Beyond COP26: driving change through beans and more
As COP26 closed without the strong and binding commitments we urgently need, we have to maintain pressure on our leaders and to drive change through our actions as individuals and members of communities and organisations. This is what we’ve aimed to do through Hodmedod.
Imagining the Waveney Valley
We're deepening our local roots and bringing together farmers, cooks, chefs, bakers and others to celebrate and imagine the future food and farming systems of the Waveney Valley on the Norfolk-Suffolk border.
Here come the carlin peas
This August has seen amazing work in the face of adversity at Green Acres Farm in Shropshire, bringing in an incredibly precious crop of organic carlin peas.
What are fava beans? Aren't they just broad beans?
Fava beans are very close to our hearts at Hodmedod, which we founded in 2012 with the simple aim of getting British-grown fava beans back into British kitchens. Still we're frequently asked, "What are fava beans?", "Aren't they just broad beans?"
Naked oats are a disruptive technology
Whole naked oats make such a good alternative to brown rice. In fact, they’re better. Creamy and nutty, they work brilliantly in salads or in place of rice with stews, curries and more. But Naked oats are not just delicious - naked oats are a disruptive technology. (Take that tech start-ups!)
To the End of the Ley Line
In late June, Josiah and Nick took a brief (but long) road trip to visit friends, growers and customers in the far South West of England, taking a few photos along the way..
Inside the Mill House
We're milling! Our new mill is up and running in the Hodmedod Mill House and we're stone-milling our own wholemeal flour, offering a wider range alongside our existing flours milled for us by Maple Farm in Suffolka and Shipton Mill in Gloucestershire.
Sheaf
At our Autumn 2019 farmer meeting we resolved to find new ways to communicate the changes that are happening on farms across the UK. Working with the Dark Mountain Project we sent three writers to three farms with no brief other than to reflect on what they found. This summer their work has been published in a beautifully illustrated short book called Sheaf.
YQ Wheat for Bakers
This photo from July 2017 marks an ending and a beginning. The end of a long search for bakers willing to work with the population wheats developed by Martin Wolfe. The start of a new phase that has seen YQ widely grown and used, alongside a blossoming of alternative grain systems in the UK.
A Grain Community
Kimberley Bell of Small Food Bakery reflects on four years of YQ grown for the bakery and the people-centred systems that have emerged and continue to emerge, around it.
Norfolk Chickpeas in a Changing Climate
Last year (field scale chickpea production year 2) was a real struggle: drought through much of the season, intense heat in late May, then extraordinary rainfall in August. This year (chickpea year 3) hasn’t started much better to be honest: a cold start and prolonged wet conditions are not what chickpeas like.
Organic Marrowfat Peas at Little Bytham
The new 2021 crop of organic marrowfat peas are coming through beautifully at The Grange, farmed by Guy and John Turner of Turners of Bytham. The cool wet weather in early May hasn’t provided the easiest start to the year for peas, but the marrowfats are looking excellent.