News from the farm: Crop planning
October is the month for crop planning. We are agreeing prices and volumes for everything from carrots to coriander, for May 2025 to April 2026. Over 90 per cent of the crops in your boxes will be...
View ArticleNews from the farm: Forgive me the nostalgia
Tim and Jan Deane, founders of the UK’s first organic veg box scheme, came for lunch yesterday – taking me back to my induction into what, in the 1980s, was called the ‘organic movement’. I turned my...
View ArticleNews from the farm: Taxing the land
Should James Dyson (who owns 36,000 acres of land) or Jeremy Clarkson (1000 acres) be the beneficiaries of a tax break designed to help working family farms? In her budget, Rachel Reeves announced that...
View ArticleNews from the farm: Soil nerdery & compost evangelism
Before the recent rain, it was just dry enough to tidy and spread compost on our weed-infested artichoke, cardoon, and rhubarb fields. We have a range of machines that work between the rows, weakening...
View ArticleNews from the farm: Going soft
We returned in the new year ready to resume picking our purple sprouting broccoli, only to find that the pigeons had beaten us to it. About half the heads have been pecked. In my youth, I would have...
View ArticleORFC: Two days of rebellious & human empowerment
Sixteen years ago, Ruth West, Colin Tudge, and a band of renegades founded the Oxford Real Farming Conference (ORFC) as a challenging alternative to the 90-year-old, more conventional Oxford Farming...
View ArticlePeat: its use and abuse
The evenings are already lengthening, and snow drops and crocuses are out – but the soil is cold, and we must wait a few more weeks before starting to plough and prepare for early spring plantings....
View ArticleNews from the farm: Partnerships & privileges
In last week’s newsletter, I questioned who would do the work to regenerate our rural landscape, which has been degraded by a century of extractive farming. How can we welcome those who want to be part...
View ArticleNews from the farm: Diversity, equity & inclusion
Despite professing liberal enlightenment, until ten years ago Riverford had a narrow, hierarchical culture. Our (largely white, male, straight, and ageing) leaders were too busy to see what we were...
View ArticleNews from the farm: A joyful awakening
A wonderfully dry start to spring has allowed us to spread muck and compost, plough, prepare seedbeds, and start planting spuds, peas, and artichokes in ideal conditions. It is such a joyful contrast...
View ArticleNews from the farm: Betrayal at the finishing line
Britain’s farmers have been led on a ten-year journey, from being proud and respected food producers, to reinventing themselves as environmental custodians. Farming relies on long-term decisions, and...
View ArticleNews from the farm: If every spring was like this…
farming would be easy. Potatoes, lettuces, cabbages, and broad beans are all being planted in perfect conditions, into fine and warming seedbeds. The cows are enjoying an early turnout onto fresh...
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