Seedy Sunday 2019 did not disappoint with a day packed with interesting stalls, events and people. Over 2,000 happy punters had a great time visiting the seed swap, with over 2,500 packets of seeds to choose from, and visiting the 70 stall holders who were showing, telling and selling all things gardening and wildlife related.

We were busy on our BHOGG stall all day with people coming to renew membership or join for the first time, buy wonderful organic feed and to ask expert advice on organic gardening. Seedy Sunday is an important event for BHOGG and organic gardeners as seeds saved locally often have adaptations to local soil conditions and microclimates, making them more likely to grow well and need less support. Seed swaps also provide a much wider choice of varieties than it is possible to get from seed companies, and although they may not always be strictly organic, their local heritage is an added boon.

Kate Harrison from the Seedy Sunday committee told us what she loves about the event:

“I’ve been coming to Seedy Sunday almost as long as I’ve lived in Brighton – 17 years! If you’d told me back in 2003 that I might be on the organising committee one day, I’d have been amazed. What I love about Seedy Sunday is that every year I learn something new, I buy some eye-opening plant (this year: Sea Buckthorn and Chilean Guava), and I meet some fantastic people. The atmosphere at Seedy Sunday is so special – full of people saying hello to old friends, making new ones, and talking about their common passions – gardening and wildlife.”

Seedy Sunday was organised by around 50 volunteers this year that set up, packed down and helped on the day. They always welcome new volunteers, so get in touch at their website for more information on how to be involved in next year’s event.

If you didn’t get along to the BHOGG staff to renew your membership or join, then don’t forget you can do so online on our website.

Images from top left (all images copyright of Jenni Cresswell, except where stated otherwise): BHOGG banner, Pennard Plant’s potatoes (image courtesy of Fenella Burns), Seedy Sunday seed packets ready for swapping (image courtesy of Fenella Burns), Infinity’s potatoes (image courtesy of Fenella Burns), Thomas Etty’s heritage seed catalogue, Pesticide Action Network’s Pesticide Free City badges, BHOGG leaflet, Stanmer Organics’ willow decorations, Seedy Sunday bunting, The Monday Group’s bird boxes.

In November 2017 the European Union (EU) agreed to grant a 5 year licence for the use of glyphosate* within the EU. This came after 18 months of debate between the agrochemical industry, which wanted a 15-year renewal of the licence for the use of glyphosate within the EU, and individuals, NGOs and environmental organisations who wanted the substance banned. The European Commission and those Member States that voted in favour of renewal chose to ignore the European Parliament and the 1,320,517 European citizens who signed a petition to ban glyphosate, reform the EU pesticide** approval process, and set mandatory targets to reduce pesticide use in the EU.

The European Parliament then set up a Special Committee on the authorisation procedure for pesticides. The first recommendations to address the issue have now been made. Possibly the most important recommendation is the proposal that the public should be granted access to the research submitted in order to authorise a pesticide.  Currently the data and information provided by the chemical companies (such as Bayer and Syngenta) is seen only by the authorisation body and is too often regarded by them as definitive. The new recommendation provides scientists and other specialists in the field a chance to analyse the data provided by manufacturers.

During this period of open access stakeholders will be able not only to comment on the findings, but also to provide additional existing data.  This allows for all relevant information to be taken into account – environmental impact, health studies etc. – which previously the authorisers have not been able to do.

The Committee also recommended that post-market evaluation should be strengthened.  This means follow-up research in real life use of the pesticide. It is hoped that they will launch an epidemiological study on the impact of pesticides on human health, for instance. Perhaps they will also look at the ‘cocktail effect’ of using a sequence of chemicals throughout the crops’ growing life.  Normally each chemical is approved in isolation – which is not how farmers and growers use them. The Belgian Greens MEP, Bart Staes said:

“We ask for full transparency with regard to the studies used for the assessment. To make them more independent and based on scientific evidence, to avoid conflicts of interests, to fully test active substances, to thoroughly test pesticide products, including the cumulative effects, and for stronger risk management measures.”

The recommendations were adopted with 23 votes to 5 and 1 abstention. The full EU House voted on the report during the plenary session of 14-17th January 2019, with a resounding majority for adoption of the report (For: 526 (79%), Against: 66 (10%), Abstain: 72 (11%)).

Notes:

*Glyphosate is the main ingredient in Round Up

**“Pesticide” is also used to describe herbicides, which includes glyphosate.

Article written by Mouse

See our article on local impact on ban here.

