TRADITIONAL FARMING
Boscarne is a traditional mixed west Cornwall farm, the rotation of crops and cattle together with the mild climate we believe makes for a sustainable way of farming, which we feel suits us, the farm and the environment.
The 230 head of Channel Island cows are supported by the young followers that will hopefully in time replace the older cows together with around 100 beef cattle. The cropping consists of spring cabbage, spring cereal and forage crops to feed the cattle for the winter. This combination of rotational cropping and cattle seems to work well on our light free draining soils.
Click below to watch our process.
FARMING BY THE MOON
My interest in the moon was born from going to a talk by Mr John Harris who spoke about gardening by the moon. I became very interested in the subject, deciding to apply for a scholarship to study the subject. My application and interview was successful sending me all over the world to look at this style of farming. Click here to see my paper.
On return from my studies I decided to try some of the theories on our conventional farm, planting our crops by the phases of the moon, applying manures and fertilisers at certain stages of the moons cycles and studying the phase of the moon when we are breeding the cows. It is for each individual to decide for themselves whether they believe in the influences of the moon but I strongly believe that the moon does influence our lives, the productivity of our crops and the behaviour of our cows. Studying the phases of the moon is not new and in fact now looking back at spending time with my grandparents, they would often refer to the moon and its phases particularly when talking about the weather.