GREATsoils Blogs

Simon Gardner, Organics Manager at G’s on how he’s addressing soil health in an intensive salad system.

Nick Sheppard of Jepco says that early results are showing improved crop in both yield and quality, just the start of a massive learning curve.

"The way I see it, soil health needs to be our starting point. The ever diminishing spectrum of conventional pesticides has highlighted the need to take a holistic approach to crop health and soil health" - Steve Nickells, Valefresco

"The results have been staggering. I was expecting to see an improvement in the soil with the earlier sown green manures, but I didn’t expect such a graphic difference in the texture of the soil" - Iain Tolhurst, Tolhursts Organics

Video: James Smith of Loddingtons Farm on improving soil health in only 2 years, by trialling a mix of green manures.

Video: Chris Molyneux of Molyneux Kale on why soil should always have something growing in it.

"Because of what we’ve learned we are already discussing the planning of new orchards with greater attention to preparing the soil." - Paul Smith, Loddingtons

November saw the first meeting of a new Innovative Farmers field lab on soil health for top fruit being run as part of the AHDB GREAT soils programme.

“Anecdotal evidence shows that cultivation costs are lower following cover crops due to more workable soils.” - Phillip Hubbert, JEPCO

I want to see if this trial can lead to a more sustainable growing system that will put something back into the soil whilst at the same time producing a good quality product. - Joe Rolfe, Taylorgrown