Sunday Express, Food Miles

OTTER FARM
Mark Diacono, 41 and Candida Diacono 37 live at Otter Farm in Devon with their daughter Nell, one. They’re growing a variety of foodstuffs more commonly flown in from overseas, and have planted Britain’s first commercial olive grove.
Mark and Candida Diacono discovered Otter Farm near Honiton in Devon on the way back from their honeymoon. ‘We were told about this place and called in to view it on the way back home,’ says Candida. ‘It’s 17 acres and we were just about able to scrape together the money so we took the plunge and bought it.’
Initially however, they weren’t sure what to grow there. But like Archimedes, Mark had a blinding flash of inspiration in the bath. ‘I made a mental list of the food I liked and knocked off the boring stuff like potatoes and carrots that other people do perfectly well already. That left a list of old-fashioned fruits like quince and mulberries, which I feel deserve to be re-discovered, together with food which I felt would grow better as a result of global warming such as apricots, almonds and olives.’ In addition to running the farm Mark works as an environmental consultant and feels strongly that global warming is a reality and that farming needs to adapt to meet the challenge. ‘Current research indicates that in the UK it’s going to lead to warmer, wetter winters, longer growing seasons and milder nights. We’ll also get less predictable rain – with long periods of rainfall alternating with dry periods rather than it being more evenly spaced out. It’ll become increasingly important for farms to diversify and grow a number of different crops because each year some will survive and others won’t. At Otter Farm we’re committed to growing about 30 crops in any given year.’
Candida, Mark and their one year old daughter Nell show me round. Nell insists she wants to ‘jump in muddy puddles’ – one of her favourite games - and because Devon has been getting Mark’s predicted downfalls of rain recently there are plenty for her to choose from. ‘It’s a great place to bring Nell up,’ says Candida. ‘She’s got more space to play and it’s a more natural, outdoor environment.’ However, the Diacomos are relatively new to rural life. ‘Four years ago we were living in Kent, I was working as a landscape planner for local authorities and Candida was an office administrator,’ explains Mark. ‘We wanted to try something different and after watching too many episodes of River Cottage on the TV and a couple of glasses of wine too many in the evening we decided to give smallholding a go.’ Mark had no experience of farming whatsoever at that point and had never even managed to keep a pot plant alive, whereas Candida had enjoyed gardening as a child. Their first venture was a 2 acre smallholding in mid-Devon where they stayed for a couple of years, learning the basics from a combination of books, internet advice and trial and error before upgrading to Otter farm.
But they’ve clearly learnt quickly as today the place looks thriving. We walk past beds planted with peaches, pecans, apricots and a polytunnel containing kiwifruit. Then Mark shows me the 120 trees which makes up Britain’s first commercial olive grove. ‘I thought he was bonkers when he first suggested it,’ says Candida. ‘But actually it’s turned out really well in that it’s got us a lot of media attention and opened up the discussion about climate change.’
‘We’ve become known as Britain’s first Climate Change farm,’ explains Mark. ‘The idea behind it is to sustainably exploit global warming by growing overseas crops while ‘paying it back’ by making otherwise overseas produce available here with low ‘food miles’.
Currently they’re selling their produce at the local Farmers’ markets in Exeter and Awliscombe near Honiton and are finding the local community very supportive ‘We thought we might get a bit of sniggering, but it hasn’t happened,’ says Mark. And in the long term, we’ve got a number of shops and restaurants who’ve expressed enthusiasm for everything we can produce.’
However, it’s not all a carefree rural idyll. ‘It’s nail-biting financially,’ says Candida. ‘And the work is endless. We don’t stop from the moment we get up until we collapse into bed. But it’s also tremendously rewarding.’
If you’d like to take advantage of climate change and experiment with growing overseas produce yourself Mark suggests checking out www.agroforestry.co.uk where you can order plants including apricots, lemons and olive trees suitable for the British climate. And maybe in a few years you could have an olive grove of your very own!
www.otterfarm.co.uk


HIGH WEALD DAIRY
Mark Hardy, 45 and Sarah Hardy, 42 run High Weald Dairy in Sussex which produces a variety of cheeses including ones more usually flown in from Greece such as Feta and Halloumi
The Feta cheese which Sarah Hardy gives me to sample is miles away in quality and flavour from the bland packaged versions I usually throw into my supermarket trolley. It’s got a sharp, fresh character, reminiscent of the type you’d enjoy in a salad on a sun-kissed holiday in Greece. Except that it’s been made down here in Sussex, a ten-minute drive from Haywards Heath.
Mark Hardy went to Cirencester Agricultural College and then came back to help on the farm his parents owned in the Ashdown forest. He’d become interested in milking sheep whilst studying and encouraged them to acquire a flock of Friesland ewes, initially making yoghurt and soft cheese from the milk. ‘But we had a friend who was Greek-Cypriot and that gave me the idea of making Feta and Halloumi cheese to sell to that community in London. It went well, and so we branched out into selling it in health shops and delicatessens.’
Four years ago Mark and Sarah moved to Tremains Farm, and currently it is run as an organic dairy farm with 250 cows producing milk that’s converted into cheese in the on-site dairy. The organic sheep’s milk for the Feta and Halloumi is currently brought in from neighbourhood farms, though the Hardys do keep a small flock which they hope to start milking again next year. I’m taken to visit them and they’re much bigger than any I’ve come across before. They’re also much friendlier, coming up and nudging us – presumably because as milking sheep they’re more familiar with being handled than ones bred for meat and wool. ‘Friesland sheep are excellent for milking because they’re docile, produce lots of milk and lambs and take to the milking process very easily,’ Mark explains. ‘They’re happy to come in for milking at 7am and 4pm and usually we play them Radio 2.’
Back at the dairy, Sarah introduces me to two of the cheesemakers, Colin and Michael. ‘At the moment we’re producing about half a ton in total of our Feta and Halloumi cheeses, each week,’ she explains. ‘Our cheesemakers have been with us for years and make it traditionally and that creates a really unique product. We notice the character of the cheese changes slightly throughout the year, depending on the milk that the ewes are producing – and it even changes depending on which of our cheesemakers made it. One of the advantages of making and selling the cheese locally is that we don’t have to add as much salt to preserve it so the true flavour can come through. And of course it reduces ‘food miles’ to have it made in the UK rather than in Greece.’
The Feta and Halloumi is now sold through local shops and at farmers’ markets such as Lewes, Guildford and Tunbridge Wells. ‘We offer samples to shoppers,’ says Sarah. ‘Most people have already tried Feta. Halloumi isn’t as well known, but it’s really delicious. It can be grilled or dry-fried and has a texture similar to a grilled marshmallow with a crusty outside, soft centre and a taste similar to that of bacon. We describe it as the vegetarian alternative to the rasher, and lightly dry fry it to a golden brown and give it to people to try. Most of them love it and getting those instant positive reactions is very rewarding.’
‘I think that people are becoming increasingly aware of the power of the consumer,’ says Mark. ‘By supporting farms with a commitment to animal welfare and growing organic they can help bring in better practices. And by going for local rather than overseas producers when possible there’s the chance to reduce the pollution caused by transporting food as well.’
www.highwealddairy.co.uk

