Page 10 - Simply Vegetables Autumn 2023

Europe has driven inflation and volatility, particularly energy, in ways many had never experienced. Supply chains, which were already creaking at the seams due
to a fundamental lack of return at the
farm gate level, have been tested to the limit. Contracts offered to growers and producers weren’t high enough to drive our early season production of cucumbers and peppers in the U.K which are heavily reliant on gas. The market gambled they would be able to import everything required
from Southern Europe and North Africa and when unseasonable cold weather hit production in these areas, our shop shelves were suddenly empty.
The strange part of this conundrum
is that the shelves across Europe and many independent retailers remained
well stocked throughout. French and German retail shelved were full, but at
retail prices well above those in the U.K. The unpalatable truth is that prices paid
to U.K and overseas suppliers are in many cases too low to ensure supplies at times of global undersupply and often we were the market that was left short of produce.
The author was making the point that it is not just a case of adding organic matter to the soil but that it needs to be cared for as well. Over the last ten or so years there had been a lot of research carried out on soils and this is now being put into practice commercially. The author
a technical manager for a horticultural supplies company writes “Everyone now appreciates that soil is a living, breathing entity and that microbiology and increasing microbial biomass is as important an objective as increasing organic matter”. Although many of the microbial biomass need the organic matter to feed on or they prey on the organisms that do feed on it.
He goes on to comment on:
The seeding zone of seedbeds tend to be overworked; here he is referring to farmers but if you use a rotary cultivator (Rotavator) it likely applies to you! The photograph of the rotary cultivators shows the number of blades which turn at a reasonable speed and these smash the soil structure and cause slaking and capping – see below.
Overworking (by this he means producing too finer tilth and possible too deep) leaves seedbeds at risk from slaking during heavy rain (of which we seem to be getting quite a lot these days1). Slaking is similar to capping where the surface soil
forms a thin cap.
Slaking or capping of the
seedbed creates anaerobic conditions in the seedbed zone and impairs the establishment of the crop. (A capped soil can severely reduce germination rate and it can occur on silt and clay soils – Ed)
Poor infiltration of surface rainfall due to capping is often incorrectly identified as poor drainage and growers then either deeply cultivate using equipment like a subsoiler (see photo)
or look at installing drainage, neither of which help the situation.
Although this article is aimed at farmers similar problems can occur in gardens and allotments, the main difference is that farmers use heavy machinery these days which leads to compaction. But if you
are over cultivating, walking on your soil unnecessarily and not feeding your soil you could have similar problems. Good soil structure is important in maintaining
a healthy soil and good soil structure is created via natural processes; the building of aggregates (crumbs) microbiology, the binding of these together by growing roots and the creation of burrows by worms combine to create stable, resilient soil with good gas exchange, water movement and storage. Too much cultivation changes the structure and usually in a negative way. The addition of organic matter is important in improving and maintaining good soil
At a time of a cost-of-living crisis, it seems insensitive to focus on how much British consumers spend on food. However, it’s only the USA and Singapore that have cheaper food than the
U.K as a % of income. We
spend approximately 14%
of household expenditure
on food, with the French
being closer to 20% and
the Germans 17%.
Subsoiler
structure.
Just to make the point climate change is
having an effect I was reading an annual booklet on vine growing recently and it gave some figures on the growing of vines and the production of wine. In my younger days vineyards in the U.K were very rare
as the climate was not considered suitable for commercial grape growing; and before anyone emails me to say the Romans grew grape vines here, I know but it was reputed to have been warmer then!
The 2020 figures for the number of vineyards in England is 844, in Wales 34 and Scotland 3! These covered and area of 3484ha which is approx. 8710 acres, that
is a lot of ground! It is estimated that the 2022 yield would produce over 12 million bottles of wine yet in 2011 it was only 3 million. England could be a major wine producer in the future if the climate carries on changing.
And my final comment on climate change, in this magazine at least, we have just had the hottest year (2022), hottest month world-wide (July), the sixth wettest July on record and the sea temperatures are at the highest temperatures ever recorded yet we still carry on as if nothing is changing! On Farming Today this morning 5th August farmers were saying they are struggling to harvest the crops owing to the weather, this can only lead to more food inflation, so back to my mantra Grow your Own!
On a lighter note, what is in this
With war still raging in
the Ukraine, we have to
take responsibility for how
we feed out 70 million
people. Imports will always
be part of that, but with
the world a more volatile
place, it is irresponsible to
rely on others to feed us
and leave it to chance that
the symptoms of empty shelves will sort themselves out”.
Again, sobering stuff and I fully agree with him, we need to grow our own!!
Finally, some comments from Professor Emeritus Tim Lang from the University
of London who wrote in his column in Organic Way the magazine of Garden Organic. He is asking how the U.K could improve food resilience and whether gardening has a role in this process. If we continue to produce, consume and waste resources, not only will climate change heating accelerate beyond safe limits, but almost certainly social dislocation will too. The shock signs are already here so why aren’t we focused on making the UK more food resilient?
Healthy Soil
In another magazine I noticed an article titled Healthy Soil.... What does that mean?
At a time of a
cost-of-living crisis, it seems insensitive to focus on how much British consumers spend on food
10 Simply Vegetables