Eastbrook Farm

Home of Helen Browning’s Organics

We work our beautiful farm for the benefit of our animals and for wildlife, improving the landscape and soil, and creating interesting, fun and satisfying jobs at the same time. We stay true to our pioneering spirit. Creating space on the farm where great ideas can grow. And we produce organic food from all this.

Visit the farm remotely

Walk with Helen around Eastbrook Farm, meeting the cows and pigs and enjoying the delightful sounds and scenery during a sunny, spring day on the Ridgeway.

Filmed during lockdown these snippets of life on the farm also feature the changes made by Helen Browning’s Organics in supporting our local community and the NHS, and Helen’s vision of the future for a better, sustainable land use.

The Farm

Our family has farmed at Eastbrook since 1950, courtesy of our landlords, the Church of England. When Dad gave me the opportunity to take over in 1986 I decided to experiment with organic farming – to see if we could grow good quality crops and animals, while making more space for nature too. We’ve never looked back.

Our livestock

There’s a huge amount going on here. It’s a mixed farm but becoming predominantly dairy as the next generation (my daughter Sophie and her husband, Dai) are taking over the reins. We have two dairy herds, lots of young calves and heifers, some pigs, 150 acres of cereals, vegetables and salads on a small scale.

The team

At a time when many farms get by with very few people, I’m proud of the fact that we can employ 12 on the farm, and many more in the rest of our ventures. It’s a busy place, sometimes rather chaotically so, and takes a lot of organising, but the place is alive, and none of what we do would be possible without such a great team.

Agroforestry

Cherries, damsons, quince, pears, apricots, almonds, mixed berries and more. My latest folly is the planting of thousands of trees at Lower Farm. I’ve long been fascinated by some of the permaculture ideas, and how we can integrate productive trees into our farmland to improve overall productivity while enhancing wildlife, and protecting soils.

Activities on the farm

This is your place to enjoy. With the ancient trail of the Ridgeway dissecting the farm, and lots of footpaths too, it’s a great place to walk, ride and cycle across wonderful countryside, with heaps of wild flora and fauna, and all our fabulous livestock to admire too.

Wildlife

We are able to support a huge range of wildlife on the farm – from invertebrates to mammals and birds. The deer are a glorious sight especially on a frosty bright winter morning. There are foxes, badgers, hares fighting, like hares do. Buzzards, hawks and owls are simply thrilling. Songbirds multiply noisily, and when they get too popular, the kestrels sort them out.

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