TREES CAN’T DANCE
Dan May, 38 is an ex landscape photographer now running a chilli farm near Haltwhistle in Northumberland.
dan@treescantdance.co.uk
Looking over towards Cold Fell, on the edge of the North Pennines the sky is overcast and I can see sheep grazing in a light drizzle. It’s a rather unlikely setting for a chilli farm.
‘I believe this is the most Northerly chilli farm in existence,’ says Dan May who set it up in 2005. Dan was prompted to set up the farm by his own love of chillis. ‘I used to work as a landscape photographer and travelled all over the world,’ he explains. ‘When I came back to the UK I found I wasn’t able to recreate many of the dishes I loved because the chillis available here weren’t hot enough or weren’t of the right variety. Initially I grew a few as a hobby. Then I realised that there must be other people out there who felt the same as me and saw it had the potential to develop into a business. After all, people are more well-travelled these days and many have been to places such as India and Mexico and come to enjoy the food there. Chillis are now the fastest-growing area of foreign food. It’s taking off in the way that garlic and olive oil took off in the 1970s and 1980s when people came back from holidaying in Italy and Spain. At the same time, people are interested in reducing their carbon footprint wherever possible so being able to buy overseas food such as chillis grown locally is a bonus.’ Dan now grows 60 varieties differing in taste, spiciness, colour and size and offers ones much hotter than those currently available. ‘The heat rating for chillis is measured in Scovilles,’ explains Dan. The average supermarket chilli is between 600-1000 Scovilles – we do ones which are up to 300,000 – 400,000 Scovilles.’
The farm is based on 2 acres of a former agricultural machinery yard. Dan shows me the three polytunnels, where the chillis are thriving. ‘It’s quite a challenging location in many ways as chillis don’t like cold or damp and in Northumbria we get a lot of both,’ says Dan. ‘But we work hard to keep the soil warm and well-drained and so far they’ve done well. It’s not all plain sailing though. In January of this year we were away promoting the products at a trade show. There was a gale with winds of about 100 miles an hour and the covering of one of the polytunnels split in the middle and then ripped in two. Fortunately it didn’t have any chillis in at the time as we were cleaning it out to fertilise the soil. But it does make you very aware of how vulnerable we are to unpredictable weather.’
Then Dan shows me the kitchens where the chillis are converted into various sauces and spice blends and marketed under the brand Trees Can’t Dance. About 2,000 bottles a week are produced which include Sweet Chilli Sauce, African Hot Sauce, Traditional Texas Chilli Powder and Cajun Rub. In the last 14 months Dan has been joined in the business by Becky MacKenzie and Neil Thomas and they get involved in every aspect of the business together, from caring for the chillis to cooking, bottling, and marketing the final product.
The response from the public has been very positive. ‘We’ve never had to pay for advertising, as the press coverage has generated so much interest from customers,’ says Dan. ‘Our products are now on sale in major food outlets such as Fenwicks and Fortnum and Masons, in a wide range of independent delicatessens, at farmers’ markets and via our website at www.treescantdance.co.uk
But this success has come at a price. ‘It’s really, really hard work,’ says Dan. ‘I started growing on a commercial level just over two years ago and have probably had less than 10 days off since. I work from 8 in the morning till 10 at night 7 days a week. It feels like hard slog, and I tend to get very caught up in handling day-to-day problems. But every so often I’ll stand back and realise how far we’ve come in a short time. This time last year we only had 3 or 4 outlets and now we’ve got dozens all over the country.’
Trees can’t Dance has a commitment to being as eco-friendly as possible throughout the business. They don’t use any pesticides or artificial fertilisers. The sauces are sold in glass bottles as they’re the best for recycling, and they are planning to introduce a wind turbine to provide electricity for heating and ventilating the polytunnels. ‘We also want to develop the site and make links with the local community,’ says Dan. ‘We’re hoping to have chilli evenings where people can sample different chilli dishes and have educational visits from schools looking at issues such as eco-friendly farming and air miles.’
If you’d like to buy any Trees Can’t Dance sauces or to grow chillis yourself, seeds of varieties suitable for growing in the UK will be available on the www.treescantdance.co.uk website from October.