PRIEST FARM
Priest Farm is a permaculture
holding in the Weald of
The main crops grown include medicinal
herbs such as St John’s Wort together with cultivated
blackcurrants which are grown alongside wild berries and sloes.
Eight bee hives have been placed on the
farm and there are honey products for sale.
Machinery is used as little as possible.
No chemicals of any sort are used in
order to allow the land to reach a natural balance.
This is an ongoing process. When the
site was purchased in 2001 it was as a blackcurrant plantation that had been
subject to heavy applications of glyphosates for over fifteen years.
This had resulted in the ground being
left bare. Because of this there was erosion of the top layer of soil and a
vulnerability to infestation by more resistant weeds such as
ragwort.
The first year saw an infestation of
ragwort which grew to two metres in height in some instances.
However subsequent years have seen grasses and other plants
become established as the soil has recovered and this natural
competition together will the introduction of the Cinnabar moth has resulted in
better ground cover and a reduced ragwort population.
Because ground cover is still being re-established
no domestic animals have been introduced although there is a substantial rabbit
population kept in check by foxes also living on the farm.