Money talks: How can we get more money into sustainable farming?
As a Devon goat farmer once told me: “There’s a lot of money in land, there’s a lot of money in food, but there’s not much money in farming.” Yet how we use the land matters, aside from fossil fuel...
View ArticleRegenerative Thinking: Why individual actions matter
Regenerative Thinking is a regular column for Wicked Leeks by Nathan Einbinder, programme lead at Schumacher College, on food, farming and social change. Earlier this month, on what was then the...
View ArticleSeed companies took control of our farms – now we’re taking it back
At the first Landworkers’ Alliance meeting in 2012, it was decided that one of the main campaign strands to focus on would be seeds. If truth be told, at that time I was not really sure what the issues...
View ArticleJoining the dots and moving on
It was when I was working as a freelance journalist, prior to joining Wicked Leeks and Riverford, that I first realised there was a gap. Why couldn’t I find a magazine, or outlet, that had stories of...
View ArticleLaying hedges for the future
Having moved from the London commuter belt to south Devon as my children flew the nest, I have become more and more interested in the interplay between people and land. I am also interested how much we...
View ArticleWeathering the storm: a year-round commitment to banana growers
Bananas are a cheap, staple item for most households. They are such a regular feature that it can be easy to take them for granted. But when you reflect on the work that has gone into growing and...
View ArticlePeat: a sticky situation with an evolving, experimental solution
The horticulture industry has been reliant on peat since the 1960s. A highly effective medium to support the growth of seedlings, it has physical, chemical and biological properties that make it a...
View ArticleThe madness of maize
While most of Devon is bright green, an emerging patchwork of fields is turning yellow. This is the kiss of death from glyphosate, the ‘world’s favourite herbicide’. Most agriculture starts by removing...
View ArticleAn emotional business
The soil is drying fast – and our valley is a frenzy of activity. Farmers are muck-spreading, ploughing, and sowing maize, cereals, grass, and of course, veg. Despite some long working days (and a few...
View ArticleGlorious awakening
Having caught up on rain-delayed plantings of cabbages, lettuce, and broad beans, we are now busy planting tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, and chillies in our polytunnels, and squash, sweetcorn, and...
View ArticleBritish flowers? Only 14% are grown in the UK.
Up until the 1950s most flowers we encountered in the UK were grown in the UK. Then, huge investment from the Dutch government saw the first airfreighted blooms arrive, followed by the arrival of the...
View ArticleFruit & veg shortfall sparks a new home-grown roadmap
Fruit and vegetables are the foundation of healthy and sustainable diets. Yet as a sector, edible horticulture is facing unprecedented challenges – from rising production costs to limited labour...
View ArticleRegen, organic & agroecology: what’s the difference?
Regenerative, organic, agroecological. You might encounter all of these terms in the search for ‘sustainably’ grown food (there’s another!). This word-soup is a sign that lots of farming communities...
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