Beeny
Our home at Middle Beeny Farms sits in fifteen south-facing acres within a sea breeze distance of the wild Cornish North Coast. Since we arrived here a few years ago, our hedges have grown taller, our grass has grown longer, wildflowers and trees have become established. Kestrels, buzzards and barn owls hover, soar and swoop across our wilder fields, hunting for the small mammals and invertebrates that live in the species-rich sward. Peregrine falcons are frequent visitors, scanning the skies for the fat pigeons that roost in our trees.
We have built and planted our own gardens between the hedges of the windswept slopes around the house, testing and retesting a huge range of plants, and being constantly surprised at what unlikely species find our conditions to their liking.
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Working with nature means avoiding single-use plastics and unrenewable peat, reducing unnecessary transport and avoiding importing pests and diseases along with the foreign plants they travel with. Plants are chosen for their adaptability to a range of conditions - our climate is becoming more and more unpredictable, and qualities of both drought resistance and an ability to withstand cold and damp are all important. There is absolutely no place here for pesticides, herbicides, fungicides or artificial fertilisers.
One of our first jobs was to establish a productive fruit and vegetable garden. Despite our battles against sea gales and bountiful weeds, we are now reaping the benefits, feasting on our own delicious crops. Nearly every meal contains fresh or preserved produce grown here at Beeny.
Many of our plants are propagated here at Beeny, and I am now beginning to build up a small nursery to supply plants for commissioned projects as well as our own garden, re-using existing plastic plant pots many times over, garnering more where needed from friends and family. Hardy cuttings and bare-rooted trees are grown directly in the ground, to reduce reliance on plastic pots and compost. To avoid both environmentally damaging peat compost and the non-renewable packaging that contains it, I mix vast quantities of my own own planting medium from trailer loads of composted plant waste, vermiculite, and loam. Hard work, but fundamental to my core principle of Working with Nature.