Brighton & Hove Allotment Federation (BHAF) held a site rep and members meeting on 23^rd January. Part of this meeting was to look at whether a ban of the use of glyphosate could be proposed to Brighton & Hove City Council. Mark Carroll, Chair of BHAF reports back for BHOGG:

‘Although it appears that the majority of plot holders would like a ban on the use of glyphosate on allotments, there is a significant minority that do not think a ban is appropriate.

The reasons put forward are that it is a legal product which some people, perhaps elderly and less fit people, rely on to keep weeds at bay. A big problem for the site reps present at the meeting, who did not want a ban on its use, was that they felt it would be impossible to enforce a ban anyway. There are other products and mixtures available that will also kill plants, so how would a site rep know if it was definitely glyphosate that was used? It is true it would be difficult to ‘police’.

However there was agreement that careless use of glyphosate, which affected neighbouring plots should definitely be curtailed. It was agreed that there should be something included in the rules to this effect, and BHAF will work on this straight away.

Meanwhile, until glyphosate is banned, (and it seems increasingly likely it will be) we will continue to try and increase awareness of the dangers of its use. Not just the possible personal health issues of using it on your own plots but also of the serious negative effects to the wider environment and bio diversity which allotments provide.’

Over 80% of plot holders actively minimise the use of chemicals and aim for organic growing methods. So with this positive starting point, BHOGG and BHAF are committed to working together to promote organic gardening and help raise awareness about the harmful effects of using chemicals such as glyphosate.  Watch this space!

For more background on European Union’s debate around pesticides and glyphosate, read Mouse’s article.

Garlic can be planted over a number of months from October to February, although the earlier you can plant, the longer the crop will have to mature (which can be handy if we have a poor summer). Traditionally, garlic is planted on the shortest day of the year and harvested on the longest, but you will find you probably need longer than this for larger garlic bulbs.

Garlic is available in 2 broad categories of soft or hard necked garlic. Soft-neck garlic is what you are most likely to buy in the shops as it stores well, but can have a milder taste. They tend to have mixed clove sizes in one bulb. Hard neck varieties are closer to wild garlic with the accompanying stronger taste, but doesn’t store for as long. These tend to have larger clove sizes. There is also Elephant ‘garlic’ to consider, which produces huge individual cloves, but this is technically a leek!

Whatever variety you decide on, buy your bulbs from an organic supplier and check that the bulb is firm and free from mould. Tempted to plant that sprouting garlic in the cupboard? You can plant garlic you’ve bought from the shop, but it potentially won’t have the disease resistance and vigour that seed bulb garlic will have.

Choose a position outdoors that will be sunny. Prepare the soil by adding some manure and forking this in well.  Make sure the soil is loose to a good depth – as deep as you can do easily by hand (unless your soil is very compact, then you either need to dig it over properly, or add a lot of organic material if you choose ‘no dig’). Draw the soil into raised rows allowing room to plant cloves 4 inches apart and at least 6 inches between rows.

Break open the garlic bulb to access the individual cloves within.   Each clove will grow into a new bulb. Place the individual garlic gloves along the rows of soil to get the spacing right, then gently push them into the mound until the tip of the clove (pointy end) is even with the top of the soil. Draw up a little of the soil to cover the clove to a depth of around 1 inch.

Gently break bulb into cloves

Place cloves along mound evenly spaced

protect bulbs from predators

Place a physical barrier over the planted area to deter birds and other creatures from unearthing the bulbs. If this does happen, simply gently push the cloves back into the soil and draw soil up to cover them again.  There is no need to water the garlic in, and in fact, unless there is very little rain, there is no need to do anything else with the garlic except sit back and wait.

Harvest the crop when the top of the plant has gone from green to brown, dried out and looks dead. Lift the bulbs from beneath the soil and leave them somewhere dry and warm to ensure all moisture is removed. Store somewhere cool and well ventilated, and use as you would shop-bought garlic.

If you have a large crop and you can’t wait to taste it, you can harvest the bulb when it is ‘green’ – the top of the plant will still be green and growing, and the bulb will not have separated out into individual cloves. This can be used in cooking and gives a fresh, welcome treat to dishes in early summer.

There is a chance that in wet conditions the bulbs can get white rot. This is a fungal disease that rots the crop from the roots up and is very hard to control once it occurs. The best organic defence is to lift and burn infected plants and avoid planting garlic, onions or leeks (all from the allium plant family) for 7 years. This is hard to achieve in a small space, so attempting to avoid it initially is the best bet.

Try out these recipes to use your garlic in: Courgette pesto and Ema’s chilli, garlic & ginger sauce.

A pond is a really useful resource in a garden, providing a habitat for important beneficial insects, invertebrates and vertebrates, which are natural hunters of pests in the garden.

