Who we are
Lindsey – Grower
I’m a ‘late’ new entrant to commercial horticulture, but I’ve been sowing seeds and tending plants since childhood. I grew up wandering among fields and woodland, and I’ve wanted to be a farmer for as long as I can remember. I took a detour on the way here, studying English literature in Aberystwyth, moving to Cardiff (quickly realising that was not for me!), training and working as a bicycle mechanic in Hay on Wye, and finally, after becoming a parent and turning 40, realising there was no time left for half-heartedness and waiting for something to happen. Life is now!
As a result of this realisation, I embarked on an environmental science degree with the Open University, learning about everything from global weather patterns and oceanography to the minutiae of plant and soil science. Then, for 18 months I worked in a commercial kitchen garden, before finding land to set up my own project.
Creating a market garden is my act of hope as we navigate the immense challenges brought by climate breakdown and biodiversity loss.
Support Crew
I am not doing this alone! My partner Dave, who grew up on a hill farm near Presteigne, is chief of logistics and trailer manoeuvres. He already has two other jobs as an engineer and retained firefighter, but still helps out a lot. We especially treasure him for his capacity to shovel heavy matter, dig trenches, and do the chipping/shredding/wood chopping!
This is very much a family project, and our two children and their cousins get involved as much as they are willing! They have been known to help with everything from mowing, watering, seed sowing, planting, chipping and the favourite task of all, quality control of the peas.
My dad Glen keeps bees here, who produce amazing delicious honey. He also gets roped into helping with my crazy construction projects, and putting his trusty Fergie to work.
We lease our 4 acre field from a traditional family farm, who produce low-input lamb and beef on about 160 acres. The farm is really supportive of our enterprise, helping out with machinery and generously sharing their wisdom and expertise. This collaboration is important to us, and something we hope to build on in the future.
How we grow
Our growing principles are rooted in care for the ecosystems we inhabit
We are an agroecological market garden, meaning that our methods and practices draw on principles of organic agriculture, permaculture, social and ecological justice, and community and connection building.
We never use any chemicals of any kind – no pesticides, herbicides, fungicides or artificial fertilisers.
We manage pests and diseases by:
- striving for ecological balance, creating habitat for pest predators throughout the growing area
- choosing plant varieties that suit our conditions
- raising strong, healthy transplants
- using physical barriers such as netting to block the larger, fluffier pests (rabbits!)
We focus on building healthy, biologically thriving soils using methods that include:
- Mulching the soil with materials like compost, grass cuttings and/or sheeps wool
- Planting cover crops and green manures to build fertility
- Keeping living roots in the soil as much as possible to feed microorganisms and protect soil structure
- Maximising diversity
- Disturbing the soil as little as possible
We are not strictly no-dig, especially in these early stages of transitioning from pasture to vegetable crops where careful, targeted cultivation can be really helpful; but as our system becomes established we expect to reduce these cultivations.
No method of growing annual vegetables at scale is perfect, and there are many influencing factors including soil type, microclimate, weather, available resources, finances and practical skills. We look for a balance, and are continually learning, experimenting, observing and tweaking things as our system evolves.
