A new “first” for us……. sheep have arrived at Swangleys !
The sheep – 500 so far – are the key part of our latest environmental initiative. We harvested our wheat this summer and we need the soil’s fertility improving for the summer 2026 harvest. For many decades, we and most other farms have relied on artificial fertilisers, but last year we successfully trialled the use of compost made from garden waste as an organic and low carbon alternative. This winter – on some of our fields that need it most – we are going to trial sheep droppings.
Immediately after summer 2025’s harvest, we planted “stubble turnips” – quite different from the turnips you find in the shops. The turnips usefully gather up nutrients and so stop the winter weather leaching them out of the soil, plus their roots also help to break up soil structure to improve drainage. Most importantly for us, sheep love them. The sheep will now be rotation grazed around the fields of the Watton Road/Old Lane part of the farm and will leave behind droppings which are rich in the nutrients that the soil needs. We will then plough the droppings in and plant cereal crops in the spring …………which will benefit from that natural fertiliser.
The sheep are not ours – instead the arrangement is a simple exchange with their owner : our turnips for their sheep’s droppings. Right now (early December), all the sheep are in the triangular field opposite the crematorium, but local residents will see them move from field to field over the next few months.