08 November 2024
A new generation of Welsh growers is breathing new life into the idea of small-scale, low-impact market gardening.
Farmland on the outskirts of Lamphey, Pembrokeshire, has been in Kate Roberts’ family for four generations and it is here where the biology graduate and her partner, Calum Stark, now grow organic vegetables on a commercial scale.
It started as a lockdown project in 2020, supplying pubs and restaurants with high value salad leaves grown at Underwood Farm.
They now sell 40 vegetable boxes a week to local families, have expanded their range of produce supplied to the hospitality trade and are involved in an initiative that sees the food they grow feed schoolchildren in South Wales.
“It feels really good to know that the healthy food we grow here feeds so many people,’’ says Kate.
Starting a horticulture business from a limited knowledge base was a steep learning curve, understanding how to deal with challenges ranging from pests and diseases to unpredictable weather patterns.
Farming Connect Horticulture, a programme from the Welsh Government Rural Communities - Rural Development Programme, has played a key role in that knowledge development. The Programme provided everything from free business support and expert practical guidance by leading horticulturists, to help with securing a supply contract with The Welsh Veg in Schools project, organised by Food Sense Wales in partnership with Castell Howell and Farming Connect Horticulture.
To gain that contract, Underwood Farm had to meet the requirements of the Small Growers Standard, devised by Farming Connect Horticulture, to strengthen food safety and traceability in the food supply chain, and received one-to-one business support from food safety consultant, Malcolm Laidlaw, to achieve that.
“That process was really helpful, Malcolm came to the garden and gave us some excellent advice, it shone a light on how important safety is in food production,’’ says Kate.
Supplying The Welsh Veg in Schools project has added another dimension to their enterprise. Last summer they supplied an average of 90 cucumbers weekly, grown in their polytunnel, a structure 40% funded by a Welsh Government horticulture grant.
“Working with Farming Connect Horticulture and Castell Howell on this project has been brilliant, it is really well organised, the communication channels have been really strong,’’ says Kate.
“We felt like we were really guided through the process and the project has guaranteed a really solid market.’’
Underwood Farm also supplies four vegetable boxes a month to Pobl Tir Môr, a community interest company operating in Pembroke and Pembroke Dock with people paying what they can afford for the produce.
Farming Connect-facilitated visits to other growers have been very useful too, learning soil health building techniques, and also organic production in practice at an event led by organic grower Iain Tolhurst.
A masterclass delivered by Farming Connect gave an important understanding on establishing protective cropping for year-round horticulture production.
Kate says the combination of services has been invaluable.
“We didn’t have any experience of running a market garden when we started but there is so much on offer from Farming Connect and it is free.
“It has really helped us move forward and develop our business.’’
Accessing that knowledge has been addictive, she adds. “The more you know, the more you want to learn.’’
They are now focussing on growing more storage crops and brassicas to maintain
year-round supply. The ambition in general is to grow more food.
“Within a year we hope to double veg box orders to 80,’’ Kate explains.
Their greatest adversaries are pests and diseases, and the friend and foe of every grower, the weather, but looking after the soil and growing a greater variety provides more crop and business resilience.
“It is a gradual progression towards making these problems less of an issue,’’ says Kate.
An army of toads and frogs that live in and around the pond they have created on the land provide a natural defence against slug infestations.
As she looks to the future, Kate rightly thinks her great-grandfather would be proud of what the next generation are producing on his land, using sustainable techniques and contributing to a healthy local food supply.
Growers in Wales who are looking for fully funded support should get in touch with horticulture@lantra.co.uk Please ask them about the new Rural Horticulture Grants and
Schemes that have just been announced by the Welsh Government.