OF&G :: The Blog

Champion pumpkin by Katie Owens

Judges comments:

An instant winner when the photo landed in the judges’ inbox, the top pumpkin drew admiring oohs and ahhs from other FW journalists who were hanging around Caroline’s desk trying to pilfer her box of walnut whips.

Traditional in design but expertly executed, the winning pumpkin would definitely frighten the judges on a dark night (admittedly, this isn’t a great claim seeing as Caroline is scared of wool and Isabel is scared of cows).

Honourable mention….

The bats. Nice design, lovely placing of the bats and excellent carving.

So, congratulations to Katie and well done to the rest who put up a very strong fight. And with that, I think we’ve had quite enough about pumpkins. Back to normal service…

It’s with great pleasure that we can reveal the OF&G Pumpkin Caper has been elevated to new levels with the involvement of expert independent judges.

Well, I say ‘expert’, by which I mean Caroline Stocks, deputy news editor of Farmers Weekly, and Isabel Davies, Farmers Weekly community editor. Caroline is, according to Isabel, a “demon” pumpkin carver in her own right, while Isabel obviously knows a thing or two because she is the main pumpkin supplier to the FW team, via her mum. So that must make them experts, right?

Whatever, they are no doubt discerning judges of a good vegetable-based carving and we are privileged that they have agreed to help us out in this crucially important matter.

The standards are high though. Isabel insists they will be looking for “innovation as well as artistic flair”. So no pressure then.

The entries are trickling in so far, but given that the deadline is the end of play tomorrow, we expect a veritable rush of another five or so by then. At which point they will be photographed with suitable t-light illumination and sent off to our esteemed judges for a decision. Don’t hold your breath though. It’s vital the judges are not hurried in their deliberations, so we’ll just have to wait on tenterhooks until they decide to put the entrants out of their misery.

Ooh, gripping.

A fascinating day was had by all at our Selling Organics: What’s the Story? conference, held at London’s South Bank University, on Thursday.

Pretty well all of the top names in UK organics were there to hear from industry leaders, marketing experts and academics with real insight on how the organic sector can look to take itself forward.

The main point was to address the failings we’ve all come to recognise in how organics tells its story to a wider audience and a lot of views and experience were shared in a packed schedule. There was also plenty of chance for networking and it was a really good day for meeting new people and catching up with familiar faces.

You can read our full report in the news section of our website and below is the Flickr set from the day. Please forgive the quality of the photography – I am not a professional snapper

…. not altogether a surprise. Let’s face it, if you’ve been following our sunflower shenanigans you’ll be well aware that there’s been a clear leader for a while now.

However, today we have the full results and can put to bed a very colourful episode at The Old Estate Yard.

There has been controversy, competitiveness, secret recipes and devastating rabbit damage. The competition has been reported in a leading trade publication and posts on the topic have had a disturbing tendency to top the “most read” list on this blog.

So without further ado, let the ceremony commence:

[ENTER STAGE RIGHT]

Ladies and Gentlemen – and Certification Officers,

The OF&G sunflower growing competition was the product of an inspired suggestion made at a staff meeting while the company “gardening club” was being discussed.

Obviously there was a great deal of work to be done to ensure the success of such a mighty undertaking, but after 12 committee meetings and legal approval of the proposed rules and regulations (a document only slightly more involved in its preparation than the Magna Carta), our intrepid entrants were free to unleash their horticultural skills.

Meticulous planning was demonstrated by some of the more committed entrants, while some simply opted to drop in a seed and draw faces on their plant pots.

As growing began in earnest, there were some testing times along the way, as well as challenging hurdles to be negotiated.

Not all entrants made it serenely to the eventually necessary re-potting stage, though special mention has to be made of the specimen that was, to all intents and purposes, completely devoured by a rabbit, only to come storming back to an eventually mid-field placing. A sunflower we can salute for its true Dunkirk spirit!

It is likely that this ceremony will not be the final chapter in the story for those who were there. The debate on the selection of suitable finishing pots will rumble on in years to come. But today is our chance to recognise commitment, achievement and skill. And with that we open the envelope of dreams…

In reverse order:

Processing CO, Ruth Lamb – 107cm (died due to lack of water. Tch)

Processing CO, Joanna Gleeson – 116cm (Commended for most attractively decorated seedling pot)

Producer CO, Katie Owens – 123cm (worthy, but disappointing)

Quality Systems Admin, Lorraine Pickering – 132cm (alleged ‘secret feed’ proved, well, pointless)

Producer CO, Nicola Mason – 146cm (the famous rabbit-mauling comeback)

Office Manager, Angela Norman – 170cm (arguably our most green-fingered person. Was she mugged?)

And the clear winner, with a delightful specimen that could probably make two dozen bottles of oil all on its own…

Producer CO, Alex Patchett – 205cm (cor blimey, wot a whopper!)

Congratulations to Alex. Please step up and take your bow:

Our worthy winner. Alex Patchett with his impressive entry.

And with that, we’d like to thank everyone who has supported this endeavour, including: our worldwide Twitter followers; the Chief Executive, for not shutting it down when it all got a bit silly; Stephen Clarkson, the judge and jury; our mums; the sun; the great British summer; and especially the bees. But not the rabbit.

As the fallout from the strange FSA report on nutrition in organic and non-organic food continues to rumble round the media’s opinion pages, it’s good to see a rational argument now and then.

That’s exactly what we get from Exeter farmer, David Garaway, [via thisisexeter.co.uk] who has done a good job of explaining why getting excited over nutrition is only a very small part of the reason for being (and buying) organic.

Okay, must clarify the headline. No-one from here has actually been to the top of Everest. Maybe one or two have conquered The Wrekin or the Long Mynd and our Certification Manager, Steve, spends many a weekend tramping around very tall parts of the country – but I digress.

Sir Ranulph Fiennes conquers Everest with support from Science In Sport products, certified organic by OF&G

What is exciting is, as far as we know, for the first time an OF&G certified product has been to this highest of high places and in the hands of none other than adventurer extraordinaire, Sir Ranulph Feinnes!

Sir Ran sought advice and essential supplies from Science In Sport, which is a leader in sports nutrition, and has chosen OF&G as its certifier for a range of organic products. Among the SIS products Sir Ran took on his successful ascent, in May, were the organic ones (which he’s pictured holding).

This very British hero even went as far as to tell SIS that its energy formulations had “definitely powered me to the top” and he wished he’d had them with him on his previous attempts!

SIS really knows its stuff when it comes to sports nutrition and works with leading names in sport both nationally and internationally, including the heavily Olympic gold-medalled GB sailing and cycling teams, 2009 Tour de France winner, Alberto Contador, last year’s Tour de France winner Carlos Sastre, plus their very successful team mates, as well as leading athletes and teams in a whole cross-section of other sports.

OF&G is very pleased to provide certification services to SIS, who joined us on stand at the Natural and Organic Products Europe show, at Olympia, this year.

We’d like to pass our own congratulations on to Sir Ran for his achievement, which you can read about in more detail here.