Open Farm Sunday at West Bradley Orchards

David Cotton, left, and Neil Macdonald, with two of David's calves

Orchard Groundforce and Bridge Farm, neighbours in West Bradley, Somerset, are joining forces for this year’s Open Farm Sunday.

Open Farm Sunday, a free event, is to be held on June 12 this year. It is an opportunity to visit local farms and find out what happens on them. This will be the sixth Open Farm Sunday and over 450 farms across the country are expected to open to the public. 

Neil Macdonald, from Orchard Groundforce, said 

“We have 58 acres of apples, pears and walnuts here at West Bradley.  We will be running tours around the orchards and answering questions about everything we do here.” 

“The Orchard Pig Gloucester Old Spot piglets will also be here to welcome visitors, and there will be food for the hungry and drinks for the thirsty.”

Bridge Farm, adjacent to West Bradley Orchards, is a dairy farm run by David Cotton, chairman of the Royal Association of British Dairy Farmers.

“We’re a family farm. I’m the fourth generation and we farm 600 acres with 160 milking cows, over 300 young stock around the farm and lots of calves.”

“Many people see farmers working, but they don’t have an opportunity to get beyond the farm gates to see what happens, so this is a chance for people to find out what farmers do on a daily basis.  They can ask questions and see behind the scenes.”

“All our milk is sold through the Co-op Milk Link.  It goes down to Wiseman’s at Bridgewater and is sold through the supermarkets, so if people are buying locally produced West Country milk there’s a chance that it comes from us.”

“On Open Farm Sunday there will be calves for people to see, and beef animals that we are rearing for the food chain, plus some of our machinery for people interested in equipment.”

“We also have some lovely footpaths that go right through the middle of the farm.  We grow wheat here as well and there’s an opportunity to take a circular walk that brings you back to West Bradley.”

Visitors should come to West Bradley Orchards, BA6 8LT, where there will be free parking.  Both farms will be open 10.00 - 4.00.

West Bradley is between Glastonbury and Shepton Mallet, 2 miles off the A361/A37

Open Farm Sunday workshop at West Bradley Orchards

On March 16 Orchard Ground Force hosted a local workshop for prospective participants in this year’s Open Farm Sunday.

In 2011 the event will take place on Sunday June 12.  Having participated in it ourselves we are keen supporters - the day is attended nationally by even more people than go to the Glastonbury Festival - and that means something round here!

Organised by LEAF (Linking Environment And Farming) the event has some heavyweight sponsors from industry and a huge amount of support and resource is available to anyone interested in taking part.

Here at Orchard Ground Force we feel really strongly about the importance of the on-farm learning experience.  Making the connection between people and their environment, between the public and the food they eat, has never been more important.

The workshop at West Bradley was given by our regional representative Jeremy Padfield and Annabel Shackelton from LEAF Head Office.  They brought with them samples of the posters, signage, leaflets, hosting and publicity information available from LEAF and discussed on-the-day activities, publicity opportunities and Health & Safety issues with an eager group.

We’ll be putting on our own event for Open Farm Sunday - more news about it in the next newsletter - and we invite you all to West Bradley Orchards on 12 June.  Please come and meet us!

For more about Open Farm Sunday do visit the website HERE and think about registering for the event.

Open Farm Sunday

It was a lovely day for our Open Farm Sunday event and the people who came enjoyed tractor and trailer rides around the orchard and tours of the bottling plant.

Our elderflower pickers had been out since early morning picking the flowers that go into our special Apple Juice infused with Elderflowers.  We put the blossoms into net bags and sink them into our thousand litre vats of apple juice to infuse overnight.

One enthusiastic helper was Fergus Macdonald, age six, seen here helping to put the elderflowers into the big vats.

The fresh aromatic juice is a bestseller for our sister company The Orchard Pig and is a huge success with adults and children alike.

Open Farm Sunday 13 June

Come and meet us!
We are going to be opening the orchards as part of Open Farm Sunday on 13 June 2010.
Open Farm Sunday is an annual event that gives everyone the opportunity to meet the people who grow their food and care for the countryside. Organised by LEAF (Linking Environment And Farming), it takes place across the country on one Sunday in June.
Come and tour our orchards, find out about how we grow our fruit and how we make it into award winning apple juice and cider.
We'll be open from 10.00 - 4.00 and we very much look forward to meeting you!