Category: News

Sustainability is becoming increasingly important within our daily lives and a habit that we need to adopt to preserve the beauty of our planet. Here at R&L Holt, we are extremely committed to this cause and would like to show you how! 

Here are three things that we do to make our tomato growing sustainable as we do our bit to help the environment…

1.  Sustainable heating 

To remain efficient and sustainable, we use steam and hot water biomass boilers and have CHP engines to help power the lit crops rather than less sustainable alternative methods of heating. 

2. Reusing and preserving water

All sites have reservoirs that collect rain water. With filtration and sterilisation equipment used we recirculate solution in closed sytems to ensure we are efficient with this resource.

3. Recycling waste material 

All leaves and waste from the plants is used in the Anaerobic Digestors or composted.

We hope that you have learnt something about our sustainability methods and are encouraged to try more sustainable practices in your routine!

Here at R&L Holt, it is important to us that you, our loyal tomato community, understand everything about our business and our reasoning behind certain aspects of this. 

We have discussed our three sites, Sandylands Nurseries, Hornsfield Nurseries and Springhill Nurseries and now it is the turn of our La Serra site to be discussed. 

In 2019, our La Serra site was developed for annual tomato production. Its features include hybrid lighting with both top LED and Interlighting, meaning that the site is powered by CHP through a Biogas Anaerobic Digester and a Solar Farm. This is a huge development for R&L because our La Serra site is improving the carbon footprint and sustainability of our business. 

The construction of this site would not have been possible without the forty years of growing experience by the Holts, that helped to design this superb site fit for the twenty-first century!

We have some exciting news to share with you!

Last week we attended the Annual British Tomato Conference, our first large event in three years due to the restrictions of Covid! 

The Annual British Tomato Conference is a great opportunity for growers, suppliers and retailers to meet up and discuss the industry while listening to interesting presentations on a range of subjects. 

We at R&L Holt were extremely excited to attend this event after the last few being virtual. It is always a pleasure to see our like minded tomato community while sharing and comparing ideas about how to improvise our current growing and maintaining methods in the future!

Learn more about what we got up to here.

Being a business that has been active for forty years (and many more to come!) it is easy to overlook the origins of a business as time promptly passes by. This blog will transport you back in time to where R&L Holt, your favourite tomato growing business first began and what happened before the twenty-first century…

Where it all began, 1979

R&L Holt began with the purchase of our first site Sandylands in 1979. This was comprised of a mixture of indoor and outdoor plants.

The expansion commenced, 1985

The construction of the first glass house for R&L Holt called ‘Tom, Dick and Harry’ began in 1985. This ensured that the tomato plants were well insulated in all seasons, and as we know in Britain, they can be extreme!

Considerable construction, 1999

Following on from the construction of the first glass house swiftly follows the construction of the second in 1999 which has since been called ‘Fred’. From this point onwards we can see a rapid progression in the expansion and growth of the business to keep up with high customer demand.

So, that’s where it all began! We are extremely grateful to our loyal followers, customers and friends who ensure that this business is a continuous success. We look forward to the next 40 years with you!

The growing of tomatoes is not as simple as it may seem, it takes a lot of hard work as well as dedication and consideration of the plants. To ensure that the tomatoes are being looked after correctly, a range of factors need to be considered, one of which is maintaining a healthy temperature in glasshouses so that the tomatoes can thrive. With winter fast approaching, we have put together a compilation of the most useful facts to consider when heating glass houses which will in turn help you and your greenhouse-growing at home!

1. A thermal mass – These are objects that absorb heat during the day and release it during the night so most of the hard work is done and it’s extremely sustainable!
2. Add insulation – Attaching a layer of bubble wrap to the interior walls of the glass house can reduce heat loss and block cold drafts. This is an effective way to maintain temperatures in your glass house and it is easily accessible, there’s always some bubble warp lying around.
3. Let the sunshine come in – This is the most natural way to maintain the heat in a glass house, as nothing is better for tomatoes than the sun! For this to work for maximum benefit, there must be no obstacles in the path of the sun and tomato plants.

We hope that you have found these facts helpful and that they will be of use to you when heating your own glass houses!

Here at R&L Holt, we are extremely proud of our four successful sites located within the Vale of Evesham area. Each one is so special that we would love to tell you all about them in greater detail as they are a huge part of our blossoming business. With that being said, today’s blog will be dedicated to our Hornsfield Nurseries Site.

The Hornsfield Nurseries Site was built in the Winter of 2004/5 and has been a secure site for nearly two decades. This site is located just outside the village of Badsey and is our second oldest site of the four.

