2014
Time to be outside
Time to be
outside
Make the most of the long days and mild nights, breathe the fresh air, relax and soak up sun. Eat fresh vegetables and garden fruit, join friends and family for meals outside.
Contents Summer at Trill Farm Feeding the Soil Summer Fruitions Summer Eating - A bounty of fruit and berries Summer Recipes - Fresh, fragrant and full of goodness Bees - The golden flow of summer honey Livestock - The dilemmas of livestock farming Hedgerows - Wild foraging for health & beauty Fish - Thriving in our waterways Our Community
at Trill Farm Summer is here! It’s been perfect warm and sunny weather. The grass is nearly all made into hay and the livestock are thriving on the rich pasture. Although our herbs suffered from the winter rains, the echinacea almost drowned and despite the rabbits eating most of the herbs in the courtyard, the clary sage has been beautiful. But the bumper harvest of the season has been blackcurrants, now made into jam. There’s simply no better way of enjoying them later on in the year. We received great feedback from our first Spring box. It’s always lovely to hear what people like. Several people have been feeding their box packaging to their guinea pigs and others using it as mulch – what will you do with yours this time? Creating the first of our Summer boxes has been fun and we’ve put some time into making the first of our woodland products - small cheese boards from some fallen oak. Daphne has made an exquisite rose and elderflower cordial - perfect for summer cocktails. We’ve invited some musicians to join us on August 1st to our summer party. Please join us to share some canapés and cocktails on a Devon summer evening. Email Zoe to reserve a place. While the work on the farm has been going on, we have also been making plans for next year’s educational programme. It’s not all finalised, but the Trill Trust is planning lots of exciting new courses and events. Keep a look out and sign up so you don’t miss out. Thank you for your Trill Farm support, we love having you as one of our friends. Do keep in touch.
Romy Fraser
FE E D IN G THE SO IL by Ashley Wheeler
Summer in the vegetable garden creeps up on us until solstice, when to-do lists suddenly get longer, harvests more varied and early starts more frequent. Then come the summer holidays when life near Lyme Regis changes. The restaurants’ orders increase as the tourists come down to the South West, so more time is spent harvesting. Not only do we have more salad and herbs to pick, but all of the fruiting vegetables such as the tomatoes, french beans and courgettes thrive and proliferate (in a good year). These need harvesting at least three times a week, whether we have orders for them or not. If they are not picked they will grow too large or become overripe. Luckily we have a great market for our produce - many restaurants in our area support us well, and selling is rarely an issue. While harvesting time increases, seed sowing slackens off after the sowing of brassicas in June and chicories in early July. Weeds are kept on top of with lots of hoeing, and under-sowing some crops with plants such as clover and trefoil covers the ground, meaning that fewer weeds grow and set seed. These plants (known as green manures) are also important in maintaining soil fertility, improving soil health and increasing soil life, all key to organic growing and farming. Green manures can either be nitrogen fixers or nitrogen lifters. Nitrogen fixers
such as clover generally fix nitrogen from the atmosphere into the soil throughout the summer by converting it to ammonia, which is then available for plants to feed on. We plant squash and sweetcorn together and hoe at least twice until the squash have about six true leaves. We then broadcast red clover (with a bit of white clover and yellow trefoil) around the squash and corn plants - and hope for rain. The clover then slowly grows through the summer, covering the soil. Once the squash plants are ready for harvest the clover has grown quite well and is ready for a cut before winter, which also knocks back the weeds (hopefully before they seed). This clover ley then protects the soil over winter and grows the following year, fixing nitrogen for the proceeding crop. The clover also helps to improve the soil structure, with its long tap roots that break through any compaction and provide drainage holes as they degrade, as well as increasing vital organic matter in the soil. Nitrogen lifters include plants such as rye, which we sow on any bare ground at the end of September or beginning of October. Rye has long roots which seek out nutrients deep in the soil and bring them to the surface via their foliage, which is turned in during the spring. The rye also protects the soil over winter from heavy rains, which cause soil erosion on bare ground.
