Gardening Your Way Through Brexit
As a business, we are of course keeping our eye on our Brexit and planning for the many different possible outcomes. But we’ve also been thinking about what Brexit will mean for you, our customers, and how Bell Plantation can help you become more self-sufficient.
Grow your own fruit & vegetables
With 30% of the UKs food being imported from EU countries*, many are concerned about the possibility of no-deal shortages, and/or increased prices for imported products. The biggest imported food groups from the EU are vegetables at 40% and fruit at 37%*.
Whilst many may see this as a negative, here at Bell Plantation we see it as a great opportunity for more people to grow their own fruit and vegetables, and for us all to start eating more seasonally. And of course, gardening is great fun and one of the best ways to de-stress and release those feel good hormones!
Eating seasonally is simply eating what’s growing at the time. It not only makes economic sense but has health benefits too. For example, the foods that are coming into season as we transition into winter, such as butternut squash and apples, contain lots of vitamin C which boosts our resistance to colds!
The other positive to growing more of our own fruit and veg, both at home, and at an industry level, is that it reduces the food miles on the products we consume, the produce is better quality and, in the long run, it will make the produce we buy cheaper if it is produce seasonally in the UK.
The great thing is that you don’t need much space to grow your own fruit and veg! For example, carrots can be grown in drainpipes, potatoes in pots, herbs or salad leaves in window boxes and tomatoes and strawberries in hanging baskets! To name but a few ideas!
The tables below shows seasonal fruit and vegetables in the UK – as you can see, there is plenty of choice!
If you are a regular customer, you will know we stock a range of both vegetable seeds and plug plants, as well as fruit bushes and trees, and our plant experts are always on hand to advise if you’re new to home growing. There really is nothing more satisfying than growing, harvesting and eating your own fruit and veg!
Seasonal UK fruit & veg
Produce your own eggs
Keeping poultry took off exponentially in the last recession as people strived towards a more self-sufficient lifestyle – what better than your very own, fresh eggs each day, with the added benefit of adding feathered friends to your family!
Food traceability has never been more important – knowing exactly where your food has come from and how it’s been produced. If you’ve not considered keeping chickens or ducks before, now is perhaps the time to reconsider!
Unless your property title deeds, tenancy agreement and/or local by-laws prevent you from keeping poultry, even a courtyard garden can play host to a small flock of hens, or a rabbit hutch for some quail. Just two or three hens will give you 10-21 eggs a week! You might even be able to sell any eggs that are surplus to your own requirements!
Plus, Incorporating Poultry waste into your compost will give you one of the best garden fertilisers going – packed with more nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus than any other manure. Great for those veggies you’ll be growing!
Choose local
The Food Hall at Bell Plantation has always tried to source products from local producers where possible. We have honey, jam, marmalade, chutneys, pate, milk, bread, ales and ice cream which are all produced right here in Northamptonshire or neighbouring Oxfordshire!
In addition, we make our own Pasties, Sausage Rolls, Cakes, Scones and Biscuits right here on site which are all available for purchase.
//publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld201719/ldselect/ldeucom/129/12902.htm
