Organic growers for 24 years

Stowey Rocks Farm is an 80 acre organic vegetable farm on the Quantock Hills in Somerset

Richard Plowright started growing organic vegetables in 2000, delivering just a handful of boxes to Bridgwater and surrounding villages.

Plowright Organic was formed a few years later when Remke joined the venture and the box scheme grew from there. In 2006, they secured a council farm tenancy and moved to Stowey Rocks Farm, which allowed them to expand their growing area to 20-30 acres.

Alongside a fabulous team, they continue to grow all of the vegetables for the veg box scheme, the farm shop and farmers market in Minehead.

"Growing organic vegetables is hard work and requires attention to detail, but we would not want to grow them any other way. Our box scheme enables us to produce affordable organic food on a small scale, with less packaging and fewer food miles. Our goal has always been to develop a sustainable organic system that provides good quality seasonal vegetables to local people and in so doing help to re-make the connection between the land and people.”

The farm

Stowey Rocks soil produces really tasty vegetables. The flavour of our root crops is particularly good, a combination of our sandy clay loam (with plenty of rocks), no irrigation (other than getting seedlings established in a drought) and low applications of compost. This way crops grow naturally, searching for nutrients and water, and generally developing more flavour.

We are moving towards closed nutrient cycling through a combination of nitrogen fixing green manures and woodchip compost. In the future we hope to produce our own woodchip by planting a traditional coppice woodland.

All the land at Stowey Rocks Farm is managed to organic standards and is certified by Soil Association Certification Ltd: https://www.soilassociation.org/certification/

License number UK5 /AB17796

Shop our range of boxes

Our boxes are seasonal, with the majority of veg grown on the farm. "Let them eat turnips" they say. No no, our veg boxes are much more than that.

Richard and Remke strongly believe in the principles of organic agriculture as agreed by the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM) www.IFOAM.org.

These principles cover a wide range of issues from social justice to animal welfare, environmental management and biodiversity.

In organic farming, pests, diseases and weeds are managed holistically rather than eradicated.

Organic farming promotes healthy soils for healthy crops and healthy people.