Soil is too often abused and not cared for as it should be. It is a hugely complex ecosystem and potentially massively biodiverse, and if its inhabitants were more visible to the human eye (and perhaps more cuddly) I am sure that we would be concerned about it more than we are. Dirt, grime and filth are all synonyms for soil and all have rather negative connotations. It seems to have become ingrained in us to regard soil in a disdainful way, so we unashamedly ignore its abuse. Organic matter in the soil is not usually lacking in our country, but it can be depleted through years of cropping without replenishing what is taken out and leaving the soil uncovered over winter. It is the food for unimaginable numbers of microorganisms and invertebrates. William Butterworth suggests that “there are one billion bacteria, one thousand metres of fungi and thousands of tiny animals and algae in a thimbleful of fertile soil�. These add up to around 1 tonne of microbes in the hectare of soil that we grow on at Trill. These microorganisms mineralise organic matter, making nutrients available to plants. The humus produced is also extremely important for the soil structure, which has an effect on water retention, drainage qualities and the nutrient-holding ability of a soil, along with many other factors that have a direct impact on crop health and yield. If care is not taken to manage soil organic matter, not only is a valuable ecosystem damaged but the potential of the soil for growing crops is diminished.
With all this in mind, taking good care of the soil is obviously important to us. We apply organic matter in the form of green manures, composted manure, other compost made on the farm, sometimes green waste compost, straw - and this year, donkey manure. We muck out the cow barn at the farm every year, providing us with large amounts of manure which we turn about four or five times through the year to produce well-composted material. This is spread on the land prior to cultivating, or as a mulch - spread on top of the soil, but not incorporated. We have compost bays in which we compost all the vegetable waste from the garden, along with grass clippings, peelings, garden waste and straw. These are turned three or four times before producing good quality compost, which is usually used as a mulch. We are also using vegetable peelings from some of the restaurants we deliver to, and mixing this with surplus straw from the farm to increase compost production. There are other soil management methods that benefit soil structure and biodiversity within the soil, such as cultivation timing and techniques, minimising soil compaction and maintaining a level of ground cover (sometimes with weeds).
Fundamentally, soil should be respected and managed far more than it is, if we humans are to realise a truly sustainable agricultural system. Ash and Kate have created a vegetable growing enterprise, Trill Farm Garden at Trill Farm, supplying the Trill kitchen as well as neighbouring restaurants with fresh, seasonal, varied produce.
SUMMER FRUITIONS by Sandra Hill
Once growth is established, the powerful energy of spring moves into the calmer, more gentle atmosphere of the summer months. The days grow longer and at the summer solstice reach their zenith – we feel closer to the sun, to our source of light and life. In most traditional systems of medicine, the summer months are related to the heart. Too much heat and exertion can damage the heart and traditionally we would have been warned against spending too many hours working in the fields under the heat of the sun; but in today’s society, it is important to watch our levels of stress, which tightens the muscles of the heart and inhibits the circulation of the blood. Take time to relax and release – take time to meditate – to relieve emotional and mental stress which affect the heart and mind. In the springtime it was necessary to stretch and move – to shake away the winter cold – but in summer everything becomes more leisurely. The action within the body is one of opening, relaxing, releasing. The warmth of the sun helps us to get rid of our resistance, allowing the body and mind to soften. The brightness of the solstice gives way to the mellow days of late summer. As the sun moves on the days begin to shorten. The brilliant green of the early summer months slowly turns golden as
grains ripen. The traditional festival of Lammas is celebrated throughout the northern hemisphere during the early days of August. It is a celebration of the first grain harvests, the first new loaf baked from the year’s wheat. Lammas – from the Anglo Saxon ‘loaf mass’ – is a celebration of the bounty of the earth. In some societies, the first loaf would be kept as a protective talisman against hardship and hunger throughout the rest of the year. In Christian traditions, it would be taken to the church and offered as part of the harvest festival. Lammas is the first of the three Celtic festivals of harvest, marking one of the cross quarter days of the Celtic calendar. This fruition of nature which is seen all around us – first in flowers and summer fruits, later in the ripening of the grains – brings about a natural feeling of joy – the emotion connected to the summer months and to the heart in traditional medicine. The summer brings a gentle expansion throughout our being which lifts the spirits and puts us in touch with the wonders of life.
