Small farms growing as interest in buying locally-produced veg jumps
Fruit and veg is back in vogue, thanks to families getting back to basics during lockdown.
Demand for fresh salad has rocketed during the pandemic, along with the challenge of growing your own. That is good news for smaller farms who have found themselves working hard to keep up deliveries.
Little Woodbatch Farm in Bishop’s Castle is among those that were able to step in early on in the pandemic when some fruit and veg shelves in supermarkets fell empty and fresh food markets closed.
Owner Daphne du Cros saw a doubling in orders for veg boxes and said the lockdown has forced people not to take their food for granted, giving them a new-found interest in fresh produce.
Daphne works on a patch of land that is less than an acre in size and says she concentrates on serving the local community.
“We have already surpassed what we did in an entire season last year," she said.
"This year we started with 30 orders and now we are at 40, and have already done over 300 boxes and it’s only June. We have had so many people contact us that it is difficult to keep up.”
