Organic resilience

Organic resilience is key to what we do here. There’s no denying that the 2025 growing season has been another challenging one, with scorching sun relentlessly beating down onto baked, parched ground almost continuously through the spring and summer. Whilst growing in these conditions hasn’t been easy, we do find that our organic growing methods gift us a level of resilience that we would otherwise struggle to achieve.

A significant proportion of our crops are perennials with strong root systems extending deep into the ground, enabling them to seek out moisture not accessible to annual crops. Our polycultural growing system also means that there is a variety of root systems and depths close together, all taking water from different places within the soil. This means there is far less competition for water than there would be in an entire field of a single species.

Our minimum tillage approach dictates that we disturb the soil as little as possible, meaning more moisture is retained. In growing systems that rely on tillage, every time the soil is disturbed by ploughing, harrowing or rotovating, moisture is lost into the atmosphere (which, incidentally, exacerbates the greenhouse effect). We also mulch with plenty of organic matter which feeds the soil life, reduces evaporation and – as it is gradually incorporated into the soil – improves structure, aiding water flow and retention. On the whole we water very minimally once crops are planted outside. This year, however, we took the step of watering beds whenever they were empty between crops and immediately mulching with green waste compost to help retain that moisture ready for planting again.

Epigenetics – heritable changes in gene expression in response to environmental experiences – provides a further aspect of organic resilience. Within their lifespan, plants adapt epigenetically to their local conditions, for example soil, availability of water and nutrients, amount of sunshine, day lengths, interaction with local pests and diseases. These adaptations are passed on to the next generation, making them more resilient. When we grow seed produced overseas in different conditions we don’t see these epigenetic advantages. However we save an increasing amount of our own seed each year meaning that many of our crops now have added resilience from several generations of adaptation to our specific conditions here on site. This – combined with their long term reliance on our soil and environment, rather than the short-term boosts that chemical inputs would give – equips them with the best chance of coping when they encounter additional stresses such as the heat and dryness of this past summer.

Achieving organic certification is complex, hard work and a long term commitment. However the benefits are significant. Some of our flowers may have been a little smaller or shorter stemmed this year due to the lack of rain, but they have been no less beautiful for that.