Old Varieties

Celebrating and remembering old fruit and vegetable varieties

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Events

All around the UK there are events and shows dedicated to our heritage varieties and rare breeds.

We have put together a list of the events we are aware of but if you have an event or show and would like to be listed on this page, please complete the form at the bottom of this page.

April 2010

23rd April – 21st June – British Asparagus Festival
Featured by the Hairy Bikers and on The One Show, the British Asparagus festival in the Vale of Evesham, celebrating the growing, harvesting and eating of this sumptuous vegetable.

July 2010

31st July – 30th August – Pershore Plum Festival
A month of plum related events culminating in the Pershore Plum Fayre Day on August Bank Holiday Monday.

Old Varieties & Rare Breeds Events

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North Ronaldsay Sheep

The Orkney, North Ronaldsay sheep is small sheep belonging to the northern short-tailed group of breeds. Bones of similar animals have been found at Skara Brae dating from the Bronze Age and a recent genotype survey organised by the Rare Breeds Survival Trust, demonstrated that the breed is still virtually unchanged from the original type.

North Ronaldsay sheep, grazing their native shoreline
Grazing their native shoreline

These fine boned animals are primitive, having evolved in a specialised seashore environment on their native island but they have adapted well to mainland management including conservation grazing.

Confined to the shoreline for the majority of the year to conserve the limited grazing on the island, these sheep feed mainly on seaweed.

The colour of the face and legs can vary and the fine wool can be any colour from white through to black. The head is small and the ewe’s face has a “dished” appearance. Rams develop a mane and beard of coarse hair.

The tail is short and thin. Both rams and ewes can have the distinctive horns which curl around and up, around their face. However, occasionally they curl around backwards, slowly puncturing the sheeps’ skull, so regular trimming is often done to avoid this.

The North Ronaldsay ewes which have a strong maternal instinct, lamb easily and frequently produce twins.

Maturing slowly and feeding off seaweed gives the meat a distinctive flavour, much prized by chefs.

North Ronaldsay Sheep Close up
Distinctive horns of the North Ronaldsay Sheep

According to the RBST, there are about 3700 sheep still on North Ronaldsay and about 807 over the rest of mainland Britain of which about 554 are adult breeding ewes plus 90 shearlings, putting them them on the endangered list.

The different coloured wools, for which they are mainly bred, are popular with hand spinners, felters, knitters and textile designers.

In more recent years colonies of the sheep have been established inland and on other islands to prevent the entire breed being wiped out through catastrophe (such as foot and mouth). A small number have also been exported as an exotic breed. It has been found that the sheep’s digestive system can readjust to a non-seaweed-based diet within two generations.

The images used on this site have been reproduced with the kind permission of Trevor Thompson, who’s travels took him to a working farm on the Islands of North Ronaldsay.

More information

North Ronaldsay Sheep fellowship

BBC Countryfile – Adam’s farm animals – Adam has a number of North Ronaldsay Sheep on his rare breeds farm.

RBST – Rare Breeds Survival Trust.

Spirit of Orkney website – find out more about the enchanting Orkney islands

Heritage Seed Makes Comeback

An article in Horticulture Week points to changes that may lead to relaxation of the heritage seed rules.

EU rules currently state that if a variety is not on a national list, you can’t sell it.  This list was set up with the commercial seed sector in mind but the amateur gardener became needlessly inconvenienced by this legislation. A seed variety costs around £1,500 to register at present.

Heritage, unregistered varieties are only able to be grown via seed swapping amongst enthusiasts and the varieties rely heavily on Seed Guardians who grow the plants specifically for their seed to preserve the variety and allow a selection of seed to be available for those interested.

Revived varieties of tomatoes, cabbages and lettuces could come onto the market in two or three years if  the Food and Environment Research Agency (FERA) relaxes the legislation.

Some vegetable varieties are grown for outstanding flavour or perfomance in a particular environment.  These may soon be available again with gardener’s being able to grow varieties that their parents or grandparents favoured.

Read to full article in Horticulture Week.

A few specialist suppliers who offer heritage seed and plants

The British Araucana Club

The British Araucana club first started out life as the English Araucana poultry society back in around 1915. By 1960 it had faded away and there was no more interest by many people in having blue egg laying chickens.

Picture of Black male Araucana
Black male Araucana

The few remaining people who held onto their Araucana stock were still very much interested in the breed, and by 1972 there was a renewed interest. The “new” British Araucana Club was formed. This is the club that is still in existance today, and is one of the oldest running UK poultry clubs.

The one thing that all members generally have in common is an enthusiastic willing to keep an old heritage breed alive. They do this by promoting the breed, selling “good” stock, blue hatching eggs, and presenting birds for exhibition at shows around the country. Members swap stock, eggs and experiences and pass on hints and tips to other members.

New members are always given a warm welcome to the friendly community, with experienced members eager to offer free advice and even give away spare stock or hatching eggs.

Araucana chickens are known to originate from the old Arauca region between Northern Chile and Southern Peru, in the ancestral home of the Incas (who now are more popularly known as Aruca Indians).

The Araucana is the only pure breeding and original blue egg laying domestic chicken. The blue eggs that distinguish the breed are very exclusive in the world of poultry.  Other breeds that are seen to sometimes lay blue eggs, have their origins with the Araucana gene pool.

The British Araucana has been listed as a rare breed with DEFRA. Keeping a living flock of a specialist pure poultry breed helps to maintain a diverse national gene bank in the event that new characteristics are needed in the future.

Registered club members’ birds are automatically protected under this scheme. All modern production poultry used in farming today originate from carefully selected old heritage breeds.

Why Keep Araucanas?
Araucana chickens are a particularly hardy breed, requiring little maintenance. Their legs are not fluffy, making them suitable for wetter areas and  their feathers are soft and well insulated, allowing them to do well in low winter temperatures. The Araucana’s soft fleshy head parts are very much reduced which minimises the possibility of sunburn, frostbite or cuts and abrasion damage.

So long as an Araucana has access to good food, fresh water, green vegetation, dust, shelter and some company, it will thrive, with a hen producing beautiful blue eggs for at least the first five years of its life.

Pure bred Araucanas are generally easier to tame than many other breeds, and will happily feed out of your hand while sitting on your shoulder or on your arm. Once they have learned your habits, they will recognise individual members of the family, and will express themselves by clucking, wing flapping and gentle cooing depending on how they feel.

Years ago, before aircraft were used as transport, Araucanas were kept confined on big sailing ships that explored the world. It was thought that they were not as fussy as other breeds when it came to accomodation. Nowadays, Araucanas can be found equally at ease living in cages on balconies and confined in compact back garden runs in cities.

The general rule is that a trio of hens should be brought up in confined living conditions from a very young age to avoid stress. Ideally however, a spacious lawn or copse is much more appropriate.

More about Araucana chickens.

Heritage Flowers Gift Box Set

Whilst on our search for old varieties of flower seed we came across this great gift offer by English Heritage.

Give a gift of Heritage flowers

The Thomas Etty Esq Heritage Flowers box set contains a packet of each of the following:
Snap Dragon, Sweet William, Forget-Me-Not, Pot Marigold, Tall Climbing Nasturtium and Field Poppy.

Presented as a box set of six seed packets, this is an ideal gift for Mother’s day, Easter and birthdays.

The heritage flower seed box set is available online form the English Heritage shop.