River Cottage HQ & RocketGro 2024 update

''This is River Cottage’s second year with RocketGro as our compost supplier, and the fantastic results we found in 2023 have continued into this growing season. We get a huge amount of interest from our guests in which suppliers we use, and I’m always happy to tell RocketGro’s story - supplying renewable energy to thousands of homes and creating local, peat-free, biologically active compost as a by-product.

Over winter, all the beds in our kitchen garden were mulched with Magic Mulch, and the beds beneath are full of life, dark and friable, and great to work with. As we plant out, the fibres of Magic Mulch are incorporated, adding to organic matter in our heavy clay East Devon soil.

RocketGro’s Seed and Cutting compost mix has once again given us high germination rates with the right amount of drainage without much need to amend with sand or grit. We have also topped up the beds in our polytunnels with RocketGro’s Fruit and Veg compost, which alongside our homemade fermented feeds have got our tomatoes, cucumbers, and basil off to a flying start.

While our various homemade composts and feeds form the backbone of our soil husbandry at River Cottage, partnering with RocketGro has given us the flexibility and volume to expand our no-dig growing areas and continue to increase the biodiversity of micro and macro-organisms in our soil, ultimately leading to the healthy, nutrient dense, organic fruits and vegetables upon which our food philosophy is based.'' Jonny Callis Head Gardener at River Cottage HQ