A Work in Progress - to care for the land, we need to care for ourselves

We’re currently working on our environment & sustainability policy (and a bunch of other documents and policies, because farming isn’t hard enough as it is 🤣).

Working on this one feels nice though. We are by no means perfect, but it has been a great way to reflect on everything that we have done / do and think about what we’d like to do next.

I think it’s important to mention that we recognise that people are integral to this. There’s no point having a bunch of burnt out, miserable farmers running around planting 🌳 To care for the land, we need to care for ourselves. It’s a work in progress, but front of mind.

What else do we do?

🚽 all of our toilets (including in my home) are compost loos. Flushing toilets can have a significant environmental impact due to water consumption, energy use for treatment, and the potential for pollution from wastewater and sewage. Eventually the 💩 (once very well composted), ends up helping our trees. So THANK YOU for pooping in our toilet.

💦 all our water is recycled and reused on site. Where possible, we use eco friendly products, the water then goes through a grease trap to catch any hair and food waste and then the water is used to water our willow beds which are thriving. The willow is then used to plant more wildlife friendly hedging and fed to our alpacas for medicinal purposes.

🌳 we’ve planted circa 8 thousand trees and hedge plants and reforested an ex refuse dump. The lungs of Dodford are happy 😆

🐝 we’ve introduced bee hives in partnership with @rivendell_bees. Honey bees are vital for our food security and ecosystem health, playing a crucial role as pollinators that enable plant reproduction and supporting a wide array of food crops and wild plants.

🪵 we don’t over manage our ancient woodland. Deadwood is generally left on the ground to provide habitat for insects and to support biodiversity.

🍃 we don’t use any pesticides or herbicides on our paddocks. It’s a constant battle to keep the weeds at bay and improve our soil, but we think it’s worth it.

🦙 we are moving towards a more natural, preventative approach to caring for the animals.

💩 we compost our alpaca manure and green waste to use to improve the soil.

🌽 we grow our own food. We aren’t completely self sufficient, but we’re committed to reducing waste and also support the Daventry Community Larder who are doing great things to reduce waste.

🐌 🦅 we use the offcuts of our alpaca fleece for slug prevention, bird nesting material. Preventing further waste.

In another post, we’ll share more about our aspirations to do even more (including tapping into our natural spring water to use around the farm, putting up bat and bird boxes, planting wildflower meadows, creating wildlife ponds etc).

Maybe you’d like to help us?

Amy x