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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

 

To all our customers over 2023 – thank you so much for your loyalty to the little orange berry.

I am sorry but I am closing from taking any further orders until January. Our cold store is in need of TLC over the holiday and I will be taking orders again as from Monday January 1st next year.

With best wishes for a very happy Christmas and let us pray for a more peaceful world in 2024.

The past is for learning from; the present to act on that knowledge and the future tests the actions taken.

The 22 German, Latvian, Finnish and Siberian varieties of sea buckthorn here at Devereux farm have tested which are the ones that we believe in for the future.  2023 will see the start of planting new orchards.

Over the past ten years, experience is what drives our ideas. In 2014 we had a shocking infection in the young plants impacting on 40% of the Siberian plants. As the plants matured the problem has not re-occured. In 2017 these plants were full of berries, but gradual adaptation of these plants to our climate shifted their wind pollination into March. The weather in march being wet and windy has neutralised this process resulting in only a small crop in 2022.

Birds were not a problem for that 2017 crop. But as years have gone by and local wildlife recognised this new feedstock in the landscape they have grown to be a bigger issue year by year. When the crop is large, we can afford to share it with the birds. But when the crop is small they take every berry. In 2022, the high temperatures and extended drought also drove the birds to want to eat the berries even before they were ripe. So looking forward to the future if we are going to be successful we have to manage this problem.

With summer 2022 taking temperatures to a UK record 40 deg C. climate change is a factor that will impact on growing sea buckthorn. It is resilient and grows in extreme conditions, but we should not look at all sea buckthorn as being the same. Across the world there are different species and subspecies that have adapted to these conditions.  Here at Devereux farm our clay soils are not ideal. In winter these soils become waterlogged, particularly as with climate change heavy rain events are becoming the norm.

Summer 2022 with its long dry drought resulted in a small crop of smaller berries, which the birds decimated.  We started planting sea buckthorn in 2009. We now have enough experience for the next phase of our sea buckthorn project. The loss of the 2022 crop triggered the decision that now is the time to select the varieties that have potential and replant in orchards designed to optimise pollination; reduce bird damage; accomodate the impacts of drought. Solving these issues will deliver consistent crops for our customers.

What does all this mean to our customers?

Losing almost 90% of the 2022 crop means our freezers are almost empty with the last of our frozen berries to be sold-out this month.

The new plants that we use to replant our organic orchards will take four years to mature to fruit.

There will be a small crop coming from the plants we are retaining available from harvest each year, but the supply will be limited until the new plants develop.

In order to be able to carry on supplying berries through the year after our home grown have run out it seemed to make sense to source berries from our sea buckthorn plant suppliers. These would be organic and of the same varieties as we have been growing and will be growing in the future.  So the sad issue that last summer’s crop was a disaster, will not mean that we cannot continue to supply customers with organic whole sea buckthorn berry. I hope that you will appreciate this situation. We will have new crop berries available from our own plants in mid July.

In the meantime there is a lot more happening at Devereux farm. Living next to the Hamford water National Nature Reserve the farm has long been managed to provide habitat for wildlife. In fact over the past year, bird counts have logged 198 different species. The habitat areas are managed in agreement with Natural England, with our arable crops grown within them. As we look at sea buckthorn with a eye to climate change and its impact on the future, so we also see the farm needing to change.

Although it is a busy time ahead with the sea buckthorn, the decision has also been taken to convert the whole of the rest of the farm to organic as well. This brings the whole ethos of what we do into one.

In writing this blog I am aware that I stopped blogging a while back, but with all this change it seems the right time to start and deliver a weekly update on what is going on. It is truly going to be a busy year as there has just been announced the ninth annual conference of the International Sea buckthorn Association is to be held in Thessaloniki, Greece in May. Greece is the country from which the origin name of sea buckthorn (Hippophae)  comes – confirming its 2000 year old history and the ongoing appreciation of its natural health benefits.

2023 is here, what will this mean?

At Devereux farm, we are lucky enough to work in the countryside – a place that inspires everything we do.

On my early walk this morning I passed a special tree in our garden. It was one of the reasons why we bought our house in 1996. Back then, the tree was around 350 years old. It was a massive turkey oak – tall, broad – with low sweeping branches, it was however coming to the end of its life.

Tragedy struck at the Millenium on January 1st 2000, when this grand old tree fell, crashing to the ground. It presented a sad spectacle.

Over the next three years, seven saplings grew from one of its surviving roots.

Most in shape were similar to a standard oak tree, but one had the character of the old tree with wide low branches. It provided an opportunity and hope that something would come back from the old tree.

21 years after the old tree fell, that sapling is as tall in feet as it is old,  spreading out just as the old tree did – a vision of new growth from old.

I read this morning that 2022 is being described as a “permacrisis” – a year characterised by multiple issues.

As I walked passed the tree this morning it made me reflect that for all the global issues in the world, most have solutions. For us at Devereux farm, we need to reflect that it is our environment that is in permacrisis, and recognising this will provide the solution to it.