Sandra Hill, acupuncturist, teacher and publisher, has worked with Romy for over 15 years establishing courses in various aspects of natural medicine and cowriting The Roots of Health. In 2003, she became a trustee of The Trill Trust.
Summer Eating by Daphne Lambert After the growth and harvest of spring there is a lull before the showy foods of summer arrive. After weeks of steady work Ash & Kate’s garden has blossomed into life; a patchwork quilt of salad leaves, beans reaching for the sky, broad beans, tomatoes, cucumbers and the wonderful heady scent of basil. By early summer the leaves of many of the wild plants we harvested in the spring are well past their best. There is still plenty of fat hen to harvest and there are also many flowers. We have gathered armfuls of elderflowers and rose petals, plus borage, nasturtium and marigold. It’s hard to pick a seasonal favourite but the soft fruits are really special; raspberries, strawberries, blueberries & currants. Whilst they are in season, eat them just as they are, they make the perfect breakfast on a summer morning, preferably outside in a sunny spot. If I had to choose one it would be raspberries. Raspberries are nutritional powerhouses. They are particularly rich in anthocyanins. These are compounds that have many potential health benefits. They have been linked to improving vision, controlling diabetes, improving circulation, preventing cancer and retarding the effects of ageing, particularly loss of memory and motor skills. It’s easy to eat colourful fruits and vegetables in the summer. These foods contain an array of phyto-chemicals with a powerful anti-oxidant action. These compounds work against the disease causing agents called ‘free radicals’, preventing cellular damage and protecting us against disease. Preserving summer fruits and vegetables by freezing, bottling or drying means you can bring the vivid colours of summer into your meals in the middle of the winter. In the summer there is such a variety and abundance of fresh produce for us to turn into simple, flavoursome meals. Fresh peas are one of the memorable tastes of summer and popping open the pod and shooting out the peas is always so pleasurable. Vibrant roasted red peppers with tangy oil are perfect soaked up on fresh baked bread. You can never have enough recipes for courgettes, its easy to end up with too many as you must harvest them regularly so they do not end up the size of a marrow! And what better way of lingering in the evening warmth after a summer dinner than with a bowl of lemon balm ice-cream or raspberry frappé.
Daphne Lambert is Medicinal Chef & Nutritionist in residence at Trill Farm. Whilst at Trill Daphne is writing her third book ‘Living Food - a feast for soil & soul’. She is the director of Greencuisine Trust, an educational charity working to deepen the understanding between soil, food and well-being.
Raspberry, rose & elderflower frappĂŠ 250g ripe raspberries 20ml Rose & Elderflower Syrup Splash of vodka (optional)
Put the raspberries and syrup in a mixing bowl with the vodka (optional) and lightly crush with a fork leaving it fairly chunky. Pile into glasses and pop in the freezer for 10 minutes before serving.
Pea Soup 6 spring onions, shredded 2 oz (50g) butter 3 lb (1.35kg) fresh peas shelled 2 pints (1.2 litres) stock 3 mint leaves Salt & pepper 5 mint leaves finely shredded Soften the spring onions in the butter. Tip in the peas, stock and mint and bring to the boil, simmer gently for about 15 minutes. PurĂŠe until smooth in a blender, return to the pan, check the seasoning and heat through, stir in the shredded mint and serve.
