Haddenham Horticultural Society has arranged an escorted visit around Sandy Lane Organic Farm this Friday (11th July), starting at 11.00.
Sandy Lane is a traditional, mixed farm in the South Oxfordshire countryside, growing organic veg and rearing laying hens and small herds of pigs & sheep. As well as hearing about and seeing their organically grown produce there will be a chance to visit their farm shop if wished. The address is Sandy Lane Farm, Sandy Lane, Tiddington, nr. Thame, OX9 2LA (access is wider from the Milton Common end of Sandy Lane.)
The cost is £5 per person, payable in cash on the day. As usual, there is the opportunity to travel direct or to car share (some members who don't drive will be hoping to get a lift and also we should plan to minimise the number of cars if possible, although there is plenty of parking space available there).
To book please contact Gay Jordan at gay.jordan@outlook.com telephone 01844 291490. When booking, please state how many are in your party and whether you will be going direct or willing to offer a lift from Haddenham (usually from the Village Hall carpark, unless a different pick-up point is more convenient for you or the people you are giving a lift to; please remember that parking in the Village Hall car park is now strictly limited to 2 hours unless you are attending an event in the Hall and sign in on arrival at said event.
For those not travelling separately we will aim to meet at 10.20 to depart at 10.30. If you could book by Wednesday it would be helpful, but not essential, although booking in advance is required.
Sandy Lane is a traditional, mixed farm in the South Oxfordshire countryside, growing organic veg and rearing laying hens and small herds of pigs & sheep. They are passionate about farming with nature, looking after the biodiversity around us so it can look after us. The farm has been registered organic for over 30 years and they grow over 300 varieties of veg from large field scale root crops to delicate salad leaves & herbs, so that they can maximise the length of the growing season and breadth of produce for their veg box scheme and farm shop.
A dedicated team of veg experts run the farm, growing, harvesting, packing, selling & delivering delicious produce every week. Their commitment to organic growing is both a passion and a mission and they utilise traditional farming methods, firmly backed by modern science. Biodiversity (above and below ground) is at the heart of organic farming and their approach is try to keep 'nature in balance' every step of the way. Each year the farm's fields are bordered by beautiful 'beetle banks' – areas of wildflowers and grasses, sown to encourage pollinators and 'nature's pest controllers' to the crops.
Early in 2020 they also planted nearly 1000 trees on the farm, a mini-agroforestry project which should improve irrigation, provide a habitat for birds and other wildlife, as well as providing valuable aerial cover for their 400 organic egg laying hens. Fertility is 'grown' on an organic farm, rather than added by artificial methods, soil health is crucial. They now have a well-established, large 'no-dig' area in the market garden, which has both improved the soil's quality and reduced the weed burden.
The poly tunnels provide veg earlier and later in the season and field scale vegetables allow them to grow volume for their veg boxes. With much of the planting, weeding and harvesting carried out by hand, it's time consuming and labour intensive to work but the results speak for themselves, veg that is grown naturally, full of flavour and fresh from the ground. They also have small scale non-intensive animals on the farm that fit within the vegetable rotations.
Read more here