There are infinite versions of ponds, differing materials and a wide range of websites offering you support with how to make a pond.

We have done some reading and put ideas into practice to produce a short ‘how to’ guide on making your own wildlife pond. This is not a definitive guide, just offering you some practical tips in a step-by-step format.

Step One: Choosing your pond material

For our pond we chose a flexible PVC liner with protective underlay. Ideally a wildlife pond would be made from puddled clay, but that is a rare resource in chalky Brighton, so we opted for a liner from a professional supplier with a 5-year guarantee. Well protected from sunlight and sharp stones, there’s no reason the liner won’t last a lifetime. Other options include pre-formed plastic liners and rubber liners. Decide on what suits you best depending on the space available, how large you want it and what your budget is.

If, like us, you opt for a flexible liner, you need to work out what size to buy. Many online pond companies provide a calculator to work out this out depending on what size you want your finished pond.

Step Two: Choosing your pond site and size

Choose the place you want to put the pond and mark out the shape and size you have decided on. Using sand to mark the outline is helpful to visualise the final shape. As a general rule, you should choose a sunny site with no overhanging vegetation and the ground should be a level as possible.

A pond needs to be as large as you can accommodate (or afford), but make sure it is at least ½ metre deep to avoid it freezing solid in winter. The pond we made is 2 x 1 x 0.5 metres. Choosing an irregular shaped design is important for wildlife and looks attractive.

Step Three: Digging Out the Pond in Layers

Decide on how you want to place the layers of the pond. A good way to think about it is like an upside down fried egg – the deepest point of the pond need only be relatively small with shallower layers towards the edges. Make sure one edge is very shallow to allow pond fauna to access the water.

One website recommended using vertical (rather than sloping) edges, using a back filling technique over the liner with sub soil. This is possible where you have dug deep enough to hit subsoil – we didn’t go that low for this project. We did dig vertical sides except for our sloping ‘shore’ (seen in the lower part of the picture).

Take care with digging out the soil – plan to do the work over a few days so you don’t injure yourself, or get some friends to help share the work. Also think about where you want to move the excavated soil to – it can be a surprising amount even from a small hole. Keep back a small amount of soil to use to bury the edges of the liner under at the end.

Step Four: Lining the Pond and Filling it

Place the liner protector over the dug out space and carefully mould it to the shape of the pond as closely as possible. Overlay with the liner and do the same. DO NOT CUT THE LINERS YET!

Fill the pond using tap water; this is recommended as it is less nutrient rich than rain water and will help keep out unwanted growth as the pond establishes.

Take care as the weight of the water allows the liner to make contact with the soil – make sure excess liner is carefully pleated and folded to make good contact with the soil. Keep adjusting as it fills.

Step Five: Trimming the Lining and Finishing off

Once the pond is filled with water, you can trim and bury the edges. Trim about 30cms from the edge all around the pond. You can secure the liner by placing some of the reserved soil you dug out over the edges. It’s important to shade plastic liners from sunlight and you can use off cuts of the pond liner to cover up where it may be exposed.

Wildlife ponds benefit from a range of materials being placed around and near the pond. We used some paving slabs on one side to provide some shade over the pond and weight to anchor the liner. Don’t use slabs all the way around – they get very hot in the sun and small aquatic fauna entering and exiting the water can die from the heat exposure. We used small rocks and stones around the shallow ‘shore’ edge to create a wetland area, and a habitat pile of cut wood to provide damp, dark environment for toads, frogs and newts. Characterful decayed wood was also used to add interest to the overall effect.

Step Six: Adding Plants

Now you can introduce some water plants to the pond. Make sure you choose these carefully, going for native options and ensuring they won’t get too big for the pond resulting in having to clear the pond of overgrown vegetation. Choose plants for differing water depths, but make sure you have at least one oxygenator and that around 70% of the water surface will be covered by vegetation. This prevents too much nitrogen building up causing algal blooms and other unwanted growth.

Step Seven: Trouble shooting

The pond is likely to go a murky green a few days after filling and planting. Don’t panic, it will soon turn clear once everything has settled down. However, even with the best will in the world, it is likely that you will get unwanted visitors such as duck weed or the dreaded blanket weed. Pull out what you can as it arises and try using barley straw – a packet of straw which magically suppresses overgrowth of blanket weed and other algae without upsetting any of your wanted plants and animals.

Sit back and enjoy watching the visitors arrive: water boatmen, pond skaters, damselflies, dragonflies, mayflies, caddis flies, water beetles, toads, frogs, newts, and even birds looking for a bath!

For more information, look online, and check out our favourite pond expert: @petethepond