The Duchy Home Farm is an organic farm operated by the Duchy of Cornwall. The farm is part of the gardens of Highgrove House, the country home of King Charles III. The produce is used as ingredients in Duchy Originals products, sold in vegetable boxes, and wholesaled to supermarkets and restaurants. King Charles is credited with using "pioneering agriculture techniques" to produce this organic food.
Located in Tetbury, the Home Farm sells fruit and vegetables grown at Highgrove House, King Charles's Gloucestershire home. The estate uses sustainable farming practices and is run by a farm manager, David Wilson, with a supporting staff. [1]
Charles converted the 900 acres (360 ha) Home Farm estate to organic farming in 1986. He was initially criticised for some of his methods with many British farmers disliking his choice to avoid modern techniques. Since that time a significant number of farms have subsequently switched to organic agriculture, and visit Duchy Home Farm to review methods there. In 2006, Patrick Holden, director of the Soil Association declared that "I don't think it can be overestimated" how much that was due to Charles's influence. [2]
The roof of the dairy was fitted with over 400 solar panels in 2011. They cover an area of around 691 m2 (7,440 sq ft) and are estimated to generate 86,000 kWh per annum. [3]
The farm epitomises His Majesty's belief of working with organic methods:
In farming, as in gardening, I happen to believe that if you treat the land with love and respect (in particular, respect for the idea that it has an almost living soul, bound up in the mysterious, everlasting cycles of nature) then it will repay you in kind.
— His Majesty King Charles III [2]
Ingredients grown at the Home Farm are used in Duchy Originals products. This ranges from milk and pork to barley and grain. [4] The farm supplies carrots and potatoes to restaurants, supermarkets, and local schools as a wholesaler. [5]
In 1998, they began operating a vegetable box scheme for homes within a 15-mile radius of Tetbury. By 2010 they were selling over 250 boxes every week with an 8 acres (3.2 ha) section of the farm dedicated to the scheme. The growing demand for the boxes and requests from customers to choose their own produce led to the creation of The Veg Shed. [1]
The Veg Shed operated every Wednesday in a converted barn. [1] It closed in May 2013 after eight years of trading because it was no longer making a profit; in 2014 the area given over for vegetable production was being grazed by rare breed pigs. [5] [6] The shop was known for its "evocative potting-shed smell" [1] and for selling unusually shaped vegetables that would normally be rejected for sale in supermarkets. [5] While most of the Veg Shed produce came from the Home Farm there were other items for sale from further away, including lemons and bananas. [1]
Organic farming, also known as ecological farming or biological farming, is an agricultural system that uses fertilizers of organic origin such as compost manure, green manure, and bone meal and places emphasis on techniques such as crop rotation and companion planting. It originated early in the 20th century in reaction to rapidly changing farming practices. Certified organic agriculture accounts for 70 million hectares globally, with over half of that total in Australia. Biological pest control, mixed cropping, and the fostering of insect predators are encouraged. Organic standards are designed to allow the use of naturally-occurring substances while prohibiting or strictly limiting synthetic substances. For instance, naturally-occurring pesticides such as pyrethrin are permitted, while synthetic fertilizers and pesticides are generally prohibited. Synthetic substances that are allowed include, for example, copper sulfate, elemental sulfur, and veterinary drugs. Genetically modified organisms, nanomaterials, human sewage sludge, plant growth regulators, hormones, and antibiotic use in livestock husbandry are prohibited. Organic farming advocates claim advantages in sustainability, openness, self-sufficiency, autonomy and independence, health, food security, and food safety.
Charles III is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms.
Poundbury is an experimental urban extension on the western outskirts of Dorchester in the county of Dorset, England. The development is led by the Duchy of Cornwall, and had the keen endorsement of King Charles III when he was Prince of Wales and Duke of Cornwall. Under the direction of its lead architect and planner Léon Krier, its design is based on traditional architecture and New Urbanist philosophy. The 2021 census showed a population of 4,100.
