To all our customers over 2023 – thank you so much for your loyalty to the little orange berry.
I am sorry but I am closing from taking any further orders until January. Our cold store is in need of TLC over the holiday and I will be taking orders again as from Monday January 1st next year.
With best wishes for a very happy Christmas and let us pray for a more peaceful world in 2024.
The past is for learning from; the present to act on that knowledge and the future tests the actions taken.
The 22 German, Latvian, Finnish and Siberian varieties of sea buckthorn here at Devereux farm have tested which are the ones that we believe in for the future. 2023 will see the start of planting new orchards.
Over the past ten years, experience is what drives our ideas. In 2014 we had a shocking infection in the young plants impacting on 40% of the Siberian plants. As the plants matured the problem has not re-occured. In 2017 these plants were full of berries, but gradual adaptation of these plants to our climate shifted their wind pollination into March. The weather in march being wet and windy has neutralised this process resulting in only a small crop in 2022.
Birds were not a problem for that 2017 crop. But as years have gone by and local wildlife recognised this new feedstock in the landscape they have grown to be a bigger issue year by year. When the crop is large, we can afford to share it with the birds. But when the crop is small they take every berry. In 2022, the high temperatures and extended drought also drove the birds to want to eat the berries even before they were ripe. So looking forward to the future if we are going to be successful we have to manage this problem.
With summer 2022 taking temperatures to a UK record 40 deg C. climate change is a factor that will impact on growing sea buckthorn. It is resilient and grows in extreme conditions, but we should not look at all sea buckthorn as being the same. Across the world there are different species and subspecies that have adapted to these conditions. Here at Devereux farm our clay soils are not ideal. In winter these soils become waterlogged, particularly as with climate change heavy rain events are becoming the norm.
Summer 2022 with its long dry drought resulted in a small crop of smaller berries, which the birds decimated. We started planting sea buckthorn in 2009. We now have enough experience for the next phase of our sea buckthorn project. The loss of the 2022 crop triggered the decision that now is the time to select the varieties that have potential and replant in orchards designed to optimise pollination; reduce bird damage; accomodate the impacts of drought. Solving these issues will deliver consistent crops for our customers.
What does all this mean to our customers?
Losing almost 90% of the 2022 crop means our freezers are almost empty with the last of our frozen berries to be sold-out this month.
The new plants that we use to replant our organic orchards will take four years to mature to fruit.
There will be a small crop coming from the plants we are retaining available from harvest each year, but the supply will be limited until the new plants develop.
In order to be able to carry on supplying berries through the year after our home grown have run out it seemed to make sense to source berries from our sea buckthorn plant suppliers. These would be organic and of the same varieties as we have been growing and will be growing in the future. So the sad issue that last summer’s crop was a disaster, will not mean that we cannot continue to supply customers with organic whole sea buckthorn berry. I hope that you will appreciate this situation. We will have new crop berries available from our own plants in mid July.
In the meantime there is a lot more happening at Devereux farm. Living next to the Hamford water National Nature Reserve the farm has long been managed to provide habitat for wildlife. In fact over the past year, bird counts have logged 198 different species. The habitat areas are managed in agreement with Natural England, with our arable crops grown within them. As we look at sea buckthorn with a eye to climate change and its impact on the future, so we also see the farm needing to change.
Although it is a busy time ahead with the sea buckthorn, the decision has also been taken to convert the whole of the rest of the farm to organic as well. This brings the whole ethos of what we do into one.
In writing this blog I am aware that I stopped blogging a while back, but with all this change it seems the right time to start and deliver a weekly update on what is going on. It is truly going to be a busy year as there has just been announced the ninth annual conference of the International Sea buckthorn Association is to be held in Thessaloniki, Greece in May. Greece is the country from which the origin name of sea buckthorn (Hippophae) comes – confirming its 2000 year old history and the ongoing appreciation of its natural health benefits.
2023 is here, what will this mean?
At Devereux farm, we are lucky enough to work in the countryside – a place that inspires everything we do.
On my early walk this morning I passed a special tree in our garden. It was one of the reasons why we bought our house in 1996. Back then, the tree was around 350 years old. It was a massive turkey oak – tall, broad – with low sweeping branches, it was however coming to the end of its life.
Tragedy struck at the Millenium on January 1st 2000, when this grand old tree fell, crashing to the ground. It presented a sad spectacle.
