Issue 17 | Winter 2018 | codehospitality.co.uk
craft. “Because of the horses we have very little that’s brought onto the farm in terms of fertiliser,” she explains. “It’s all grown or made on site, which is quite uncommon. If you don’t have animals or have those systems, you’ve got to bring commercial fertiliser in from somewhere else to have a decent soil.” It also means no use of fossil
than enough. Though it doesn’t stop her working 14-18 hours a day. In the spirit of a young start up, she just has one full-time employee, Fabio, whilst the rest of her help comes from a team of volunteers through the World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms programme, some of whom have been with her for a year. For 2019 she’s going
trying to do things in a more forward thinking, sustainable way. Beyond the furrowed fields, the skeleton of a new polytunnel rises out of the ground in preparation for spring crops. It will be twice as long and three times as wide as the existing ones and will allow her to take on some of the customers that are lining up to buy
fuels and subsequent pollutants near the crops (though Calixta admits to occasionally using ‘an actual mower’ for some bits of cover crops). The impact on the land is also much gentler under the hooves of Bill and Ben. As they’re harnessed to the cultivator for their photo call, they amble along the furrows much more nimbly than we do. In fact, the only collateral damage comes from Bill stooping for a quick snack of the radicchio. Calixta knows her farming methods may not be for everyone but is sure there is a place for it in modern farming. For her land – 16 acres of which six is currently being farmed (the rest is fallow) – the horses and the astute Amish engineering are more
to take on three apprentices both to help her and to educate others. “I’m hoping that coming and working on a farm like ours will help people gather the skills they need to learn and to do their own thing in the future.” Having taken such a significant step away from the family business, what do they think of what she’s doing? “They’re very supportive. In fact my brother is often out here at 11pm at night helping me,” she says. “Lots of people around here are having to sell their farms to developers because they’re not making enough money. Farmers look to their children in the hope that they’ll do something new. My amazing neighbour’s son Sam is doing pastured Red Poll beef – people are
her produce. “At the moment we’re literally at maximum capacity, but we’re keeping in touch with everyone that’s been in contact. It’s so nice to see an enormous amount of interest in what we’re doing; that there are chefs that want to work with producers like us on a much smaller scale and very different to what they’re used to.”
“I’m hoping that coming and working on my farm will help people gather the skills they need to do their own thing in the future” -30-