Open day at Hellingly smallholding

SFTG members are welcome to an “Open Farm” afternoon at our 7 acre family smallholding near Hellingly.  I am aiming to do guided tours every hour or so and there will be tea available in the garden.

I suppose you could call us a scaled-down version of a traditional mixed farm.  There are 5 acres of fields and a bit of woodland, plus the house, garden and buildings. We have 1 Dexter cow and 3 Lleyn ewes plus their followers, a few chickens and 2 to 4 seasonal weaner pigs.  To contribute to their feed we make hay and grow some arable crops. We also grow some veg. for ourselves. The machinery is a two-wheeled tractor called Pasquali.

The farm is to some extent an experimental project which I have been lucky enough to be allowed (mainly by my wife and employers) to conduct over the last nine years or so. There are lots of aspirations:  self-sufficiency, wildlife-friendly, high animal welfare, organic, low carbon footprint, low input and even a lttle bit of health and happiness.  You can judge for yourselves how well we are doing on all these fronts.

In order to guage numbers, please use the booking system below.  If you are not yet an SFTG member, you can join on the day or join online now.  Download and print a pdf copy of the membership form.

Please note that the Google Map location is about 300 yards too far west on Cinderford Lane.

Bookings