Rushmere Farm, Hambledon – the future of farming. A Winchester Green Party Walk and Talk.
Sitting high in the hills above Hambledon in the Meon Valley something special is happening, a coming together of people and planet via a passionate environment friendly farming family, the Crossley’s.
It was a pleasure to attend a really informative Green Party Walk and Talk meeting with our superb host, George Crossley, a young next generation farmer, taking over running his family farm alongside his parents.
Click photo for full size The Rushmere Farm focus is organic farming and carbon neutrality. This is no mere experiment this is business and as such has to turn a profit, the family turned their back on chemical farming and after a few years have now, credit to them, succeeded. The hard facts are that in Britain only a few percent of farmers are organic farmers, George took risks, yields initially dropped, costs rose, but now those years of investment are paying off, with better more nutritious respected products, and a local landscape benefiting. The Crossley’s are leading the way, more will follow as we all better understand the threats to our environment, and the benefits of healthier better quality food. After years of hard work transforming from traditional farming, Rushmere Farm is now carbon negative and has been officially recognised for its organic produce.
George is a wonderful champion of green agro-ecology, as you’ll see in the photos he has visitors engaged with his informative in-the-field presentations and has pertinent facts and data mentally to hand. He happily answers all our questions. When asked what he would like to see or hear from our political representatives, George mentions better clear labelling of our food so customers understand what they are purchasing, and continued vital support to allow organic farmers to be competitive. Local Green Party Councillors Malcolm Wallace and Danny Lee were on hand to listen and learn. The farm though primarily agriculture, has diversified.
We met at the farms workshops where presentations, workshops, and all manner of related meetings are held. We then (we were warned to bring our wellies) are led out around and onto the fields. George stops regularly to tell us what we’re looking at. We saw crops growing alongside wild flower patches, the flower strips are home to insects that keep other crop attacking insects at bay. I was surprised to learn that these predator insects are quite territorial and don’t fly far, thus the reason for integrating wild flower homes alongside crops. We are shown areas that are rested, and had the yield reductions explained alongside the offset cost reduction of not having to use expensive chemicals. We’re led into woodland where a surprise meets us, a woodland workshop where people come together to build furniture and socialise, this also for refugees and asylum seekers in association with Friends Without Borders and the British Red Cross.
George was bombarded with questions, we all share his obvious passion for farming, food, and our environment. It was a rare pleasure to have our questions patiently answered whilst surrounded by wheat waving in the falling evening sun after a day of heavy downpours. School was never like this, but perhaps it should be? Then we’d all have a real appreciation for the quality of food on our plates, how it got there, and the champions and guardians of our countryside who deserve our respect and support. To learn more about Rushmere Farm, attend a tour, workshop, volunteer, or purchase their products please visit https://rushmerefarm.com/ Article by Stan Evans