Down on the farm
Hands holding marigolds and tomatoes
Ever since I was a child, I have had a fascination with the natural world and the wonders of our planet. I had ‘pet’ centipedes that made their way into the house, much to my parent’s delight, spent hours toiling in the garden, made potions from rose petals and loved the freedom of walks in the open common land near my childhood home. Every cherished memory of my childhood and teens is outdoors with nature, in the wild or with the dogs and horses that I grew up with.
After my degree in Environmental Sciences was complete, I knew working to protect the planet was fundamental to my values and beliefs and I wanted to ensure my job contributed to that. I spent the best part of a decade working in the environmental sector, and though it was a dream come true, I changed roles to a totally different job in 2016.
Niggling away in the back of my mind for many years was this overwhelming feeling that I could make a difference in a different way. I’ve felt strongly for a long time that I would like to do something to help tackle our environmental impact in a positive way, that recognises that we still want moments of joy in our lives, flowers seem like the perfect solution!
Not only are flowers beautiful but they are great for pollinators whose habitats have been greatly reduced in recent years. And if grown and supplied locally, without the use of pesticides or herbicides then the environmental impact is significantly lower than a shop bought imported bouquet. The dream to start a flower farm started in 2015 and working towards being in the position to move to somewhere with the space to turn it into a reality was not an instant goal, I played the long game of patience and perseverance!
Moving to our small farm in 2021 was a blinking scary, exciting and pivotal moment and this put the wheels in motion – I could again actively make a difference to our planet but without the constraints of working for a charity and the constant weight of my job changing or being at risk of not having funding.
So here we are custodians of a small farm in the heart of Yorkshire. What’s a little different about our farm is that most of the space is given over to wildlife.
We see ourselves as caretakers of the land and that we want to tread carefully with all that we do. We do not use pesticides, herbicides or fungicides. We use regenerative principles and make use of everything on site. With overall aim of creating a balanced happy local ecology.
Every decision made we have wildlife in mind and in hope that we can support it to thrive, we work around wildlife and in turn we hope it works with us!
Don’t get me wrong I’ve cursed the blackbirds digging up the flower beds looking for worms but also I’m hoping they have a taste for slugs too. Its sad when a whole crop of flowers is lost to aphids but I also rejoice when ladybirds rescue the next crop as they feed on the aphids.
Every day I count my blessings and have such gratitude for where we have got to with the farm. There are tears, frustrations and a whole rollercoaster of emotions when you are growing a natural product but there is more joy, celebrations and happiness. Every day I learn more, observe more and appreciate nature even more. And that is what the fieldnotes section of the website will be – a space to record, reflect and celebrate the flower farm, nature, and the ramblings of the person behind Gathered at Dusk. I hope you enjoy following along.