Climate change and the associated extreme weather patterns are presenting serious challenges for growers the world over. Here on the heavy clay soil of South Gloucestershire north of Bristol and Bath, our major issue this winter has been water. Lots and lots of water.
A ridiculously difficult and dismal winter full of storms, endless rain and unseasonally mild temperatures, not to mention the warmest February on record, means our spring cutting flowers have been struggling to get going. For some early varieties we use polytunnels to provide shelter from the wind and keep any frost off but we don’t use any additional heating or lighting, and crops have had to take their chances in continually waterlogged ground. This week’s sunny days and frosty nights have seen temperatures in our polytunnels ranging between a low of -2C at night and a high of +32C in the day. A temperature swing of 34 degrees is enough to stress anyone out, let alone our spring flowers and germinating seedlings!
Nevertheless our flowers and plants will prevail and we are confident that beds will soon be bursting into life and our shop will be full! We already have enough for gorgeous planters, posies and arrangements for Mothers Day this weekend.
If you come along to our Mothers Day sale this Saturday 9th March (from 10 until 12 in our floristry studio next to our main car park) you will also see that this winter our first tunnel has had its skin entirely ripped off by one of the many storms. Having had it reskinned only two years ago, it will be a while before we can afford to have it replaced again.
But here at Organic Blooms we are all about finding solutions and seeing the opportunities that are sometimes revealed by adversity. Our newly roofless tunnel retains sides that still provide some shelter from the wind, so we are considering whether any of our field crops might benefit from moving into that more enclosed space: some of our beloved dahlias, perhaps. And the mild, exceedingly wet conditions – part of a concerning pattern – have served to highlight the pace of climate change and prompted an overdue discussion amongst the team about how we manage our soil and and what we grow. We have one or two ideas for relatively small changes we can start to make quickly; in the longer term we, along with all growers, will need to be increasingly open-minded, flexible and agile, and prepared to consider significant changes to our growing practices and business.
Leave A Comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.