Organic Fortnight, is the UK’s biggest celebration of all things organic. This year the campaign has focussed on choosing organic products every day. Hopefully it has encouraged more people to see organic as a realistic option.
I'd like to say a big thank you to everyone who blogged on organic issues during the fortnight or who followed the campaign via Soil Association Scotland's Twitter feed. You all helped to create a buzz around the campaign. So thanks to:
Zero Waste Week website.
Allotment 2 Kitchen
Caroline at Coastcard
Gabrielle Bryden
Organikal
The Information Officers' Support Blog
Elizabeth Rimmer on Luchair
Elevenses Time
Suitably Despairing
My Zero Waste
Tree Shadow Moon
Real Food Lover
If you took part and I've missed you off the list, please let me know!
Showing posts with label organic. Show all posts
Showing posts with label organic. Show all posts
Friday 17 September 2010
Thursday 16 September 2010
sleepy bee haiku
a bee sleeps
on a sunflower -
fallen leaves
Meanwhile there's a new blog post for Organic Fortnight over on Tree Shadow Moon
And I am totally delighted by this review of my poetry chapbook Unthinkable Skies, thanks to James of Coyote Mercury.
on a sunflower -
fallen leaves
Meanwhile there's a new blog post for Organic Fortnight over on Tree Shadow Moon
And I am totally delighted by this review of my poetry chapbook Unthinkable Skies, thanks to James of Coyote Mercury.
Tuesday 14 September 2010
Organic Food and Biodiversity
Organic Farming does not rely on pesticides and other agricultural chemicals. As a result it is not poisoning plants and animals that live on the farm. Organic farming also encourages a diverse ecosystem to develop soil fertility and encourages natural predators that can then keep pest species in check. Many studies have shown that overall there is a greater variety of plant and animal species on organic farms compared to conventional farms, with soil living organisms, birds and butterflies being usually seen as the groups that benefit the most. A Finnish study in 2007 also indicated that converting to organic farming can help to re-establish species that had been lost during the period as a conventional farm.
You can read more on the Wildlife Page of the Soil Association website, which also includes a link to a long study done on the issue of Biodiversity and Organics.
What other bloggers are saying about Organic Fortnight
Organic Plum and Apple Flapjacks on Allotment 2 Kitchen
Organic Fortnight on Transition Edinburgh University
Thursday 9 September 2010
Animal Vegetable Miracle
This is a wonderfully inspiring book about Barbara Kingsolver's family attempt to eat locally for a year. They have a plot of land on which to grow vegetables and raise chickens and turkeys and they invest a lot of time into sourcing other locally raised food. Kingsolver's narrative is broken up by thoughts from her older daughter Camille who also shares wonderful sounding recipes (which can be found also on the website: http://www.animalvegetablemiracle.com/).
Kingsolver weaves musings about broader food issues into her narrative of their year. Which is more important organic or locally produced? Why is international agriculture so dependent on so few varieties of so few species and how can we revive heritage breeds?
We are given fascinating and scary facts about conventional agriculture, eg: In 1948 when pesticides were first introduced, farmers used roughly 50 million pounds of them and suffered about a 7% loss of all their food crops. In 2000 they used nearly a billion pounds of pesticide and lost 13% of their crops. Which seems like an excellent advert for organic agriculture to me!).
The most valuable aspect of this book though is the enthusiasm with which Kingsolver documents her family's year and her humour in sharing so many of the stories along the way, her younger daughter's unexpected entrepreneurial skills as she plans an egg business, the saga of the turkeys learning how to brood their eggs (because turkeys are bred artificially and designed to last only one year, the ability to breed has effectively been bred out of them).
After reading this book, you should find yourself looking more carefully at the labels on the food you buy, and searching for a spot where you can grow your own food even if your windowledges all face north and your neighbours have locked you out of the communal garden.
For Organic Fortnight
What Other Bloggers are Saying About Organic Fortnight:
Eating Organic Carrot Gnocchi on Allotment to Kitchen.
