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| Four farms joined together to make up the 480 acres of organic land situated on the South of the Mendip Hills with wonderful views across the Vale of Avalon to Glastonbury Tor.
You can explore our progressive farm by walking the farm trail or footpaths or by attending one of our open events during the year.
We have 100 Guernsey dairy cows that were established on the farm in 1957. Today they are fast becoming a rare breed. The cows are a sight to behold as they graze our clover rich pastures. They produce a milk full of flavour, as our cows are not pushed beyond their natural ability to produce milk. Consequently, and because of their largely grass based diet, they live for many healthy years. (Did you know that the average life of a conventional dairy cow is only 4 years!)
Each year our cows give birth to a calf that is either reared to enter the dairy herd or reared for our award winning beef enterprise. We also grow cereal crops in rotation and these are then fed to our animals during the winter months.
The farm is owned by myself, Judith, and my husband Clive. We were given the fantastic opportunity to take over the farm from my father about 16 years ago, after I returned from two years travelling to Australia, New Zealand and Canada. I had no qualifications in agriculture and in fact I don't think that I had ever been in the milking parlour prior to learning to milk the cows when I returned home!
However time, patience and a persona inherited from my Australian mother prevailed and the then small herd of Guernseys became my responsibility. My father carried on running the beef enterprise.
I then married Clive, a first generation farmer with qualifications from Bicton College of Agriculture (whom I met on Magnetic Island off the East coast of Australia). Clive shared my passion for good food and it is this that has developed the farm into one of the top food producers. Over the next few years father retired and with the birth of two girls my duties in the milking parlour were relinquished to Clive and my interest became the beef
It was the BSE crisis that really opened both our eyes to what was happening with food production and we felt that the only way to produce safe healthy food was to do so organically. This was reinforced as we became aware of the needs of our growing children and our concerns about what the effects of long term exposure to artificial chemicals and fertilisers would have on their health. We then investigated all aspects of farming, those that were producing under the terms of free range, traditional, without the use of chemicals or fertilisers etc.
What we found was that such loose terminology applied to farming and food production was ungoverned and open to much abuse. So before "organic" was a marketing concept we decided to convert to organic farming under the strict regulations set out by UKFROS and adhered to by the Soil Association. In doing so we aim to offer the very best food full of flavour and nutrients which we believe and hope to soon prove is better for you.
The farm has a wide range of wildlife habitats, from wildflower meadows to woodland, and certain areas have been designated as county wildlife sites. There is an abundance of wildlife including deer, badgers, rare breeds of bats, butterflies and a myriad of other insects, rabbits, hares, foxes and smaller mammals, all living in balanced harmony.
The farm is an ornithologists dream, with buzzards circling, heron and woodpeckers, finches, tits and thrushes, with the blue flash of the occasional kingfisher along the Burford stream.
Over years as our diversification enterprise grows so do the team of people that we employ. Each and everyone of them are very simply fantastic. We employ nine people who are highly skilled, dedicated and most importantly have a great sense of humour.
Henry at 87 is our eldest employee on the farm; Henry turned 87 this year (2011) and started working for my father 63 years ago. He has seen many changes in those five or so decades. He has never driven a tractor and is a true Somerset man, with hands the size of a large frying pan depicting the years of manual labour that they have encountered. Lightly built with not an inch of spare flesh on him Henry epitomises a past generation. Cycling twice a week into our local town to catch a bus to the seaside to get a breath of sea air must surely be one of the secrets to his healthy longevity.
Our great respect for Henry never undermines our appreciation for all of our Perridge Farm and Brown Cow Organics team; Henry is always introduced to any newcomers who are informed that the essence of a good working relationship is to always think that you are able to stay as long as Henry!
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