David Wrenn

Orchard End, Kirstead, Norfolk. NR15 1ES

Area: 1.5 acres

Certification: Demeter

Crops: Pot and cut herbs, mixed vegetables

Outlets: Box Scheme, Retailers

Telephone: 01508 558646

Small Box £7
Regular Box £9
Large Box £12
Fruit in £3, £5, £10 sizes
Seasonal boxes can be tailored, individual orders catered for.

David Wrenn has a 1.5 acre smallholding, at Kirstead, Norfolk. He moved here in August 2000 and put the land into organic conversion under Demeter's biodynamic principles. Though the holding is now fully Organic he has a few years left to achieve full Biodynamic status, which takes much longer. Part of the biodynamic approach is to see the entire holding as a unit, rather than separating out the growing area. With the house, garden, forestry, meadow, willow coppice, polytunnels, raised beds and hens on such a small area, it is important for everything to fit together and for David’s work to be integrated into the whole. Though much simplified, the principles of this approach to organic growing can be encapsulated by the following:

Biodynamic holdings aim to become self-sufficient in compost, manures and animal feeds.
All external inputs are kept to a minimum.
Compost is treated with special herb-based preparations.
Crop quality is improved using natural manure and quartz based preparations.
Ecological diversity is a goal of landscape management.
An astronomical calendar is used to determine auspicious, planting, cultivating and harvesting times.

Dave operates a box scheme from the smallholding, growing the vegetables himself wherever possible and otherwise buying in from the co-op. Dave's priority is that produce such as lettuce, where freshness is crucial, should be grown by him and cut on the day of delivery. He delivers around 100 every week, to Norwich and nearby villages, which is a comfortable number to allow him to do all the work himself. Dave had many years experience in organic growing through working for Grahame Hughes.
Just under an acre is given over to cultivation - raised beds and polytunnels - so it's important to produce crops of relatively high value and to sell direct to the customer wherever possible. He grows herbs, both pot grown and freshly cut, and salad crops which are sold through his boxes, and various shops in Norwich, south Norfolk and north Suffolk. He also sells regularly in season at Wymondham farmers market on the 3rd Saturday of the spring and summer months. Most are culinary herbs and the most popular are rosemary, chives, sorrel, sage, parsley, coriander and basil. He is gradually increasing his range of ornamental and unusual herbs, and also vegetable plants in response to customer demand for healthy specimens which come from this system of production.