Being certified organic is just the starting point at Hollis Mead – we’ve taken the UK organic regulations, shaken them up, and added a dollop of wholesome whipped cream on top! Everything we do has biodiversity and wildlife at its heart. Modern farming has been a race to the bottom for nature. Cheap food at any cost has been the edict – we believe in the opposite – great food with nature and biodiversity at the core of everything we do. Insects not chemicals do our work and worms not artificial fertilisers look after our soil.
We plant miles of biodiverse hedgerows meaning a whole host of insects, birds, and mammals can live a natural cycle and share our glorious land. We also lay hedges – something often overlooked. We’re not just preserving; we’re creating a wildlife haven.
Intensive agricultural practices are strictly forbidden on the farm – we’re bug-friendly, bird-friendly, eco-friendly and put wildlife and wellbeing first. Organic farms use ‘fewer’ pesticides, but we’ve gone further. At Hollis Mead, ZERO chemicals are used – we’re a pesticide, insecticide and herbicide free zone!
With the help of our friends at the Dorset Wildlife Trust, we’ve been measuring the bountiful biodiversity on our farm – it’s brimming with life, with over 300 species, from butterflies and bees to beetles and bush-crickets!
Lots of species make their homes and nests in long grass. Intensive dairy farms take their first cut of silage in April and May which is hugely destructive to ground nesting birds, mice, voles, hedgehogs, leverets and insects. This is all because supermarkets demand the largest volume of milk at the cheapest price. Use Hollis Mead and break the system.
There doesn’t need to be a flood to make us save animals.
Our farmland is full of insects, birds, small mammals and not forgetting, beloved bees – some are old friends, many are new having been enticed here to our wild and beautiful looked-after land. There’s room for all.
