Dear Newsletter Editor

Garden Manager, Nir Halfon, tells how summer in the tunnels and fields has really picked up the pace.

GardenKitty M21 June 2020Plaw Hatch Farm Comment

Shearing 2020

Farmer and shepherd, Gala Bailey-Barker, reports on her experience of shearing this year and being able to get hands on with the flock.

SheepKitty M18 June 2020shepherd, sheep, shearing, summer, wool, apprentice, Gala, blog, Farmer's Daybook, Plaw Hatch Farm, biodynamics, Demeter, Demeter Certified, grazing, lambs, ewe lambs, rams, Romney, LleynComment

Volunteering in the garden

Fancy getting involved in the garden? As the season picks up, many hands make speedy work of soft fruit processing and weeding. Nir Halfon, Garden Manager, also tells of how Covid-19 has changed the demographic of volunteers on the farm.

Garden, VolunteersKitty M9 June 2020Plaw Hatch FarmGardening, Garden, volunteers, sustainable, vegetables, biodynamics, biodiversityComment

We've become key workers

Shop Manager, Jenny Thornhill, explains how the staff at Plaw Hatch have risen to the challenge of the coronavirus outbreak.

Volunteers, Sustainability, SpringKitty M20 May 2020Plaw Hatch Farmshop, garden, Plaw Hatch Farm Comments

April 2020: Shepherd's Report

Farmer and Shepherd, Gala Bailey-Barker, reflects on a successful lambing and all the factors that helped bring it together.

Lambing, SpringKitty M20 April 2020Plaw Hatch Farmlambs, lambing, sheep, shepherd, spring, mixed, biodynamics, organic Comments

A busy garden

Help from the volunteers is making all the difference in the garden this year.

Garden, VolunteersKitty M17 April 2020Gardening, Garden, spring, polytunnels, volunteers, sustainable, biodynamics, crops, vegetablesComment

March 2020: Shepherd's Report

Lambing is about to begin! Gala Bailey-Barker, farmer and shepherd, gives her update on the upcoming excitement and how our farm team are progressing with the change in season.

Lambing, SpringKitty M22 March 2020Plaw Hatch Farmlambs, lambing, chickens, eggs, field, team, farming, pigs, piglets, chicks, sheepComment

Signs of spring

Our garden manager, Nir Halfon, hails the change in season and what it means for the abundance of vegetables and salads growing on the farm.

Garden, SpringKitty M20 March 2020Plaw Hatch FarmGardening, Garden, vegetables, salad, sustainable, ecosystem, local, spring, season, seasonalComment

New doors for the milking parlour

The beginning of March saw two new oak doors built for the milking parlour. Herdsman, Robin Hall, tells how he sustainably manages the woodland here on Plaw Hatch Farm.

SustainabilityKitty M18 March 2020Plaw Hatch Farmsustainable, woodland, homegrown, ecosystem, management, dairyherd, cows, milking, parlour Comments

The right way to eat meat and drink milk

Shop Manager, Jenny Thornhill, explains the stark differences between small scale, mixed Biodynamic farming and large scale industrial monocultures and gives her opinion on the cultural climate towards eating meat and drinking milk. Does farming how we do hold the answers to many of the problems we face with the environment today?

SustainabilityKitty M19 February 2020Plaw Hatch Farmsustainable, chickens, cows, pigs, pork, beef, eggs, lamb, sheep, meat, commercial, yield, mixed, agriculture, biodiversity, biodynamics, organism, ecosystem, nature Comments

February begins

Garden Manager, Nir Halfon, reflects on a productive winter and looks forward to what is shaping up to be a promising spring.

GardenKitty M17 February 2020Plaw Hatch FarmGarden, spring, February, Gardening, winter, community, projects Comment

Our laying hens are going mobile

Plaw Hatch Farmer and Shepherd, Gala Bailey-Barker, discusses the exciting changes happening with our chickens this year.

ChickensKitty M30 January 2020Plaw Hatch Farm chickens, biodynamics, sustainable, ethical, farming, eggs, rehoming, garden eggs, garden hens, orchardComment

Linking sustainable and healthy diets with farming outputs

Garden Manager, Nir Halfon, speaks of his presentation at the Oxford Real Farming Conference and discusses the problems with industrial farming and the modern diet.

SustainabilityKitty M20 January 2020ORFC, food security, local, biodynamics, landscape, ecosystem, biodiversity, diet, farming Comment

9 Jan 2024

Why cows have horns

It has long been a policy of Biodynamic husbandry to keep cattle with horns. As well as the aesthetic value, the horns have an important function in the life of the cow.

23 Nov 2023

A year as a farm Apprentice

Approaching the halfway mark in my 2-year placement here at Old Plaw Hatch Farm, the coming of the shorter days has allowed me to reflect on what has been one hell of a ride this past year.

27 Oct 2023

The realities of a garden

Growing vegetables in a political climate that has very little understanding of how food actually gets from the producer to anyone’s kitchen table (let alone the unpredictability of that same climate) means we are very grateful to the crops that have been successes, and we move on quickly from those that were or are, to put it bluntly, failures. Let me briefly talk you through our growing year so far…

24 Oct 2023

Supply and demand

Recently we’ve seen a real surge in new customers and have also noticed that existing customers are coming much more frequently and seem to be doing the majority of their food shopping with us. These changes are rarely down to one thing, and I believe at the moment there are several reasons.

24 Aug 2023

Why should I go to the AGM?

Firstly, because we would really love you to. Of course, at an AGM there is the dry procedural stuff, it’s a legal requirement, but there is so much more. It’s an opportunity to hear directly from the people who grow your food.

15 Aug 2023

The garden this summer

The summer is flying by and we have already started to get the first harvests off the fields like onions, potatoes and squash. The Spring was very late this year, however, Summer is not over yet.

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PLAW HATCH FARM, Plawhatch Lane, Sharpthorne, East Grinstead, West Sussex, RH19 4JL

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