From Dirt to Soil – Our Regenerative Farming Journey 🌱
How it Started
Like most farmers, we were hooked on fertilisers and chemicals. For us it made sense: we grow for seed, so contamination is a real issue, and artificial inputs felt like the most cost-effective way to manage it. For years it worked. Until it didn’t.
Inputs climbed, yields stalled, and farming became more about survival than joy. Then along came Dirt to Soil by Gabe Brown. Reading it felt like holding up a mirror – his story was ours. Meeting him in person sealed the deal. It was clear we had to change, and change fast.
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Phil's Take
Phil: “I’ve always loved farming – cattle, crops, the lot. But the more we leaned on fertiliser and sprays, the less it felt like a future. Costs kept rising, yields didn’t, and it stopped being enjoyable.
I’m quite scientific, and when I read Dirt to Soil I realised this wasn’t just theory – it was us. So we’ve cut back on artificial fertiliser, found natural alternatives where we can, and kept a living root in the soil. The cattle are now part of the solution, cycling nutrients, and we even bring sheep in over winter as mobile poo providers.
For me, regenerative farming is about getting back to the joy of it – more birds, more bees, more worms – and knowing that we’ve become soil farmers. We can’t be green if we’re in the red, and regen gives us a way to farm with passion and a future.”
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Monty's Take
Monty: “For me it’s about the future. If I’m going to farm for the rest of my life, I want it to be in a way that actually works – for the soil, for the stock, and for whoever comes after us. Regen isn’t a fad; it’s the only way to build resilience into farming.
But I also knew that moving away from high-input farming meant turnover would dip during the transition. That’s why I set up UK Mini Trucks – to keep cash flowing while the farm found its feet in regen. Those little trucks now help other farmers and estates too, but for us it was about survival. It gave us the breathing space to cut back on inputs without going under.
Regen farming gives me hope – not just that the soil will recover, but that there’s a future in farming worth staying in. And besides, if we can make worms, cows, sheep and Japanese trucks all work together… there’s hope for anything.”
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Heather's Take
Heather: “The irony isn’t lost on me. I’ve spent over 30 years encouraging gardeners to make their own compost, while back on the farm I had very little interest in what was happening in our own fields. Then I read Dirt to Soil and it hit me – not only could we change, but we had to.
Now I know we’re walking the talk – at home, in the garden, in the business, and on the farm. Regen isn’t a burden, it’s fun. It’s hopeful. It’s essential for our wellbeing – as a family and as a business. The farm feels alive again, and so do we.”
What We’ve Done So Far
- Added Bokashi to our own muck (and our neighbour’s) before it hits the soil.
- Fermented our own molasses to feed microbes.
- Built a Johnson-Su bioreactor – the compost slow-cooker.
- Planted cover crops to feed the soil between cash crops.
- Added worms to bought-in manure, turning it into vermicast gold.
- Bedded cattle with local sheep’s wool – soft for them, soil food later.
- Switched to Stabilisers, cattle bred to thrive on grass.
- Trialled mixed cropping, even in seed production.
- Kept cattle out longer on pasture.
- Started brewing our own soil biology amendments.
Diversifying to Survive 🐄🐖🚚🐛
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Wiggly Wigglers
composting kits, bird food, Bokashi and worms, shipped from the farm gate.
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UK Mini Trucks
tiny Japanese workhorses helping other farms and estates, and helping us through the regen dip.
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Beef and Pork Boxes
selling our meat direct so you know exactly where your dinner came from.
Our Latest Project: The Pond 🐸🦆🐞
Right now, the pond on the farm is a bit sad: no fish, no plant diversity, and very little life at all. We want to change that. The plan is to transform it into a thriving wildlife haven with:
- Aquatic plants (lilies, reeds, oxygenators)
- A mix of native fish species
- Frogs, toads, and newts
- Dragonflies and damselflies
- Ducks, moorhens, and other water birds
- Insects and pollinators
- A richer ecosystem all round
In short – we want to make this pond ALIVE. And the best bit? You’ll be able to follow along as it changes – from stagnant water to a thriving hub of wildlife – right here on our updates.
How You’re Helping
Every time you buy from Wiggly Wigglers, you’re helping us make this journey possible – from soil biology to bird food, from cowsheds to compost kits.
And if you’d like to help with the pond project specifically, you can simply add a tip to your order. Every penny will go straight into transforming that pond into a buzzing, splashing, wriggling hub of life – and you’ll be able to watch its progress as we bring it back to life.
🌿 Help Us Bring the Pond to Life
Add a tip to your order today – every penny goes straight into creating a wildlife-rich pond at Lower Blakemere Farm. Together we can make it ALIVE – and you can follow the journey with us.
