DEC. 12
WARREN FARM, DYMCHURCH, KENT
Genuinely free-range, genuinely concerned about animal welfare, genuine Romney Marsh atmosphere of re-used railway carriages at the end of the world. ("Genuine" is rapidly becoming my favourite adjective!)

Pedigree Hereford cattle suckling their calves on the marsh, Romney Marsh sheep reared naturally, families of Gloucester Old Spot, Saddleback and Tamworth pigs rootling, poultry scratching about, ducks swimming and grazing, Bronze turkeys in full feather. Also a local abattoir and their own butchering. They deserve to succeed at the farmers' markets of London and they do. They also sell all their meat from the farm plus their own free range eggs - XL, which means they don't fit in the egg box.

WINDMILL ORCHARD FARM SHOP, WINCHELSEA, E. SUSSEX
Nice roadside (A259) shop with orchards and windmill, selling:
Own apples and pears, local vegetables and meat,
Apple Juice (very good) from DUSKIN FARM, KINGSTON, CANTERBURY
Spices from RYE SPICE Co.
Ice cream from WILLETS FARM, BLACKHAM, TUNBRIDGE WELLS
Yoghurt from NORTHIAM DAIRY, NORTHIAM, E. SUSSEX
Milk and cream from FRAYSLAND DAIRY, HASTINGS, E. SUSSEX

HURSTMONCEUX in E. SUSSEX has two rivals making and selling truggs.
Woodland skills are relevant to this journey, though not everyone would think of them as farm produce. They are part of a sustainable way of using the land and particularly part of the heritage of Sussex, still very much alive.
ROYAL SUSSEX TRUGGS, HURSTMONCEUX
THE TRUGGERY, HURSTMONCEUX

DEC. 15
WINCHESTER FARMERS' MARKET, HANTS
It was cold. It was wet. It was crowded. People were singing carols in the street.
In spite of all that, Winchester is the best market I've been to so far in terms of numbers, range and genuineness of farmers. A street and a square full of local produce, often so eagerly sought that it was impossible to see the names on the stalls. Those I got close to included:

DAIRYBARN RARE BREEDS, STOCKBRIDGE, HANTS with free range meat, "sensitively reared and humanely slaughtered". www.dairybarn.co.uk
PROSPEROUS HOME FARM, HUNGERFORD, BERKS, with Guernsey milk (sold out just as I reached for it), cream, and excellent yoghurt. Good photos of their cows too.
ROSARY GOATS CHEESE, ANDFORD, SALISBURY, WILTS. Some lovely flavoured soft cheeses.
SUNNEYFIELDS ORGANIC VEG www.sunneyfields.co.uk

GREENFIELD HOG ROAST, STOCKBRIDGE, HANTS. Free-range pork both raw and cooked. A hog roast livens up any market, as well as being, I am told, the best way of making money out of meat.
ROSELEA APIARIES, ROMSEY, HANTS. www.the-honey-farm.co.uk
HILL FARM APPLE JUICE, SWANMORE, HANTS
NOAH'S ARK FARM, NEW MILTON, HANTS. Free range chickens and eggs.

BREAMORE BANGERS from the New Forest
ASHMORE FARMHOUSE CHEESE, SALISBURY, WILTS
HIGHCLOSE FARM, HUNGERFORD, BERKS www.thefarmshop.co.uk. Veg.
STARK HOUSE FARM, HEADLEY, BERKS free range Hereford beef and Saddleback pork.
MILL FARM ORGANIC, ISINGTON, ALTON, HANTS. www.millfarmorganic.co.uk
Pedigree South Devons. "Animal welfare is our top priority." Very good leaflet inviting the public to go and see their farm, which I will do.
LYBURN FARMHOUSE CHEESE, HAMPTWORTH, NEW FOREST.
www.lyburncheese.co.uk

ASHFORD TROUT FARM, FORDINGBRIDGE, HANTS, with their own fish cakes and fish quiches.
CLOVER BEEF AND LAMB from GRANGE FARM, EMPSHOTT, HANTS.
ISLE OF WIGHT BACON CO. Outdoor pigs
Isle of Wight farmhouse butter from REW VALLEY DAIRIES, HALE COMMON
FONTHILL WINES, TEFFONT, WILTS
CRANBORNE FARMS Pigs in the woods, and pictures of them.
and my favourite egg place in the whole of England:
KINGS SOMBOURNE FREE RANGE EGGS. HANTS. You leave the money in the front garden. I've been going there for years. The hens go down to drink from the river.

