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: Woods and Flowers

Woods and Flowers in Pembrokeshire

Woods and Flowers

BBC Radio 4 - On Your Farm, Woods and Flowers

Verity Sharp visits a farm in Pembrokeshire which focuses is on woodland and cut flowers.

Verity Sharp visits a 35-acre farm in Pembrokeshire - where half the land is woodland managed for wildlife and coppicing, and the other half is used to grow seasonal flowers.

Verity Sharp visits the Woodland Farm in Pembrokeshire to meet Linda Screen and Steve Atkins. Following the tragic death of Linda’s daughter in 2013 to cervical cancer, Linda and Steve have been channelling her memory through their work at this 35 acre holding - while also bringing up their grandson. Half of the farm is woodland, managed for wildlife and coppicing, providing an income from charcoal made on a ring kiln. Another part of the business is seasonal cut flowers, grown on site and enhanced by foliage foraged from around the farm. Linda’s inspiration for growing and arranging flowers is the natural world around her and, although the pandemic hit hard, this year her order book for weddings is steadily filling up as social gatherings at last begin to gain traction. 

Run using the principles of permaculture, everything at the Woodland Farm is about joined-up thinking and low impact living. The by-products of charcoal make compost for growing the flowers, there’s a large pole barn built from timber and materials sourced from within a five mile radius, and the couple are also in the middle of building a 'rural enterprise' dwelling on site. As they say, life is short. That's something which was brought home to them so brutally nine years ago, but a fact that’s also now driving them to make the most of every day with optimism and creativity. 

Produced and presented by Verity Sharp.

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