Newton Court sits on a 157 acre organic Herefordshire farm, called, unsurprisingly, Newton Court Farm. We’ll share with you here a few of the aspects of what makes organic farming the right choice, and a rewarding one too.
We have several ciders certified organic by the Soil Association. You can enjoy our ciders knowing that they have been grown to the very highest standards of sustainability, biodiversity and environmental stewardship.
We’ve always tried to do our best to look after our apples naturally. We don’t spray any of our trees so we can foster a balanced ecosystem. As you travel through Herefordshire, you may witness modern orchards where the trees are grown much closer together. Our orchards have much more space between the trees, allowing airflow; better ventilation means fewer diseases, fungal problems and less chance of late frosts. We allow our cattle in the orchards to keep the grass down and fertilise the ground. In return the trees provide cover for the stock in summer and winter. The tree nesting habitat for birds means we have fewer problems with flies. We have several species of bats which roost in the orchards and they help to keep plant pests down. Everything works in harmony.
The cows in the orchards in the winter make way for lambs in the spring. They aren’t just sharing the land, they’re helping to fertilise it naturally and cleaning up some of the fallen apples. That means less waste and tastier apples next year. The lawn mower sheep are removed in plenty of time before harvesting season as we won’t want to be picking up anything that they have left behind.