We live and farm in the sheltered valley of Cusgarne near Truro.   If you follow the stream that runs through the village for nine miles you will pass Falmouth.  The ground is South facing and the soil: medium, light, sandy loam.

     Our family moved here around 1800 and we still retain the original holding.  James Watt lived in the farm house before our family bought the farm. 

     Faced with property prices beyond a young farmers pocket I gained permission to convert an old barn for my future home. Most of it promptly fell down or I had to take down due to dry rot.   I built the first stage, in true frontier style with stones gathered from the fields and trees cut from the hedges!

     I  met Teresa , then a trainee  midwife, and we married and quickly found our selves surrounded by three little girls Zennor, Lamorna and  Veryan, now not so little 18 , 16 and 15 years old.

     When the first baby arrived we had to start building more rooms and yes gathering more stones.

     Like many, when we started our family, we reappraised where we were going in life and we determined to convert the farm to organic production.   We started our hamper scheme which grew steadily.

     We commenced with a limited range of produce but then widened it by growing in poly tunnels and increasing our range of field vegetables.

      We became so adventurous that we even tried sweet potatoes and Peruvian oca or yams, the latter do well in Cornwall.

     We won the Soil Association award for the best box in 2000. [very good for the morale].  The beef suckler herd started, when one of our bullocks turned out to be a’ wolf in sheep’s clothing’!

     Only after we'd bought an Angus bull did we (quickly) realise that all the hype about Angus beef is justified.  The meat is marketed through the hamper scheme and local hotels who also cook with our vegetables.

     Our method of farming is to use a wide rotation.  We graze the cattle on 80 acres and grow crops on about 25 acres.   We also have a flock of laying birds which we use for slug removal and fertility building [and they lay eggs].

      We are now embarking on a new building programme.  Our current pack house is an old tithe barn’ [‘which is not ideal for purpose’].   We are building a new pack house and shop and converting the old one for a farm holidays.   The first stage, a new office and processing kitchen is completed.