Winter Update

I’m sorry to say we did the former rather than the latter, drilling our three way blend of Crusoe and other milling wheat varieties, along with our rye (at the second time of asking) in the autumn.

We recently welcomed Nigel Akehurst on to the farm and he gave us a great write up in South East Farmer about where we’re at and what we’re up to, so if you haven’t seen that, here’s the article: https://www.southeastfarmer.net/features/from-commodity-to-community-the-next-chapter/

Trials

We have, for some years, been members of the South East Grain Alliance, and are delighted to be working with them again this year on a trial for Heritage wheat. We have three different types in the ground and they too were established on time and without too much fuss. One is our preferred variety that we grow for our stoneground mill, Old Kent Red, which a number of our bakers love to work with. We love to sample their products as a result!

Different types of heritage wheat being trialled on the farm

ADOPT

A first for us this year is growing a crop as part of an ADOPT project, alongside Niab and two other farmers elsewhere in the country. Part of Innovate UK, the government will support projects that are innovative and could help farmers to transition to more regenerative forms of agriculture. We were delighted in December to have been awarded such a grant and look forward to sharing the project with you in due course. But to give you a taster of what’s to come, here are some clues:

• We’ve already grown in, but not on it’s own
• We’ve grown it for other animals but not ourselves before
• This crop is huge in other parts of the world for human consumption
• It’s gluten free.

If you think you know what it is, let us know via social media @noningtonfarms and stay tuned to find out more in May or June when we drill it!

The site of our new ADOPT trial – can you guess the future crop?

Food

Wouldn’t it be great if everyone in this country had access to great quality, well grown, nutritious food? What about if schools, hospitals, prisons all had access to good quality food too – what impact would that have on society in general? And as the current affairs in Iran and surrounding countries proves, what about if we could rely on ourselves to provide nutritious food to our population first?

These are some of the thoughts that we are hoping to turn in to a reality, and some of the work Emma has been working on recently. First she’s starting locally with her work within the Kent Food Partnership, and then she’s taking the ask nationally to call upon the government for a Good Food Bill at an event in Parliament with the Food Foundation, Sustain and Green Alliance. You can read about it here: https://www.sustainweb.org/news/mar26-good-food-bill-briefing-launch/

The Mill

The Mill has been relocated to Denne Hill Farm where it sits alongside it’s best friend, the vending machine! So if you run out of flour, or want to fill up on other produce that is grown on or around the farm (honey, apple and pear juice from neighbouring farmer Heart’s Delight) and granola from Madre, then head to CT4 6HD and follow the signs for the vending machine. If you time it right, you can also arrange a tour of the mill, and or collect larger sacks of flour. All the details are either on the website or are at the vending machine.

In a bid to collaborate further with our bakers, including all of our home bakers of whom there are a growing number, we are going to be organising a series of events in the forthcoming months to encourage and share ideas moving forward. So stay tuned for further details!

The lambs have starting arriving in our outdoor pasture fed system

We are looking forward to a busy summer ahead, with lots of people booked in either to see the farm, or to have us on to their farms or businesses and talk about regenerative agriculture, farming practices and nature friendly ways of doing things. It’s an exciting time, and we look forward to keeping you updated!