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A Sensory Farm
Phytobotanica is a farm specialising in essential oils.
As we got out of our minibus the smell of lavender greeted us. We saw a lovely old farmhouse, large barns and perched on a fence were guinea fowl elegantly black with tiny white spots, and a very inelegant screeching call.

We met the owner Dr Jane Collins and were introduced to the centre, which was the last pig farm in Lydiate, Jane is a farmers daughter whose family have been arable farmers in Lydiate for 500 years. Farming has become genetic in her family, they have the history of their former land going back all that time.Despite a long legal battle as a woman Jane could not take over the lease of the land and so the family farm was lost 20years ago jane then decided to go to university and became doctor of agricultural science and sge has a speciality in medicinal and aromatic plants.

It has taken Jane twenty years to reinstate herself in farming. Her studies led to visits to farms in Slovacia, and inspired research, into alternative crops for farmers that are suitable for the English soil and climate a massive amount of networking and fundraising has got her back into farming.

She now has the advice and support of the local major farmers and landowners, scientists and biologists Phytobotanica is the only producer to analyse essential oils.

She has raised 200,000 objective one to start the business this encourages match funding. She works closely with:
DEFRA
SME small manufacturing agency
Local businesses
Local council
and Kew

Next year the lavender will be re-established and she will be sowing chamomile fields Monardia from Kings seeds is a variety she is interested in establishing on a larger scale and is currently trialing. We then went to look at the lavender and began weeding and chatting. Janes suggestions suggestions as to our way forward

1. appraisal of the land is essential to decisions as to how it would be used.
2. this would involve the history and suggests asking molyneux family archive.
3. start to amass support
4. approach local colleges and agricultural colleges
5. talk to local shops about needs, what we could supply
6. go to farmers markets
7. take photos
8. clearing rubble may be worst problem but may be cheaper than raised beds.
9. look for the space in the market what you can offer that is different.
10. If a crop is decided on research best species marketability diseases invasive weeds fungi pests sutabililty for place. Plan in advance to grow your own make cuttings etc perennials a lot less work than annuals? Would Richard at landlife agree?
11. Jane is looking for and would buy
cuttings,
herbs in pots
dried herbs
local craft
posies

The weather changed from very overcast and defied the weather forcast to be a lovely sunny day.
We spent an hour looking over the variety of plants she has established since her arrival a year ago. Cost 40,000 to move her lavender from old farm and some is slow to reestablish weeding continuous all farm helpers spend a day a month weeding so we did a couple of rows of weeding worrying at first as we were worried about recognizing the weeds, but everything is cleared apart from the lavender! Once you get the habit of pulling up it is difficult to stop, We noticed the huge variety in her demonstration rows many of the best colours have least smell.
She also has a wide variety of herbs, some of which we have not seen before. Monardia from Kings seeds is a variety she is interested in establishing on a larger scale. We came away with a huge variety of roots, pots and cuttings to try out on our return.

So Jane took us off to the distillation barn where the lavender, or other herbs are steamed to extract the oil and we were surrounded by an even more intense smell than surrounded the farm outside. A yellow oil, the essence of the lavender floats on top of the cooling water as it drips from the steamer into a glass container.

We then went to look at the fields of wild flowers sown by Landlife and enjoyed a wonderful sunny walk through poppies cornflowers and marigolds We will talk to landlife on another occasion to talk about their crops of wild flowers.

The day was finished wih a lunch of local produce, much of it organic, we looked at the leaflets available and had a good discussion and a slice of rose petal and lavender sponge, a innovation worth the visit in itself.

'This is a real farm'
'We dont see swallows in Granby'
'It takes a lot of determination and single mindedness to do what she has done.'
'Amazing how much has been done in one year'
'I love working out doors.'
'Even though we dont have any land yet we could manage cuttings and seedlings.'
'I always as a child thought the country life would be better for me.'
'As a child we could never afford to get out to see things and its the same for my children'

www.phytobotanica.com

Article about the opening of the farm:
www.sthelens.gov.uk

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