Kingsolver weaves musings about broader food issues into her narrative of their year. Which is more important organic or locally produced? Why is international agriculture so dependent on so few varieties of so few species and how can we revive heritage breeds?
We are given fascinating and scary facts about conventional agriculture, eg: In 1948 when pesticides were first introduced, farmers used roughly 50 million pounds of them and suffered about a 7% loss of all their food crops. In 2000 they used nearly a billion pounds of pesticide and lost 13% of their crops. Which seems like an excellent advert for organic agriculture to me!).
The most valuable aspect of this book though is the enthusiasm with which Kingsolver documents her family's year and her humour in sharing so many of the stories along the way, her younger daughter's unexpected entrepreneurial skills as she plans an egg business, the saga of the turkeys learning how to brood their eggs (because turkeys are bred artificially and designed to last only one year, the ability to breed has effectively been bred out of them).
After reading this book, you should find yourself looking more carefully at the labels on the food you buy, and searching for a spot where you can grow your own food even if your windowledges all face north and your neighbours have locked you out of the communal garden.
For Organic Fortnight
What Other Bloggers are Saying About Organic Fortnight:
Eating Organic Carrot Gnocchi on Allotment to Kitchen.
Wednesday 8 September 2010
New Yurts at West Moss-side Farm - Organic Holiday Venue
I enjoyed visiting West Moss-side Farm near Stirling earlier this year. You can read about my visit here. So I was delighted to hear that now they have three self catering holiday yurts ready for people to stay in, complete with barbeque facilities where you can sample the farm's organic produce. Part of me has always wanted to live in a yurt (I love films featuring nomadic yurt living families in Outer Mongolia!)
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West Moss-side Farm is in a delightful location next to Flanders Moss Nature Reserve. In summer swallows flock to the specially built swallow hotel in the new barn while cuckoos call across the fields. You can read more about the yurts on the West Moss-side Farm website here. The farm also offers a wonderful range of creative workshops, which you can read about here and is also a lovely venue for meetings.
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What other bloggers are saying for Organic Fortnight:
Thursday 29 April 2010
Organic in Bristol
I had a very enjoyable trip to Bristol. The train trip is 6 hours but passes through beautiful areas of southern Scotland, the English Lake District and Gloucestershire, an excellent route for birdwatching - I saw lapwings, oystercatchers, Canada geese, kestrels and buzzards among others. I think it is very positive that Soil Association expects us to use the train to travel between Edinburgh and Bristol, every other organisation I've worked for that has an office in Bristol has expected me to fly and I've needed to put in a good argument to be allowed on the train.
On Tuesday evening I met a friend for supper and we went to Bordeaux Quay - the UK’s first eco restaurant to achieve a gold rating under the Food For Life Catering Mark, This scheme, developed by the Soil Association, guarantees customers get a sustainable meal, with standards governing things such as food additives, animal welfare and the seasonality of the produce. For more information visit: www.foodforlife.org.uk/resources/catering. The food at Bordeaux Quay is also very tasty, we had a lovely creamy onion tart with salad and potatoes and I had an amazingly delicious lemon meringue trifle.
I stayed at The Greenhouse, which is a lovely friendly B&B that serves organic breakfasts and has a very affectionate West Highland terrier called Archie.
I also had very productive meetings with my colleagues!
On Tuesday evening I met a friend for supper and we went to Bordeaux Quay - the UK’s first eco restaurant to achieve a gold rating under the Food For Life Catering Mark, This scheme, developed by the Soil Association, guarantees customers get a sustainable meal, with standards governing things such as food additives, animal welfare and the seasonality of the produce. For more information visit: www.foodforlife.org.uk/resources/catering. The food at Bordeaux Quay is also very tasty, we had a lovely creamy onion tart with salad and potatoes and I had an amazingly delicious lemon meringue trifle.
I stayed at The Greenhouse, which is a lovely friendly B&B that serves organic breakfasts and has a very affectionate West Highland terrier called Archie.
I also had very productive meetings with my colleagues!
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