Ten members of The Club set off on Tuesday 14th June to begin their tour of farming enterprises in Kent, and as usual with these things a broken down lorry on the Queen Elizabeth Bridge thwarted our attempts to arrive at Plumford Farm, Ospringe Near Faversham on time. However when we did eventually all arrive on a very hot June day our enthusiastic host, Chris Elsworthy showed us around his Orchards and Vineyards. Chris explained how he was concentrating on growing some niche varieties of apples in an attempt to attract a premium on the price.
Following a lovely Lunch in the local Alma Inn the group headed south to Brook Farms Ltd. Here Antony Redsell explained about his investment in a hop picking machine bought in from Europe recently and described the process of growing and harvesting Hops. Many of his young stock of Hops had in fact come from Steve Wright’s farm at Great Blakenham near Ipswich.
The day concluded with a lovely meal in the Italian Posillipo Restaurant by the waterside in Faversham.
Day two was scheduled to be a busy day with three visits planned, the first being to the Belmont House Estate where farm manager Ben Binder demonstrated his technique for tackling invasive grass weeds in cereal crops. This was followed by a guided tour of Belmont House, home of the Harris Family. The 6th Earl having no heirs set up the Harris (Belmont) Charity and that is how the Estate is cared for to this day. The house is to be featured in an edition of the Antiques Roadshow to be screened in the spring of 2023. It houses one of the largest private collection of clocks in Britain.
Following lunch in the Orangery at Belmont we travelled West to Langley near Maidstone for a visit to Charltons Farm. Here host James Weeks showed us around a very large strawberry growing enterprise and apple orchard. The strawberries were very tasty and in full production at this time.As with many farms on our tour getting labour was a challenge and becoming increasingly difficult.
For our final visit of the day we travelled to a much smaller enterprise. Biddenden Vineyard here the Barnes family had resisted the temptation to expand their range to suit the multiples trade. They had chosen to concentrate on what they were doing and doing it well. They had opened their vineyard as a small tourist attraction and concentrated on selling their wines to the retail trade. We were treated to a tour of the Vineyard followed by a wine tasting accompanied by local cheeses and charcuterie.
On return to Faversham our group dined in the Sun Hotel.
The final day of the tour dawned bright and sunny again as we headed north to visit an interesting Livestock enterprise based at Chiddingstone. Martin Salmons was our host at Vexour Farm. Owned by a Dutch family the farm concentrated on producing pedigree Bulls for sale to beef producers throughout the country. The group toured the pasture-land where Martin showed us with deserved pride Herds of Hereford, Charolais and Aberden Angus cattle and a flock of Charolais sheep., all looking in very good condition and very contented in the shade of some large oak trees in the valley pasture. Martin explained his philosophy on how to produce a perfect structured animal with a lovely docile temperament.
Following lunch at The Little Brown Jug the group departed for Suffolk much more enlightened and knowledgeable about some crops and enterprises which are not commonly seen in Suffolk.