In 1974 when Michael Walford took over the farm he sold all the livestock and put all of home farm down to arable crops. He also farmed a dairy herd near Alton. He later bought Nothing Hill farm, near Ecchinswell, where he also grew arable crops.
Today with the problems of black grass, difficult soils and an uncertain arable market, we have decided to go more down the mixed farming method. Having entered a higher level stewardship programme, to hopefully smother the blackgrass at Home Farm, brought back some livestock to graze the grasses and expanded our herb growing at Ecchinswell, we hope to improve the soils and be ready for what the future of farming has to offer.
Grasses
Who knew there were so many different varieties of grass! We have a huge mixture here on the two farms, and its wonderful to see each of them flower and attract such a diverse selection of wildlife..
Herbs
We have been growing perennial sage for some years now. But this year we have gone into it in a much bigger way and have added annual sage and other herbs with a lot of variety.