L.J. Betts in Kent - UK Salad Grower Of The Year

You may notice in your box some items from our good friends L.J.Betts. Behind the scenes we've been working long and hard to find great people and companies in the British food scene to work with, and having come across L.J.Betts we've fallen in love with their produce, and their way of working.

L.J.Betts grow both salads and cereals, and do so in a way that maximises their positive environmental impact.

"At any time, half of the farm is utilised for arable crops which acts as a break for the soil. This allows our ground to rest and revitalise for the following year of growing salad. The business strongly believes in farming sustainably and ensuring our ground is not drained of all the nutrients and goodness required for future years of producing food. Our rotation between arable and salads helps us to maintain our soils."

The farm encourages wild flowers and has an on-going policy of maintaining and sowing wild flower meadows to encourage wildlife, such as bees. Rare species of flowers have been spotted on site, including the Bee Orchid and the Grass Vetching.
Solar panels have been invested in to provide a replacement of electricity used by the farm and its operations.
The farm participates in a five year environmental scheme which involves leaving uncropped areas of the farm to encourage wildlife.
There have been on-going projects around the farm to encourage bird presence. This includes nesting boxes for owls and designated strips for skylark nesting. Through surveys conducted by the RSPB there have been some fantastic results seen around the farm, including an increasing number of birds of prey.

We hope that you will join us in celebrating our amazing British farmers and the hard work that they are doing, especially given the impact of Covid-19 on their farming practices.

If you are looking for your leafy Salad & Greens come to SW Fruit and Veg! Join us to get delicious, local and seasonal produce every week.