Why not try Organic Gardening magazine - Grow your own - naturally

Organic news

Our monthly harvest of news!

Calls for more allotments

Large-scale building developments in urban areas should compulsorily include an allocation of land for allotments in order to combat a chronic shortage of plots and spiralling waiting lists, says a statement issued by the Local Government Association.

The Association, which represents over 400 councils in England and Wales, complains that an estimated 200,000 allotments, totalling over 11 square miles, have been lost in the last 30 years. There is now, however, an upsurge in demand which has led to waiting lists of up to 10 years in some areas, and urgent action is needed to meet it. Where shortage of allotments is a problem, the Association is encouraging councils to make use of legal powers which enable them to compel developers to include areas of greenery within large-scale building projects.

Allotments, the statement says, are proving particularly popular with environmentally aware young professionals keen to grow their own organic food. It argues that allotments provide a range of benefits, including fresh air and exercise, and also mentions schemes enabling allotments to benefit people with mental health, drug and drink problems, those with learning difficulties, and the elderly.

In Wales, allotment provision has been given a boost by the announcement by Plaid Cymru that councils it runs following the forthcoming local government elections will release publicly owned land for conversion into allotments and community gardens. Increasing local organic food production, says the party, will help deliver healthier lifestyles, develop local food economies and reduce the environmental cost of transporting food.

Spokesperson Leanne Wood says, “We want to build on the capacity that already exists and increase the amount of capacity available for local food production. We will look at ways of integrating local growing with compost programmes and grey water recycling schemes, and support community gardening groups. Developing community gardens and allotments will create healthier and greener communities by providing friendly spaces to gather, take part in physical activity and improve social cohesion.”

Chief Scientist acknowledges food shortage

It is so little mentioned (outside the pages of OG and like-minded publications) as to be almost a secret that global food shortage threatens to become a drastic threat to human survival. So applause for our new Chief Scientist, Professor John Beddington, who has put it on record not only that the threat exists, but that it rivals climate change in severity.

In a speech to a sustainable development conference in Westminster on 6 March, he said a 50 per cent rise in food output was needed to cope with population growth and other challenges, and that research was urgently needed to find ways of increasing the efficiency of agricultural production per unit of land.

While not wanting to undermine the Professor’s call for more research, we would suggest putting into practice some of what is already known

about how to increase food production. Organic methods such as green manuring have been demonstrated to be effective in renewing impoverished soils, and there needs to be a shift from large-scale mechanisation towards the smaller-scale methods which have been shown to give a higher output per acre.

Local food now on the funding menu

GrapesLocal Food, a new grants programme funded by the Big Lottery Fund, opened for applications on 17 March. The £50-million programme is aimed at making locally grown food accessible and affordable to local communities, and will look to distribute grants to a variety of food-related community projects across England.

Mark Wheddon, Local Food Programme Manager, says, “The Local Food programme provides a fantastic opportunity for a broad section of the public to gain access to local food and is perfectly timed to capitalise on the public’s enthusiasm for locally produced food and the environmental benefits which that brings.

“With such a broad and varied funding programme we would encourage people who are thinking of applying to be as creative as possible. From school farms and community box schemes, to local food education centres and community composting, the list is endless.” Grants from £2000 up to £500,000 will be awarded to not-for-profit groups and organisations in England delivering such projects as growing, processing, marketing and distributing local food; composting; and raising awareness of the benefits of these activities.

For more information, call 0845 3671 671 or visit www.localfoodgrants.org

Goodbye to Yalding

Organic Gardening Magazine - News ImageGarden Organic is closing its demonstration garden at Yalding. GO’s statement, issued at the beginning of March, says, ‘Regrettably, after careful consideration and consultation with staff and key stakeholders, Garden Organic will be withdrawing from its current operation at our garden site in Yalding, Kent, and will not be re-opening at the beginning of April 2008. Sadly the charity cannot afford to continue its operation as to do so would be putting our other charitable activities at risk.’

GO explain that the garden at Yalding, near Maidstone, has been subsidised by the organisation throughout its 12-year existence, and that it now faces ‘a shortfall in operating budgets’. The organisation feels that the money spent running the site could be better used to further its work with community groups, allotment associations, schools and local groups, which it says reach many more people. 

GO had hoped to find a partner organisation to manage the site, as happens with their garden at Audley End, which is run in conjunction with English Heritage, but a suitable partner has not emerged. Myles Bremner, chief executive of GO, says, “At this stage, the future of the site has not yet been decided but we will work in partnership with the Congelow Trust, the owners of the site, to maintain its upkeep and look for organisations to take over its running.” GO say they are making every effort to find roles for the seven staff at Yalding elsewhere in the organisation.

Meanwhile, GO has launched an ‘urgent appeal’ for funds to meet ‘exceptional circumstances’ and ‘difficult challenges’ in its 50th anniversary year. In an open letter to members, Myles Bremner says, ‘Since I joined the organisation a few months ago, it has become clear that we must work even harder to continue to lead the way in terms of organic best practice… Increasing demands on our activities mean that it is now vital that we raise extra funds to meet these needs. Safeguarding the future of all that we hold dear is what moves me to write and ask for your additional support today.’

For more information, call 02476 303517 or visit www.gardenorganic.org.uk You can donate online, or send donations to Garden Organic Ryton, Coventry, Warwickshire CV8 3LG.

Dig compost this May!

Organic Gardening Magazine.co.ukGardeners are being urged to ‘Green up the Environment’ – the theme of WRAP’s Compost Awareness Week. It runs from 4 to 10 May this year, with events and special offers at garden centres and other retail outlets across the country.

WRAP – the Waste and Resources Action Programme – aims to use the week to highlight the environmental benefits and availability of reduced-peat and peat-free composts. Maggie Newton, Head of the Know Your Compost Campaign, says, “Many people are not aware that peat-free composts contain recycled materials such as grass clippings, hedge trimmings and prunings, which would otherwise be sent to landfill.” A recent survey by the Horticultural Trades Association found that only half of respondents knew that standard multipurpose composts contain peat.

More information is available at www.recyclenow.com/compost, and you’ll find details of events in your local area during Compost Awareness Week at www.compostawarenessweek.org.uk

Meanwhile, the RSPB have issued a renewed appeal to gardeners to stop using peat. Most gardeners are fond of wildlife, they say, and yet they are responsible for virtually all of the peat used in the UK, and therefore for huge and irreversible damage to vitally important wildlife habitats.

The RSPB express particular concern about the fact that peat suppliers are not coming clean about the scale of the climate change impacts of peat use. Gardeners, they say, may therefore not be aware of just how much damage they are doing by using peat. They point out that while the introduction of ‘carbon footprint’ labelling on some peat products is welcome in principle, it needs to include all the emissions that come from extracting and using peat. At present, there is no mention of the carbon released by the peat itself once it is applied in the garden – which reports suggest could be up to four times greater than the carbon footprint from extraction alone. Every year, UK gardeners contribute to approximately 630,000 tonnes of carbon emissions by purchasing peat products and plants grown in peat.

Much more news from the Organic World in the current issue of Organic Gardening...


subscriptions telephone number for OG

You can now subscribe secure online, or simply buy the current issue, with free P&P (UK/Eire).
Please note our subscriptions / back issue order line:
Tel: 01507 529529
Fax: 01507 529499
Lines open 8:30am-5pm Mon-Fri
(For security, do not fax card details)

For all the news stories, buy the magazine. Available now