Phillip Richards's Blog

Posted by Phillip Richards

A new seed catalogue from an organic seedsman has just arrived and I have been sitting trying to decide just which to order. There is too much choice

I wrote an article about personal and community responsibility. One aspect of responsibility I did not touch on was the question of seed saving. Seed savers and seed saving clubs around the world are doing a wonderful service of preserving old forms of seeds. These are sometimes known as heritage varieties. If you look at on old seed catalogue you see many many different types of beans. You will see much the same in a catalogue from a seed saving source or from an organic seedsman.

These varieties are open pollinated which means the farmer can decide which variety grows best on his land and then save the seeds from year to year.

The new hybrid plants do not have seeds that grow true and in fact are designed not to be saved.

This of course means that the few large seed firms have control over the sale of seeds. The farmer once he gives up his heritage seeds and chooses the hybrid will have to pay for new seeds always.

With seed patenting it is illegal to save some seeds even though they will grow true to type.

Certified organic growers grow only these open pollinated “old” type of seeds.

Look at the seed rack in a supermarket – the same few types of beans - a small choice.

But look here at my new catalogue, pages of different beans. How to pick? How to choose…

Posted by Phillip Richards

How do you know if what you are buying is truly organic? In some places organic certificates are voluntary and in others not well policed. Basically, we should be able to see a logo from one of the certifying bodies on the packaging. If the product, say carrots are being sold loose the seller / producer should be able to show a certificate with a number. The validity of the certifier can be checked out on web sites.

National governments take responsibility of issuing licences to bodies or individual inspectors to certify organic producers. Usually this works well. In Australia, the AQIS the quarantine service has oversight and issues licences. The licences in Australia go to Growers groups which zealously guard their reputations for reliability and honesty. Certification of potential organic producers is an exhaustive process with the philosophy and practice of the grower thoroughly scrutinised. The farm is visited and there are annual audits. Producers must send samples of produce and soil to be tested for residues.

Things may be a little mixed in the USA where there is disquiet about the USDA openness to lobbying from interest groups. An example is the push to allow non-organic hops in organic beer. This would give a great advantage to the large commercial brewers at the expense of the small fry who do source their hops from organic sources.

Posted by Phillip Richards

There have been more and more research evidence to demonstrate that organic fruit and vegetables have more goodness in them than conventionally farmed supermarket sold items. A look at www.ofa.au will give a plethora of information.

However, I saw something that persuaded me. It is not scientific and perhaps it could not be repeated but this is what happened.

Each morning tea break at the school the kitchen staff put out a couple of plastic washing baskets with fruit. Typically, there was one of apples and one of oranges. The fruit was good-looking standard commercial apple and oranges.

One morning a few boys and I went down to our orchard of apple trees. These were very young trees and we picked about a washing basket full and took them up to the school where I left them outside the kitchen door. I was thinking how to persuade the cook into using them fro apple pies for the school (quite a bit of trouble as usually, I guess, the fruit cam from a caterer’s can).

The apples were not perfect. Even a bit spotty and grotty. They were of different sizes and had a slight smattering of a grey mildew over the surface. This could be rubbed off easily and the apples brought up to a shine. Perhaps I thought I should wash and polish them to make them attractive to the boys.

While I sat thinking, the bell went and the boys wandered out from class. The first boy went up to the shop apples but then saw the new picked apples and took one of them. Every boy, and they came in ones and twos, dribs and drabs, walked past the shiny splendid shop apples and took a school grown one.

No one had announced that these were in any way special or the first of the crop. The boys eight years to twelve years old self selected the more delicious and I believe more nutritious piece of fruit.

Posted by Phillip Richards

The tall tree beside the river seemed suddenly to turn red and brown. Within a week the leaves dropped and the tree was dead. Over the next month limbs fell dry and weak until only, known gaunt spikes pierce the canopy. Around it are many other trees including, just back from the bank a few large old mangos, all in good condition.

So, it is a mystery why the great tree died. Dead, though it left us a problem - what to do about it?

Our concern was that it should topple into the river and by doing so block the river, create a dam for the weed (water hyacinth) to stick to and make canoeing difficult. Because there have been no substantial storms to create enough run in the river to flush away water weeds, the river has been filling with the encroaching weeds, we thought that one more problem – a large fallen tree – might create a serious coke point.

So the tree expert came. We shuddered at what it might cost to have the tree removed.

He did not take it down though. He suggested that it should stay where it was, that it was part of nature’s cycle and that the birds would be grateful for the perching sites. Lizards would hunt the insects that burrowed beneath its bark and carpet pythons too would predate there.

As more branches fall, hollows will open up for nesting sites for birds and possums. “But,” I said, “what if it falls into the river?”

It is part of nature; the tree in the river will create new aquatic habitats, protecting helping feed fish.

Organic gardening is moving beyond simply growing flowers and vegetable sin a more eco-friendly fashion to considering the totality of the ecology contained within the gardener’s purview.

Posted by Phillip Richards

When we grew and sold organic vegetables we would usually pack them into boxes, take them to the depot which would then ship in refrigerated trucks our boxes along with conventional produce 300 km to the wholesale markets. From here the fruit and vegetables were moved, again in refrigerated vehicles all over Queensland. In the case of our organic vegetables throughout much of Australia.

One day, having spare produce to sell we took it to the town 100 km north only to find that the Health food store already had had a delivery of "excellent quality patty pan squash". We asked to see the box to compare our quality and , yep, it was our squash. By now it was getting slightly the worse for wear after a round trip of al least 700 km.

It occurred to us that although we were doing something environmentally worthwhile by using organic growing methods, we were not helping in the wider sense of reducing transportation costs.

We sold some of our produce at local markets and determined that that was the most sensible way to go. Selling in local markets or roadside stalls has a drawback - while selling one is not growing so we had to work out a sensible balance.

My recommendation? Support organic growers but support them through local farmers markets if possible.