Over the next three years, seven saplings grew from one of its surviving roots.
Most in shape were similar to a standard oak tree, but one had the character of the old tree with wide low branches. It provided an opportunity and hope that something would come back from the old tree.
21 years after the old tree fell, that sapling is as tall in feet as it is old, spreading out just as the old tree did – a vision of new growth from old.
I read this morning that 2022 is being described as a “permacrisis” – a year characterised by multiple issues.
As I walked passed the tree this morning it made me reflect that for all the global issues in the world, most have solutions. For us at Devereux farm, we need to reflect that it is our environment that is in permacrisis, and recognising this will provide the solution to it.
Our solution cannot be one created in a single year. Sea buckthorn orchards take five years to bring to maturity. Converting our whole farm to organic looks to a twelve year soil management cycle. Reshaping fields with new hedges and tree copses. Improving water storage and ponds for crops and wildlife. Our plans all focus on sustainability. New orchards producing fruit quality our customers said they want – all this takes time. There have to be short term goals. using only fully recyclable packaging; investing in renewable energy; partnering with those that bring innovation and ensure quality to our future.
Partners are crucial. The most important are our customers. Without customers we do not have a reason to exist. Customers are all individuals with personality, needs, expectations and desires.
A challenging vision – but a holistic one recognising a healthy environment is the key to a healthy future.
And then to the most important partner. Our customers are the one’s that can make this possible.
Happy new year
May I wish you a peaceful Christmas and all my thanks for your support for British Sea buckthorn over 2022. Let us all look forward to making next year a memorable one that sees a brighter future for humanity and our planet.
Happy Christmas.
Goodbye 2022 – Christmas is approaching and it is a time for reflection and promise of better things to come.
This year we saw temperatures in the UK soar to 40 deg. C. It came within a long summer drought. There have been droughts before, but the high temperature signposted a climate change issue for the future.
On the land, drought impacts deep into the soil. Soil is the heart of the countryside. Above ground we focus on plants and trees, but below ground we have little knowledge of a complex world from which our crops – and our food, comes from. It is silent and unseen, but it is vibrant; active and diverse. It provides the nutrients for our plants. It can be used as an asset to improve the quality of our food; store and control the water from rainfall; be the backbone that delivers the health of all things in the countryside.
Within the complex world that we live, we choose how to manage our lives. As farmers, science has directed us to use chemicals to control pests and increase crop yields that can be delivered at lower cost. 40 deg C this summer was a signpost of climate change. It can be logged as a statistic, or reflected on as to its meaning.
Decisions one takes on a personal basis. For me, as a farmer – and grower of sea buckthorn, the 40 deg statistic I see as a threat that will dry up my soils, crops, grass for livestock, habitat for wildlife. I see it as a challenge and an opportunity for change.
My son, Ben, suggested I should go to an agricultural event this summer called Groundswell. I had not been before and was not prepared for the outcome.
It was a dynamic show, full of enthusiastic people with innovation at the front of their thinking. Agriculture is often portrayed as full of aging farmers with few people joining the industry. Here at Groundswell was inspiration. Inspiration that was real, creative and active. A signpost for me that taking up the opportunity for change is worthwhile.
So what was the outcome?
Back in the summer, the drought had had a profound impact on the sea buckthorn. This year our Siberian plants produced berries – but long before they were ripe, thirsty wildlife striped the plants of the crop. Our Latvian plants, which have been reliable were stressed by lack of water. Their crop was small and later ripening varieties had almost no crop. Our german varieties ripened earlier than usual, but the berries were small.
I have not installed irrigation as up until now the plants have not needed it, and water is a precious resource that if overused can fill fruit with water and dilute nutritional quality. This season’s drought and high temperature indicates that if high temperatures are coming with climate change, then we have to change the ways we farm.
So as 2022 comes to an end, with the war in Ukraine still waging. With high energy and inflation impacting into everything we do – 2022 has to be the year to trigger change.
The decision therefore has been to change the way we farm. We are going organic. I do not say this lightly. It means a huge change needing new skills, new machinery, new buildings, new crops, new ways of manging our precious soil. It is daunting to be doing this at a time of economic instability, but that will ease. But I do not believe climate change will ease. Going organic is a long term project – 10, possibly 12 years to regaining the vibrancy of our soils. A long time, but it is no longer than it has taken to understand how to grow sea buckthorn.