Roasted red pepper salad 6 large red peppers 1 small onion, very finely sliced Juice and zest of 1 lemon 3 tablespoons olive oil Black pepper & sea salt Handful of flat leaf parsley leaves Handful of torn basil leaves Salad leaves Cut the red peppers in half and remove the seeds. Place the peppers, cut side down, on a lightly oiled roasting tray and roast in a hot oven or grill until beginning to char. Place the red peppers in a bowl, cover with cling film and set aside to cool before peeling and slicing into thick strips. Mix the pepper strips and onion together and stir in the lemon zest and juice along with the olive oil. Season with salt and pepper, stir in the herbs. Arrange the salad leaves in a bowl and pile the pepper mixture on top.
Courgette Drop Scones
Lemon Balm Ice-Cream
5 courgettes, coarsely grated 6 spring onions, finely chopped 10 leaves of mint, finely shredded Handful of flat leaf parsley, chopped 8 oz (250g) feta cheese 4 oz (110g) flour 3 eggs Salt & black pepper Olive oil for frying Limes and mint for serving
4 eggs 2 fl oz (55ml) water 6 oz (175g) sugar ž pint (450ml) whipping cream Juice & zest of 1 large lemon 12 balm leaves, finely shredded
Stand the courgettes in a colander and press out any excess liquid. Put the spring onions, herbs, eggs and flour into a bowl and mix well, add the courgettes and crumble in the feta. Cook heaped dessert spoons of this mixture in the oil for about 2 minutes on each side. Serve with lime and mint.
Put the eggs into the bowl of an electric beater. Put the water and sugar into a heavy based saucepan. Place over a moderate heat and gently stir until the mixture comes to the boil. Increase the heat and boil rapidly until the mixture reaches 238° on a sugar thermometer, or alternatively if you do not have one when a small amount dropped off a teaspoon into a cup of hot water forms a soft ball. Whilst the sugar syrup comes to the correct temperature whisk the eggs. When the sugar mixture is ready, carefully remove from the heat. Set the mixer at a low speed and gently pour the cooked sugar onto the eggs in a continuous stream. Increase the speed and beat until cold. Put the egg mixture into another bowl and whip the cream until it forms very soft peaks. Fold the lemon juice, zest and lemon balm into the cream and lastly the egg mixture. Pour into a suitable container and put into the deep freezer. Remove after a couple of hours and gently stir around then return to freezer, repeat once more, alternatively you could use an ice-cream churn.
BEES The golden flow of summer honey by NOEL LARKIN
Our Trill bees will have been gathering nectar in significant quantity from the moment the blackthorn and dandelion were in flower. Most of this early flow will have been used to build up the hive’s population. If the bees have come out of the winter and early spring in good shape, the size of the colony should increase dramatically during April and May. It’s only when the sycamore flowers that a surplus of honey begins to be stored above the brood nest. Then there’s a noticeable ‘gap’ in the flow during June, before the bramble, and perhaps clover, start to provide the bulk of the honey harvest. It would be wrong to classify Trill honey by any of these predominant nectar sources. The quality of English honey has traditionally come from the myriad
flowers that grow in our rich landscape and many gardens. Other significant components of our honey may well include wild cherry, hawthorn, chestnut and willow herb. The variability of the climate will affect the proportions of various honeys in each year’s harvest. Rain can often keep the bees at home during a crucial flow, but too dry a summer will limit the quantity of nectar yielded by shallow-rooted plants. Swarming bees have been making the national headlines this year - and the anecdotal evidence seems to support the suggestion that there have been a lot of swarms this spring. Beekeepers are often asked ‘why do bees swarm?’, but the more interesting question, from a beekeeper’s perspective, is ‘why has a particular hive not swarmed?’. It is, after all, the natural mechanism by which bees increase the number of colonies and it should be expected once a hive reaches peak strength.