This was our first site where the ‘NFT Hanging Gutter’ was installed and used for our crops and has been a sure success for sixteen seasons with its extremely efficient biomass boiler for heating and roof mounted solar. We use pure CO2 from our partners anaerobic digester plant to ensure the sustainability of our sites.

Despite the ecological progression of this site, some things will always remain the same as this site has grown the same variety of tomato since 2005 over six acres of land. So, one thing that you can rely on with this site is the consistency of our tomatoes that are housed here, as they have been practised and perfected for seventeen years!

R&L Holt isn’t just your favourite tomato growing business, we additionally run a renowned football team called ‘Side-shoots FC’ which was established in 2006.

The team includes staff and friends across the sites and plays in a local five a side league and has regularly won the Premiership over the last 14 years, at this rate we now need a new trophy cabinet!

We have many notable moments from over the years but our proudest moment to date was winning the Growers United tournament in 2017. After having lost the final in 2015 to G’s we managed to get our revenge and beat them in a close game 2-1 at Evesham United ground. It was a tense match, but we were able to steal the game!

We are also proud to have had Alan Kennedy, ex-Liverpool, and double European Cup winner, as our honorary captain for a charity game with Vicarage Nurseries in 2018.

With many more exciting times ahead we always welcome new people to the team and have lots of fun, so if you fancy joining a welcoming, friendly and successful team, get in touch with us we would love to hear from you, you could be a real-keeper!

Here at R&L Holt, it is important to us that our customers understand the origins of our business and the challenges that we have faced and overcome in the last four decades. This week’s blog post is dedicated to our Springhill Nurseries Site that was built in 2009.

Developing the Springhill Nurseries was no simple task, it took several years to gain planning permission as well as a long and tiring dig! Nonetheless, it was all worth it in the end as our Springhill Nursery Site consists of 125m row lengths meaning that we can increase the number of tomato plants in this site, but that’s not all! Our Springhill Nursery has it all! Ranging from a steam biomass boiler, an Anaeobic Digester, PV, CHP and on-site Carbon Dioxide, this Nursey preserves our tomatoes as well as the environment, and what could be more efficient than that?

The tomato trend is easy to join, there’s something so satisfying and rewarding about growing your own tomatoes at home! Yet, we know how challenging it can be to grow the PERFECT tomatoes, so we have come up with 5 simple yet effective tips on how you can grow the tastiest tomatoes this season!

1. Water twice a day – Scorching summers are admittedly rare in the UK, but even with the tiniest bit of heat us Brits are searching for the next sip of water. Well, your tomatoes feel the same! Ensure that you’re watering your tomato plants twice a day to ensure that they are hydrated, and the soil is moist.
2. Feed your tomatoes – Growing anything is a two-way street, if you feed your tomatoes the nutrients they need, they’ll provide you with a flavourful sweet taste!
3. Sow seeds early to extend the season – This will allow the tomato plants to get used to their environment and with the right care, this will extend their season.
4. Remove damaged plants – Doing this will ensure the growth of your existing and flourishing tomato plants by allowing them more room to grow.
5. Cover the soil – Mulch blocks weeds, saves water and protects your fruit, so why wouldn’t you add it! Spread a 2-3” layer of organic mulch around plants, leaving 2” of room around the stem so water can reach the roots.

We hope that these tips will help you when growing your own tomatoes at home!

Over the last two decades at R&L Holt we have worked closely with Evesham Vale Growers, and we have four locations where we grow our tomatoes in the Evesham area.

1979 – Head Office, Sandylands Nurseries

We began back in 1979 with a typical market gardening site with indoor and outdoor crops. It was developed over the years and had four glasshouses up until 2013 called Tom, Dick, Harry and Fred.

2004 – Hornsfield Nurseries

Manufactured in the Winter of 2004/5 this site is located just outside the village of Badsey.

This was our first site where the ‘NFT Hanging Gutter’ was installed and used for our crops, allowing them to grow vertically.

Now into its 16th season this site is still extremely efficient with a biomass boiler for heating and has roof mounted solar. We use pure CO2 from our partners anaeobic digestor plant.

2009 – Springhill Nurseries

Springhill Nurseries is situated between Pershore and Evesham. Built in 2009 this 5Ha glasshouse site has seen multiple changes.

In 2013 Vale Green Energy built an anerobic digester and in 2017 a steam biomass boiler plant was installed to produce heat and power.

Now into its 11th season this sustainable site continues to produce tomatoes from March to December.

2019 – La Serra

La Serra was established in the Winter of 2018 and was first planted in 2019. This site has two blocks designed for production all year round.

With hybrid lighting with both Top LED and Inter-lighting the site is powered by CHP via a Biogas Anearobic Digestor and a Solar Farm.