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BBC Radio 4 is a radio channel that started transmitting on the 30th September 1967. It replaced BBC Home Service.

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On Your Farm

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Getting to the heart of country life with a look at individual farming endeavours

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On Your Farm: A Fragrant Farm

A Fragrant Farm

BBC Radio 4 - On Your Farm, A Fragrant Farm

Ruth Sanderson meets growers in Dorset who make perfume from aromatic plants and flowers.

Ruth Sanderson meets experimental growers at Keyneston Mill who make perfume from Dorset-grown aromatic plants and flowers.

Ruth Sanderson meets Julia and David Bridger at Keyneston Mill in Dorset who make perfume with home-grown plants and flowers. The Bridgers were inspired to start a British perfume brand after visiting Grasse in France. They’ve turned Keyneston Mill, a 50-acre estate on the River Stour in Dorset, into the country’s largest botanical garden dedicated to aromatic and scented plants. 
 
All the key ingredients of the perfumes are grown and distilled on-site to make the essential oils. The oils are then sent to a perfumer in France who helps the Bridgers make a range of fragrances. They experiment with plants not immediately associated with perfumery like yarrow and hyssop, and through trial and error they’ve also learnt to grow foreign ones, like vetiver, a native Indian grass. We hear about how the Bridgers started a perfume business from scratch and developed their unique signature scents from their Dorset-grown crops.

Producer: Sophie Anton

Intelligent speech, the most insightful journalism, the wittiest comedy, the most fascinating features and the most compelling drama and readings anywhere in UK radio.

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