“Serious aphid infestations on spring wheat are infrequent, control costs are low and aphid outbreaks are often controlled naturally by
predators. Why are we spending scarce agricultural funding on a trial whose aim is to repel aphids from spring wheat, which only accounts
for 1% of the UK crop? This crop won’t help me to feed my family, let alone help farmers feed the world”.

The public debate was requested by anti GM campaigners Take the Flour Back in an open letter to Rothamsted Research after the centre ignored concerns
raised by other scientists and campaign groups. Dorset farmer Jyoti Fernandes, will meet with Rothamsted’s John Picket live in the studio.
Fernandes has a unique perspective on the impacts of GM through her family who farm in India and the US.

Embarrassingly for Rothamsted similar questions were also raised by GM advocate Guy Smith this week. Smith is a former participant in GM trials
at his farm in Essex and member of the biotech industry-funded lobby group CropGen, yet in a recent opinion piece for Farmers Weekly -

“Why are we spending a large chunk of our finite R & D budget on a crop no one wants to buy? Even in the USA, GM wheat has stalled
because of consumer resistance. Can anyone think of another example of money being spent on the development of a crop that has no market
prospects? It’s as if the R & D committee got drunk before the meeting”

Lundgren is also concerned about risks posed by the crop, which, if applied commercially could see aphid pests displaced into other nearby
(non-GM) crops.

“For me as a wheat farmer, this trial is both irrelevant and irresponsible.”

These comments come as influential group of MPs- The Environmental Audit Committee, are calling on the Government to refrain from licensing GM
crops until their benefits have been proved. In a report published this week, the Committee challenged the Government’s promotion of the
‘sustainable intensification’ model of food production, including questioning its support for GM technology.

The committee heard evidence that food shortage problems could be ‘better addressed through other means’, for example by tackling the 30 per cent
food grown globally that is lost or wasted. The MPs call on the Government to establish an independent body to research into the impacts of GM
starting with ‘the scope for, and risks of, the co-existence of GM crops with conventional and organic farming regimes’.

For more info and sources see here:
http://taketheflourback.org/farmers-challenge-gm-trial-on-newsnight/
farminguk.com/news/Farmers-challenge-GM-trials-on-Newsnight_23518.html
http://www.taketheflourback.org

Planning is underway for the next edition of this popular catalogue and Garden Organic are delighted to invite Master Gardeners, mentored households and communities to have their say to help fellow growers next year.

We love to have feedback from gardeners who have used seeds and products from the catalogue. Is there a variety you have grown, or product you have used, that has been particularly successful (or not?).

Are there things that you think we should include in the 2013 catalogue?

Click image to visit website – http://organiccatalog.com/

Please send your feedback to Pauline Pears:

Post: Garden Organic, Ryton Gardens Coventry, CV8 3LG

Email: pmpears@gardenorganic.org.uk, with 2012 catalogue in the subject line.

If you can supply an appropriate photo that would be even better.

It’s a bit early in the season for feedback on this year’s growing; comments later in the year are also welcome.

Further thoughts

The Organic Gardening Catalogue is the official catalogue of Garden Organic  http://www.gardenorganic.org.uk/ and a joint venture with Chase Organics  http://www.chaseorganics.co.uk/ in Hersham,  Surrey, UK who have been suppliers to organic gardeners for over 80  years.

Fans of Grow Your Own http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/ magazine, which has a readership of around  143,000, have voted the Organic Gardening Catalogue as ‘The Best Mail  Order Gardening Company’.

You don’t have to be a Garden Organic member to  order from the Organic Gardening Catalogue, however, Garden Organic  members receive a 10% discount on all goods. Click here for membership details http://www.gardenorganic.org.uk/join.php

Each purchase from the catalogue supports the charitable work of Garden Organic, so remember every order counts.

Click here for further details http://www.gardenorganic.org.uk/feedback/catalog.php

Click here to visit the Organic Gardening Catalogue http://www.organiccatalogue.com/

B&Q state that despite rigorous quality control procedures it has been brought to their attention that, in a small number of instances, these propagators may overheat when in use; which is a potential fire risk.

They say that if you have purchased one of these propagators since December 2011; you should stop using it immediately and return the product to your local B&Q store where a full refund of the purchase price will be given.

Further information is available from B&Q’s Customer Services helpline on (UK) 0800 3890419 (Monday to Friday 8.30am to 8.00pm, Saturday 9.00am to 5.00pm) or from the full product recall notices for the Verve 42cm and the Verve 52cm.

Only the two propagators mentioned above are at risk. All other B&Q propagation equipment is unaffected by this recall,

Of course my first mistake was assuming this was an organic compost – how many times have I told people “if it doesn’t say it’s organic, it most likely isn’t” – and this certainly doesn’t say it is.

However; being faced with a trip back to B&Q to return it, I thought I might as well open it and give it a try, just to see what it was like. Second mistake!

If there was a prime candidate for the ‘pro-peat lobby’ to use as an example of why they think peat-free is bad – this has to be it. Of course I’ve no idea what it will perform like; but what a truly horrible product to use. It basically has the texture of shredded wood; complete with sizable chunks of partially decomposed wood – the largest of which I have found so-far, was about 3 inches by one inch. I have generally (and of course wrongly) ignored the warnings to wear gloves that are printed on compost bags. But in this case, I’m certainly not putting my hands in there, without protection!

Verve Multipurpose (The disk is a penny)

Checking B&Q’s website for further information, produces two customer reviews; one saying “its nice and fine ideal for seed sowing and striking cuttings” and another saying “quite probably the worst compost I have ever purchased. Very disappointing” and “It is rough with some very large pieces of shredded wood and twigs in it”, according more with my own findings.

Given that one of the regular criticisms of peat-free is ‘inconsistency’, I wonder if it may perhaps be the case that I (and the second reviewer) had a dud bag and the ‘norm’ is otherwise. So, the question is, whether anyone else has bought Verve peat-free and what they have found?

Certainly, the rest of mine is going to end-up as mulch in a corner somewhere and I really do not see myself recommending it to anyone else, for anything.