Permaculture at Kippax CSA

At Kippax CSA we endeavour to practice the principles and ethics of permaculture in the way that we produce food and interact with members. The three ethics of permaculture Earth care, People care and Fair shares are fundamental to the way in which we operate.

No-dig beds

At Kippax CSA we use unconventional farming methods. The biggest difference between us and conventional market gardens and or agribusiness is that we don’t use agricultural machinery.

To save labour, fossil fuels and the growth of weeds we use no-dig bed methods. Instead of digging the beds we mulch using cardboard, compost and hay. We are aiming to get to a stage where no digging is required and all that is needed is to rake the soil and sow the seeds on top.

No-dig works because the cardboard keeps the weeds down, the compost acts a growing medium and the hay stops any weeds from sprouting from the compost. Initially the creation of no-dig beds is time consuming but in the long run it saves time on weeding, harvesting (as the crops are very easy to pull out of the beds) and watering. No-dig beds hold water extremely well which means that minimal watering is required.

This moisture encourages worms and minibeasts to work their way through the bed which is beneficial to the crops grown. We don’t walk on our no-dig beds to prevent soil compaction. This means that the soil in our no-dig beds is an ideal growing medium for small plants and seeds.

Companion Planting

Companion planting is used to improve crop productivity and minimise pests in the field. Companion planting is used by many organic farmers as an alternative to pesticides, herbicides and fertilisers.

Examples at the CSA include marigolds in the polytunnel, intercropping of carrots and onions and planting clover in the brassica beds.

The marigolds in the polytunnel attract beneficial insects, the onions surrounding the carrot beds emit a strong odour which deters carrot fly and the clover in the brassica beds provide much needed nitrogen (when sheared) to the brassica plants. This prevents weeds from taking hold and reduces work for the growers.

Green Manures

Green manures are a beneficial plant for the organic farmer. Several different types of green manure have been planted at the CSA including:

· Mustard (annual),

· Borage (annual),

· Scarlet (annual), white and pink clover (perennial),

· Phecelia (annual) .

These plants enrich and nourish the soil by providing nitrogen and crowding out weeds. We have used scarlet clover in all of the brassica beds.

This has proven to be an advantageous relationship as the brassica plants thrive on the nitrogen (produced when the clover plants are sheared and incorporated into the soil) and similarly the scarlet clover plants thrive in the poor soil.

We have planted copious amounts of white clover, pink clover and borage in the uncultivated parts of the field to encourage bees to the site. This is a valuable relationship as the bees work to pollinate our bean, pea and squash plants and provide us with delicious honey.

Bee hives

We are planning to keep honey bees at the Kippax CSA site. We will have a symbiotic relationship with our bees by not taking too much honey from the hives and providing enough forage for them in the months when flowering plants are scarce.

This means that the bees have enough of their own honey stores to survive over the cold winter months. This respectful relationship differs from conventional bee keeping as conventional beekeepers often take all of the honey from their hives and feed the bees on a sugar solution. This sugar solution doesn’t contain the nutrients that the colonies need to survive and the colony is much weaker as a result.

Seed Saving

We endeavour to save as many of our own seeds as possible. We save broad bean, runner bean, coriander, basil, lettuce and many more.