And the sea buckthorn – what of it? What to do? We are lucky that the European sea buckthorn growers are, like those at groundswell, a dynamic group. There have been three on-line conferences providing the opportunity to share knowledge.
So like the farm – for sea buckthorn at Devereux farm – 2022 is a time for change. Time to decide which varieties have been successful and which not. Time to decide on how to lay out orchards that provide for a crop that can thrive in an extreme, changing climate.
So many old plants are going to be pulled up and replanted with new. With varieties that produce the fruit that we believe our customers like best.
Without customers we would not have a purpose. I find that our customers – like those attending groundswell, they know what they want. Many have a desire for the sea buckthorn they ate in other countries. Many understand this special fruit for its taste; its nutritional quality; its potential to inspire new culinary innovation.
So as 2022 comes to an end, I look forward to 2023 with a passion for change. Change that I hope will provide a future for our soil; our countryside; our crops and providing something special for our customers.
As you have now read this, the chances are you are one of our customers, if not you will have an interest in sea buckthorn. For both reasons may I thank you and wish you too, a happy Christmas and let us hope that 2023 brings stability and peace to a world that has many issues to solve.
Happy Christmas
One last thing – I am afraid that last orders for sea buckthorn berries has to be drawn to a close for 2022.
LAST ORDERS WILL BE ON DECEMBER 19th for delivery on DECEMBER 20th.
2023 I will be writing a short blog each week as our new farm emerges – new orders for sea buckthorn berries will start in January.
THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR SUPPORT IN 2022.
A December message from our nutritionist Lucy Williamson.
As we head into winter it’s important to choose foods which help to keep our immune system strong! What kind of food? Real, minimally processed and from healthy soils meaning it’s packed with nutrients for us.
Organic seabuckthorn berries really tick the box here; let me explain why –
Why Organic?
Crops grown organically have to rely on their own chemical defence mechanisms to fight off bugs. So these ‘phytochemicals’, which we know as ‘antioxidants’ are higher in organically grown plants, compared to crops which may have been sprayed with a fungicide for example. Brightly coloured berries are rich in health-giving antioxidants, none more so than bright orange organic, seabuckthorn berries with over 190 nutrients! Their antioxidants help us to maintain a healthy immune system as well as benefit from all their anti-ageing functions.
What about Gut Health?
Even pre-Covid, we humans have been a little carried away with sterilising our world. Many microbes (tiny, microscopic organisms like bacteria) are actually vital for our health rather than being ‘bad’. Our billions of gut microbes which we each have, are essential for a strong immune system as well as many other benefits to our long-term health. The same goes for healthy, organic soils in which our crops grow; microbes here unlock nutrients for the plants, just as our own gut microbes unlock nutrients in our food. They actually activate antioxidants for us, so eating organic, antioxidant-rich food nurtures our gut health too! The fibre in seabuckthorn also feeds our gut microbes – they get their energy from fermenting this otherwise indigestible fibre for us.
Is Seabuckthorn a good source of healthy vitamins?
Although it varies according to harvest times and conditions, Seabuckthorn berries contain about 10 times as much Vitamin C as an orange! Vitamin C is an antioxidant which is why it’s so important for our immunity. Seabuckthorn berries get their bright orange colour from carotenoids, a type of Vitamin A, which together with Vitamin E, also high in these orange berries of goodness, look after our immune systems too. We also know from research that these nutrients are easier for our body to absorb when in their natural food.
Real food
At the start I mentioned ‘real, minimally processed’ foods. At Devereaux Farm, seabuckthorn berries are frozen immediately on harvesting, locking the nutrients in. Compare this to a preserved fruit purée where nutrients are lost as well as additives put in! You can order seabuckthorn berries directly from the farm – fresh as the day they were picked without long food supply chains draining away nutrients in transit. Enjoy them as you would blueberries or try the dried version in this winter warming red cabbage recipe!
My job as a Registered Nutritionist is to guide great food choices for long-term health. So I’m never happier when communicating how the food we eat nurtures our gut bacteria. With more than 3 million genes between them (our gut microbiome), compared to our own 20,000, their potential for influencing the day to day functioning of our body (our metabolism) and therefore our health, is clear.
