Organic recipes to satisfy your cravings.

Maple Rye Drop Scones
100g rye flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 egg
3 tbsp maple syrup
150ml milk
sunflower oil

Procedure
1. Put the dry ingredients into a bowl.
2. Add egg, maple syrup and milk a little at a time.
3. Oil and heat a heavy frying pan.
4. Drop spoonfuls of batter onto the hot pan.
5. When bubbles form on the surface turn over and cook until golden brown.

Cinnamon Cake
100g butter
2tsp cinnamon
100g brown sugar
3 eggs
100g demerara sugar
150g spelt flour
1tsp baking powder
50g ground almonds

Procedure
1. Cream together the butter and sugar, then beat in 2 eggs.
2. Add spelt flour, baking powder and cinnamon.
3. Mix well, then turn into an oiled 20×20cms (8”x8”) baking tin.
4. Mix together egg, demerara sugar & almonds and spread over top of cake.
5. Bake in an oven preheated to 180°C/350°F/Gas Mk. 4 for 30 minutes.

Tomato Bread
300g strong white flour
200g strong wholemeal flour
1 tsp salt
15g fresh yeast
300ml warm water
1tsp sugar
2tbsp olive oil
25g chopped dried tomatoes
Boiling water
1 tbsp tomato puree
1 clove garlic, crushed
½ tsp dried oregano

Procedure
1. Dissolve the sugar in the warm water, blend in the yeast and leave for 15 minutes.
2. Place flours and salt in mixing bowl then add yeast mixture and mix well, adding the oil.
3. Knead dough vigorously then cover and leave to rise for 1 hour.
4. Meanwhile, pour boiling water onto dried tomatoes and leave for 15 minutes. Then drain tomatoes and mix with tomato puree, garlic and oregano.
5. Knead dough again and divide into a rectangle and spread dough with tomato mixture.
6. Roll up dough and shape to fit two oiled loaf tins. Place in tins and leave to rise for 30 minutes. Bake in an oven pre-heated to 230°C (450°F, Mk 8 ) for 35 minutes.

Vegetable seeds used in organic production must be free of chemical treatments. If a crop is unavailable in non-treated form, authorization from certifiers is necessary before making purchase.
Choose varieties with the best insect and disease resistance and select early maturing cultivars. Late maturing vegetables are more prone to disease and insect problems. Earlier plants mature the less time insects and diseases have to compete for the vegetables. Vegetable rotations that have been used by organic growers in Northeastern United States are:
Sweet corn before potatoes, cabbage family before sweet corn, tomatoes before peas, beans before tomatoes, root crop after cucurbits and potatoes before root crops. Remember, vegetables from the same plant family usually have the same problems. Beans-potatoes, peas-carrots, cabbage-beets, peas-turnips, kohlrabi-beets, spinach-eggplant, corn-cucumbers, corn-beans, and spinach-cauliflowers are vegetables that do well when they are planted together.
There are some ways to repel insect in your garden; one is repellents, sage repels cabbage moths and black flea beetles but don’t count on sage working under pressure from these insects. But it might be worth awhile to plant a little sage with cauliflower, cabbage, and broccoli and chives have some repellant properties for aphids. And another is attractants, dill attracts the tomato hornworm, plant the dill on the opposite side of the garden from the tomatoes.

The Organic Working Party or (OWP) issued its Organic Action Plan last July 21, which delivers a route map for achieving the vision of a reliable, sustainable, self-reliant organic food sector on the Isle of Man. Organic Working Party has established that they already consume around £1.7 million worth at retail value of imported primary organic produce. All of which is potentially accessible to local producers, within 5 years based on UK and local forecasts, this grow to around £2.7 million.
“I welcome and support this Organic Action Plan which lays out the Organic Working Party’s view of how to deliver a reliable supply of high value organic food. Provides an important part of customer choice and useful contribution to a sustainable Manx farming industry for the future” said Minister for Agriculture Phil Gawne MHK. Also he continued that he will be supporting the team as they are now delivered the actions indentified in the plan. Which make real progress towards the availability of top quality Manx Organic food in the island. Viv Davies Chair of the OWP said that “The Organic Action Plan provides the market information which defines the opportunities, and also address they key issues. They now need producers, processors and retailers of all kinds to take the challenge and make this profitable opportunity happen.
Organic Working Party is a cross-industry team established by the Minister of Agriculture. The team aim has been to explore the value and accessibility of the organic food market in the island.

New report that has found that organic producer has experienced an 80 percent growth in farm gate sales and over the last four years, locally the organic market seems to be thriving. Despite the widespread drought, an organic food craze has sent business in Dubbo.  An organic farm at Elong Elong named ‘Glenbye’ Organic Farm and run by the O’Leary family.  It appears to be an average farm with cattle and sheep but it is completely chemical free and produces top quality organic meat.
Julie O’Leary said “We sell meats domestically and we also export overseas to Japan and Korea, and we are now in talks with Canada and the United Arab Emirates to export our meat there”.  The Biological Farmers of Australia found that as most farmers’ battle with drought and low sales, the organic market is showing significant growth, the report that they release.
According to Healthy Life, the drought has not affected the organic food sales.  A Healthy Life spokesperson said that “A lot more people are concerned about what they eat these days”.  The O’Leary’s who started their farm in 1987 and are pioneers in the organic product game said that there was about a 20 percent premium on organic produce than conventional produce.  Organic food is becoming popular with people who suffer from cancer.  Now Australia accounted as one of the largest amount of organic farmland in the world.

The New Zealand’s founding organic certifier celebrates its 25 years.  This year BioGro, the New Zealand’s leading organic certifier is greatly proud to be celebrating its 25 years anniversary. 
Dr. Michelle Gloga, BioGro’s CEO says “Turning 25 is a significant milestone not only for BioGro but the whole organics sector.  The industry has evolved from a grassroots cottage industry into a sophisticated, consumer focused production and distribution industry and that’s worth celebrating”.  In New Zealand, BioGro has been instrumental in steering organics.  The Bio-Dynamic Farming and Gardening Association of New Zealand, the Henry Doubleday Research Association, and the Soil and Health Association formed the New Zealand Biological Producers and Consumers Council (trading as BioGro).  The primary objective was to develop and maintain a credible and internationally respected organic standard and certification process, to safeguard the interests of producers and consumers.  Objective and founding philosophy are as fundamental to its success of BioGro’s.
Bob Crowder one of the founder and life members of BioGro’s recalls, that “ I would say that BioGro was born out of the first energy crisis in 1974 that’s what stimulated the revival of the organic movement around the world.  We had a big scare back then, which was basically the catalyst I think for it all”
BioGro’s ambition saw it develop the highest organic standards of international repute to audit and certify the processes carried out by producers.  Organic certification is currently voluntary in New Zealand but this may change if labeling regulations such as those in countries like the U.K.
Today New Zealand’s largest organic certifier BioGro with 600 licensees and over 900 certified operations.  It issues certificates to primary producers, food processors, wholesalers, distributors and retailers.