Somerset B&B farmhouse, England
How this holiday makes a difference
Environment
Home grown and home made is our mantra when it comes to the food we give to guests. We have a large fruit and vegetable garden and try to be as self sufficient as we can be. We make all our own preserves and compotes for breakfast from our own fruit.
We have planted hundreds of native trees both in our garden and on our land to encourage the birds into the garden. We tidy the garden in Spring, leaving the berries and seeds on the plants for the birds to eat. We leave wood piles around the garden for the use of hibernating small animals. There are a variety of nest boxes located around the farm. We have noticed a huge increase in the number of wildlife in the area due to both our efforts and that of the farm next door since it became organic some 6 years ago.
We have converted our stables to a very high environmental specification; the heating is efficient and the insulation conforms to the very latest building regulations. The building is built of Ham stone and is Grade 2 listed. The conversion is sympathetic to the surroundings and wood has been reused or repaired as much as possible to conserve as much of the character of the old building as possible. Any extra wood that was needed in the conversion was sourced locally from a tree surgeon operating around Crewkerne.
We have a wood burner in our dining room which nearly heats the whole house in Winter. It is usually lit for breakfast (in winter). The wood for the log burner is collected from our own hedges, garden and woods.
The Plant Nursery has been peat free for over 10 years, we supply garden plants and herbs for people to buy and grow in their own gardens. We use toiletries from Gilchrist and Soames BeeKind collection which contain no parabens, phthalates, petrol-derived ingredients, mineral oil, urea, DEA, TEA or propylene glycol. They do contain food-grade, naturally derived glycerin; natural conditioning agents from honey and the Brassica plant; and soybean and cottonseed oil, instead of petrochemicals. The BeeKind™ formulations are also free of any artificial colours or dyes and supports honey bee and sustainable pollination research by donating a portion of the proceeds from the sales to the University's Honey Bee Research Program.
Community
For the food that we cannot produce ourselves we support local independant retailers and farmshops. We recommend restaurants and cafes that are within a 10 mile radius of our property and that we know well. We recommend family owned attractions and trips out in the local area, such as Forde Abbey, East Lambrook Manor, Perry's Cider and pottery at Dowlish Wake, walking the Parrett trail and encourage the use of the cycling routes around South Somerset.
We encourage visits to local artists and potters and we support Somerset Arts week which occurs annually in October. We attend the South Somerset Council's leaflet distribution event to keep us up to date with what's going on locally. We support the Save Crewkerne's Recycling Facility, much loved and supported by the people of Crewkerne but under threat of closure through the Council's cut backs.
We host an annual Plant Hunter's Fair which is organised by the Somerset group of Plant Heritage, a charity responsible for saving our garden plant heritage by way of National Collections. We support the local schools by attending their fund raising events and being involved with the Parents and Friends Association. We have places for children during work experience weeks.
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