The Duchy Home Farm is an organic farm operated by the Duchy of Cornwall. The farm is part of the gardens of

Highgrove House Highgrove House is the family residence of King Charles III and Queen Camilla. It lies southwest of Tetbury in Gloucestershire, England. Built in the late 18th century, Highgrove and its estate were owned by various families until it was ...

, the country home of

King Charles III Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person to a ...

. The produce is used as ingredients in Duchy Originals products, sold in vegetable boxes, and wholesaled to supermarkets and restaurants. King Charles is credited with using "pioneering agriculture techniques" to produce this

organic food Organic food, ecological food or biological food are food and drinks produced by methods complying with the standards of organic farming. Standards vary worldwide, but organic farming features practices that cycle resources, promote ecological ...

Sustainability, organic, and biodynamic farming

Located in

Tetbury Tetbury is a town and civil parish inside the Cotswold district in England. It lies on the site of an ancient hill fort, on which an Anglo-Saxon monastery was founded, probably by Ine of Wessex, in 681. The population of the parish was 5,250 in ...

, the Home Farm sells fruit and vegetables grown at

, Prince Charles's

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

home. The estate uses sustainable farming practices and is run by a farm manager, David Wilson, with a supporting staff. Prince Charles converted the Home Farm estate to

organic farming Organic farming, also known as ecological farming or biological farming,Labelling, article 30 o''Regulation (EU) 2018/848 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2018 on organic production and labelling of organic products and re ...

in 1986. He was initially criticised for some of his methods with many British farmers disliking his choice to avoid modern techniques. Since that time a significant number of farms have subsequently switched to organic agriculture, and visit Duchy Home Farm to review methods there. In 2006 Patrick Holden, director of the

Soil Association The Soil Association is a British registered charity. The organisation activities include campaigning – against intensive farming, for local purchasing and public education on nutrition – and certification of organic foods. It was establ ...

declared that "I don't think it can be overestimated" how much that was due to the Prince's influence. The roof of the dairy was fitted with over 400 solar panels in 2011. They cover an area of around 691 square metres and are estimated to generate 86,000 kWh per annum. The farm epitomises Prince Charles's belief of working with organic methods:

Farming and sales

Ingredients grown at the Home Farm are used in Duchy Originals products. This ranges from milk and pork to barley and grain. The farm supplies carrots and potatoes to restaurants, supermarkets, and local schools as a wholesaler. In 1998 they began operating a

vegetable box scheme A vegetable box scheme is an operation that delivers fresh fruit and vegetables, often locally grown and organic, either directly to the customer or to a local collection point. Typically the produce is sold as an ongoing weekly subscription and ...

for homes within a 15-mile radius of Tetbury. By 2010 they were selling over 250 boxes every week with an section of the farm dedicated to the scheme. The growing demand for the boxes and requests from customers to choose their own produce led to the creation of The Veg Shed. The Veg Shed operated every Wednesday in a converted barn. It closed in May 2013 after eight years of trading because it was no longer making a profit; in 2014 the area given over for vegetable production was being grazed by rare breed pigs. The shop was known for its "evocative potting-shed smell" and for selling unusually shaped vegetables that would normally be rejected for sale in supermarkets. While most of the Veg Shed produce came from the Home Farm there were other items for sale from further away, including lemons and bananas.

References

External links

Duchy Home Farm
at the Duchy of Cornwall website
Duchy Home Farm
the film
The Farmer formally known as the Prince
at ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' {{coords, 51.6515, -2.1477, display=title Farms in Gloucestershire Duchy of Cornwall Charles III