Features
A visit to the West Country
Each time I travel to Britain I’m struck by the beauty of the countryside. There are large cities but there are also vast expanses of rolling hills, farmland and pasture. Unsurprisingly, there are plenty of organic producers dotted all over the place.
During a holiday in June we visited a selection of organic farms and farm shops as we travelled from Swansea in Wales to Cornwall, covering a little of Somerset and Devon along the way.
My sister-in-law lives in Swansea where she gets delivery of an organic vegetable Perry’s box from Organics-To-Go. Set up five years ago, this box scheme sells to two thousand households in South Wales, Wiltshire and London.
Organics-To-Go is supplied by eight regional growers who deliver to the company once or twice a week. It also grows its own produce on twenty acres of converted organic land, which includes a two-acre orchard and seven sixty metre poly tunnels. The home farm, Werndolau, is beautifully situated in the hills above Swansea in a place called Gelli Aur (Golden Grove) in rural Carmarthenshire.
Sales money goes directly to the growers and is used to increase the production of organic food. Its beef, lamb, chicken and pork come direct from registered organic Welsh farmers.
Cider Tasting
On our way to Cornwall we diverted to see a man about a campervan in Somerset, a county famous for its cider. The area is stunning, with fabulous old thatched houses and narrow lanes. Down the road from where we stayed we came across Perry’s Cider Mills, located in Dowlish Wake. This family business was established in 1923 in a 16th century thatched barn surrounded by apple orchards. Apples are harvested from their own and neighbouring orchards starting in September and continuing until midDecember. While they may not produce an organic cider, they continue to press the apples in the traditional Lobbs Farm Rack and Cloth method and ferment the apple juice with wild yeasts. The farm shop actively encourages tasting and we had difficulty trying to decide between the varieties Morgan Sweet and Somerset Redstreak.
Organic West Country
Cornwall, our final destination, forms part of the South West and is the unofficial hub of organic food in Britain. Soil Association figures indicate that West Country producers make up 22% of all certified organic businesses in the Cider Mill s U.K. Two keystones of this organic drive are the large mail order company Riverford Organics and the much smaller but high quality Lobbs Farm Shop.
Lobbs Farm Shop has the good fortune to be located beside The Lost Gardens of Heligan, ‘The Nation’s Favourite Garden’ as les voted by BBC egetab c V Gardener’s Organi ord World viewers Riverf and readers. (The garden of 200 acres is a joy to visit with a sub-tropical jungle and magnificent walled gardens with Victorian glasshouses and one hundred year old rhododendrons).
The shop is famed for its quality products but especially its meat. It has a large butcher counter where they offer their own meat together with locally sourced pork and poultry. The shop also carries local artisan cheeses, chutneys and preserves, local milk, yoghurt and the famous Cornish clotted cream. Their own seasonal vegetables were also beautifully displayed. The Lobb brothers, Terry, Ian and Richard have three farms which make up 850 acres. They farm in a traditional way winning awards for commitment to conservation and environmental management. The farms produce beef, lamb, wheat, barley and fresh vegetables. The shop offers an online service, a regular newsletter and also farm tours to local schools.
Family Business
Riverford Organic Vegetables, started by Guy Watson, originally consisted of three acres. The vegetable box scheme started in 1987 and has expanded over the past twenty years and now comprises thirteen family farms which stretch from the edge of Dartmoor to the west coast. Guy’s brothers, Ben and Oliver, form an important part of the business. Ben owns and runs four farm shops which also have butcher counters. Oliver is the organic dairy farmer supplying milk, yoghurt and cream for sale and the manure to fertilize the soil. The Riverford Organics company now has sister farms in Peterborough, Yorkshire, Hampshire and Cheshire all operating under the same brand. This is a massive operation but when we visited the home place on Wash Farm we couldn’t have been made more welcome. Wellingtons are available in all sizes to allow you to explore the farm either by yourself or on a guided tour. Wash Farm is also the location of the Field Kitchen or the farm restaurant where the menu is simple featuring produce from the farm with a large emphasis on seasonality. If you’re nearby and planning to visit, booking is essential for the restaurant.
Rural Enterprise
One final but delightful business we encountered accidentally was Watts Trading based in Lostwithiel, the ancient capital of Cornwall. The shop, selling organic products, opened in 2005. The original shop front has been lovingly restored and the old world feel lures you inside to an eclectic range of goods; organic food, natural cleaning products, natural brushes, paint, wooden toys and textiles. Denise, the owner, feels strongly that all the products in the store should decompose once they are no longer needed.
These are but a few of the many businesses we passed on that long drive. Most farms have simple signs with milk, cream, eggs and potatoes for sale. Usually, there is a fridge in a small room, a list of prices and a box for you to leave the correct amount of money for your purchases. Some of the milk is unpasteurised but clearly marked. The consumer makes the choice. Should we not be putting up more signs outside farms here, selling direct to the consumer, offer them another choice besides the supermarket? Can we not be proud of our product and our own place?
Gillian Westbrook has been appointed to the new position of
General Manager with IOFGA. Coming from a background in the regulatory area...
