A healthy soil has a greater capacity to hold water and nutrients. It should contain a balance of bugs that can control others that we would see as the root cause of disease. Its structure should allow plant roots to grow through it with ease, accessing plant nutrients and water and allowing more energy to go into crop yield and quality.

Climate change is an issue for us all.  Turning the soil produces a release of CO2. Traditionally fields have been ploughed  burying weeds, organic matter from the old crop and weed seeds. This organic matter helps feed the microbes that live in the soil. In places like the US, if this process is done in dry seasons, the soil dries out and can blow away. Soil loss becomes a real issue. It can be lost to wind, but also in the UK to extreme rain downpours with it being washed off the fields. In China this has become a real issue with up to 40% – 3,500,000 square kilometres of land affected. Poor soils equate to poor crop yields. It threatens the livelihood of 100 million people directly but indirectly poor crop yields impacts on food supplies for a growing population. Ironically, sea buckthorn is being used in dry areas to reverse this as it can establish in  very poor soils. Its roots bind the soil and its leaves provide new organic matter to feed it.

In the UK and US ploughing is giving way to less intrusive deep soil cultivation or even no cultivation at all. This is called no-till cultivation. The process involves a machine that direct drills the seed into the ground with minimum disturbance of the top soil. The problem with this is that the organic matter from the old crop is not buried into the soil. It takes longer to break down and provide the essential nutrients for the soil bugs and the crop plant itself. To get around this a cover crop is grown to provide a green manure for the soil. This has to be either cultivated into the soil or killed with chemical sprays. This comes at both a financial and environmental cost.

I recently attended the Soil Association Farmer Innovation Day. These conferences are as much about networking as knowledge, but this one was particularly valuable. The presentations showed there is a mechanical way of tricking the cover crop into breaking down by crimping it with a series of rollers.

As our farm looks to a new world, post-Brexit government support for farming may well be significantly lower than EU pre- June 23rd payments.  Subsidies in agriculture are an essential to the viability of small farms. All problems need solutions and planning to reduce their potential impact is important.

Registering the Devereux farm sea buckthorn with the Soil Association this summer is a three year process before it can become certified as organic. This was not a reaction to Brexit. It was a recognition that finally our method of growing sea buckthorn is delivering results from an organic process. Organic is only viable if there are processes that provide for crop growing method that delivers an economically sustainable crop yield for the farm. Growing sea buckthorn and using compost tea that is delivering both plant nutrient and health provides confidence that organic might be the way forward for the rest of Devereux farm in the future. This is a long process, but as almost half the farm is into conservation management, focusing the arable enterprise to compliment the rest of the farm will I hope bring biodiversity benefit as well as economic sustainability for the long term.

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Leaves jackdaws and EU analysis

britishseabuckthorn

The clay soil at Devereux farm is baked hard having had six weeks without rain to soften the ground. Some varieties of sea buckthorn at the farm have very shallow surface roots as they find it hard to penetrate our soil. Consequently they really suffer when it is as dry as this year. In past years their leaves curl and fall early. This is particularly relevant to the variety Elizaveta. These conditions also put the plants under additional stress which makes them susceptible to disease – particularly soil borne disease. So, as I walked the rows of sea buckthorn yesterday I was pleased that almost 100% of plants have retained their leaves. Some varieties ( sudarushka and chuiskaya ) are starting to look tired and the tips of the leaves are browning, but on the whole leaf colour is strong and healthy.

I put this into context as a success and progress in understanding how to successfully grow Siberian sea buckthorn in an new soil and climate. It has been a huge disappointment not to have had a crop from the plants this year. I really had thought that 2016 was going to be the first commercial offering of Siberian sea buckthorn berries for the UK market. But life is about learning, and often those lessons are hard. The fact the males came out of last winter in very poor condition meant poor pollination. Poor pollination meant a poor or almost non-existant crop. But now in September, the plants have had a monthly dose of compost tea over this summer. They all look in great condition.

As my plants start to break bud in January, the plan will be to start the compost tea program in late February. Never again do I want to see my male plant leaves yellow and limp in April. So I am looking forward to next year with some confidence that 2016 was that learning curve that provided a formula for a successful crop in 2017.

The major problem outstanding is jackdaws. These are intelligent birds and they just love the sweet Siberian sea buckthorn berries. This last weekend was very busy as the farm assisted in hosting the Essex Wildlife Trust AGM on the Naze. It provided an opportunity to speak to wildlife managers in our local area about the jackdaw problem. It would seem that this is very much a local coastal problem. The birds have bred into flocks of a size that has not been seen before. The problem with this is that they will impact on other species competing for food and habitat.

Having used rockets, kites, flashing ribbon without success in 2015, my first line of defence is going to have to be netting. The supporting poles are now up on one third of the site with wires strung inbetween. A small area of netting will go up to see how it survives the winter. Then the majority will go up in the spring.

A second option has emerged literally out of the hedgerows.

From 1996 to 2008 Devereux farm hosted an International Scout Jamboree. As a four yearly event, in 2012 it all came to an end as the UK Olympics required scouts as volunteers at the same time as the proposed 2012 Jamboree. The events had meant 6-7000 scouts camping on the farm for a week with many day visitors raising the on-farm population to 10,000. Supplying food, water, banking, communication, medical aid was part of the process, but when the last event was cancelled all the miles of water pipe used to supply the campsites were left on the farm. Re-cycle and re-use is always best, finally we are experimenting with using lengths of the old water pipe as supporting hoops for the bird netting. It will be a major project for this winter but if it helps reduce the problem of the jackdaws stealing my sea buckthorn.

The fact that the leaves are still in good condition on the sea buckthorn plants provides another bonus. Over this week I have been drying leaves from all the Siberian and latvian varieties to contribute to a European wide analysis of leaf quality. One of the inspirational concepts from Germany has been the desire to use the whole plant. The berries – juice, fruit oil and seed oil have been the source for products for decades. Leaf however has been used in teas probably for centuries but not as a marketed product. Research has been growing over the last ten years looking at the nutritional profile of leaf, how it can be usedand the benefits it might offer. Understanding its analysis will help in being able to bring it to the market. As a new product ingredient it will need to satisfy regulations on food safety and under the Novel Food regulations. I believe it is high in vitamin B complex but also it should have an interesting profile of polyphenols. So with 4 Latvian varieties and 10 Siberian it will be interesting to see how my plant’s leaves analyse against other grown in Europe.

It is also good to feel that in the post-Brexit world, this UK outpost of the EU sea buckthorn industry still has a value for our EU colleagues.