This year’s experience at Trill to the end of June illustrates this conundrum well. The two hives that have tried to swarm were certainly not the strongest, and there remain other productive colonies that have naturally replaced their queens without ever swarming. My own suspicion is that any queen bee able to taper her egg laying as summer approaches does not produce the bulge of surplus young nurse bees essential for high quality young queens. When I first started beekeeping in Cornwall, the ‘old boys’ used to talk of ‘hunger swarming’ and it is interesting to remember that the original native bee was often praised for her ability to stop laying as soon as the weather turned inclement. After such a mild winter and consistent spring, the rapid build-up in hive population may well have led to increased swarming propensity as soon as the queen’s production eased off and the ratio of nurse bees to larval brood reached a critical level.
Whatever the cause, the loss of a swarm will reduce the eventual honey harvest, so many beekeepers employ manipulations to try and maintain the hive’s strength. Most involve dividing the hive vertically to replicate the conditions that would naturally exist in the two new colonies formed after a swarm. In years like this, however, and with some strains of bee, the swarming impulse can be very difficult to subdue and it is often easier to ‘run with the bees’ and accept some loss of honey as the price of ending up with more colonies.
Noel is the beekeeper at Trill Farm. There are seven hives situated in the Water Meadow. He runs courses in beekeeping at Trill and we sell the honey and use the beeswax in our candles and beauty products.
L IV E ST OC K THE D I L EM M AS OF L I V ESTOC K FA R MI N G
by Jake Hancock We’ve been expecting a good year, and so far 2014 is ahead of expectations! We have 41 calves from 39 cows – this is as good as it gets, if not better, thanks to Neil’s excellent calving skills and a little help from the cows themselves. Lambing also went very well in kind weather. We have had the best spring for growing grass that I can remember, with a good crop of silage already cut and baled, and a fair bit more hay and silage still to cut. On the downside, the warm wet winter has increased the intestinal parasite burden in the pasture, and lambs have been held back a little by both worms and another gut parasite called coccidiosis. These have both needed treatment, but hopefully are now resolved. Bovine tuberculosis (TB) is source of frustration that has dragged on for a couple of years at Trill. Whilst the vast majority of the farming world get bogged down in debating the importance or otherwise of badgers in infecting cows (or vice versa), it amazes me why nobody questions whether there is any need for the government to continue controlling TB in cattle - at taxpayer’s expense. We started pasteurising milk in the 1970s, and this extremely effectively eradicated any significant risk to the wider public from TB in cattle. From the literature available it seems probable that no-one has contracted TB from drinking milk sold in the UK since then. And as far as I can find out, no one has ever caught TB from eating meat from
cows with TB - in fact the vast majority of cattle slaughtered because they might have TB are safely consumed by the public. It’s a complicated debate because we are technically committed to EU and international trade agreements to control the disease, but these out of date rules serve no one well. Politicians seem to lack the will to question or update the laws to something more appropriate to our current situation; and the “independent” advisors to the government have far too much to gain from the current control and eradication policies, which have created an industry in their own right. The losers are farmers, taxpayers and consumers, and the very many completely healthy cows that are culled every year in the futile attempt to eradicate an endemic infection that cows and farmers could coexist with - like many other potentially serious diseases that affect cattle. TB is obviously an emotive subject, but you don’t have to investigate very far to realise that we have already eliminated the risk posed to consumers - and this success has absolutely nothing to do with the government’s TB eradication policy.
Following roles at the Soil Association and National Trust, Jake took on the tenancy of Trill Farm in 2010, where he runs 40 Devon and Angus suckler cows, and about 160 Exlana and crossbred breeding ewes.
the Fragrance of summer. Ash and Kate prepare beautiful sweet peas to sell at their stall outside the Town Mill Bakery in Lyme Regis
The Taste of summer. A yellow courgette salad with fennel flowers. enjoy this season’s bountiful fresh vegetables
Hedgerows by Amanda Cook
What if you could spend an afternoon outdoors and return with enough foraged bounty to stock your medicine cabinet for the coming year? The summer is when our hedgerows are most abundant, and you can easily turn an afternoon stroll into a productive foraging session with these common plants. Amanda Cook is an award-winning certified holistic health coach specializing in natural health and beauty. She teaches women how to look and feel naturally radiant through whole foods, natural beauty and herbal remedies.