Our solution cannot be one created in a single year. Sea buckthorn orchards take five years to bring to maturity. Converting our whole farm to organic looks to a twelve year soil management cycle. Reshaping fields with new hedges and tree copses. Improving water storage and ponds for crops and wildlife.  Our plans all focus on sustainability. New orchards producing fruit quality our customers said they want – all this takes time. There have to be short term goals. using only fully recyclable packaging; investing in renewable energy; partnering with those that bring innovation and ensure quality to our future.

Partners are crucial. The most important are our customers. Without customers we do not have a reason to exist. Customers are all individuals with personality, needs, expectations and desires.

A challenging vision – but a holistic one recognising a healthy environment is the key to a healthy future.

And then to the most important partner. Our customers are the one’s that can make this possible.

Happy new year

May I wish you a peaceful Christmas and all my thanks for your support for British Sea buckthorn over 2022. Let us all look forward to making next year a memorable one that sees a brighter future for humanity and our planet.

Happy Christmas.

Goodbye 2022 – Christmas is approaching and it is a time for reflection and promise of better things to come.

This year we saw temperatures in the UK soar to 40 deg. C. It came within a long summer drought. There have been droughts before, but the high temperature signposted a climate change issue for the future.

On the land, drought impacts deep into the soil. Soil is the heart of the countryside. Above ground we focus on plants and trees, but below ground we have little knowledge of a complex world from which our crops – and our food, comes from. It is silent and unseen, but it is vibrant; active and diverse. It provides the nutrients for our plants. It can be used as an asset to improve the quality of our food; store and control the water from rainfall; be the backbone that delivers the health of all things in the countryside.

Within the complex world that we live, we choose how to manage our lives. As farmers, science has directed us to use chemicals to control pests and increase crop yields that can be delivered at lower cost. 40 deg C this summer was a signpost of climate change. It can be logged as a statistic, or reflected on as to its meaning.

Decisions one takes on a personal basis. For me, as a farmer – and grower of sea buckthorn, the 40 deg statistic I see as a threat that will dry up my soils, crops, grass for livestock, habitat for wildlife. I see it as a challenge and an opportunity for change.

My son, Ben, suggested I should go to an agricultural event this summer called Groundswell.  I had not been before and was not prepared for the outcome.

It was a dynamic show, full of enthusiastic people with innovation at the front of their thinking. Agriculture is often portrayed as full of aging farmers with few people joining the industry. Here at Groundswell was inspiration. Inspiration that was real, creative and active. A signpost for me that taking up the opportunity for change is worthwhile.

So what was the outcome?

Back in the summer, the drought had had a profound impact on the sea buckthorn. This year our Siberian plants produced berries – but long before they were ripe, thirsty wildlife striped the plants of the crop. Our Latvian plants, which have been reliable were stressed by lack of water. Their crop was small and later ripening varieties had almost no crop. Our german varieties ripened earlier than usual, but the berries were small.

I have not installed irrigation as up until now the plants have not needed it, and water is a precious resource that if overused can fill fruit with water and dilute nutritional quality. This season’s drought and high temperature indicates that if high temperatures are coming with climate change, then we have to change the ways we farm.

So as 2022 comes to an end, with the war in Ukraine still waging. With high energy and inflation impacting into everything we do – 2022 has to be the year to trigger change.

The decision therefore has been to change the way we farm. We are going organic. I do not say this lightly. It means a huge change needing new skills, new machinery, new buildings, new crops, new ways of manging our precious soil. It is daunting to be doing this at a time of economic instability, but that will ease. But I do not believe climate change will ease. Going organic is a long term project – 10, possibly 12 years to regaining the vibrancy of our soils. A long time, but it is no longer than it has taken to understand how to grow sea buckthorn.

And the sea buckthorn – what of it? What to do? We are lucky that the European sea buckthorn growers are, like those at groundswell, a dynamic group. There have been three on-line conferences providing the opportunity to share knowledge.

So like the farm – for sea buckthorn at Devereux farm – 2022 is a time for change. Time to decide which varieties have been successful and which not. Time to decide on how to lay out orchards that provide for a crop that can thrive in an extreme, changing climate.

So many old plants are going to be pulled up and replanted with new. With varieties that produce the fruit that we believe our customers like best.

Without customers we would not have a purpose. I find that our customers – like those attending groundswell, they know what they want. Many have a desire for the sea buckthorn they ate in other countries. Many understand this special fruit for its taste; its nutritional quality; its potential to inspire new culinary innovation.

So as 2022 comes to an end, I look forward to 2023 with a passion for change. Change that I hope will provide a future for our soil; our countryside; our crops and providing something special for our customers.

As you have now read this, the chances are you are one of our customers, if not you will have an interest in sea buckthorn. For both reasons may I thank you and wish you too, a happy Christmas and let us hope that 2023 brings stability and peace to a world that has many issues to solve.

Happy Christmas

One last thing – I am afraid that last orders for sea buckthorn berries has to be drawn to a close for 2022.

LAST ORDERS WILL BE ON DECEMBER 19th for delivery on DECEMBER 20th.

2023 I will be writing a short blog each week as our new farm emerges – new orders for sea buckthorn berries will start in January.

THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR SUPPORT IN 2022.