A GARDENING philosophy promoting no digging has to be good news for all those green-fingered folk fed up of the backache. However the message of the Good Gardeners Association is far more serious than just providing a lazy way to grow carrots. Gazette feature writer KIRSTY RAMSDEN met Matthew Adams, who is running the national organisation from Wotton-under-Edge, to find out more.

WE all know vegetables are good for us - "Eat up your greens" are words heard in dining rooms throughout the land.

However, explained Matthew Adams, co-ordinator of the Good Gardeners Association, our fruit and veg might not now be as good for us as it once was.

Mr Adams said in the last 70 years we have witnessed a dramatic decline in the mineral status of the food chain vegetables, fruit, meat and so on.

He added research commissioned by the Ministery of Agricuture, Fisheries and Food (now Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) revealed 75 per cent less magnesium in carrots, 27 per cent less zinc in all fruits, 71 per cent less iron in swede and 54 per cent less iron in all meat.

The Good Gardeners Association exists to promote natural gardening - including no digging - to produce wholesome food and increase the minerals it contains. Central to the association's philosophy is the maintenance of soil integrity.

Mr Adams explained research had shown disturbance and compaction of the soil from modern practices and the application of artificial chemicals resulted in the destruction of the bacteria, fungi and other small organisms vital to soil health.

Mr Adams took an environmental degree in 1992. Prior to that he was in mechanical engineering.

He wanted to find a job in environmental management. "But it was difficult to find employment because people were looking for specialists skills and lots of experience to back it up," he said.

He did a lot of voluntary work and became involved in a number of environmental projects.

His involvement with the Good Gardeners came through his mother, who was already a member, and he sat on its committee. He began running the association "on a shoestring" in 2000.

He spent the first two years learning how to run a charity and discovering the association's niche. "Now it is up to me to make it a success," he said.

He is now working full-time for the organisation, although the association does not have the budget to pay him a full-time salary. He said: "I am committed and believe in what I am doing."

Mr Adams has devised an experiment for two schools - one in Bristol and one in Gloucester.

The four-month trial will compare how the nutritious quality of food differs under six different growing conditions.

This will range from the conventional approach using chemicals and man-made fertiliser to a variety of organic methods.

Mr Adams said: "I feel it is vitally important we all need to understand far more about the soil which is so often taken for granted.

"Having children conduct the trials will give them an insight into both the age old skill of growing and the most modern scientific testing methods."

Through experiential learning children will be engaged in a project to not only learn where food comes from - the soil not supermarkets - but also they will begin to learn where nutrition comes from and how it can differ in its potential to provide health.

The children will plant and grow carrots and peas in a box using their own local soil.

As they watch the food grow they will need to maintain and nurture the plants and make general observations about their development.

Some of the harvested crop will be sent for laboratory analysis to measure the mineral content and some used to conduct a classroom experiments to look for vitality (life energy).

When results are collected the school can compare results and discuss common trends as well as make suggestions to improve the experiment for next year.

The Good Gardeners Association was launched in 1966 by prolific writer and organic gardening expert Dr W E Shevell-Cooper. It now has about 350 members.

Mr Adams' next project for the association is to develop a demonstration garden for the association and is looking at a site in Stroud. The garden will be used for education, promotion and experimentation.

Mr Adams said: "To do that we need funding and support. The whole thing is beginning to grow but to grow we need support."

He appealed for help in the association office and in book-keeping.

Although working on a shoestring, the association now has an excellent basis to attract funding.

After all, explained Mr Adams, it has links with looking after the soil and with health, with university and children's education.

Pictured: Matthew Adams, of the Good Gardners Association, in his garden in Wotton-under-Edge GSR253V03