Even better, this concept starts right back in the soil where are food comes from, reconnecting us with nature, as many of us have found so helpful during Covid19. A handful of soil contains more microbes than the earth’s population of people and many of these bacteria existed long before we did. It makes sense then that we’ve evolved with bacteria to benefit each other.
Billions of gut bacteria help us to get maximum benefit from the food we eat. How do they do this? While most of our food is digested higher up in our digestive system, fibre – that part of carbohydrate which we are unable to digest, passes all the way to our colon (large intestine) where bacterial fermentation extracts energy from it. The ‘post-biotics’ they produce, the products of this fermentation, are vital for our health, reducing inflammation & therefore protecting us from bowel cancer and other inflammatory bowel disease, keeping cholesterol levels in check, providing building blocks for our vitamins and hormones – Serotonin, our happiness hormone, being a good example. That ‘Gut feeling’ that we all know so well, is certainly influenced by this as well as our Gut-Brain axis – connections between nerve endings in the wall of our gut and our brain. Our gut bacteria provide the chemicals required to transmit these messages.
Perhaps most important of all however, is the effect of our microbiome on our immunity. 80% of the cells which form our immune system lie in the wall of our gut. From birth, our gut bacteria ensure these cells develop correctly so that they respond to infection, but don’t over-respond and attack our own body cells, as happens with auto-immune disease like IBD, inflammatory bowel disease and Rheumatoid Arthritis. Of course, there are other non-dietary factors here too, but research is now showing links between these long-term health issues and a favourable microbiome. It makes sense then that researchers at King’s College in London are currently studying our biological response to Covid19 and our microbiome.
When we farm with nature, soil health thrives. Pasture-fed cows for example trample carbon-rich dry matter into the ground for worms to decompose so soil microbes can multiply. This biodiversity ensures that our food, grown in these ‘healthy’ soils, is nutrient-rich; the bacteria in the soil enabling crops to absorb maximum nutrients. Just the same as our own gut bacteria, our own food and our own health.
Foraged in the wild in Scotland, farmed with nature in Cornwall and grown organically in Essex by the Eagle family on their diversified arable farm, this is a nutrient-rich berry like no other! With at least 40 times the Vitamin C of oranges as well as an abundance of Antioxidants, A, E and B Vitamins as well as a unique blend of Omega oils and a fabulous source of fruit-fibre, a daily dose of this functional food will certainly keep gut bacteria happy! Our bacteria not only enjoy fibre in our food, but they also benefit from activating antioxidants for us too.
This then is what Gut Health is all about – eating to nurture our gut bacteria for our very best health.
So, as our British farmers move to farming with nature and we all reconnect with our land, nurture your gut health with great food choices. Make sure to get plenty of rest and enjoy our countryside for exercise too; happy gut microbes need this as well as great food – why not enjoy bright orange seabuckthorn berries from (link) delivered straight to your door!
Lucy Williamson DVM MSc ANutr
Refs:
Extra interest Spector 2021 KCL – https://www.kcl.ac.uk/coronavirus-how-to-keep-your-gut-microbiome-healthy-to-fight-covid-19
On Monday 8th March at 7.30-8.30pm we will be holding a free webinar all about introducing you to gut health. What is it and why should we be thinking about it? How does it relate to sea buckthorn and how can you impact your own gut health? Join BSC Director Matt Swain and Dr Lucy Williamson for a full discussion about it.
Dr Lucy Williamson is a freelance nutritionist and former vet from Hertfordshire. She works with British farmers and food producers through her Food LINKS initiative, advising them and helping with product development and marketing using evidence based nutritional science. In addition, she is a Visiting Lecturer in Nutrition and Dietetics at the University of Hertfordshire, nutritionist for Love British Food and runs her own Nutrition Consultancy. She has been working with the British Sea Buckthorn Company for a couple of years.
HOW DO I REGISTER FOR THE WEBINAR?
Simply click this link and register with your details. You will then receive an email with the link for the webinar and registration details for the event.
WHEN IS THE WEBINAR?
Monday 8th March at 7.30pm via zoom.
WILL THE WEBINAR BE RECORDED?
Yes, the webinar will be recorded. You will have the option of switching off your video during the recording. It will be available on YouTube following the event.
WILL I BE ABLE TO ASK QUESTIONS?
Yes, there will be 20 minutes available when you will have the opportunity to ask Lucy questions.
HOW DO I FIND OUT MORE?
Email us at info@britishseabuckthorn.com if you have any questions.
