Autumn update
It’s been a while since we last posted an update, so now is the time to put that right, and there is certainly a lot to write about!
Harvest came and went in a fairly smooth fashion, and all of a sudden that was the end of our contract farming. A huge thanks to the team for being their usual professional selves and ensuring the handover for each client was as easy as it could be. We wish everyone all the best as they take over the reigns.
You can read all about it in South East Farmer here.
Land sale
The end of September saw the completion of the land sale at Nonington. After the high drama of the machinery dispersal sale, the completion of the land seemed to happen without many people even noticing it all. We are delighted that the land has been passed over to a local farming family, and the responsibility for farming the land at Nonington fittingly for us falls to a young person in his 20s. We wish them all the very best in passing the baton on to the next owners.
Jay Griffiths writes eloquently in her book ‘Kith’ about the relationship we all have with land, and it really came to the fore in the passing on of our land at Nonington. Those of us lucky enough to farm have a close relationship with the land and learn over the years all that it can teach us. It feels strange to therefore have to start again in learning where the mushrooms will be throughout the year, whether the turtle doves come back to the same spot, how the trees that we planted are prospering, and plenty more besides. Our search for our own ringfenced farm continues apace, and we look forward to finding it and continuing to learn from pastures new in due course.
Heritage Wheat
Meanwhile we are busy looking after our remaining in-hand land, which as you would imagine has lots of exciting and interesting projects happening on it! We have some heritage wheat trials that we have set up, looking at which grow best, and then in due course we will use our own stoneground mill to test flavour and other things like that. It is certainly handy to have a mill, not only because it means we can make our own flour, but because, and perhaps most importantly, test out our products with the local food networks that we are developing around here. Our bakers, restaurants and home bakers all give us such valuable feedback each time we connect with them, and their knowledge and feedback aid us further in growing and setting up trials for the flour of the future.
Heritage wheat trial plot.
Water
Southern Water are continuing to trial various things on our land, including the nitrate filtration levels, water levels and all sorts of other things as well. Their new age probes that are dotted about the landscape create great interest with the farm visits!
We are also doing a water project with Affinity Water looking at water filtration levels with different land uses, so plenty of science to learn from continuing on the farm.
AB8
Historically we have grazed our AB8s with cattle, and on occasions pigs, with the help of Oink and Udder. As they now have their own farm land to graze, we have reverted to sheep, so tupping is currently going on at our AB8 field, and we look forward to seeing how the sheep and indeed the wild flowers fare in the spring.
Lamb
The first of our spring lambs are now available to buy as lamb packs, or as joints, mince or sausages. Drop us a message if you’d like to purchase some.
Bees
The bees have moved from Nonington Farm, and have relocated to a field adjacent to our wild flowers. The honey harvest as a result has been monumental – three harvests and counting due to the plethora of flowers that proliferate throughout the year. Mrs Kittle’s honey can be found in our vending machine at Denne Hill Farm, where it is usually the first compartment to sell out!
Cover crop where our spring crops will be drilled in to, once the sheep have grazed it off in the New Year.
Education
Farm School has returned for the autumn, and we have had a number of great sessions, including bushcraft with Hannah from Natural Pathways, and Junior Herbal Club with Mandy Rickhard, as well as our own farm walks and talks.
Nonington Farms continues to speak at local and national events: locally this autumn has been the NFU Ladies and Sandwich Bay Bird Observatory. If you would like us to speak at your event, do get in touch.
Consultancy
James and Emma have recently been selected on to the Pasture For Life consultancy team, offering practical advice and help on regenerative farming matters. Integrating livestock in to arable systems is a strong point, and if you want to speak to either of them regarding consultancy, just get in touch through the website.
Richard Jordan
Sadly with the end of our contract farming operation came the end of working relationship with Richard, and we said goodbye to him at the end of October. Richard has worked on the farm for 23 years, and started when James came back to farm in 2002. He has been a truly valuable member of the team ever since and we really wish him well in the future.
