ORGANIC VEGEATBLE varieties will be under the spotlight in a series of grower open days to be held across the country during July, according to the Henry Doubleday Research Association (HDRA).

The events will be hosted by growers involved with trialling and evaluating new lettuce and cabbage varieties, as part of DEFRA’s pilot ‘Varieties of Field Vegetables and Potatoes for Organic Production and Marketing Project’.

Five grower groups are taking part in the trials and three open days will be held to cover a range of growing conditions and end markets, from box schemes to supermarkets, the HDRA said.

Events will be held on:
• July 6 – Bere Alston, Devon. Lettuce trials. Contact Jeremy Helme, 01822 840382
• July 22 – Penwith, Cornwall. Lettuce and cabbage trials. Contact Rachel Moss, 01209 722155
• July 22 – Llanidloes, Powys. Lettuce trials and Tir Gofal work. Contact Tony Little

For further details about the events, see www.hdra.org.uk/organicveg.

Information from the variety trials will be made available on the Centre for Organic Seed Information (COSI) website, www.cosi.org.uk.