Farm





The Oats in Alara Organic Rich Muesli come from several farms in Britain and are processed by Morning Foods in Crewe, who contract for the oat groats.

A primary farm is Luddesdown Organic Farm in Kent. The picture is Mr Gerry Minister, the farm manager in one of the farm's oat fields in late June as the oats are ripening.

Luddesdown Farm won the 1998 Kent Environment Business of the Year Award and when I visited there was a profusion of wild life on the farm, demonstrating first hand one of the real advantages of organic food.

Luddesdown Organic Farms Ltd consists of two adjoining farms (Court Farm and Brookers Farm) run as a single unit. The main farm extends to 655 acres situated on the North Downs of Kent. The soil type is chalky loam overlying clay, mostly Grade Ill with some Grade Il. The farm has recently been converted to an organic system of farming to Soil Association standards.

The main farm rotation is:

  • 3 year Grass/Clover Ley or Lucerne

  • Winter Wheat/Vegetables

  • Winter Oats

  • Beans, Peas or Red Clover

  • Winter or Spring Wheat

  • Spring Oats or Rye

Also there is a further area of 50 acres which contains five 10 acre plots which have 5 different 'stockless' rotations. This is a trial set up and monitored by Elm Farm Research Centre to find some successful rotations, which will not require any input from livestock. This will broaden the scope of organic farming.

Composting of manures brought onto the farm is carried out by setting up simple windrows and turning with tractor foreloader. Also composting of landscape gardening waste by initially establishing windrows from a muck-spreader to get a thorough mixing.

We grow 12 acres of field vegetables, where we plant approximately 30 types of vegetables for our Vegetable Box Delivery Scheme.

Machinery of interest includes a Slatted Mouldboard Plough which gives very good incorporation and mixing of crop residues. A Harrowcomb Weeder for use in cereals and beans. Econ Muckspreaders which give a very even spread and up to a distance of 40 feet. A Kidd Top Chop which we use for mulching of green manures. A Webb Front Hoe and Rear Weed Flicker at present used in vegetables and wide row beans.