The Life of a market gardener
We know that climate change is changing weather around the world, and increasingly we have become aware of the effects more locally. Sustainable Wallingford decided to ask local market gardener, Mark Stevenson, regular at Wallingford Local Producers’ Market, what effects and differences the past ten years has made to how he grows his fruit and vegetables. This is what we found.
Q-How much land do you have to grow your produce and where is it?
A-Clays Organic farm is on about 17 acres on a hill on the outskirts of Warborough.
Q-How has the growing season changed while you have worked the land here?
A-I have been growing there for over 20 years. About 10 years ago it became obvious that seasons were changing. For a few years, the weather systems had no real pattern and were more chaotic. This made it hard to plan what crops to plant and when to plant them. By about five years ago, weather patterns were more distinct and exaggerated. And the changes are continuing.
Q-Are seasons drier or wetter than they used to be?
A-Winters are becoming much milder but also much wetter. My farm sits on a deep bed of clay, like much of Oxfordshire, so continuous wet weather creates problems with drainage. You may have noticed flooding in fields has increased in recent years. Summers, on the other hand, are becoming much hotter and drier, creating a different set of challenges.
Q-How does this affect what you can grow?
A-In winter, the increased wetness means the land is now continuously water-logged throughout the first quarter of the year, it’s not possible to prepare it for sowing or planting. Even walking on it, never mind using heavy machinery, simply compresses the soil, damaging the structure and making it unsuitable for planting. Long-term water logging means many over-wintering crops such as brassicas like kale and purple sprouting broccoli, drown and rot; while the few crops that can survive, such as leeks, are very poor. This has been the case for the past 5-6 years. Ten years ago, I could count on sowing and planting out many crops in February and March but now the soil is usually too wet until mid April. From mid April to May soil conditions are normally good for planting, then it often becomes so dry and hot that seeds don’t germinate and plants don’t grow. So I am losing several months out of the growing season that I had about 10 years ago. My celeriac, for example, are now half the size they used to be.
Q-How are you adapting to the changed climate?
A-Because some crops are no longer doing quite so well, I’m having to experiment with small quantities of different crops to see what will consistently grow well in the changed seasons and temperatures. Chicory was a success last year as it seems better able to deal with having ‘wet feet’ and provided fresh leaves through much of the winter. Also, I am considering using poly tunnels more to protect some crops from the increase in strong winds and because they enable more control over soil conditions. Another adaptation I am looking into is installing solar PV to provide electricity for a heated propagation unit be able to start off things like cucumbers, peppers and tomatoes earlier so they are stronger and crop earlier when it is suitable to put them outside.
Added to that, I’m having to consider how to make the whole enterprise more resilient by diversifying from only growing crops to using some of the uncultivated land in other ways. For example, growing and harvesting small bales of hay for people who have a few sheep or horses and don’t themselves have the facilities to grow hay or the machinery to handle larger bales.
Q-What other factors is climate change creating on and around your land?
A-Spring is starting earlier so the fruit trees come into blossom a week or two earlier, which is nice in some ways but means there is greater risk of frost damage. More significantly, as an organic grower, I rely on a good biodiversity balance to minimise pest and disease damage to crops and promote pollination, but things have definitely got out of kilter. There has been a very noticeable decline in numbers of butterflies, bees and many species of fly, wasp and other beneficial insects. This affects both pollination and pest control. For example, squash crops have sometimes been significantly reduced while white fly and leek leaf miner have proliferated.
Q-Is there any doubt in your mind that climate change is responsible for all the differences you are finding in the timing and length of the seasons, as well as the amount of rainfall, which is affecting your livelihood?
A-I would say that the climate has noticeably changed in the past ten years, especially in the past five years, and that it is continuing to do so. Having said that, some weather patterns are beginning to be seen. There is no doubt that climate change has had an impact on how I make my living as a market gardener and I am having to consider each year, how I can adapt to those changes.
Grateful thanks to Mark for sharing his experience with us. If you would like to hear more and ask questions, come to the Dolphin Pub, Wallingford, 7 Feb @ 7.30p.m.