DEC. 18
SHEEPDROVE ORGANIC FARM, LAMBOURNE, BERKS
www.sheepdrove.com
Jason Ball, their Bio-diversity Officer, took a whole afternoon to show me round. It takes that long, and even then, I didn't see the pigs. It is very efficient, very well-managed, very good on public relations, with good ideas worked out with enthusiasm, and dauntingly successful. Peter Kindersley just can't help making anything he touches into a commercial success.

All this brilliance was soured for me by finding two chickens who had escaped the day's slaughter. We put them in a box (unfed and it was freezing) and I worried about them. Of course this can happen, and must often happen in any big operation. (They slaughter 2,000 a day). What really worried me was that no one seemed to care. I then saw the other stages in the chickens' lives. They arrive as day olds, in batches of 1,000. They have animal behaviourists studying them and working to improve their lot. These improvements include perches just off the ground, conservatories so that they can see the outer world in a controlled temperature, and birdsong and farmyard noises played to them, so that when they go out, the world is no shock to them. The animal behaviourists (from Elm Farm Research) just need to spend more time on the end of their short lives. "They're going to die anyway so it doesn't matter" is an industrial attitude, which I hope Sheepdrove will leave behind.

The cattle (Aberdeen Angus X S.Devon) seemed content, in with their calves. They were housed and eating Sheepdrove hay, but they are out all summer.

The Shetland X Cheviot sheep also were well cared-for, some grazing on chickory to enhance their diet. They lamb in February (indoors) and May (outdoors). I hope the Kindersley zeal may find some use for the wool and skins, but that is for the future.

The compost is impressive. They take in supermarket green waste and coffee grounds, garden waste from the local council, horse bedding from local stables and compost the lot with their own manure. It all goes onto their fields, which are still recovering from the onslaught of chemicals before the Kindersleys' time.

The rotation of cereals and herbal leys is carefully worked out to provide a complete diet for grazing stock.

Wildlife is encouraged right through the farm, with beetle banks, plantations, and bio-diversity corridors. Wild flowers, insects, birds, and small mammals are returning.

They also recycle their own waste water with a reed bed, feeding wildlife pools and a lake. This will cope with water from the conference centre, which is being built. When it is finished, they will be in a position to have school visits and tell the general public about organic farming. It will house a restaurant, and of course, barn owls, which are catered for all over the farm. www.bocn.org

Sheepdrove now has its own butchers shop in Lower Redland Road, Bristol. They also sell at farmers markets and direct to the public.

If the planet survives, Sheepdrove is working out a viable future for farming. I'm in no doubt about that. I just hope that as they succeed, they will be aware of the dangers of being big and powerful.

I learned later that the two escaped chickens had been taken home by one of the workers, fed and kept safe. This encourages me to hope.

The Kindersleys say in their alpha plus literature: "Nothing gives us so much pleasure as to look out across the countryside we own and know that all the animals and plants, whether wild or domesticated, are SAFE here."

May that always be so.

DEC. 20
OXENFORD FARM, ELSTED, SURREY
Mixed farm among splendid monastic remains. It has become a Christmas Tree Farm. This trade, which is extremely popular and efficient, keeps the farm going for the rest of the year. Free range hens and animals in the buildings give the place a lived-in feel, but the serious business is growing Christmas trees. At the moment, they are being sold from a huge monastic barn

DEC. 24
THE ENCHANTED FOREST, DUNSFOLD, SUSSEX.
A very enchanted place, where you drop through the overspill veneer of Surrey, into the essential weald: forest and heavy horses (one of whom is being trained to extract the timber in forestry operations), geese, dogs, and Cat Beaumont, who made me a willow laundry basket to fit an awkward shape. Her baskets are lovely as well as practical. At the moment she gets her willow from Somerset, but she's working on a local supply.

A very happy New Year to all my readers.

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