Highgrove House is the family residence of King Charles III and Queen Camilla. It lies southwest of Tetbury in Gloucestershire, England. Built in the late 18th century, Highgrove and its estate were owned by various families until it was purchased in 1980 by the Duchy of Cornwall from Maurice Macmillan. Charles III remodelled the Georgian house with neo-classical additions in 1987. The duchy manages the estate and the nearby Duchy Home Farm.
Waitrose Limited, trading as Waitrose & Partners, is a brand of British supermarkets, founded in 1904 as Waite, Rose & Taylor, later shortened to Waitrose. It was acquired in 1937 by employee-owned retailer John Lewis Partnership, which still sells groceries under the brand. Its head offices are located in Bracknell, Berkshire.
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The organic movement broadly refers to the organizations and individuals involved worldwide in the promotion of organic food and other organic products. It started during the first half of the 20th century, when modern large-scale agricultural practices began to appear.
The Duchy of Cornwall is one of two royal duchies in England, the other being the Duchy of Lancaster. The eldest son of the reigning British monarch obtains possession of the duchy and the title of Duke of Cornwall at birth or when his parent succeeds to the throne, but may not sell assets for personal benefit and has limited rights and income while a minor.
Tetbury is a town and civil parish inside the Cotswold district in Gloucestershire, England. It lies on the site of an ancient hill fort, on which an Anglo-Saxon monastery was founded, probably by Ine of Wessex, in 681. The population of the parish was 5,250 in the 2001 census, increasing to 5,472 at the 2011 census. The population further increased to 6,453 in the 2021 Census.
A market garden is the relatively small-scale production of fruits, vegetables and flowers as cash crops, frequently sold directly to consumers and restaurants. The diversity of crops grown on a small area of land, typically from under 0.40 hectares to some hectares, or sometimes in greenhouses, distinguishes it from other types of farming. A market garden is sometimes called a truck farm in the USA.
Riverford Organic Farmers Ltd is an organic farm and organic vegetable box delivery company founded by Guy Singh-Watson in Devon, England, but with sister farms in three locations around the country.
Birkhall is a 210 km2 estate on Royal Deeside, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, owned by King Charles III. It is located alongside the River Muick to the south-west of Ballater.
A vegetable box scheme is an operation that delivers fresh fruit and vegetables, often locally grown and organic, either directly to the customer or to a local collection point. Typically the produce is sold as an ongoing weekly subscription and the offering may vary week to week depending on what is in season.
The bibliography of Charles III, King of the United Kingdom and 14 other Commonwealth Realms, is a list of approximately three dozen works which the King has written, co-written, illustrated or narrated, and includes works for which he has written a foreword, introduction or preface.
Waitrose Duchy Organic is a brand of organic food sold in Waitrose stores in the United Kingdom. The brand is a partnership between Waitrose and Duchy Originals Limited, a company set up in 1990 by King Charles III when he was Prince of Wales and Duke of Cornwall. The Duchy Originals company is named after the Duchy of Cornwall estates that are held in trust by the Duke of Cornwall, who often holds the title Prince of Wales.
Llwynywermod, also known as Llwynywormwood, is an estate owned by the Duchy of Cornwall, just outside the Brecon Beacons National Park in Carmarthenshire, Wales. The 192-acre (0.78 km2) estate is near the village of Myddfai, Llandovery, Carmarthenshire.
Guy Singh-Watson is a British farmer and founder and creator of Riverford, an organic farm and UK-wide organic vegetable box delivery company.
Sonia Annabel Elliot is a British interior designer and antiques dealer. She is the mother of British Conservative politician Sir Ben Elliot, who served as the Co-Chairman of the Conservative Party, and sister of Queen Camilla.
Charles Dowding is an English horticulturalist and author who has pioneered modern no dig and organic soil management in the UK since 1983.