How is it nearly March already?! We've been too busy here on the farm to update you with our plans for this year, but rest assured, they're as exciting (and ambitious!) as ever...
1) Open our permanent farm shop premises...
This is something we’ve wanted to do for a long time, so it’s really exciting that we’re finally in the right place to make it happen. Previously at Marlpit Farm, Loddington Farm Shop is now temporarily situated in one of our cold stores. We stock fresh, seasonal fruit and veg, locally made sourdough bread, cakes and confectionary, pantry staples and local meat, eggs and dairy products. As well as all the Owlet fruit juice you could drink! And we’ve got big plans for the future… This Summer, the shop’s permanent home will open near the entrance to Loddington Lane. There are plans for zero-waste refill stations, a learning station for school children to learn about sustainable agriculture and lots of information about our new projects and delicious fruit and veg and most excitingly – we’re planning on most of the fresh produce on offer being grown here on the farm.
2) Design regenerative orchard of the future...
Our initial foray into going fully regenerative has been a steep learning curve, and one that wasn’t helped by last year’s disastrous weather conditions. This year, the plan is to make one of our orchards completely regenerative – no herbicides, fungicides, fertilisers or insecticides. ]. Instead, we’ll continue to measure the nutrient balance of our trees and boost their nutrition with foliar sprays, use a mechanical weeder, mulch the tree rows with our ‘mow-and-blow’ mower and get the chickens scratching about (more on this below!). This orchard will act as a trial for the rest of the farm so that we can take these learnings and hopefully apply them across all of our orchards next year.
3) Implement phase 1 of agroforestry project...
Last year we planted over 200 woodland trees, and this year our agroforestry project is set to continue. Our plan is to grow hazelnut and walnut trees in rows across a currently unused pasture, and then graze livestock in between the rows, fully embracing silvopasture. This will cycle more carbon into the soil, increase biodiversity, provide our livestock with a nutritional and varied diet and create new wildlife habitats, not to mention provide us with another delicious product to sell in the shop!
4) Introduce chickens to the orchard...
The introduction of chickens to the farm was put on hold due to the avian flu outbreak, but hopefully we’ll be getting our flock this Spring. Chickens can play a vital role on a regenerative farm. Ours will be constantly on the move in a mobile coop that will travel up and down the orchards, allowing birds to eat ‘pests’, scratch up weeds and naturally fertilise the soil with their waste. And the by-product for us? Free-range, pasture-raised, climate-friendly eggs for the shop!
5) Increase organic food offering...
Last year, Meadowside Organics joined us here on the farm and will be growing organic, no-til veg which will be on our shelves within the next couple of months. It doesn’t get more local than that!
As always, there will be new plans and ideas popping up on an (almost) daily basis, so be sure to sign up to our newsletter to hear about our farm updates! And if you haven't already, come by the farm shop to stock up your fridge with healthy, seasonal and local goodies!
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