Our Farm

Our story as farmers in this part of the world goes back over five generations. Hartley Farm was bought by Richard Bowles in the 1970s as a cereal and livestock farm, after growing up and learning the ropes on the family farm next door. In 2007, Richard’s son Tom, who is in the fifth generation of family farmers, finished his studies and returned to the farm. Due to market conditions, we decided to diversify to keep the farm sustainable and provide a footprint for generations to come. The farm shop and kitchen was opened a year later in August 2008 as the latest chapter in the history of our family farm.

We now farm a one hundred and fifty acre pasture-based farm in Winsley that supplies our farm shop. A single suckler herd of native breed cattle, such as Hereford and Angus, graze the permanent pasture around the farm. By grazing varied grass leys rich with wild herbs, native grasses and legumes, our cattle are largely left to their own devices leading a stress free life. The aim is to keep our cows where they are happiest, out on grass, for as long as possible. Much of our herd stay outside all year long where their diet is only subsidised by our own hay and silage when the colder months set in and the grass stops growing. It is this method of farming that echoes the practices of our ancestors, mastered over hundreds of years before the advent of the industrial and chemical revolution of farming in the nineteenth century.

In 2010 we also welcomed Kate Collyns, our market gardener, to the farm. Kate produces fruit, vegetables and plants throughout the seasons from a 5 acre plot here at the farm. Kate supplies our farm shop through the year as well as the wholesale trade. Her business, Grown Green, is part of the community here at Hartley Farm and adds to our range of top quality, home produced food produced here on our farm