So, we started with freezing temperatures in January, when we had to literally cut out ice off our cabbages, and that went on and on, and produced damage and big losses to our sales, something that is not very frequent nowadays (freezing, I mean, not losses which are very frequent).

We went off to the annual ORFC conference with a presence on the main panel stage discussing on what is really needed to transform agriculture for a better, more sustainable future…

Due to  frost and shortage of produce, we actually had to reduce our farm shop Lin’s VegShed hours from 7 to 3.5 days a week. But read more about our shop in Dave’s write up. Dave now manages the shop and runs Saturday Pop-up Cafe which is fabulous, indeed.

Looking forward to spring and a good year, we set up four farm walks, for members of the public, in which we offer a seasonal journey into our farming sustem, crop rotations, fertility building and social projects.

This is a very affordable way to get a glimpse of our professional approach to food growing and we have had visitors from all over the UK, making it down on Saturday mornigs in spring, summer, autumn and winter. We shall set-up anotehr cycle of farm tours in 2024, watch the space. Events are usually posted on our FB page and on this website.

The month of May brought us the most extraordinary news about Tolly’s M.B.A. award by His Majesty (something I had been hoping to hear for about 14 months since compyling a most comprehensive portfolio on his and our business achievements). And although we were bursting with pride and anticipation, we were sworn to secrecy until June, when the news were published in The London Gazette. And from there on it was a downpour of kind and warm messages from everybody, a lot of appreciation in local and national media, on TV, podcasts and e-News.

We marked this occasion with a grand party at the Farm on 1st July where all our friends, family and most importantly – our past and present trainees and volunteers were invited. The party, I would say, was the highlight of the year; an inspiration for the years to come and for those who are part of our team.

Speaking of the team, we had 5 brilliant volunteers – Maria, Tom, Mary, Ed and Andrew. Maria and Andrew have actually returned to the farm. Andrew will be coordinating our School Education Activities and Maria is now working with us and will stay on to learn the full farming cycle. Maria is offering her own experiences as a first-comer to the farm.

In October we hosted the Organic Growers Gathering – a fantastic three days sharing invaluable knowledge and learning from some great speakers and growers. There were over 200 attendees at the event, plus a wonderful team of 100 staff and volunteers who made the event run very smoothly. The crew at Tolhurst Organic did a great job curating a packed programme for the weekend, with workshops on composting and machinery, to tours of the site, to talks exploring seed saving, the challenges for the organic movement and much more.

The event was great and it took over our other activities, and so members of the public missed the favourite annual Squash & Pumpkins Festival. We staged weekend activities throught October at the farm shop to entertains customers coming to buy pumpkins, but we missed the festival, too, and so for 2024 we are set to make it happen, and the preliminary date is Sunday, 20 October.

Two things that ran throughout the year (apart from farming, growing, packing and delivering, that is) is the new book we have been working on and our on-farm research trials.

We set out in January, with another former trainee Samantha Kroes from Belgium, to feature weekly vegetables that we have at the farm, by cooking some dishes, writing up the recipes and enjoying vegan food with staff, friends and family. We have now completed 12 months or 52 weeks of recipe writing and will embark on the book publishing process. We aim to publish in May, and we are looking for potential partners, whoc would help us raise the much needed funds. If you have an idea or have experience in the field of publishing, do get in touch with us, please. We need your help. Samantha has written a beautiful piece about this journey.

As for research, this is a new passion of Tolly. He has been in great demand by scientists to offer an insight into our soil health, considering the field has been farmed continuously for almost 40 years now, by us, but the carbon levels, organic matter and soil biodiversity are exemplary and improving. Tolly can tell you countless stories about research done at the farm, and here is a short summary.

The culminate the year, on 12th December we were invited to Windsor Castle for the Investiture in the Most Excellent Order of British Empire. It was with great anticipation since May, and we did not know who will be awarding the medal – HM King Charles, HRH Prince of Wales or HRH Princess Royal. It did not really matter, but we knew of the King’s environmental values and we had met with him before, so it was interesting to see if HM would recognise Tolly. And sure, he did! And the conversation was lively and longer than then supposed half a minute, or so, and the closing words HM said was Organic Farming is the way to go! How supportive and encouraging!

Together with the Lifetime Achievements Award from the Soil Association, multiple interviews and appearances in magazines, this has trylly been the year of awards and recognition!

And so, we celebrated with our team, at our annual Christmas Supper with a galore of vegetables from the farm – a true representation of our team hard work throughout the year. By hosting the dinner at our house, we are saying Thank you! to all and everyone of our staff, for their dedication, humor and hard work!

And into the 2024 we go! Mark the following dates, so far: April, July, September, December – farm walks. May – book launch (tentatively) My Vegan Farm Food, October, 20th – Squash & Pumpkins Festival.

And one last thought. We are looking for someone to help us with our e-Newsletter. If you think you can help, preferably – to issue the newsletter once a month, we would very much like to hear from you!

Happy New Year to all of you! May the 2024 bring sunshine into your lives, kind weather to us all, much health and positive thoughts on all levels!