Garden Organic logo adopted by the HDRA in 2005

The Henry Doubleday Research Association (HDRA) is a British organisation dedicated to researching and promoting organic gardening, farming and food. The organisation was formed in 1954 by horticulturalist and freelance journalist Lawrence D Hills, and named after Henry Doubleday, an Essex based Quaker smallholder who had a particular interest in the properties of comfrey. Poppies growing amongst organically grown broad beans Organic gardening is a form of gardening that uses substantial diversity in pest control to reduce the use of pesticides and tries to provide as much fertility with local sources of nutrients rather than purchased fertilizers. ... Organic farming is a form of agriculture that relies on ecosystem management and attempts to reduce or eliminate external agricultural inputs, especially synthetic ones. ... 1954 (MCMLIV) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Latin words hortus (garden plant) and cultura (culture) together form horticulture, classically defined as the culture or growing of garden plants. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... Henry Doubleday (24 October 1808 – 13 December 1902) was an English scientist and horticulturist of Coggeshall in Essex. ... Essex is a county in the East of England. ... The Religious Society of Friends, commonly known as Quakers, or Friends, is a religious community founded in England in the 17th century. ... Species Symphytum asperum Lepechin Symphytum officinale L. Symphytum tuberosum L. Symphytum x uplandicum Nyman Comfrey is an important herb in organic gardening, having many medicinal and fertiliser uses. ...

The organisation was originally based at Bocking near Braintree, Essex (hence the name of Bocking 14, a variety of comfrey bred by Hills for its useful properties), being set up with the sum of £300 pounds that he had been able to borrow. Arms of the former Braintree and Bocking Urban District Council Braintree is a town of about 30,000 people in the county of Essex, in the south east of England. ... There are several places named Braintree, or a variant thereof:- Braintree, Essex - a town in the county of Essex, in the United Kingdom The town gives its name to the constituency of Braintree. ...

The overall management of the organisation was taken over by Jackie and Alan Gear in 1976, and in 1985 the organisation relocated to its present 22 acre headquarters site at Ryton near Coventry in the West Midlands. The Gears retired in 2004, when Susan Kay Williams became the HDRA's chief executive. 1976 (MCMLXXVI) is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ... This article is about the year. ... Ryton is a small town near the western border of Tyne and Wear, UK. It was historically a place of migration for the wealthy who wanted to escape the urban sprawl of the industrial revolution in Newcastle-upon-Tyne and Gateshead. ... The Precinct in Coventry city centre Coventry is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. ... The West Midlands refers to western area of The Midlands (central England). ... 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

In 2005 the HDRA decided to take on the 'working name' of Garden Organic, although following a vote at the 2004 Annual General Meeting, it was decided that the 'full' name of the organisation would remain unaltered. 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... An Annual General Meeting, commonly abbreviated as AGM, also known as the annual meeting, is a meeting that official bodies and associations involving the public are often required by law (In what country?) to hold. ...

HDRA is a registered charity, and Europe's largest organisation in this field, with some 30,500 members as of 2005. A satellite composite image of Europe // Etymology Picture of Europa, carried away by bull-shaped Zeus. ...

It maintans three organic display gardens, at:

• Ryton-on-Dunsmore near Coventry
• Yalding near Maidstone
• Audley End near Saffron Walden.

HDRA also runs a "Heritage Seed Library", saving hundreds of old and unusual vegetable varieties for posterity, and distributing them to its members. Ryton-on-Dunsmore is a village and civil parish in the Rugby district of Warwickshire, located just to the South East of Coventry, England. ... The Precinct in Coventry city centre Coventry is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. ... Yalding is a village in Kent, England. ... Maidstone is the county town of Kent, in southeast England, about 30 miles from London. ... Audley End House (Grid reference TL524381) is largely an early 17th-century country house just outside Saffron Walden, Essex, south of Cambridge, England. ... Location within the British Isles Saffron Walden (grid reference TL539385) is a small market town in the district of Uttlesford in Essex, England, 12 miles North of Bishops Stortford, and about 15 miles South of Cambridge. ... Vegetables in a market Vegetable is a culinary term denoting any part of a plant that is commonly consumed by humans as food, but is not regarded as a culinary grain, fruit, nut, herb, or spice. ...

It has a sister organisation, the Henry Doubleday Research Association of Australia Inc.

External links

• HDRA/Garden Organic website
• A history of the HDRA