Foraging etiquetTE Only pick where plants are most abundant In dog walking areas, pick above ‘dog height’ Pick away from major roads Always be 100% certain of the plant identification before picking
ELDER “Our English summer is not here until the elder is fully in flower, and it ends when the berries are ripe.” - so says Mrs. Grieves in her 1931 herbal classic. You can’t miss the highly fragrant white flowerheads of the elder tree in June, and the drooping purple berries in late August. In fact, elder has been used as a medicine and beauty treatment for centuries. It’s a tree that has always been associated with magic and healing in the UK and across Europe. A Danish folk-tale states that if you “stand under an Elder tree on Midsummer Eve, you’ll see the King of Fairyland ride by, attended by all his retinue.” (While I’m skeptical about the fairies, it’s an excuse to spend a lovely evening in nature!) Distilled elderflower water is a traditional beauty product used by generations of women to cool and whiten the skin, reportedly removing freckles and discolourations. Elderberry juice was even used by the Romans to darken the hair. On a more practical note, elderflowers and elderberries are still widely used in herbal medicine to treat colds and flus. You’ll find commercial preparations of elderberries to ‘boost the immune system’ in pharmacies today. You might also try using elderflower, yarrow and peppermint tea the next time you have a cold. Here I’ve shared my Elderberry Syrup recipe which you can use during the winter cold and flu season. Take by the spoonful, or mix with hot water like a cordial. Note: Do not eat elderberries raw.
ELDERBERRY SYRUP 1.5 lbs elderberries (or however many you have) Demerara sugar Cinnamon stick Lemon In a saucepan, cover the elderberries in water (just enough to cover them). Bring to a simmer and let cook for 20 minutes. The berries will become very soft and the liquid will be dark red. Strain out the berries, reserving the juice. Be careful with the juice, it stains! Measure the amount of juice. Pour juice back into empty saucepan. For each 2 cups of juice, add 2 cups of demarara sugar, 2 cinnamon sticks, and the juice from 1/2 lemon. Bring mixture to a boil and boil for 15 minutes, stirring regularly (to ensure all the sugar is dissolved). Remove cinnamon sticks. Bottle properly, or freeze to use later in the year.
ST. JOHN’S WORT
Marigold/Calendula
St. John’s wort is recognizable from bright yellow flowers, and numerous small ‘pinholes’ in the leaves. You’ve probably heard of the modern use of St. John’s wort for depression, but there is another traditional use especially useful in the summer months: soothing sunburn.
The cheery marigold (calendula) is one of the best natural skin healers. When I lived in Paris, the pharmacies would recommend calendula salve for skin irritations and rashes rather than a pharmaceutical alternative. Calendula salve will be one of your most-used homemade products, because you can use it for beauty (dry skin, cuticles, chapped lips) as well as for rashes, scrapes, bug bites, and skin irritations.
St. John’s wort oil applied topically to the skin will soothe a sunburn, and is also effective to reduce nerve pain (ie, neuralgia and sciatica). The oil will last for 1 year in a dark bottle, so it’s a useful preparation to make now for use yearround.
St. Johns Wort Infused Oil St. John’s wort flowers Olive oil Place the flowers in a glass jar, and cover completely with olive oil. Ensure all of the flowers are covered with oil, otherwise they may spoil. The easiest way to do this is to completely fill the jar with flowers, so there is little extra space. Cover the jar. Set in a sunny window for 2-4 weeks. Then strain out the flowers, and put the oil into a dark glass bottle for storage.
