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We’re Marie & Ian, owners, and hands-on farmers at Goodtrees Farm.
Our farming dream took root many years ago when we moved to the outskirts of Cowden village. The bedrooms of our cottage overlooked fields of black-and-white dairy cows and we fell in love with them. We left the area in 1996, but we never forgot those cows and we always hoped to return.
Nearly 20 years later, the dream became reality when we bought Goodtrees Farm. The land hadn’t been farmed for many years and needed a lot of time and effort to bring it back to life and create the necessary infrastructure. In 2014 we were finally ready to open the doors to our first herd.
We aim to farm as sustainably as possible. For us this means maintaining and continually improving the mosaic of small, species rich meadows, which have made up Goodtrees Farm for decades. Our animals forage the permanent pastures of grasses, herbs and wildflowers – it’s this rich and varied diet that we believe makes our meat so incredibly tasty. Due to the small nature of the fields grass is the only crop that we can viably grow. We rotate the animals around the meadows regularly. This results in soil improvement both in structure and nutrient content.
We no longer use any artificial fertiliser instead relying on the muck from the barns. This provides excellent manure once it’s spread in Autumn. We are committed to improving our sustainability by learning from others and practising new methods.
Our animals are reared slowly and naturally, grazing the meadows until they are forced inside by the wet winter weather. Once inside the large, purpose-built barns, they are fed mainly from our summer harvest of silage, haylage or hay.
Animal welfare is paramount and our farm manager, Neil, has spent his whole life looking after livestock. There is little he has not experienced at some point in his career and although the Boer Goats did provide an initial challenge they are now firmly under his wing and very happy.
With wildflower meadows now being planted in the area by many landowners, we are able loan out our native breeds as conservators of the landscape. Both parties gain from this. The cattle get fed for free whilst providing a valued service and help to preserve the ecosystem into the bargain.
We are also active members of the Green Tractor Scheme, which was set up to provide UK agriculture with the ability to recycle all farm plastic packaging by 2030.
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Goodtrees Farm
Colestock Road
Cowden
Edenbridge
Kent
TN8 7EB
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