This is a bit of a long bulletin but hopefully it will be of interest!

We will have a deep dive into our Christmas gift offerings, discuss an exciting seed-saving course we are hosting and also talk about an important farming petition.

Christmas gifts

2024 Growing Through the Seasons wall calendar

A celebration of seasonal vegetables, fruit and flowers illustrated with full page original hand carved linocut prints, this calendar is a thing of exquisite beauty!

This year the focus is on the wonders of the kitchen garden, growing a polyculture of plants to create a living space that is edible, useful and beautiful.

A handy growing chart is also included at the back of the calendar.

This is a perfect gift for gardeners, allotment growers and vegetable lovers as well as anyone with a passion for botanical illustration, artisan craft and traditional printmaking techniques.

The creators of this masterpiece are our friends Isla and Bryony Middleton. Isla is an artist and print-maker and her sister Bryony is Head Gardener at Sharpham Trust in Devon.

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Seed Collections

We are really excited to have overhauled our famous seed collections this year, and packed them full of our stunning new varieties.

Some of the collections have four varieties and some have eight and they are packed in luxurious kraft paper envelopes. They make an ideal gift for your gardening friends and loved ones.

I won't detail each collection here but you can click on the images above to find out more, or click the button below to browse the full range:

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Online Seed-Saving course

Do you know a gardener who would like to learn about seed-saving or hone their existing skills?

We have a fantastic online seed-saving course which is discounted throughout November and December at a bargain price of just £36.

Here is what a happy participant had to say about the course:

Join the movement of gardeners and growers who are re-skilling in this ancient practice. The course is available in the form of a gift voucher - click the button below to find out more.

Seed Gift Voucher

If you have a gardening friend or loved one and are not sure what they might like then how about getting them a seed gift voucher and then they can choose a selection of seeds to buy from our online shop?

Baddaford Collective Gifts

Did you know that we are part of a farming collective called the Baddaford Collective? We are based at Baddaford Farm in Buckfastleigh in Devon, and there are six of us small businesses here on the farm.

Two of our other collective members are offering gifts this year and we wanted to share some information about them too:

​PIGMENT organic plant dyes, who work with young adults with learning disabilities to help them get into work, are offering beautiful natural dye kits this Christmas.

The kits consist of pre-prepared fabric (or garments) and dried flowers to dye them in beautiful earthy tones.

They will make wonderful gifts for lovers of fabric and natural colours who want to move away from wearing clothes dyed with synthetic dyes and the dark ecological shadow that comes with them.

You can follow PIGMENT on Instagram by clicking here or search for @pigmentplantdyes.

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​Red Earth Herbs - If you are based in Devon you might be interested in Ruby's workshops which she is running in December and January.

The first one is a "Herbal Skincare Workshop" and it is on 5 December at The Albatross in Totnes. You can find out more and book on here. The other will be in January; you can find out about it by following her on instagram here, or search for @redearthherbs.

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Sign the petition to create a fairer farming system in the UK and hold supermarkets to account

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Guy from Riverford (also our landlord) has been campaigning for a fairer food system for many years.

He has recently started a petition to "Reform the Grocery Supply Code of Practice to better protect farmers".

As is fairly well understood, in our current system supermakets have a huge amount of power and control in the supply chain and they are brutal in their squeezing down of farmers' prices whilst making eye-watering profits for their shareholders.

Farmers are going out of business every day and struggling to make a living providing essential food for consumers.

Please take a minute to sign this petition so we can get this vital topic debated in Parliament.

You can read more about the petition here on Riverford's website, and sign it using the button below.

In-Person Seed Saving Workshop at Vital Seeds HQ 1 December

Lastly but certainly not leastly, we would like to let you know that we will be hosting a day long in-person seed-saving course here at our premises in collaboration with the Biodynamic Association of the South West on 1 December.

Seed-saving expert Peter Brinch of Open-Pollinated Seeds will be teaching the course and it is sure to be very interesting and informative.

If you would like to book onto the course and learn this vital skill then please contact the organisers directly by emailing:hello@wholisticlivingcommunity.com.

You can view the flyer for the course here and you can view the program for the day here.​

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Wow - you made it to the end of a very long newsletter!! Well done :) or maybe you jumped straight to the bottom, which is very understandable. Either way, that's it for this time.

All the best

Fred, Ronja, and the rest of the team

P.S. as it's been a warm autumn this year, you could still sow your broad beans now, but do make sure to get them in ASAP so they have time before the cold sets in. You can buy some here.