Easy Marigold Salve Marigold flowers Sunflower oil Beeswax Completely fill a jar with marigold flowers, and cover with sunflower oil (ensuring all flowers are covered with oil to prevent spoilage). Cover jar. Sit on a sunny windowsill for 2 weeks. Strain out flowers and reserve oil. For every 5 parts of marigold oil, you’ll need 1 part of beeswax. So if you have 100g of marigold oil, you’ll want 20g of beeswax. Put the right amount of marigold oil and beeswax in the top of a bain marie, and heat gently until the beeswax is completely melted. Pour into small tins or jars, and let sit undisturbed until cool and solid. Will keep at least 1 year.
Thriving in our waterways by Steve Shaw
As it flows through the heart of Trill Farm, the Trill stream provides a beautiful dimension to the landscape and life in the valley. Emerging from Trinity Hill, the stream meanders around three miles before entering the river Axe below Axminster. The stream provides an ideal habitat for a variety of fish species including trout, stone loach, bullhead and brook lamprey. They are sometimes referred to as indicator species as these fish are only present where water quality is good. As with other small feeder streams that flow into the River Axe, the Trill stream serves as a nursery area for trout and provides a safer environment in which to live during their formative months. After hatching in early spring, these juvenile fish will now be taking advantage of the plentiful food supply that the more prosperous summer months provide, before slipping down stream to find new territories and ascending the food chain as they grow. Other fish like the stone loach and bullhead remain in residence making the shallow pools their home. The seasonal weather changes affect fish. As with all cold-blooded creatures, fish will become more active as their metabolic rate increases and in turn their appetite gets larger. At the same time, the warmer temperatures and longer days stimulate organisms too, providing a boost to the food available from both terrestrial and aquatic life. Whilst the staple diet for the
fish in the stream comes in the form of aquatic organisms, there is always an opportunity for a bonus like earth worms, grass hoppers and beetles that accidentally fall into the water. As with all river systems, the fine natural balance can be affected by changes in the water quality due to many factors. Farming practice can greatly affect the vitality of a stream for example, soil runoff from maize fields. After the maize has been harvested, the field is bare and prone to surface erosion in heavy rain. If this soil gets washed into the river it can smother spawning gravel and suffocate fish eggs. The use of fertilizer at the wrong time can mean high levels of phosphates and nitrogen find their way into river systems, causing enrichment and algal blooms that clog the river bed. The farming community is becoming increasingly aware that a more environmentally sensitive approach is good business in the long term. Ideas like buffer zones of grass around fields neighbouring water courses can counteract top soil runoff, and chisel ploughing can help break up soil compaction and aid water absorbency thus reducing the risks of flash flooding. These are some of the steps in the right direction to ensure the future of life in our streams. At Trill, we greatly value the diversity it brings to the environment.
Steve Shaw cares for Trill ponds, streams and gardens as well as running a hatching programme for the River Axe. He’s a keen fisherman and keeps a close eye on local conservation issues
O ur community This summer is busier than ever. We’re enjoying working and collaborating with our friends in order to build our knowledge and achieve our potential. There has been a new addition to those of us who live here on the farm. Winstanley – Ash & Kate’s second boy arrived safe and well in late April and appears to be loving life in the garden! It’s great to share the resources we have, so we are encouraging our local community to use the farm and now have regular visits from a toddler group, scout troop and youth club as well as local primary schools. Now we have started B&B, we have a steady stream of guests who have a chance to explore the beautiful surroundings as well as sampling the seasonal breakfasts. As the days and night are warmer, our campsite hosts groups most weekends for private camping.
THIS TRILL SEASONAL BOX WAS A GROUP EFFORT Zoe does the overall coordination Kwan and David have crafted our beautiful wind blown oak boards Daphne creates wonderful food in the Old Dairy kitchen Joe makes our fragrant soaps and beauty products Sandy helps all our projects come to fruition from the office Jane keeps the accounts immaculate and the rest of us in order Lou tackles processes and organic certification Amanda works behind the scenes to promote us Tamsin brings our ideas to life, from the first creative seed to the final product
Photos by Sally Williams
Musbury, Devon, EX13 8TU post@trillfarm.co.uk 01297 631113