Regenerative crops that nourish the land, feed our animals and support local food systems.
Maris Wigeon is a rare English Heritage Grain famously prized by roof thatchers for its long straw which lasts many years. The long straw is favoured by organic farmers like ourselves as it provides good competition for arable weeds and provides good bedding for our cattle during the winter.
For every acre, Maris Wigeon typically yields less than half the amount of many modern varieties but its quality and flavour are so fantastic it is highly sought after by artisan flour mills. We work closely with a local mill and our flour is sold to Hobbs House, a local bakery where it is turned into some delicious organic sour dough.
Mascani is the most widely grown winter oat in the UK. It’s a stiff-strawed variety with excellent resistance to mildew and good resistance to crown rust, essential for organic farmers with limited disease control options.
We grow oats primarily for their weed suppression benefits. Oats are allelopathic, which means they secrete weed-growth inhibiting compounds from their roots. Their tall stature creates a dense canopy that shades out competing weeds more effectively than cereals like wheat or barley.
Our oats are used to feed our own cattle and they’re also milled to make porridge oats and Duchy biscuits.
We grow Maize and harvest it as silage to feed to our cows. It is a high-energy forage with good levels of starch. It has good intake characteristics, is high in digestible fibre and increases overall forage intake when mixed with other forages such as grass silage.
As maize has a poor soil coverage, we under-sow it with a herbal ley which helps to maximise ground cover increasing soil health, reduces losses from run off and erosion, suppresses the growth of weeds and regulates temperature at the soil surface. Additionally, it also increases the number of beneficial insects for pest control.
A healthy thriving soil ecosystem soil is one of, if not the most important part of our farm.
Companion cropping is a regenerative farming practice that involves growing different crops together to support each other’s growth. By carefully pairing plants, we can naturally deter pests, improve water retention, improve soil health, and boost yields. We use a variety of cover crops, which protect and enrich the soil between main crops over the winter months and provide a valuable feed source for our animals. We also under sow, which is where secondary crops are sown beneath a primary crop to suppress weeds, enhance biodiversity, and maintain soil structure. Together, these techniques promote healthier, more resilient fields that can continue to thrive in challenging weather.
